Richfield Springs Bible church Articles of Faith
1. God
– We believe that there is one living, preexistent, eternal, and true God. That God is the Creator and Sovereign Ruler of Heaven and Earth.
(Genesis 1:1-31; 2:1-7/ Acts 17:23)
A. God has revealed Himself to mankind through two avenues:
1) General Revelation – That God revealed Himself to mankind through His Creation. (Romans 1:19-25)
2) Special Revelation – That God revealed Himself to mankind through the life and teachings of Jesus, and His inspired Word.
(Hebrews 1:1-3/ Romans 10:17/ John 1:1-3,14)
B. We believe in the Triune God who eternally exists in three Persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, having the same attributes, perfections, and maintain three co-equal persons of the Godhead. (1 Corinthians 8:6/ 2 Corinthians 13:14)
2. The Bible
– We believe that the Bible is the verbally inspired Word of God.
A. His revelation to man was not of any private interpretation.
(2 Peter 1:20-21)
1) The Bible is inerrant in its original writings.
(2 Timothy 3:16-17)
2) We believe the canonized Scripture is the final and supreme authority of faith and life. (Hebrews 4:12)
3) We believe the Bible contains God’s foreordained plan of salvation, and assurance of His forgiveness.
(Ephesians 1:3-7/ Psalm 103:12/ Acts 26:18)
B. We believe the Bible is the complete revelation of God in what He has chosen to reveal to man through His Word. (Revelation 22: 18-19; Deuteronomy 29:29; Jeremiah 33:23; Matthew 10:26)
3. Jesus the Christ
– We believe the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, and He lived a sinless life. He came that He might reveal God and redeem sinful man. (Luke 1:35; John 1:1-2, 14; Phil. 2:5-11)
A. We believe Jesus is the second Person of the Triune God and in His incarnation was fully God and fully man. (Matthew 1:18-25)
1) We believe the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as our representative. (Hebrews 2:9)
2) Jesus was the substitutionary sacrifice, sufficient for the sins of the whole world. (Ephesians 1:7; 1 John 2:1-2)
3) Believers are justified by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead. (Romans 3:24-25; 1 Peter 1:3-5)
4) We believe that Jesus ascended into heaven and is our Divine Advocate with the Heavenly Father. (Acts 1:8-11; 1 John 2:1-2)
4. The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
– We believe the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Triune God who convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. (John 16:7-13)
A. The Holy Spirit is the one who regenerates the believer, indwells and seals them unto the day of redemption, and brings the Blessed Hope of eternal security to the believer. (Ephesians 4:30; Romans 8:9; Ephesians 1:13-14)
1) The Holy Spirit’s purpose is to convict the unbeliever of the need for salvation, and to work in the life of the believer in many different aspects. His indwelling work is to seal our inheritance, to equip in good works, and to guide, convict, instruct, direct, strengthen and encourage into all truth. (Romans 8:14; John 14:15-18; Ephesians 2:10)
2) We believe the Holy Spirit gives the gifts of the Spirit in the use of educating and edifying the Body of Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:4-11)
5. Man
– We believe that man was created in the image of God, and due to Adam’s sin in the garden that all mankind has now received a sin nature. (Genesis 1:26-27; Genesis 3: 1-17; Romans 3:22-23; Romans 5:10-19)
A. Due to man’s sin nature he incurred not only physical death, but also spiritual death which is eternal separation from God. (Psalm 51:5-7; John 3:1-7)
1) Mankind is totally depraved and unable to remedy its lost condition apart from redemption through Christ. (Jeremiah 17:9)
2) With man being totally depraved, he is also unable to withstand our sin nature, and the influence of Satan and this world apart from the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 8:1,14; Romans 12:1-2; Philippians 2:9)
3) The regeneration of the Holy Spirit makes us a new creation in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
6. Salvation
– We believe the Lord Jesus Christ died for the sins of all mankind as a substitutionary sacrifice for all people, and all who repent and put their faith in Him are saved from God’s wrath by His grace on the grounds of Jesus shed blood on the cross. (John 1:12; 6:37-40; Romans 8:1; Acts 2:37-38)
A. We believe that salvation is through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, by Grace plus nothing, minus nothing. (Galatians 1:6-12)
1) This is evidenced by the fruits of the Spirit demonstrated in the life of the believer. (Galatians 5:22-25; Matthew 7:16-20)
2) We believe that the Born Again believer will experience an intimate relationship with the Lord through Jesus Christ. (1 John 4:4; Ephesians 1:3-6)
B. Born Again believers are accepted in the beloved as a child of God, kept by God’s power, and secure in Christ forever. (John 10:27-30; 1 Corinthians 1:4-8; Ephesians 2:8-10, Ephesians 4:30)
7. Satan
– We believe that Satan (originally called Lucifer) is an angelic being created by God. (Colossians 1:15-18; Job 1:6-7; Isaiah 14:12-17)
A. In a prideful rebellion against God he was cast out of heaven to the earth with one third of the angelic host to follow him. (Revelation 12:4; Matthew 25:41)
1) As a fallen angel Satan’s primary purpose is spiritual warfare against God’s plan, purpose, and His creation. (Ephesians 6:11-12; Acts 5:3; 1 John 3:8)
2) As the author of sin, Satan is actively deceiving mankind in an attempt to cause man’s separation from God through sin. (2 Corinthians 11:13-15; John 8:44)
3) We believe that Satan’s power is supernatural, yet limited, and that he cannot act without permission from God. (Job 1:6-12; 1 John 4:4)
B. Satan is defeated by Christ’s finished work on the cross and His glorious resurrection. (1 Corinthians 15:51-58;1 Thess. 4:13-18)
1) Satan’s eternal end is everlasting torment in the Lake of Fire.
(Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10)
8. Our Eternal State
– We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men. This will occur when the church is Raptured or “caught up” to meet the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53; Revelation 3:10)
A. The return of Christ will occur after the seven year tribulation period. This will begin Christ’s millennial reign on earth. After Christ’s millennial reign, the saved will spend eternal life in heaven, and the unsaved will spend eternity in judgement and everlasting punishment in the Lake of Fire with the Devil and his fallen angels. (Matthew 25:41-46; Daniel 9:24-27
John 5:28-29; Revelation 20:11-15; Daniel 12:1-2; Luke 16:23-26)
9. The Church
– We believe the Church, which began with the spiritual baptizing of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost is the body and bride of Christ.
(1 Corinthians 12:13)
1) The New Testament Church is a local assembly of baptized believers who have voluntarily joined themselves to be unified in Christ to carry out the Great Commission. (Matthew 28:18-20;
Psalm 34:3; Matthew 12:19-20)
2) We believe the Lord Jesus Christ established two ordinances for the Church in this present age. These are believer’s water baptism, practiced by immersion, and the Lord’s Supper, observed as a memorial in remembrance of His death. (Acts 8:12, 35-39; Acts 10:47-48; 1 Corinthians 1:14; 1 Corinthians 11:23-24)
3) We believe sexual intimacy is a wonderful gift of God that is only to be expressed between a man and a woman within the love and covenant of marriage. Therefore, we believe that any other form of sexual intimacy is both immoral and a perversion of God’s gift.
(Genesis 2:24-25; Matthew 19:1-6; Proverbs 5:18; 1 Corinthians 7:5;
1 Thess. 4:3-5; Hebrews 13:4; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:18)
4) We believe that Christ commissioned all believers in the church to make disciples from among all nations, to baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and to teach them to observe all things whatsoever He has commanded. (Matthew 28:18-20;
Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:19-20; Mark 16:15; Romans 10:13-14)
Revision: September 23, 2025