Our Beliefs - South Bay Church of God

The list below is adapted from statements on the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) website, which can be found at this link.

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• The Trinity. Though difficult for the human mind to fully comprehend, we believe that God is one and that God expresses God’s self in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each person of the Trinity serves a unique role to bring God glory and accomplish God’s purposes in the world (Matthew 3:16-17; 2 Corinthians 13:14)
   

• Jesus is Lord. The singularity, exclusivity, and full humanity and divinity of the one Lord Jesus Christ is central to who we are. We believe Jesus is at the core of the Gospel. Through his life, death, and resurrection Jesus inaugurated God’s renewal of all things. Jesus is the Savior, the Son of God, the one mediator between God and humanity. Though the brokenness of the human condition is deep and profound, we believe in and through Jesus, God is making all things new.  Jesus rescues and restores those who trust in him, empowers them with the Holy Spirit, and invites them to join his mission in our beautiful yet broken world. Jesus is the subject (2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Revelation 21:5).
   

• The Authority of Scripture. We are a people of the Bible—the Old and New Testaments, supernaturally inspired, preserved across time, cultures, and continents, delivered to us, useful for reproof and instruction, for righteousness. The Christian Scriptures are our backstop, the ultimate field of inquiry and judgment, the measure of conduct, faith, and practice. Whatever the question, whatever the test, whatever comes before us, in the end, it is the Scriptures, above all other knowledge, that informs and defines us. (2 Timothy 3:14–17).
   

• The Great Commandments. Love God with your whole self. And, love your neighbors as yourself. The Scripture tells us this is the sum of the Law and the Prophets. When a teacher of the Law sought to test Jesus (Luke 10), asking, “What must I do to have eternal life?” Jesus asked him what he read in the Scripture. When the man replied with the Great Commandments, Jesus approved, saying, “You have answered well; do this and you will live.” It was this exchange that birthed the seminal parable of the Good Samaritan. As a people in the pursuit of holiness, the Great Commandments clothe us.
   

• The Great Commission. To go and make disciples is the divine privilege and responsibility given to each of us. We champion the work of evangelism and discipleship in our own neighborhood, as well as the sending of international and home missionaries to places beyond our individual reach. We are committed to the spread of the Gospel. (Matthew 28:19–20).
   

• Holiness. The Person, the work, and the power of the Holy Spirit is fundamental to who we are as a people. We unabashedly own the truth that the Spirit can transform us, possess us, equip us, and empower us. It is the work of the Holy Spirit that sanctifies us, makes us holy, sets us apart for sacred service, and seals us for eternity’s sake. It is the Spirit that convicts us of sin and enables us to overcome sin. It is the Holy Spirit that can breathe supernatural gifts into us, for Jesus’ sake. The Holy Spirit is the Comforter promised by Jesus and the witness of our redemption (Galatians 5:22–23).
   

• Unity. We are a people uniquely called by God to be a catalyst for unity, believing that the division of the body of Christ is not God’s dream. The New Testament presents a powerful vision of the people of God united in Christ by the power of the Spirit across lines of race, gender, class, language, politics, and more. Such counter-cultural unity is an outgrowth of faithfulness to the Gospel. (John 17:21; Galatians 3:28; Revelation 7:9).
   

• Kingdom of God. Jesus preached the Gospel of the kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is the rule and reign of God. While ultimately God will establish God’s kingdom fully in the world to come, we believe the kingdom is a present reality that can be experienced today. God empowers us to be signposts or witnesses of God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven (Mark 1:14-15; Matthew 6:10).
   

• Women in Ministry. The distributions of gifts by the Holy Spirit for the edification of the body of Christ is not determined by gender. God has poured out his Spirit on all people, and both sons and daughters will prophesy—and teach, and shepherd the flock. In Christ, that which once divided us—Jew, Gentile; slave, free; male, female—no longer does so. From the earliest days of the Church of God movement, we’ve celebrated the ministry leadership of outstanding women clergy and continue to do so (Acts 2:17; Galatians 3:28).