Welcome / About Harvest / What We Believe / Doctrine
God
We believe in the only true God (John 17:3), the Father, the Son and
the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19-20). He created all things (Revelation
4:11) and upholds all things by the Word of His power (Hebrews 1:3). In
Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). He is a God of
truth and without iniquity, He is just and right (Deuteronomy 32:4) and
He shall judge the world (Psalm 9:8).
We believe that the Godhead eternally exists in three persons: the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. These three are one God, having
precisely the same nature, attributes and perfections, and are worthy
of precisely the same homage, confidence and obedience (Mark 12:29;
John 1:1-4; Matthew 29:19-20; Acts 4:3-4).
Jesus Christ
We believe in the total deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe He
is the manifestation of God in the flesh. We believe He was conceived
by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. We believe Him to be
true God and true man (John 1:1, 1:14, 1:18; John 14:8-9; 1 Timothy
3:16).
Holy Spirit
We believe in the total deity of the Holy Spirit and that His
ministry is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ (John 16:14). The Holy
Spirit regenerates the sinner upon belief in Christ, baptizing the
believer into one body of which Christ is the head. The Holy Spirit
indwells, guides, instructs, fills, comforts and empowers the believer
for godly living (Mark 13:11; John 14:26; John 16:13; Romans 5:5; 1
Corinthians 3:16). The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, of God’s
righteousness and of coming judgment (John 16:8-11).
While we believe that the Scriptures do not teach that certain gifts
have ceased, they indicate that use of the gifts vary according to the
need that each gift meets. Harvest Bible Chapel does not encourage the
use of “sign gifts.” Instead, we seek to emphasize the more excellent
way of love as well as zeal for the more edifying gifts (John 16:8;
13:15; Titus 3:5; Ephesians 1:22; 4:11-12; Romans 8:9-17; 12:4-8; 1
Corinthians 3:16; 12:4-5, 12:11-13, 12:19; Galatians 5:25; Hebrews
4:1-4; 2 Corinthians 12:12).
Scriptures
We believe the Scriptures of the Old Testament and New Testament
are verbally inspired by God and inerrant in their original writings.
We believe the 66 books of the Old Testament and the New Testament are
God’s complete and sufficient revelation and therefore carry God’s
authority for the total well-being of mankind (Psalm 119:97-104; Psalm
119:160; Matthew 5:18; John 5:46-47; John 10:35; 2 Timothy 3:15-16).
Man
We believe man was created in innocence under the law of his Maker but, by voluntarily
transgressing, fell from his sinless and happy state. Consequently, all
mankind is sinful. All people are sinners not only by inheritance, but
by their own choice and therefore are under just condemnation without
defense or excuse. We believe that without exception every man and
every woman is totally depraved and needs a Savior (Genesis 3:1-6;
Romans 3:10-19; Romans 1:18, Romans 1:32; Romans 5:1-2).
Salvation
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to
the Scriptures, as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice. We
believe that each person who by faith receives Him as personal Savior
is justified on the basis of Jesus Christ’s shed blood on Calvary. Each
person who receives Christ as personal Savior is born again of the Holy
Spirit and thereby becomes eternally secure as a child of God. We
believe the Holy Spirit baptizes each believing person into the body of
Christ at the moment of salvation and that there is no second baptism
of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:37-39; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Corinthians
12:13).
Resurrection
We believe in the resurrection of the body of our Lord Jesus Christ,
His ascension into heaven and His present life for us as High Priest
and Advocate (Acts 1:3; Acts 1:9; Hebrews 7:25-26).
Heaven, Hell and the Return of Christ
We believe in the “blessed hope”: the personal, premillenial return of
the Lord Jesus Christ. His return has a vital bearing on the personal
life and service of the believer (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). We believe
in the bodily resurrection of both the saved and the lost. The saved
are raised to eternal, conscious bliss in heaven (Matthew 25:34; John
14:2; 2 Corinthians 5:1; Revelation 2:7) the lost are raised to eternal
torment in hell in conscious separation from God. (Matthew 8:11;
Matthew 10:28; Matthew 13:49-50; Mark 9:47-48; Luke 12:5; Revelation
21:8).
Church
Upon accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, a believer becomes part
of His body, which is the church. There is one church universal,
composed of all those throughout the world who acknowledge Jesus Christ
as Savior and Lord. The Scriptures command believers to gather in order
to devote themselves to worship, prayer, teaching of the Word,
observance of the ordinances (baptism and communion), fellowship,
service to the body through the development and use of talents and
gifts, and outreach to the world in fulfillment of the command of
Christ to make disciples of all believers (Ephesians 5:23; Romans 12:1;
Acts 2:42-46; 1 Corinthians 14:26; Matthew 28:18-20).
Wherever God’s people meet regularly in obedience to this command,
there is the local expression of the church – under the oversight of
elders and other supportive leadership. The church’s members are to
work together in love and unity, intent on the ultimate purpose of
glorifying Christ (Ephesians 4:16).
Missions
Realizing that the cause of Christ extends beyond any one local
fellowship, we commit ourselves to an ongoing ministry of extending the
call of Christ to make disciples around the world (Matthew 28:19-20).