God

God exists eternally in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The three are distinct persons and yet are of the same substance, one God. Gen. 1:1; Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; Jn. 1:1-3, 1:14, 4:24, 8:58, 10:30; II Cor. 13:14

Jesus Christ

The eternal Son of God became incarnate (a human being) in the Lord Jesus Christ, having been born of the Virgin Mary, and is fully God and fully man without separation or confusion. He died physically on the cross and was bodily resurrected three days later, and afterwards He ascended physically to heaven. He will one-day return to reign physically as King and Lord on this earth. Ex. 3:14; Lk. 1:31-33, 2:10,11; John. 1:1-3, 1:14, 1:18, 5:18, 8:58; I Cor. 15:1-5; Heb. 1:1-9, 5:8; I Tim. 2:5; I John 5:20; Rev. 1:4-8

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. He convicts men of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He regenerates (giving new birth), baptizes (places them in the body of Christ-the church), and seals (marks out the believer as His own for eternity) all believers at the point when they exercise faith in Christ. The Holy Spirit indwells (lives in) believers at salvation (and not at a later date) to guide, influence and control a believer’s life in accordance to the will of the Father and the Son. He further empowers the believer to serve the body of Christ and He also enables the believer to walk by faith and obedience. Matt. 28:19; John 3:3-7; Acts 5:3,4; Rom. 8:9; I Cor. 2:12, 6:19, 12:13; Eph. 4:30; Col. 3:14; Titus 3:5)

The Scriptures

Every word in the original writings of the Holy Scriptures (Old and New Testament) is inspired by God (literally God-breathed) and is without error. It is accurate in all matters to which it speaks, spiritual, historical, and scientific. The Holy Scripture is the authoritative Word of God. Ps.19:7-8, Ps.119; II Tim. 3:16, 17; II Pet. 1:20, 21

The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the foundation of the faith and practice of South Coast Community Church.

Man

Man is created in the image and likeness of God. In Adam, all mankind fell into sin with the result that all men are sinners. Men are justly condemned to eternal judgment and can do nothing to merit salvation. Gen. 1:26-27, 9:6; Rom 2:1-5, 3:23, 5:12-21; Eph. 2:1

Salvation

Salvation is received by faith (trusting) alone in Christ alone. The only means to salvation is believing in Christ’s substitutionary death and resurrection, which satisfied the wrath of God against the sin of the individual. For those who reject Christ, there is an eternal state of punishment awaiting them in hell. For those who believe in Him, there is awaiting them the eternal blessing of the presence of God and all of what heaven has for them. John 3:16-18, 3:36, 5:24, 17:3; Acts 4:12, 13:38-39, 16:31; Rom. 4:1-5, 5:l, 8:29-30; 1 Cor. 15:1-4; Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-6

Election

Salvation is given to those men and women chosen (election and predestination) by God and drawn to Christ by the Holy Spirit. God’s election of those that will be saved was made without thought to any merit of the individual, and was made before the foundation of the world. We believe that, owing to universal death through sin, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless born again; and that no degree of reformation however great, no attainment in morality however high, no culture however attractive, no baptism or other ordinance however administered, can help the sinner to take even one step to heaven; but a new nature imparted from above, a new life implanted by the Holy Spirit through the Word is absolutely essential to salvation. Thus, it can be said that our justification is wrought solely by the finished work of Christ on the cross as He died in our place. John 6:44; Rom. 5:6-9, 9:10-29; Eph1:4-8; Phil. 3:4-9; Col. 1:13-14; Titus 3:5; James 1:18; I Pet. 1:18-21

Sanctification

Every believer is set apart or made holy by God at the point of believing in Christ. A believer also chooses as an act of faith and obedience to be sanctified for the purpose of serving God. Sanctification is lifelong and goes on until death; if Jesus Christ returns before the event of death, sanctification will be complete and all saints, both dead and alive, will then be glorified. John 17:15-17; Rom. 1:7; I Cor. 1:2, 6:11; Eph. 1:1, 5:26-27; I Thess. 4:3-5; Heb. 10:10, 10:14; I Peter 1:15-16; I John 3:2-3

