New Life Church, a Kingwood, Texas Assembly of God Church
Statement of Belief
Eternal truths are made known to us through the Bible. New Life Church maintains that the Bible is God's Word and as such contains absolute truth applicable to all humanity in matters of faith, spirituality, and practical living. Many philosophical approaches today deny absolute truth opting for relevant truth. However, at New Life Church our approach is to seek relevance within the absolute truth of the Bible recognizing the Bible provides the final rule in matters pertaining to life and faith for New Life Church.
The only thing that is constant is change. Change is inevitable and as Christians it is important that we realize that in order to be relevant many times our methods and terminology must change. However, in the midst of change there remains one who does not change, God (Malachi 3:6). As a result, New Life Church strives to remain active within the culture while at the same time holding to the eternal truth concerning God.
Rather than allowing a statement of faith to create barriers to fellowship, New Life Church has chosen to build bridges by embracing the truths of New Testament Christianity recognized by many Christian denominations and organizations. These truths include the following:
The Bible
The Bible is the inspired Word of God and in its original manuscripts is completely true and without error (2 Timothy 3:15-17). All translations are viewed as completely true and without error only to the extent they accurately reflect the original manuscripts of the Bible.
God
There is only one true God whom the Bible reveals as having always existed without any outside cause or agency bringing him into existence. God is the Creator of all things, and He rescues humankind from their disobedience and the consequences of the disobedience. God is one single Being (Deuteronomy 6:4) yet has revealed himself as three interrelated persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; Luke 3:21-22). This revelation is a mystery of God that we cannot describe or explain adequately, yet we accept the immeasurable God is beyond your total comprehension.
Jesus Christ
The Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, being fully God, became a human being born of a virgin, conceived by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:31; 35). He lived a perfect life never disobeying the laws of God (Hebrews 7:26; 1 Peter 2:22). In order to fulfill the prophetic will of God in the plan to rescue humankind from their disobedience, Jesus became the substitute for every one who believes by laying down his life (1 Corinthians 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus was raised from the dead by the supernatural power of God (Matthew 28:6; Luke 24:39) after which he ascended to the right hand of God where he is exalted as our Royal High Priest (Acts 1:9, 11; 2:33; Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 1:3; 7:17).
Humanity
Humanity was created in God's image and pronounced "very good" by the Creator (Genesis 1:27-31) however by willful choice the first humans disobeyed God's command resulting in humanity's fall from innocence and the ultimate penalty for their disobedience; physical death and separation from God. Human beings are unable to restore themselves to fellowship with God either by good works or religious activities (Titus 3:5). In order to restore human beings to fellowship, God sent his only unique Son, Jesus Christ to suffer the consequences of humanities disobedience in behalf of every human being. Those who believe on Jesus will receive eternal life (John 3:16). The only hope for humanity is the blood of Jesus Christ that was spilled out on the cross. The account of Jesus' crucifixion can be read in Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, and John 19).
The Holy Spirit Today
New Life Church believes the work of the Holy Spirit, as evidenced in the Book of Acts and as written about in other New Testament books continues in the post modern era. The baptism with the Holy Spirit should be sought after by all believers as Jesus promised this gift would empower Christians to be effective witnesses (Acts 1:8; 2:4). The Gifts of the Spirit are available to every believer as supernatural enablement for service. All believers are encouraged to desire earnestly spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4-11; Romans 12:3-9; Ephesians 4:11) not forgetting the importance of bearing the fruit of the Spirit as well (Galatians 5:22-23).
The Believer's Hope
As we continue in our faith, we look forward to the soon return of the Lord Jesus Christ which we refer to as "the blessed hope" (Titus 2:13). Those who have put their faith in Jesus look forward to the catching away of the church. This event will take place at some point in time only known to God the Father. All believers for all time will be raised from the dead and those believers who are alive will be caught up and forever we will be united with the Lord (Romans 8:1; 23; 1 Corinthians 15:1; 51-52 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
