Goodland Bible Church Doctrinal Position Overview:

We believe that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God (2 Timothy 3:16,17; 2 Peter 1:21). by which we understand the whole Bible; nor do we take the statement in the sense in which it is sometimes erroneously said that the works of human genius are inspired, but in the sense that the Holy Spirit gave the very words of the scared writings to holy men of old (1 Cor. 2:13), and that His divine inspiration is not in different degrees, but extends equally and fully to all parts of these writings, historical (1 Cor. 10:11), poetical (Mark 12:36; Psalm 110:1), doctrinal (2 Tim. 3:16,17), and prophetical (Acts 1:16; 2:16; 17:2,3; 18:28; 26:22,23), and to the smallest word and inflection of a word (Matt. 5:18; Luke 16:17) provided such a word is found in the original manuscripts.

We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons–Father, Son and Holy Spirit–co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power, glory, and having the same attributes and perfection’s (Deut. 6:4; 2 Cor. 13:14; Genesis 1:26; John 1:1).

We believe that 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, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men (John 1:1; Eph. 1:7; 1 Peter 1:3,5).

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a Person Who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption (John 16:8,11; 2 Cor. 3:6; 1 Cor. 12:12-14; Romans 8:9; Eph. 1:13,14).

We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and, that man is totally depraved, and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition (Gen. 1:26,27; Romans 3:22,23; 5:12; Eph. 2:1-3,12).

We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of sins (Eph. 2:8-10; 1 Pet. 1:8,19; 2 Cor. 5:21).

We believe that owing to this universal depravity and death in sin, no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless born again (John 3:5-7) and that no degree of reformation, however great, no attainment in morality, however high, no culture, however attractive, no humanitarian and philanthropic schemes and societies, however useful, no baptism or other ordinances, however administered, can help the sinner to take even one step toward heaven Eph. 2:8-9; Phil. 3:4-9);

We believe that our redemption has been accomplished solely by the blood (Lev. 17:11) of our Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 26:28; 1 Pet. 1:18,19),

We believe that Christ, in the fullness of the blessing He has secured by His obedience unto death, is received by faith alone (Rom. 5:1), and that the moment we trust in Him as our Savior, we pass out of death into everlasting life (John 5:24) being justified from all things (Acts 13:39).

We believe that it is the privilege not only of some, but of all who are born again by the Spirit, through faith in Christ as revealed in the Scriptures, to be assured of their salvation (Luke 10:20; 12:32; 2 Cor. 5:1,6,8; 2 Tim. 1:12; 1 John 5:13) from the very day they took Him to be their Savior (John 6:47).

We believe that it is the obligation of the saved to witness by life and by word to the truths of Holy Scripture and to seek to proclaim the Gospel to all mankind (Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; 2 Cor. 5:19,20).

We believe that water baptism is the believer’s testimony to the oneness with Christ in death and resurrection. We also believe that baptism is the immersion of the believer’s body in water and an emersion from the water (Matt. 3:16; Mark 1:5-11; Acts 8:12,36-39).

We believe that the Lord’s Supper is the believer’s testimony that his soul is living day by day upon the crucified Christ, and is a communion of the members of the body of Christ (Matt. 26:26-29; 1 Cor. 11:20-24).

We believe that Satan is the originator of sin, and that under the permission of God he, through subtlety, led our first parents into transgression, thereby accomplishing their moral fall and subjecting them and their posterity to his own powers (Gen. 3:1-19; Rom. 5:12-14); and that he is the enemy of God and the people of God, opposing and exalting himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped (2 Thess. 2:4)

We believe that Satan was judged at the Cross (Jn. 16:11; Col. 2:15), though not then executed, and that he, an usurper, now rules as the “god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4) that at the second coming of Christ, Satan will be bound and cast into the abyss for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-3), and after the thousand years, “he must be loosed a little season,; finally to be “cast into the lake of fire and brimstone” (Rev. 20:10) where he shall be “tormented day and night for ever, and ever.”

We believe that according to the Word of God, the next great event in the fulfillment of prophecy will be the coming of Christ into the air (Phil. 3:20), to receive to Himself (Jn. 14:1-3) both His own who are alive and remain unto His coming and also all who have fallen asleep in Jesus (1 Cor. 15: 51-52; 1 Thess. 4:13-18); and that this event is the Blessed Hope (Titus 2:11-14) set before us in the gospel, and for this we should be constantly looking (Matt. 24:42-46).

We believe that the world will not be converted previous to the second coming of Christ; but is day by day ripening for judgment (Matt. 24:15-35; 2 Tim. 3:1-5), and that this dispensation will end with a fearful apostasy in the professing church (2 Tim. 4:1-3), and that following the period of the Great Tribulation in the earth the Lord Jesus Christ will return as He went–in person, on the clouds of heaven, and with power and great glory–to introduce the millennial age.

We believe that at death the spirits and souls of those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation pass immediately into His presence (Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23), and there remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the body, when Christ comes for His own, whereupon soul and body, reunited, shall be associated with Him forever in glory; but the spirits and souls of the unbelieving remain, after death, conscious of condemnation and in misery (Luke 16:19-26) until the final judgment of the Great White Throne at the close of the millennium, when soul and body, reunited, shall be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:11-15), not to be annihilated, but to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord.