I. ESSENTIALS:  DOCTRINES HELD IN COMMON WITH MOST ALL EVANGELICAL CHURCHES:

A. We believe in the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture.

The Bible is the written Word of God, without error and of infallible and divine authority in all matters of faith and life. (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:20-21)

B. We believe in the triune nature of God.

God is a Trinity consisting of one substance and three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. (Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14)

C. We believe in the majesty and sovereignty of God.

The personal Triune God of the Bible owns and controls all things according to His will. (Eph. 1:11; 3:11)

D. We believe that God's two key moral characteristics are love and justice.

E. We believe God created the universe out of nothing.

God alone has existed from eternity past and in His wisdom decided to create the universe using nothing which had pre-existed. (Gen. 1:1; Heb. 11:3; Is. 44:24)

F. We believe that man was created by God.

Man did not evolve but rather was created by the Triune God. He was created with dignity in that he was made in God's image and created in humility in that his aim is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

G. We believe in the fall of man.

The voluntary sin of Adam resulted in man's total depravity. Thus, all men are sinners and are not able to please God on their own merit or save themselves. (Rom. 3:23, 3:9-19, 8:7-8)

H. We believe in God's gracious plan of salvation.

God in His mercy chose to provide a means of salvation for mankind through a covenant of grace. This covenant provided a mediator who represents both God and man - Christ Jesus.

As mediator of the covenant, Christ fulfills three offices:

1. Prophet: God's spokesman to man. Even today, He still functions as prophet as He reveals to man (via Word and Spirit) the will of God for our salvation and life. (Acts 3:22)

2. Priest: Mankind's representative.

a. In His atonement, Christ was our representative -- taking our sins upon Himself and offering Himself as a perfect sacrifice to satisfy divine justice and to reconcile us to God. (John 1:29; Rev. 7:14)

b. In His intercession, He sits on the right hand of the Father and intercedes for us in prayer as our representative. (Heb. 5:5-6, 7:11-25)

3. King: Mankind's Lord. He subdues us, rules over us as our Sovereign Lord, and defends us against the Kingdom of Darkness. He is the King of the Church. (Luke 1:33; Matt. 28:18; John 1:1; Rev. 5:6, 5:12-13).

I. We believe in the centrality of Jesus Christ -- His person and His mission.

Particularly, we believe in the:

1. Incarnation - which testifies to the fact that Jesus is the Son of God -- born of the Virgin Mary, only-begotten, both truly human and truly divine.

2. Atonement - which testifies to the fact that Jesus is the Savior. He a sinless man, died on the cross as a substitute for all those who would believe and follow Him. His death is the key to our redemption -- the only way to the abundant life now and to eternal life forever.

3. Resurrection - which testifies to the fact that Jesus is Lord. His historical resurrection ushered in His kingdom which is already here but which is hidden to all those except His true children. His resurrection is the sign of victory over death, Satan, and hell; His resurrection is the first-fruit and the promise of our resurrection.

4. Ascension - which testifies to the fact that Jesus is God. Jesus Christ sits on the throne of God at the right hand of the Father.

J. We believe God applies the salvation earned by Christ to us through the Holy Spirit.

This takes place through a five stage process:

1. Effectual calling: God the Holy Spirit begins the process by effectually calling us to Himself, convincing us of our sin, and persuading and enabling us to receive Christ by faith.

2. Conversion: Conversion is our conscious response to God's effectual calling and regeneration. Conversion will always result in the same two manifestations of being "born again".

a. Faith: Trusting Christ and Christ alone for our eternal salvation.

b. Repentance: Turning away from sin with remorse, redirection of life, and restitution where possible.

3. Justification: Past tense

a. We have been saved from the penalty of sin.

b. We are given an instant new status before God.

c. We are adopted into His family as children; Christ's righteousness is imputed to us.

4. Sanctification: Present tense

a. We are being saved from the power of sin.

b. Our condition is becoming like Christ.

c. This is a new life before God: a lifetime pilgrimage of dying unto sin and living unto righteousness. Christ's righteousness is implanted in us on a daily basis.

