West Groton Bible Church

Doctrinal Statement

Our faith is founded on our belief in the person and work of Jesus Christ. We are united in Jesus' death and resurrection. He paid the price for our redemption and brought us into the family of God. The following is a summary of the beliefs held by the family of West Groton Bible Church. This doctrine is not the foundation of our faith since our faith is placed in a person not in a statement of doctrine. These beliefs are our shared understanding of God and His workings in history and in the world today.

The Bible

We believe the Scriptures, all 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, to be the verbally inspired word of God, the final authority for faith and life, God-breathed, inerrant in the original writings, and infallible. We do not hold to any single version as superior, and we recognize the value of multiple versions in order to better understand the concepts of the Bible which were originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.

God

We believe there is one true God, eternally existing in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – each possessing equally all the attributes of Deity and the characteristics of personality (Deut. 6:4).

Jesus Christ

We believe Jesus Christ is God, that He became flesh through His miraculous conception and virgin birth, and thus is perfect Deity and true humanity united in one Person forever (John 1:1-4, 14).

We believe Christ lived a sinless life and voluntarily atoned for the sins of all men by dying on the cross as their substitute, satisfying divine justice and accomplishing eternal salvation for all who trust in Him alone (Heb. 4:15; Col 1:19-22; Heb. 5:9).

We believe Jesus rose from the dead in the same body in which He lived and died – though glorified – that He ascended bodily into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God the Father, whereas the only mediator between God and man continually makes intercession for His own (John 20:24-29; Heb. 1:3; I Tim. 2:5; Heb. 7:25).

The Holy Spirit

We believe the Holy Spirit is the person of the Godhead who, in this present age, convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment, reveals and glorifies Christ, regenerates and baptizes believers into the body of Christ. Upon trusting in his Savior the repentant sinner is indwelt by the Spirit and sealed until the day of redemption (John 16:7-11; I Cor. 12:12-14; Eph. 1:13-14).

We believe the Holy Spirit is the Divine Teacher who guides believers into all truth. It is the privilege and duty of every believer to be filled with (and to walk in) Him (John 16:13; Gal. 5:16; Eph. 5:18).

Man

We believe man was directly created in the image of God. Man then sinned by disobeying His Creator. Alienated from God by his ruinous fall, he brought mankind under divine condemnation (Gen. 1:26-27; Rom. 5:12; Eph. 1:12-6).

We believe man is born with an entirely corrupt nature. Man is unable to please God on his own, and man is in need of regeneration (Rom. 3:10-12; Rom. 8:7-9; Eph. 2:1-10).

Salvation

We believe salvation is a work of God’s grace, not a result (in whole or in part) of human works or goodness or religious ceremony. God imputes His righteousness to those who put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation, and thereby justifies them in His sight (Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 4:16-24; Rom. 5:1).

We believe the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power, thus secure in Christ forever (John 6:37-40, 10:27-30; Rom. 5:1-11, 8:28-39).

The salvation of the believer, although not obtained in any way through the works of the individual, will be made evident through the faithfulness of one’s life (Matt. 12:48-50, 25:32-46; James 1:14-26).

Heaven

We believe at physical death the believer enter immediately into eternal conscious fellowship with the Lord to await the resurrection of his body to everlasting glory and blessing (John 5:24-29; Luke 16:22; Phil. 1:23).

Hell

We believe at physical death the unbeliever enters immediately into eternal, conscious separation from the Lord to await the resurrection of his body to everlasting judgment and condemnation (Matt. 25:46; Luke 16:23-28; Rev. 20:1-15).