What We Believe

Christ Focused and Bible Centered

The Gospel

  • What is the Gospel?  The word “gospel” itself simply means “good news”.  What is the good news?  Well, as with many scenarios there is good news and there is bad news.  So let’s start with the bad news first.
  • According to Romans 3:23, every person has sinned.  Sin means to “miss the mark”.  Like an archer aiming his arrow at the target and missing it.  Our target is perfect obedience to God’s law and we have all missed it.
  • The other bad news is that our sin causes death (Romans 6:23a).  This is not only physical death (every human being dies), but it’s also a spiritual death.  We are separated eternally from God.  There is a form of separation while alive on earth, and once we die there is an eternal separation in Hell.
  • The good news comes in the second half of Romans 6:23: the gift of God is eternal life!  You do not have to be eternally separated from God. How does this happen?
  • We see in Romans 5:8 that God showed his love to us by sending Jesus to die in our place so we don’t have to suffer an eternal punishment for our sin.
  • Jesus’ death was a substitution for us so that we can be saved from God’s wrath (Romans 5:9)
  • How can we know that we are saved from God’s wrath?  Romans 10:9-10 tells us that if you believe in your heart that Jesus is the Lord and that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
  • The really great news is that when we accept Jesus’ payment for our sin we have peace with God (Romans 5:1) and we are no longer condemned to Hell (Romans 8:1).

The Holy Scriptures

We believe that the Bible, consisting of both the Old and New Testaments, is the inspired (God-breathed) Word of God, that every part (historical, poetical, doctrinal, prophetical and instructional) is fully and equally inspired, and that every word was produced under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

We believe the Bible’s authors intended that their writings be understood according to the normal use of words (including figures of speech) and the accepted rules of grammar.

We also accept the Bible in its entirety as being without error in the original writings. Therefore, we are committed to the Bible as our final authority for all Christian life and faith.

Matthew 5:18; John 16:12-13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21, 3:16; Revelation 22:18-19

The Triune Godhead

We believe there is only one true, eternal, living God, who is sovereign over all things and is the Creator and Sustainer of life.

While one in essence, this one God exists in three co-equal and co-eternal persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit–who have the same attributes and perfections. For the purpose of accomplishing work there is a voluntary submission among the members of the Triune God.

Deuteronomy 6:4; Mathew 3:16-17, 28:19-20; John 1:1, 14; Acts 5:3-4; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Colossians 1:15-17

We believe that God the Father is the Father of all creation, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the eternal spiritual Father of all who believe in Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 1:3; Hebrews 12:9).

We believe the Lord Jesus Christ is absolute deity, the image of the invisible God. He existed with God the Father in eternity past and came into this world fully human without ceasing to be God. He was begotten of God, conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin, Mary (Isaiah 7:14; Mathew 1:22-23; Luke 1:26-27, 35; John 1:1-2, 14; Colossians 1:15-20).

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person sent from the Father who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers at the moment of salvation into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them until they are united with Christ in heaven  (John 3:3-7, 16:7-11; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 3:16, 12:12-14; 2 Corinthians 1:22, 3:6; Ephesians 1:13-14).

We believe that the Holy Spirit is the Divine Teacher who guides believers into all truth; comforts the hurting, and enables believers to grow and mature toward Christ likeness. It is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled (controlled by) with the Spirit through knowledge of and obedience to God’s Word (John 14:6, 16:13; Ephesians 5:18; Colossians 3:16; 1 John 2:20-27).

We believe that the Holy Spirit’s ministry never calls attention to Himself, but always exalts and glorifies Christ as Lord (John 16:13-15).

Creation

We believe in the Genesis account of the creation of the physical universe, angels and man.  Man was created in the image of God and the entire Genesis account is to be taken literally–it is neither allegory nor myth, but a literal, historical account of the direct, immediate creative acts of God without any evolutionary process (Genesis 1, 2; Exodus 20:11; Psalm 33:6; Mark 10:6; John 1:3, 10; Colossians 1:16-17; Hebrews 11:3).

