King's Orchard Church of Christ Statements of Faith
To clarify our stance to those asking about what we believe and who we partner with, here are seven statements of faith. This list is not exhaustive.
1. God (YHWH, I Am, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of the Bible) is perfect and unique in all his attributes and has been manifested to us in the persons of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is unparallelled in power, eternal, the unmoved mover, and creator of the universe and all it contains (including humanity that is unique amongst his creation and made in his image).
2. The Bible (66 books of the Old and New Testament, Genesis to Revelation) is from God, for us, and is God-breathed. It is not the only way God has revealed himself (cf. Ps 19.1), but we develop our faith and practice from the Bible, and it supersedes any "statement of faith" implied, written or spoken by leadership or members of the KOCOC or elsewhere.
3. Believers are tasked with loving God, one another (Bible believing, Jesus-followers), neighbors and enemies and serving God and others. This includes, but is not limited to, worshiping God, preaching the gospel, and doing good works. Our good works and obedience do not earn us a place with God, rather they flow from God's Spirit and love to us offered through Jesus's self-sacrifice to anyone who accepts it. Loving God and others is best done in community (i.e. church).
4. All have sinned. Sin separates us from God and apart from Jesus there is no way back to a healthy relationship with God. Jesus is the ONLY path to forgiveness and reconciliation with God; to say otherwise cheapens Jesus's death on the cross. To be reconciled to God, one must proclaim complete allegiance and absolute trust in Jesus, and only Jesus, as lord and savior. Further, we shepherd one another, but we aren’t equipped to judge the eternal salvation of, or relationship God has with any individual or group. God alone is the judge, and he waits until our lives are over to judge us (Jn 12:48; Heb 9:27). He longs for reconciliation with us and wants us to choose it.
5. Anyone who claims to rely completely on Jesus of Nazareth as their Christ, savior, lord, king and God’s Son (fully human, fully God, and NOT a created being) and believes that he was raised from the dead and given a physical glorified body, we call brother or sister even if we disagree with their doctrinal stances or behavior (see number four). Brethren may be “wandering” or "erring" (cf. James 5.19-20), but they remain brethren. Calling someone brother or sister doesn’t preclude passionate and honest discussions about doctrine and behavior between brethren.
6. We cooperate with others to do good work. Without judging the motives of other groups or individuals, we do good works in the name of Jesus and because of our love and devotion to Jesus. Working with another group in no way suggests that we agree with their doctrine or practices or are making a statement about their relationship with God or salvation status (see numbers four & five).
7. God wants unity amongst his followers. We believe the best way to achieve unity is with grace toward others, simplicity, and restoration of early church practices (a cappella singing, weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper, plurality of elders, congregational autonomy, believer's baptism by immersion, etc.). For that reason, we strive for simplicity and to implement first-century church practices to the best of our ability, and we are gracious to those with different beliefs and practices.
To clarify our stance to those asking about what we believe and who we partner with, here are seven statements of faith. This list is not exhaustive.
1. God (YHWH, I Am, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of the Bible) is perfect and unique in all his attributes and has been manifested to us in the persons of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is unparallelled in power, eternal, the unmoved mover, and creator of the universe and all it contains (including humanity that is unique amongst his creation and made in his image).
2. The Bible (66 books of the Old and New Testament, Genesis to Revelation) is from God, for us, and is God-breathed. It is not the only way God has revealed himself (cf. Ps 19.1), but we develop our faith and practice from the Bible, and it supersedes any "statement of faith" implied, written or spoken by leadership or members of the KOCOC or elsewhere.
3. Believers are tasked with loving God, one another (Bible believing, Jesus-followers), neighbors and enemies and serving God and others. This includes, but is not limited to, worshiping God, preaching the gospel, and doing good works. Our good works and obedience do not earn us a place with God, rather they flow from God's Spirit and love to us offered through Jesus's self-sacrifice to anyone who accepts it. Loving God and others is best done in community (i.e. church).
4. All have sinned. Sin separates us from God and apart from Jesus there is no way back to a healthy relationship with God. Jesus is the ONLY path to forgiveness and reconciliation with God; to say otherwise cheapens Jesus's death on the cross. To be reconciled to God, one must proclaim complete allegiance and absolute trust in Jesus, and only Jesus, as lord and savior. Further, we shepherd one another, but we aren’t equipped to judge the eternal salvation of, or relationship God has with any individual or group. God alone is the judge, and he waits until our lives are over to judge us (Jn 12:48; Heb 9:27). He longs for reconciliation with us and wants us to choose it.
5. Anyone who claims to rely completely on Jesus of Nazareth as their Christ, savior, lord, king and God’s Son (fully human, fully God, and NOT a created being) and believes that he was raised from the dead and given a physical glorified body, we call brother or sister even if we disagree with their doctrinal stances or behavior (see number four). Brethren may be “wandering” or "erring" (cf. James 5.19-20), but they remain brethren. Calling someone brother or sister doesn’t preclude passionate and honest discussions about doctrine and behavior between brethren.
6. We cooperate with others to do good work. Without judging the motives of other groups or individuals, we do good works in the name of Jesus and because of our love and devotion to Jesus. Working with another group in no way suggests that we agree with their doctrine or practices or are making a statement about their relationship with God or salvation status (see numbers four & five).
7. God wants unity amongst his followers. We believe the best way to achieve unity is with grace toward others, simplicity, and restoration of early church practices (a cappella singing, weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper, plurality of elders, congregational autonomy, believer's baptism by immersion, etc.). For that reason, we strive for simplicity and to implement first-century church practices to the best of our ability, and we are gracious to those with different beliefs and practices.
