Our Beliefs and Practices

          The Bible-all 66 books-is accepted as the Word of God.  It is accepted as being verbally inspired and as inerrant.  We speak of the original manuscripts and not human translations.  We believe that God has revealed Himself to us through His Holy Word.  It is the only standard of authority in religion to us.  It is our authority for the origin, nature, and destiny of man.  We believe the Genesis record of creation as being historical – we thus reject completely the false position of organic evolution as contradictory to the Genesis record.

 

The Bible reveals God’s Scheme of Redemption – His Plan of Salvation for all mankind.  We do not believe that sin is an inherited trait.  Therefore, we do not believe that little babies are sinners.  To the contrary, we believe that all mature persons should strive for the purity of childhood.  As we grow towards maturity and become aware of God’s plan for us, we must then obey His plan.  If we refuse God’s plan, then we become lost.  The New Testament teaches the necessity of listening to God’s Word, believing its promises, obeying its commands, and sharing our salvation with the whole world.  We believe that a sinner becomes saved upon a confession of his faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and his submission to baptism – immersion in water – for remission of sins.

 

We believe that the Old Testament Law of Moses has been fulfilled through our Lord and that we are subject to the New Testament.  Though we diligently study the Old Testament, we are no longer subject to its commands:  sacrificing animals, worshiping in Jerusalem, worshiping on Saturday, etc.  The Old Testament is for our learning and as an example of principals, but we are now under the law of Christ as found in the New Testament.

 

We believe that only one church is depicted in the New Testament and that it belongs to Christ.  We believe that it is possible to be a Christian and only a Christian.  We believe that all true believers should be joined in one spiritual body of Christ – the New Testament church.

 

We believe that the New Testament church engaged in a very simple worship service of Singing, Prayer, Teaching, the Lord’s Supper, and Giving.  We sing acapella, without any instruments.  We observe the Lord’s Supper every Sunday, not as a sacrament but as a memorial feast.

 

We believe that the church is spoken of in two senses in the Bible:  (1) the universal sense in which every Christian is a member and (2) the local sense, such as the group of Christians who compose the church of Christ here at Clearview.  We believe that Jesus Christ is the only head of the church and that He is in heaven at the right hand of God.  Every local congregation of the church is autonomous – self ruling with it’s own bishops (elders or pastors), deacons, and a local minister – and must do its part in helping to bring others to Christ through sharing the Bible  and its teachings with others.

 

We believe that Heaven is a real place, the eternal home of those who obey God.  We believe that hell is also a real place reserved for the ungodly for eternity.  We reject both pre-millenialism and post-millenialism.  We believe that with the second coming of Christ there will be a general resurrection of the dead, the final judgement will take place, the wicked will be consigned to hell, and the righteous to Heaven.  The present universe will be destroyed.

 

The Bible is our greatest possession.  It speaks to us of God’s love, His eternal principles here on Earth, and an eternal home in Heaven.

 

     Please come and visit with us as we live and work among you in the Clearview Community.