Our Core Beliefs
What North Central stands for...
 | There is One God (Deuteronomy 6:4, Ephesians 4:6), the Creator of heaven, | |
| earth, and all things therein. God is a Spirit (John 4:24) and He is eternal (I Timothy 1:17), without beginning or end. He is all-knowing and all-powerful. |
| Though God is One, God exists in three persons (I John 5:7). Commonly called | |
| the Godhead, or Trinity, there is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The Three are One in nature, essence, power, and purpose, yet they are distinct one from the other, co-equal and co-existent (John 1:1, 14:26, 16:5-16). |
| Jesus Christ is God and He was with God in the beginning (John 1:1-2). He is the | |
| Son of God and God the Son. Jesus was both God and man while here on earth. He was simultaneously fully human and fully divine, never ceasing to be God although He existed in fleshly form. In the man Jesus of Nazareth dwelt the fullness of God in bodily form (Colossians 2:8-9). |
| Jesus is the Christ, the Anointed One, who died for the sins of the world, was | |
| buried, and raised to life again, according to the eternal purpose of God as revealed in the scriptures (I Corinthians 15:3-4). These events were not figurative or metaphorical, but they actually happened. Jesus was the Word made flesh (John 1:14), and His real physical body died on a real cross, and He was buried in a real tomb. His fleshly body was raised from the grave (Luke 24:39), and He ascended back to heaven where He is seated at the right hand of the Father (Colossians 3:1). |
| Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world; His death was the atoning sacrifice for our | |
| sins (I John 2:2), and the gospel (the good news of God's love) is the power of God to save us from condemnation (Romans 1:16). |
| Salvation is the free gift of God to those who believe on Jesus Christ as God's Son | |
| and man's Savior. Although all of us have sinned and come under the condemnation of spiritual death in hell, eternal life in heaven with God is the reward of those whose sins are washed away and who walk faithfully in the light of the Lord (Romans 3:23, 6:23). Salvation cannot be earned by good deeds, works of merit, or legalistic righteousness; it is only by God's grace to those who believe (Ephesians 2:8-9). |
| We are saved by faith, but faith is not finished until we obey God's commands. | |
| We are justified by faith (Romans 5:1), and we are justified by obedient action performed through that faith (James 2:24). These are not the works of human merit to earn salvation, but the works of faith to obtain salvation. These include repentance from our sins, turning away from ungodliness and resolving to live in it no longer (Luke 13:3, Acts 2:38)...confession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, claiming Him before men as our Savior (Matthew 10:32-33, Romans 10:9- 10)...baptism (full immersion) in water for the remission of sins, being buried to our old life and resurrected to new life in Him (Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, Romans 6:4). |
| Baptized believers in Jesus Christ receive the gift of God's Holy Spirit (Acts 2: | |
| 38). This Spirit is not a force or a power, but rather a Person in the Godhead who dwells in believers. The Spirit is the seal of God on our lives and the down- payment of our heavenly inheritance (II Corinthians 1:22, Ephesians 4:30). The Spirit is our teacher, instructing us by the truth that He has revealed to the prophets and apostles who recorded the scriptures (John 16:13, I Peter 1:21). The Spirit is our life-companion and guide, transforming us and empowering us to bear the fruits of holiness to the glory of God (Galatians 5:16-26). |
| Those who accept Jesus by faith and obedience are added by God to the church | |
| of Christ (Acts 2:47), the one that He promised to build upon the truth that He is the Son of God (Matthew 16:16-18). This church is the one body that the scriptures speak of (Ephesians 4:4, Colossians 1:24), and its head is Christ Himself (Ephesians 1:22-23). This church was founded by Christ and established on the day of Pentecost after His resurrection and ascension (Acts 2). It wears His name (Romans 16:16). It keeps His commandments and continues steadfastly in the doctrine of His apostles (Acts 2:42), those appointed by Him to first preach the gospel, to shepherd the church in its infancy, and to deliver the truth they received by inspiration of the Holy Spirit (John 16:13, Matthew 16:19). |
| There is one faith (Ephesians 4:5), and it has once and for all been delivered to | |
| the saints (Jude 3). There is nothing that modern man may add to or take from the doctrine established by Christ's apostles and the example of worship and practice set by the early church under their direct leadership. Any other doctrine than the apostles' and any other church than the authentic New Testament body of Christ represents a sinful departure from the truth for which man will receive the punishment of God (II Peter 2:1-3, Revelation 22:18-19). |
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"But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine..." Titus 2:1
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