Perseverance of Believers

All who are born of the Spirit through faith in Christ have assurance of salvation and are eternally secure in Christ. All those who are born again will be kept by God’s power, and will, by God’s grace persevere in active trust and obedience to Christ until they see him face to face. Believers may fall into sin by succumbing to temptation, thereby grieving the Holy Spirit, impairing their fellowship with Christ, bringing reproach on His name, and incurring God’s loving discipline, yet they will be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. This enduring faith of believers distinguishes them from those who renounce Christ and prove not to be His. A persevering faith is evidence of God’s election and love which gives sure hope of eternal life with Christ. John 6:37,10:27-29, 17:12; Rom. 5:1, 8:1, 8:35-39; Eph.1:13-14, 4:30; II Tim. 1:12; I John 5:11-13

Church

We believe that the invisible church is the communion of God’s people drawn from every tribe, language, people, and nation throughout all the ages. The church is made visible in the assembly of believers in local churches, which are marked by the right preaching of God’s word, right administration of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We affirm that members of local churches are commanded to assemble regularly, promote Christ-honoring unity, and live lives that bring honor and glory to God. The mission of the church is to be a corporate display of God’s glory to the world by preaching the gospel and making disciples. Matt. 5:16, 28:18-20; John 1:12, 13:34-35, 17:20-24; Acts 11:26; I Cor. 1:2, 12-13; 11:25-26; Eph. 3:10, 4:1-6, 4:11-12; I Tim. 4:13; Heb. 10:19-25; Rev. 5:9

Ordinances

The Scriptures teach that baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the only two ordinances of the church. Baptism should be done by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, to show forth our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior in a solemn and beautiful symbol. Baptism symbolizes our death to sin and resurrection to a new life and is a response to the command of Jesus.

The Lord’s Supper is a commemoration of Jesus’s sacrificial death on the cross through the sacred use of bread and the fruit of the vine, and should be administered regularly by each local church. Matt. 3:13-17, 26:26-29, 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:38-42, 8:12, 8:36-38, 9:18, 10:47, 16:32-33; I Cor. 11:17-34, Gal. 3:27; Col. 2:11-12

Family

We believe that God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of society. Families are composed of people related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption. Marriage is the uniting of one biological man and one biological woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. Husband and wife are both made in God’s image and have equal value before God; while at the same time possessing distinct roles in the marriage. The husband is to gently lead and sacrificially love his wife as Christ loved the church and the wife is to graciously submit herself to her husband as the church willingly submits to Christ.

We believe that children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and inheritance from the Lord. Parents are to patiently lead their children in the ways of Christ by intentional instruction, gracious discipline, and consistent example based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents for the glory of God and their ultimate good.

Gen. 1:26-28, 2:15-25, 3:1-20; Ex. 20:12; Deut. 6:4-9; Josh. 24:15; 1 Sam. 1:26-28; Ps. 51:5, 78:1-8, 127-128,139:13-16; Prov. 1:8, 5:15-20, 6:20-22, 12:4, 13:24, 14:1, 17:6, 18:22, 22:6, 2215; 23:13-14, 24:3, 29:15, 29:17; 31:10-31; Eccl. 4:9-12, 9:9; Mal. 2:14-16; Matt. 5:31-32, 18:2-5, 19:3-9; Mk. 10:6-12; Rom. 1:18-32; 1 Cor. 7:1-16; Eph. 5:21-33, 6:1-4; Col. 3:18-21; 1 Tim. 5:8, 5:14; 2 Tim. 1:3-5; Titus 2:3-5; Heb.13:4; 1 Peter 3:1-7

Second Coming

We believe the end of the world is approaching quickly. On that last day Christ will descend from heaven, raise the dead from the grave, and bring all people to final judgment. At that time, there will be a solemn separation during which the wicked will be judged and sentenced to endless conscious punishment in hell, and the righteous in Christ rewarded with endless conscious joy in the new heavens and new earth. This judgment will fix forever the final state of people in heaven or hell based upon God’s unchanging and unchallengeable principles of righteousness. Those belonging to Jesus will have eternal life in the new heavens and the new earth and live in everlasting joy to the glory of God. Dan. 12:2; Matt. 13:36-50, 24:29-46, 25:31-46; John 3:36, 5:28-29, 6:40, 14:1-3; Acts 1:11, 10:42, 17:31; I Thess. 1:10, 4:13-5:11; 2 Thess. 1:5-12; Rev. 20:1-22:21