GCBC Doctrinal Statement

A. Statement of Doctrines

  1. The Holy Scriptures
    We believe the Holy Scriptures in the original text to be the Inspired Word of God, Authoritative, Inerrant and God Breathed (II Timothy 3:16-17, II Peter 1:20-21, Matthew 5:18, John 16:12-13).

  2. The Godhead
    We believe in one Triune God, existing in three persons:  Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Eternal in Being, Identical in Nature (Luke 3:22, Matthew 28:19), Equal in Power and Glory (Colossians 2:9), having the same Attributes and Perfections (Deuteronomy 6:4, II Corinthians 13:14), and thus exercising supreme and absolute rule over all of creation (I Chronicles 29:11-12, Psalm 24:1, Daniel 4:35, I Timothy 6:14-16). The Father is the Author of the Divine Plan (Ephesians 1:11, 3:11), the Son is the Executor of the Divine Plan (Hebrews 10:7, I Timothy 2:5, John 4:34, 17:4), and the Holy Spirit is the Revealer of the Divine Plan (John 16:13, I Corinthians 2:10, John 14:26).

  3. The Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ
    We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, The Eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God (John 1:1-2, 14), having been conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:27, 34,35), in order that He might fulfill the Plan of God the Father and redeem sinful man (I Peter 1:18-21). He accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice (Hebrews 9:26, 10:12, Romans 3:24-25). Our redemption is made sure to us by His literal physical resurrection from the dead (Romans 4:25, I Peter 1:3-5). The Lord Jesus Christ is now in Heaven, exalted at the right hand of God the Father, where as the High Priest for His people (Hebrews 9:24), He fulfills the ministry of Representative (Hebrews 7:25), Intercessor (Romans 8:34), and Advocate (I John 2:1-2).

  4. The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
    We believe that God the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, convicts the world of sin (John 16:8-11), baptizes every believer into union with the Lord Jesus Christ at the moment of salvation (I Corinthians 12:13), regenerates the individual and gives him spiritual birth (John 3:3-7, Titus 3:5), seals the believer unto the day of redemption, which guarantees the eternal security of the believer (Ephesians 1:13), indwells all believers in the present age (I Corinthians 6:19), fills every believer for the purpose of fellowship when all known sins have been confessed to God the Father (Ephesians 5:18, 1 John 1:9, Galatians 5:16), and sovereignly bestows one or more spiritual gifts on every believer in this dispensation at the moment of salvation (Hebrews 2:4, I Corinthians 12:11).
    Some spiritual gifts such as apostleship, tongues, interpretation of tongues, and prophecy were temporary in nature, and were used by God until the completion of the Canon of the Scriptures (I Corinthians 13:8-10, Ephesians 4:7-8, 11).

  5. The Person of Satan
    We believe that Satan, a super angel, was created by God.  Before his fall, he was the anointing cherub of God, but fell from that position by the sin of self-exalting pride.  He is the enemy of God and man, and is condemned eternally to the Lake of Fire (Isaiah 14:12-15, Revelation 20:7-10, Ezekiel 28:12-17, Job 1:6-7).

  6. The Total Depravity of Man
    We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin, mankind fell, inherited a sinful nature, became alienated from God, and is totally unable to reconcile himself to God (Genesis 1:26-27, Genesis 3, Romans 3:19-23, Romans 5:12-21, Ephesians 2:12).

  7. Salvation
    We believe that salvation in every dispensation is the gift of God, provided for man by Grace, and received by personal faith in the substitutionary work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, which provided for the reconciliation of mankind to God (Ephesians 2:8-10, Ephesians 1:7, John 1:12, John 14:6, Acts 4:12, Romans 3:24-30, Titus 3:5, John 3:16, Romans 10:13,17).  We further believe that salvation is not progressive nor temporary, but that our position in Christ is secure from the moment of salvation.

  8. Eternal Security
    Salvation and eternal life depend entirely upon God and His character: therefore, the believer does absolutely nothing to maintain his salvation (Romans 8:1, Romans 8:38-39, Hebrews 10:14, I Corinthians 1:4-9, John 10:27-30, I John 5:11-13, Ephesians 1:13-14).

  9. The Church
    We believe that the Church, which is now the body and shall be the bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born again persons of this dispensation, irrespective of their affiliation with Christian organizations (Ephesians 1:22-23, Ephesians 5:25-27, I Corinthians 12:12-14).

  10. Spirituality
    We believe that spirituality is an absolute condition in the life of the believer in this dispensation, contingent upon the filling of the Holy Spirit, with the result of walking in love and fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We further believe that spirituality is distinct from maturity, that a believer becomes carnal through any act of mental, verbal, or overt sin, and that spirituality or fellowship with Jesus Christ is restored solely by personal confession of that sin to God the Father (John 15:7-8, Galatians 5:16-17, Ephesians 5:18, Romans 6:11-13, I John 1:3-9, I John 2:1-2, I Corinthians 11:27-31).

  11. Spiritual Gifts
    We believe that God the Holy Spirit in grace, and apart from human merit, sovereignly bestows spiritual gifts upon believers in this dispensation.  Some of the permanent spiritual gifts which exist today are pastor/teacher, evangelist, administrator, helper, giving, and showing of mercy.  We further believe that the temporary spiritual gifts, apostleship, prophecy, tongues, interpreting tongues, healing and working of miracles, ceased with the completion of the Canon of Scriptures (I Corinthians 12:11, Ephesians 4:7-12, Romans 12: 4-8).

  12. The Rapture
    We believe in the imminent pre-tribulation Rapture of the Church, when Jesus Christ will come in the clouds and the Church will go to meet Him in the air.  The Church then becomes the Bride of Jesus Christ in resurrection bodies (Titus 2:11-14, I Thessalonians 4:13-18, I Corinthians 15:51-57).

  13. The Tribulation
    We believe the Rapture of the Church will be followed by the fulfillment of Israel’s Seventieth Week, the latter half of which is the time of Jacob’s Trouble, the Great Tribulation (Daniel 9:27, Jeremiah 30:7, Matthew 24:15-21, Revelation 16:1-19,21).

  14. The Second Coming of Jesus Christ
    We believe that the Great Tribulation will be climaxed by the Second Advent of Jesus Christ, which is the pre-millennial return of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Bride to earth to set up His Millennial Kingdom.  He will totally subdue the enemies of the Jews at the Battle of Armageddon (Revelation 19:11-21), and begin His millennial reign in which He, the Son of David, will sit on the Throne of David and rule with all Church Age believers, His Bride, for one thousand years (Isaiah 9:6-7, Luke 1:32, Acts 1:11, Revelation 1:7, Matthew 24:30, Zechariah 14:4-11, Matthew 24:15-25, 46, II Thessalonians 1:7-10, Revelation 19:11-16, Revelation 20:2-6).

  15. The Eternal State
    We believe that the soul and human spirit of those who have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation do at death immediately pass into His presence.  There they remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the body at His coming, when soul, human spirit and body reunited shall be associated with Him forever.  The souls of unbelievers remain after death in conscious misery until the final judgment of the Great White Throne at the close of the millennium.  Then soul and body reunited shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to be punished with everlasting separation from the presence of the Lord and the Glory of His power (Luke 16:19-26, Luke 23:43, II Corinthians 5:8, Philippians 1:23, II Thessalonians 1:7-9, Jude vs. 6,7, Revelation 20:11-15).

  16. Church Ordinances
    We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ instituted the ordinances of Baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper, both of which are commanded to be observed by believers only, until His return (Matthew 28:19-20, I Corinthians 11:23-34).

© 2021 Gulf Coast Bible Church