A summary of our beliefs and stances on theology are found below. If you have more questions or would like to learn more about our stance on different issues the full document of Zion's Statement of Belief and Practice is available upon request. Please contact the church for more information.
We believe the original texts of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, which the Church historically accepted as the Holy Scriptures, are God-breathed. These Scriptures are truth, written by holy men who were chosen and equipped by God for this special task.
The primary content of the revelation is truth about God himself, about his acts in history, about man in his sinful condition, and about the relationship that can be established and maintained between God and man through the person and work of Jesus Christ who completed God's plan of salvation.
We believe the Scriptures, errorless in the original documents, are divine authority in all matters which they address. Since God the Holy Spirit is the source of the message as well as the mover and supervisor of those who recorded it, the Bible is reliable in what it communicates and is the supreme authority for faith and practice. Nothing may be taken from it and nothing may be added.
We believe in the one and only true God who is spirit. He is self-existent, infinite, personal, unchangeable, and eternal in his being. He is perfect in holiness, righteousness, love, justice, goodness, wisdom and truth. He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He is the creator and sustainer of all things both visible and invisible. He is both immanent in and transcendent to the creation. The one triune God exists and reveals himself as three persons, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We acknowledge that all we know about God is by revelation. Now we know only in part, but we look for the day when we will know as we are known.
We believe in God as our Father. In his nature and in his relationships, we understand him best as Father. While a human father imperfectly loves and cares, the heavenly Father perfectly loves and cares. He is good in all he does and in everything he gives, including his discipline.
The Father loved the world enough to send God the Son, Jesus Christ, as the Savior of the world. Anyone who knows the Father also knows the Son. Through a personal relationship with Christ, we come to know God as our Father and can say, “Abba, Father.”
God The Son came into the world to make the Father known. Jesus affirmed that he and the Father are one.
We believe that Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, was made in the likeness of men. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, thus blending organically and permanently his divine nature with human nature in one, unique person without a third nature being formed.
The purpose of the incarnation was to reveal God and to redeem man. This redemption was accomplished by Christ's death and resurrection.
After death and resurrection, He ascended into heaven and is now at the right hand of God interceding for us.
Jesus Christ, though ascended, is the head of the Church which is his body.
Ultimately every knee shall bow to him and every tongue shall confess that he is Lord.
We believe the Holy Spirit is God, eternal in existence.
His ministry, since his coming on the day of Pentecost, is broad and varied.
The Holy Spirit works for unbelievers by convicting and convincing the world of sin, of righteousness and judgment. He also the progress of evil until God's purposes are accomplished.
The Holy Spirit works at the moment of salvation by regenerating, giving new life to those who repent of their sins and exercise faith in Jesus Christ. He comes to live in all believers at the moment of their regeneration and baptizes all believers into the body of Christ.
The Holy Spirit works in believers by instructing, comforting, helping, and guiding all believers. He is sanctifying and producing Christ-like qualities in believers as they yield to his control. He is equipping and empowering all believers for witness and service.
The Holy Spirit works in the Church by indwelling the Church. He produces unity in the Church and enables believers to love each other. He also equips the Church for ministry by giving spiritual gifts to each believers.
More information below about spiritual gifts.
We believe that man was created by an immediate act of God.
He was created in the image and likeness of God. He was without sin, enjoyed fellowship with God and was capable of full obedience to his will.
He was created in order that he might glorify God and enjoy him forever. In so doing, man finds his greatest measure of blessedness and true enjoyment.
We believe that man was confronted with a moral choice in the garden.
By voluntarily transgressing God's command and yielding to the enticement of Satan, man lost his original condition, became physically, morally, intellectually and spiritually depraved and was alienated from God.
In consequence of this act of disobedience, the entire human race became guilty before God with the result that each one of us possesses a sin nature. Both our sin nature and our acts of sin make us deserving of the righteous judgment of God.
Therefore all men are sinners and guilty before God, are dead in their sins, and unable to save themselves.
We believe that there are two eternal, conscious destinies for man; heaven for the righteous and hell for the unrighteous.
After the great White Throne Judgment, and after all the enemies of God are consigned to their place of eternal punishment, the present order of things will be dissolved, and the new heaven and the new earth, wherein dwells righteousness, shall be revealed as the eternal abiding place in which the righteous shall dwell.