Mankind

We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin all men sinned in him and all humanity fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and that man is totally depraved, a sinner by nature and conduct and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition.

We believe only those God called and elected will come to faith and this is brought about in a manner above our comprehension, solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the gospel and further that unregenerate man is unable to discern spiritual things. (Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 3:22-23, 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-12, I Corinthians 2:14).

We believe that election is the act of God by which, before the foundation of the world, He chose in Christ those whom He graciously regenerates, saves, and sanctifies (Romans 8:28-30; Ephesians 1:4-11; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 2:10; 1 Peter 1:1-2).

We believe that election should not be seen as an arbitrary choice. God is truly sovereign but He exercises this sovereignty in harmony with His other attributes, such as His omniscience, justice, holiness, wisdom, grace, and love (Romans 9:11-16).

Salvation

We believe that salvation is the gift of eternal life which God provided by the grace of God to anyone who will receive it. Salvation is received through a personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ whose precious blood was shed in His death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins (John 1:12, 3:16; Ephesians 1:7, 2:8-10; 1 Peter 1:18-19).

We believe that every saved person is a new creation in Christ and has received a new nature which, after God, is created in righteousness and true holiness. However, we believe that the tendency to sin continues to be resident within our flesh throughout our earthly life.

We believe that provision has been made for the victory of the new nature over the tendency to sin through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. All claims to the eradication of sin and or the eradication of the tendency to sin in this life are unscriptural (Romans 6:6-7; 8:12; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 2:20, 5:16-25; Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:9-10; 1 Peter 1:14-16; 2 Peter 1:3-4; 1 John 1:8, 3:5-9).

We believe that all true believers, once saved, are kept by God’s power not our own and are thus secure in Christ forever (John 6:37-40, 10:27-30, 17:11; Romans 8:1, 38-39; 1 Corinthians 1:4-8).

We believe that while it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation, God’s Word does not allow our Christian liberty to become a license to gratify the flesh (Romans 6:1-2, 13:13-14; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11-15).

Spiritual Gifts

We believe that every believer is to fulfill his/her calling in the church by exercising his/her spiritual gifts in ministering for the glory of Jesus Christ ( Romans 12:4-8; Ephesians 4:12; 1 Peter 4:10).

We believe the gifts of speaking in tongues (known languages) and the working of sign miracles (such as tongues, interpretation of tongues) gradually ceased as the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their authority became established. Their purpose was to verify the truth of the gospel (1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 13:8-10; Ephesians 2:19-20, 4:7-12; Hebrews 2:1-4).

We believe that God does hear and answer the prayer of faith in accordance with His own will, for the sick and afflicted (John 15:7; James 5:13-16; 1 John 5:14-15).

The Church

We believe the Church which began with the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, is the body and the promised bride of Christ, a spiritual organism made up of all believers of this present age (1 Cor. 12:12-14; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 1:22-23, 5:25-27).

We believe that all believers should live in such a manner as to glorify and represent Christ to a lost and dying world. They should strive to live and walk in the Spirit and not bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord.

We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches are clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Matthew 16:18; Acts 14:27, 20:17; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11; Hebrews 10:25).

We believe that the church has a responsibility to exercise church discipline in accordance with the instructions given in Scripture (Matthew 18:17; Rom. 16:17; 1 Corinthians 5; 2 Corinthians 2:8; Galatians 6:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:14; 2 Thessalonians 3:6, 14; Titus 3:10).

Baptism

We believe in two ordinances as commanded by the Lord Jesus Christ, water baptism by immersion, after salvation, and the Lord’s Supper as a Scriptural means of testimony and celebration and are not requirements for salvation (Mat. 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42, 18:8; Rom. 6:4; 1 Cor. 11:23-26).
Avondale Bible Church

17010 Avondale Road NE Woodinville, WA 98077

Sunday Mornings at 10:00 AM