ESSENTIAL BELIEFS

SALVATION ONLY THROUGH CHRIST

We believe that, owing to universal death through sin, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless born again by accepting Jesus Christ as one’s personal lord and savior. A new nature imparted from above, a new life implanted by the Holy Spirit through the Word, is absolutely essential to salvation, and only those thus saved are children of God. We believe, also, that our redemption has been accomplished solely by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was made to be sin and was made a curse for us, dying in our place; and that no feeling, no good resolutions, no sincere efforts, no submission to the rules and regulations of any church can result in salvation.

Deuteronomy 6:4

Matthew 28:19

Mark 1:9-11

John 4:24

Salvation: Salvation is provided by simply confessing your sin and believing in Jesus Christ as your Savior.

Romans 10:8-9, “But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” That is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Simple prayer: Dear Lord, I know that I am a sinner and I confess my sin and pray for your forgiveness. I know that you died on the cross for my sin, and I invite you to come into my heart and life. I will put my faith and trust in you. I will follow you all my days.

THE SCRIPTURES

We believe that the entire Bible is inspired of God and that holy men of God “were moved by the Holy Spirit” to write the very words of Scripture. We believe that this divine inspiration extends equally and fully to all parts of the sacred writings – historical, poetical, doctrinal, and prophetical – as appeared in the original manuscripts. We believe that the whole Bible in the originals is, therefore, without error. We believe that all the Scriptures center around the Lord Jesus Christ in His person and work in His first and second coming. We also believe that all the Scriptures were designed for our practical instruction.

Mark 12:26, 36; 13:11

Luke 24:27, 44

John 5:39

Acts 1:16; 17:2-3; 18:28; 26:22; 23; 28:23

Romans 15:4

1 Corinthians 2:13; 10:11

2 Timothy 3:16

2 Peter 1:21

THE GODHEAD

We believe that the Godhead eternally exists in three persons – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – and that these three are one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes, and perfections, and worthy of precisely the same homage, confidence, and obedience.

Genesis 1:2, 27

Deuteronomy 6:4

Matthew 28:18-19

Mark 12:29

John 1:1, 14

Acts 5:3-4

2 Corinthians 13:14

Hebrews 1:1-3

Revelation 1:4-6

ANGELS, FALLEN AND UNFALLEN

We believe that God created an innumerable company of sinless, spiritual beings, known as angels; that Satan, “Lucifer, son of the morning,” the highest in rank, sinned through pride; that a great company of the angels followed him in moral fall, some of whom became demons and are active as his agents and associates in carrying out his unholy purposes, while others who fell are “reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” (Ezekiel 28:11-19; 1 Timothy 3:6; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6)

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 power; 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 worshipped; and that he who in the beginning said, “I will be like the most High,” in his warfare appears as an angel of light, even counterfeiting the works of God by fostering religious movements and systems of doctrine, which systems in every case are characterized by a denial of the efficacy of the blood of Christ and of salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone.

Genesis 3:1-19

Romans 5:12-14

2 Corinthians 4:3-4; 11:13-15

Ephesians 6:10-12

2 Thessalonians 2:4

1 Timothy 4:1-3

We believe that Satan was judged at the cross, though not then executed, and that he, a usurper, now rules as the “god of this world;” that, at the second coming of Christ, Satan will be bound and cast into the abyss for a thousand years, and after the thousand years he will be loosed for a little season and then “cast into the lake of fire and brimstone,” where he “shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

Colossians 2:15

Revelation 20:1-3, 10

MANKIND, CREATED AND FALLEN

We believe that mankind was originally created in the image and after the likeness of God, and thereafter fell through sin, consequently losing spiritual life, becoming dead in trespasses and sins and subject to the power of the devil. We also believe that this spiritual death, or total depravity of human nature, has been transmitted to the entire human race, the Man Christ Jesus alone being excepted; and hence that every child of Adam is born into the world with a nature which not only possesses no spark of divine life, but is essentially and unchangeably evil apart from divine grace.

Genesis 1:26; 2:17; 6:5

Psalms 14:1-3; 51:5

Jeremiah 17:9

John 3:6; 5:40; 6:53

Romans 3:10-19; 8:6-7

Ephesians 2:1-3

1 Timothy 5:6

1 John 3:8

HUMAN SEXUALITY

We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex.

Genesis 3:1-19

Leviticus 18:1-30

Romans 1:26-29

1 Corinthians 5:1; 6:9

1 Thessalonians 4:1-8

Hebrews 13:4

We believe that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman.

Genesis 2:24

Romans 7:2

1 Corinthians 7:10

Ephesians 5:22-23

We believe that men and women are spiritually equal in position before God but that God has ordained distinct and separate spiritual functions for men and women in the home and the church. The husband is to be the leader of the home and men are to be the leaders (pastors and elders) of Impact Church of the Woodlands.

Galatians 3:28

Colossians 3:18

1 Timothy 2:8-15; 3:4-5, 12

SALVATION ONLY THROUGH CHRIST

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 attainments in morality however high, no culture however impressive, no baptism or other ordinance however administered, can help the sinner to take even one step toward heaven. A new nature imparted from above, a new life implanted by the Holy Spirit through the Word, is absolutely essential to salvation, and only those thus saved are children of God. We believe, also, that our redemption has been accomplished solely by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was made to be sin and was made a curse for us, dying in our place; and that no feeling, no good resolutions, no sincere efforts, no submission to the rules and regulations of any church can result in salvation.