We believe that God must and will punish sin because he is holy and cannot tolerate it. This punishment must come either to the guilty person or to a satisfactory substitute. Because it is not God's will that any should perish, he has provided the way of salvation. Jesus Christ voluntarily offered himself on the cross as the perfect sacrifice for sin so that all who believe in him may be redeemed. Initially salvation requires repentance and faith which results in justification, regeneration and sanctification and culminates in resurrection and glorification. Some of these are at times simultaneous in man's experience but are hereafter described separately for the sake of clarity.
We believe the Scriptures teach that repentance must accompany regeneration as well as be an ongoing act that accompanies sanctification.
Genuine repentance is a necessary attitude of man as a condition for a holy and just God to forgive man's sins. It is produced in man by the kindness of God. It involves godly sorrow for sin and a proper reverence for God's holiness. It results in confessing and forsaking sin and whenever possible and appropriate, making restitution to those sinned against.
We believe that faith is essential to salvation. It is the means by which the Word of God is received as true. It is both the gift of God and the response of man.
Faith is confidence based upon good evidence. It is an assurance born of complete trust in God as revealed through Christ. By faith one trusts in the death of Christ as the only efficacious sacrifice for his sin.
We believe that justification is a judicial act of God in which he declares the sinner free from condemnation and punishment and restores him to divine favor and privilege. It takes place when the sinner repents and trusts Christ for salvation.
We believe that regeneration is wholly of grace and free to all but must include repentance toward God and faith in Christ as Savior.
Regeneration is the impartation of divine life. By the operation of the Holy Spirit through the Word, the believer is given a disposition to love and obey God. What was destroyed in Adam is renewed in Christ.
Other terms used in Scripture to describe regeneration are “born again,” “converted” and “saved.”
Some evidences of regeneration are: the witness of the Holy Spirit, a personal knowledge of the forgiveness of sin, peace with God, love for God's Word, newness of life, and reconciliation with any against whom sin has been committed.
God has always required that his people should be holy because he is holy.
Sanctification is that action whereby God sets apart his people from sin. It has its source in what Christ has done through his blood, making believers a people of his own possession and calling them holy ones (saints). This holy position is granted when the Christian first believes in Christ. It is neither earned nor achieved by good works but is followed by good works.
Sanctification is also a process in the Christian life and involves the ministry of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God, setting one apart from a sinful walk and producing a Christ-like character. This process is experienced through faith and obedience which includes consciously yielding the whole life to God and continually letting the Holy Spirit be in control. The results include a manifestation of spiritual fruit and progress in Christian growth, which are the will of God for every Christian.
The process of sanctification will be completed upon entering the presence of Christ when the Christian will enjoy a perfectly holy state.
We believe that every Christian can have a valid sense of assurance concerning his salvation, his relationship with God and his destiny. Through faith in Jesus Christ, a knowledge of the Scriptures and the ministry of the Holy Spirit, such assurance becomes real and personal.
There is no need for any believer to be anxious about God's ability or his gracious purpose to keep the believer for himself.
However, the Scriptures have ample warning for anyone who might be inclined to presume upon the love of God by careless or sinful living.
Therefore, it is necessary to examine ourselves to see whether our faith is genuine, a faith that is expressed in attitude and actions by obedient works. Without that kind of faith, there is no Scriptural assurance. The most complete basis for the believer's assurance is found in 1 John.
We believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ, and because he lives, we too shall live.
At the return of Christ, the bodies of the righteous dead will be raised and will, with the living believers, be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. We will be changed so as to have immortal bodies like unto Christ's own glorious body.
Our glorification is the culminating act of God’s redeeming and sanctifying believers and will be realized when we see him as he is.
We believe the Church, in its universal context as the body of Christ, is composed of all believers regardless of name, race, nation or generation.
The local church, as a part of that body, is composed of a group of believers in Christ who have voluntarily joined together and are devoted to one another in love, so that the church can fulfill its purpose and mission.
The mission of the Church is to make disciples for Jesus Christ.
Central to this mission is the proclamation of the Word of God for the equipping of each believer to become an effective witness so that the Church will grow to the glory of God.
The local church seeks to accomplish its mission by gathering together to participate in worship, instruction, fellowship and service, so that each believer will grow into the full measure of the stature of Christ and, in obedience to him, will reach out in witness to unbelievers. As the Church makes disciples, it becomes a force for restraining evil and producing righteousness in the world.
To help accomplish this mission worldwide, local churches may unite as a denomination. The denomination may cooperate with inter-denominational groups of like faith and convictions.
The pastor is called by God to serve the Lord Jesus Christ through leading the congregation to achieve its purpose and mission.
This leadership is best expressed as the pastor lovingly leads, feeds, equips and protects the flock under his care.
The Role of Leadership
Within each congregation God calls some believers to serve Jesus Christ through positions of leadership in the church's ministry.
This leadership is for the purpose of working with the pastor so that the church may achieve its purpose and mission.
Such leadership is best expressed as these persons function as models, shepherds and servants for the congregation.
The Role of the Congregation
God calls every believer to serve Jesus Christ through active participation in the church's ministry.
Such participation is best expressed as each believer:
- consistently grows in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ,
- respectfully submits to the leadership in the congregation,
- recognizes and joyfully uses spiritual gifts for ministry for the common good,
- obediently reaches out in witness to unbelievers.
We believe that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the universal spiritual experience of all true Christians, not a post-conversion experience that is evidenced by what some refer to as sign gifts. At the moment of conversion, the Holy Spirit places the new believer into the universal church. The believer now has the capacity to be under the Spirit’s empowerment for character transformation and ministry.
Spiritual gifts are special endowments or abilities given by the Holy Spirit to each believer, as He determines, enabling the believer to participate effectively in the church's ministry. Properly exercised and received by the body, every gift brings honor to Jesus Christ, produces unity, develops spiritual maturity within the body, and helps to complete the mission of the Church.
We believe the gifts of the Holy Spirit spoken of in the New Testament were distributed to all believers for the common good. Concerning the “sign gifts” (e.g., tongues, interpretation of tongues, revelatory prophecy, gifts of healing) we discourage any inference that these gifts indicate special spiritual attainment and/or superiority. We believe the practice of spiritual gifts is to “be done in a fitting and orderly way.”
We believe the “sign gifts” accounts as recorded in Acts are descriptive of the events that occurred at the birth of the Christian Church. We do not regard the practice of “sign gifts” in any of our ministry gatherings (such as public worship or small groups) as necessary for the local church or the individual believer. Nor do we believe that the public exercise of these gifts must occur for the spiritual growth of the individual or the numerical growth of the church.
We believe that an ordinance is an outward ceremony symbolic of a spiritual truth or experience which was instituted by Christ for perpetual use by the Church. It is not a means of salvation but becomes a source of spiritual inspiration and strength as one is obedient to the Lord's command. We believe that the Christian ordinances are baptism and the Lord's Supper.
1. Baptism
We believe water baptism symbolizes the experience of regeneration and union with Jesus Christ.
It is a public confession of the believer's identification with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection.
Baptism is to be administered to believers only, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. All modes of baptism are recognized as a clear symbol of its spiritual significance. Water baptism does not save or cleanse from sin. It is the answer of a good conscience toward God. Because of the scriptural instruction to baptize those who believe, because of the scriptural example that those who believed were baptized, and because of the clear meaning of baptism as indicated above, we recognize only baptism administered after a person has confessed faith in Jesus Christ, and we expect that all believers will be baptized.
2. The Lord's Supper
We believe the Lord's Supper was instituted by Christ on the night of his betrayal and is to be observed by his Church until he returns.
We believe the Lord’s Supper is a memorial of Christ's death, an expression of fellowship with God and with other believers, a testimony to saving faith, a visible seal of Christ's redemptive covenant, and the assurance of his promised return.
The Lord’s Supper consists of partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, symbolizes the broken body and shed blood of Christ for the remission of our sins and reaffirms our continuing dependence upon him. Its observance is to be preceded by honest self-examination.
The communion table shall be open to all believers who know themselves to be in right relationship to God.
We are not currently a part of any denomination. The Administrative Board is investigating the option of joining one in the future.