NLBC Beliefs

Scriptures

We believe the Old and New Testaments to be verbally inspired of God, and that they are of supreme and final authority in faith and life (II Timothy 3:16, 17 and II Peter 1:19-21). We insist that the King James translation of the Bible be used in Sunday School and from the pulpit in all other meetings associated with this church.

Godhead

We believe the God head eternally exists in three persons, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and that these three are one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes and perfections (Genesis 1:1, 1:26; Matthew 3:16, 17; Matthew 28:19, 20; John 10:30; II Corinthians 13:14 and Romans 8:9).

Lord Jesus Christ

We believe in:

  • His eternal existence as God (Hebrews 1:8);
  • His incarnation by means of the Virgin Birth (Isaiah 7:14 and Luke 1:35);
  • His death on the cross as the substitutionary atonement for sin (Romans 3:25 and Hebrews 9:14);
  • His literal, bodily resurrection from the dead (Luke 24:36-43 and Acts 10:40,41).
  • His present ministry of intercession in Heaven (Acts 1:9; I John 2:1 and Hebrews 8:1,2); and
  • His personal return to earth (Acts 1:11, I Thessalonians 4:16; Colossians 2:9 and Matthew 26:64).

Holy Spirit

We believe the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead:

  • Convicts men of sin (John 16:8), regenerates, indwells, seals (I Corinthians 3:16 and Ephesians 1:13,14), and sets believers apart unto a holy life;
  • Keeps and empowers believers day by day;
  • Is the teacher of the Word of God and guide for our daily life; and that
  • Anyone who does not have the Spirit living in him is not a child of God (Romans 8:9).

Man

We believe:

  • Man was created innocent and pure (Genesis 1:26);
  • Adam fell through the sin of disobedience (Romans 5:19); thereby all men are corrupted in body, mind and soul (Romans 5:12); therefore
  • All are in need of redemption.

Satan

We believe in the reality and personality of Satan (Job 1:6-9; Job 2:3; Matthew 4:1-11; I Peter 5:8 and James 4:7).

Salvation

We believe:

  • That salvation is solely by grace through faith in the blood sacrifice, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Son of God;
  • All who are truly saved are kept forever; however
  • God cannot over look sin in His children and will chasten and correct them in love (Hebrews 12:5-8).

Church

We believe:

  • That the local church is composed of regenerated baptized believers, voluntarily united together for the purpose of worship and edification;
  • It has been commissioned by Christ to propagate the Gospel unto the uttermost parts of the earth;
  • That the local church has absolute right of self-government, free from interferences of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations and that the one and only superintendent is Christ, through the Holy Spirit; and
  • That on all matters of membership, of policy of government and of benevolence the will of the local church is final (Acts 2:41-47; 4:33-37 and 5:1-20).

The Ordinances

We believe that Christ gave only two ordinances to the church to be observed till He comes:

  • The Lord’s Supper: It was left to us as an ordinance by the Lord Himself (Matthew 26:26; 27:28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19,20: I Corinthians 11:23-25) for a memorial of His death until He comes and should not be taken unadvisedly, but with the examination of one’s life.
  • Believer’s Baptism: We practice baptism because of the example of our Lord Jesus while He was here on earth (Matthew 3:13) and because of the command given by our Lord to be baptized (Matthew 28:19). We accept, as the scriptural mode of baptism, immersion.

It should be made clear that there is no saving power in baptism; it is meant for those who are already saved; giving a clear picture of the fact that the believer is dead, buried and raised spiritually with Jesus Christ by faith in Him.

Separation

We believe it is our duty to call the attention of believers to the scriptural teaching of separation and that we should abstain from worldly practices and live a life devoted to the Lord (Romans 12:1,2).

The Future

We believe in the personal pre-millennial return of Jesus Christ. He will come:

  • For His saints to gather them unto Himself;
  • With His saints to judge the nations and to execute judgment.

It should be noted that the bodily resurrection of the unjust unto judgment and everlasting, conscious punishment in the lake of fire will occur at the end of the millennial reign.

Missions

Because all men everywhere without Christ are lost and bound for eternal punishment, we believe that we are debtors to all men and have the responsibility of giving them the Gospel (Romans 10:14). Jesus left us the command that we should all be witnesses for Him (Acts 1:8) and should take the good news of the Gospel to every place where men are to be found (Matthew 28:19, 20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48 and John 20:21). We believe that to carry out this command we must support by prayer and financial aid those who go out under sound missionary agencies to represent us in other parts of the world.