5. Glorification: Future tense

a. We shall be saved from the presence of sin.

b. Our expectation is to be like Christ.

c. This is to be forever with God. The believer's soul is received at death and his body will be received at the final resurrection.

(2 Tim. 1:9; Rom. 3:24-25, 6:11, 8:29-30; Eph. 1:1-14, 2:8-10; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; 1 Cor. 15; Mark 1:15; Matt. 3:1-2; Acts 2:38, 17:30-31, 16:31)

K. We believe in a final judgment by God.

God will bring all things to a consummation at the Judgment, taking His own to be with Him forever and casting all others into hell forever. (1 Cor. 15:24-28; Rev. 20:11-15)

(We acknowledge that there are a variety of theories concerning the tribulation, rapture, millennium, resurrection, final judgment, etc. which grow out of different interpretations of scripture. We encourage a diligent sifting of all these positions through a faithful examination of God's Word.)

L. We believe in the priority of the church.

The Church is the Body of Christ. It is the true community of faith which serves as the chief sphere of God's activity in the world. The visible Church consists of all those persons, together with their children, who profess their faith in Lord Jesus Christ and promise submission to His laws. Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church.

The Church invisible is made up of all God's people of all times. The Church visible is the visible manifestation of the invisible Church and is the ordinary means of the spread of the Gospel and the building up of the saints. The Church uses the Word, the sacraments and prayer to accomplish this. (Eph. 2:20-22; 5:23-33; 2 Tim. 4:2)

M. We believe that Christ has instituted two sacraments for the building up of this Church which are baptism and the Lord's Supper. (Matt. 28:19; 1 Cor. 11:23-24)

Baptism is the sacrament which marks one's entry into the Covenant People of God. The Lord's Supper is the sacrament whereby God's children are spiritually nourished with the Covenant faith.

N. We believe in the Lordship of Christ and the responsibilities for the Christian which grow out of His Kingship.

A genuinely born-again Christian has the primary responsibility of becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ. This entails the responsibility to pick up his cross and truly follow Christ. This means that the Christian must subject himself to the authority and Lordship of Christ and thus seek to live a Christ-like lifestyle. In relationship to other persons, this means that the Christian strives to minister, to love, to care for, to forgive, to accept, and to be reconciled with other human beings. The greatest act of love which a Christian can do for a non-believer is to share the Gospel with Him. In relationship to society, this means that the Christian strives to be God's agent for justice and righteousness in the world. In relationship to the Church, this means that the Christian becomes an active, growing, gifted part of the Body of Christ.

II. NON-ESSENTIALS: DOCTRINAL DISTINCTIVES OF FRIENDLY HILLS CHURCH

A. We believe in the doctrines defined in the system of doctrine known as Reformed Theology. Reformed Theology as a system of doctrine holds a high view of God and in comparison to God, a low view of man. It teaches among many other things that due to his sin, man must be chosen and moved to salvation by God. This system of doctrine views the Bible as teaching that the atonement was limited to God's children and that God's grace to such a person is irresistible. Therefore, when a person receives such grace he is saved forever and never has to fear losing his salvation. Contrast: Arminian Theology

B. We believe in the system of doctrine known as Covenant Theology. Covenant Theology views all of Scripture as an unfolding covenant relationship between God and his people in which God's dealings with mankind are always motivated by grace and the kind intention of His will. Contrast: Dispensational Theology

C. FHC holds that Jesus did not instruct upon a specific method of baptism nor does scripture anywhere teach one certain way to administer the sacrament of baptism. We believe that there are three biblically valid modes of baptism, each signifying a slightly different aspect of the salvation process.

1. Immersion: Death to sin and resurrection with Christ. (Rom. 6:3-6; Col. 2:12)
2. Sprinkling: Cleansing or purification from sin (Lev. 14:7; Num. 8:7, 19:17-19; Ez. 36:25; Heb. 9:13-22, 10:22)
3. Pouring: Outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1 & 2; Titus 3:5-6)

Practically speaking, since sprinkling is logistically the easiest mode of baptism to facilitate, we greatly prefer to use this method.