Deuteronomy 6:4

Matthew 28:19

Mark 1:9-11

John 4:24

ETERNAL SECURITY

We believe that, because of the eternal purpose of God toward the objects of His love, because of His freedom to exercise grace toward the meritless on the ground of the propitiatory blood of Christ, because of the very nature of the divine gift of eternal life, because of the present and unending intercession and advocacy of Christ in heaven, because of the immutability of the covenants of God, because of the regenerating, abiding presence of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of all who are saved, those once saved shall be kept saved forever. We believe, however, that God is a holy and righteous Father and that, since He cannot overlook the willful disobedience of His children, He will, when they persistently sin, chasten them and correct them in infinite love; but having undertaken to save them and keep them forever, apart from all human merit, He, who cannot fail, will in the end present every one of them faultless before the presence of His glory and conformed to the image of His Son.

John 5:24; 10:28; 14:16-17; 17:11

Romans 8:28-39

Ephesians 1:11-14

Hebrews 7:25

1 John 2:1-2; 5:13

Jude 24

THE HOLY SPIRIT

We believe that the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the blessed Trinity, though omnipresent from all eternity, took up His abode in the world in a unique manner on the day of Pentecost according to the divine promise. We believe He dwells in every believer, and by His baptism unites all to Christ in one body, and that He, as the Indwelling One, is the source of all power and all acceptable worship and service. We believe that He never departs from the universal church but is ever present to testify of Christ; seeking to occupy believers with Him and not with themselves nor with their experiences. We believe that His abode in the world in this special sense will cease when Christ comes to receive His own at the completion of the church.

John 14:16-17; 16:7-15

1 Corinthians 6:19

Ephesians 2:22

2 Thessalonians 2:7

We believe that, in this age, certain well-defined ministries are committed to the Holy Spirit, and that it is the duty of every Christian to understand them and to be adjusted to them in his own life and experience. These ministries are the restraining of evil in the world to the measure of the divine will; the convicting of the world respecting sin, righteousness, and judgment; the regenerating of all believers; the indwelling and anointing of all who are saved, thereby sealing them unto the day of redemption; the baptizing into the one body of Christ all who are saved; and the continued filling for power, teaching, and service of those among the saved who are yielded to Him and who are subject to His will.

John 3:6; 16:7-11

Romans 8:9

1 Corinthians 12:13

Ephesians 4:30; 5:18

2 Thessalonians 2:7

1 John 2:20-27

THE ORDINANCES

We believe that water baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the only ordinances of the church and that they are a testimony for the church in this age.

Matthew 28:19

Luke 22:19-20

Acts 10:47-48; 16:32-33; 18:7-8

1 Corinthians 11:26

THE CHRISTIAN’S SERVICE

We believe that divine, enabling gifts for service are bestowed by the Spirit upon all who are saved. While there is a diversity of gifts, each believer is energized by the same Spirit, and each is called to his own divinely appointed service as the Spirit sovereignty determines. In the apostolic church there were certain gifted individuals – apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers – who were appointed by God for the perfecting of the saints unto their work of the ministry.

Romans 12:6-8

1 Corinthians 12:4-11

Ephesians 4:11-13

We believe that, wholly apart from salvation benefits, which are bestowed equally upon all who believe, rewards are promised according to the faithfulness of each believer in his service for his Lord, and that these rewards will be bestowed at the judgment seat of Christ after He comes to receive His own to Himself.

1 Corinthians 3:9-15; 9:18-27

2 Corinthians 5:10

GIVING

We believe that every Christian, as a steward of that portion of God’s wealth entrusted to him, should give to support his local church financially. We believe that God has established the principle of giving whereby Christians should give regularly and cheerfully to the support of the Church, the relief of those in need, and the spread of the Gospel. We believe that a Christian relinquishes all rights to direct the use of the offering once the gift has been made.

Genesis 14:20

Proverbs 3:9-10

Acts 4:34-37

1 Corinthians 16:2

2 Corinthians 9:6-7

Galatians 6:6

Ephesians 4:28

1 Timothy 5:17-18

1 John 3:17

THE GREAT COMMISSION AND MISSIONS

We believe that it is the explicit message of our Lord Jesus Christ to those whom He has saved that they are sent forth by Him into all the world even as He was sent forth of His Father into the world. We believe that, after they are saved, they are divinely reckoned to be related to this world as strangers and pilgrims, ambassadors and witnesses, and that their primary purpose in life should be to make Christ known to the whole world. We believe that God has given the church a great commission to proclaim the Gospel to all nations so that there might be a great multitude from every nation, tribe, ethnic group, and language group who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As ambassadors of Christ we must use all available means to go to the foreign nations and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 28:19-20

Mark 16:15

Luke 24:46-48

John 17:18; 20:21

Acts 1:8

2 Corinthians 5:18-20

THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST

We believe that the period of great tribulation on the earth will be climaxed by the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth as He went, in person on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory to introduce the millennial age, to bind Satan and place him in the abyss, to lift the curse which now rests upon the whole creation, to restore Israel to her own land and to give her the fulfillment of God’s covenant promises. At that time the whole world will be exposed to the knowledge of God.

Deuteronomy. 30:1-10

Isaiah 11:9

Ezekiel 37:21-28

Matthew 24:15-25, 46

Acts 15:16-17

Romans 8:19-23; 11:25-27

Revelation 20:1-3

THE ETERNAL STATE

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 and remain there in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the glorified body when Christ comes for His own. At that time those souls and bodies will be permanently reunited with Him forever in glory. The spirits and souls of the unbelieving remain after death conscious of condemnation and in misery until the final judgment of the great white throne at the close of the millennium, when soul and body alike shall be reunited and ultimately cast into the lake of fire, not to be annihilated, but to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the Glory of His power.

Luke 16:19-26; 23:42

2 Corinthians 5:8

Philippians 1:23

2 Thessalonians 1:7-9

Jude 6-7

Revelation 20:11-15

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