D. FHC believes that baptism, as the sign of entering into the People of God, is properly administered to adult believers and to their children.

Since the baptism of believer's children, or covenant baptism as it is sometimes called, is only practiced in about half of the churches within the Body of Christ, a foundation for such a belief may be warranted.

1. The covenant promise of salvation has always been for believers and their children.

a. The Old Testament clearly teaches that God's covenant promise of salvation was for the Jewish believers and their children. The sign of the covenant, circumcision, represented entrance into the people of God and this mark of the covenant was administered to believers and their children. (Gen. 17:9-11) The equivalent sign of the covenant in the New Testament is baptism.

b. It makes no sense for the children of believers to have less rights after the coming of Christ than before.

c. The New Testament confirms that the promise of salvation is still for believers and their children. (Acts 2:37-39; 3:25)

2. Jesus particularly instructed the disciples not to exclude the children from the blessings of the covenant. Christ particularly taught that the disciples should "permit the childrento come to me". (Mark 10:13-16)

3. In the New Testament, there are numerous accounts of entire households being baptized, believers with their children. (Acts 16:14-15, 16:31-34; 1 Cor. 1:16)

4. While adult baptism often emphasized that an adult has already been called by the Holy Spirit and has already responded consciously via conversion, covenant baptism does not indicate this at all. A baptized infant is not yet saved or converted. That is yet to come as they reach the age of respondability when they must claim Jesus Christ for themself. However, what covenant baptism does emphasize is the importance of God's promise and God's faithful activity in the salvation process rather than our response or our activity in our salvation. In other words, covenant baptism stresses that God saves us and we do not save ourselves.

E. We believe the Presbyterian form of government is the most biblical expression of church polity.

1. The three types of church government:

a. Hierarchical - Catholic and Methodist

b. Congregational - Baptist and Bible Churches

c. Presbyterian or Representative - Reformed and Presbyterian

2. The biblical basis for a presbyterian form of government

a. The term "Presbyterian" comes from the Greek word presbyter which means elder. The Presbyterian form of government means simply that the church is governed by elders.

b. The elders were chosen by the people by the people ("appointed" actually means to "elect by a show of hands"). (Acts 14:23)

c. The office of bishop and elder was identical. (Titus 1:5-7)

d. There was a plurality of elders in each church. (Acts 13:23, 20:17)

e. Ordination was the act of a plurality of elders. (1 Tim. 4:14; Acts 3:7)

f. There was the privilege of appeal to the assembly of elders and the power of government was exercised by them in their joint capacity. (Acts 15, 16:4)

g. The only Head of the church is the Lord Jesus Christ. (Eph. 1:20-23; Col. 1:18)

h. There are seventeen biblical qualifications for the elder. (1 Tim. 3:1-7)

3. The presbyterian church courts:

a. Session - The elders of a local church (meets monthly)

b. Presbytery - A representative number of elders from churches of a designated geographical area (meets quarterly)

c. General Assembly - a representative number of elders from the churches of the entire U.S. and Canada (meets annually)

4. Our denomination

a. Its name: Presbyterian Church in America (P.C.A.)

b. Its history: 1973 --> present

c. Its Constitution:

1) Book of Church Order

2) Westminster Confession of Faith

3) Larger and Shorter Catechism

d. Its four major committees:

1) Mission to the World - World Missions

2) Mission to North America - Home Missions

3) Christian Education and Publications

4) Administrative Committee

e. Reasons why it is good to be a part of a denomination like the P.C.A.

1) It subscribes to a biblical theology and church polity.

2) It provides unified direction with national potential.

3) It offers safeguards against ministerial or church heresy.

 

III. Friendly Hills Attitude Concerning Both the Essentials and the Non-Essentials

A. We believe in majoring on the majors and minoring on the minors.

B. We believe that in the essentials there must be unity and in the non-essentials there must be freedom.

C. To join FHC, one must adhere to the essentials.

    To join FHC, one may differ with the distinctivies.