Our Articles of Faith

The Bible is the fully and uniquely inspired Word of God written (II Tim. 3:16; II Peter 1:20-21). It is in its entirety the Word of God, given by men inspired by God. The divine initiative, activity, and superintendence in the process of inspiration imparts inerrancy to the original documents (Matt. 5:18). By God’s supernatural providence the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament canon were preserved with such integrity that for all intents and purposes our translations today are based on an adequate equivalent to the autographs of Scripture. It constitutes for us today the revealed will of God in written form (Psa. 119:11; Matt. 4:4), and the words of Scripture are for us the Word of God (Heb 3:7).

The Bible is our sufficient and final authority for faith and practice (Isa. 8:20; Matt. 24:35; John 12:48). Through it the Holy Spirit, who inspired its writing, continues to illumine (Psa. 119:18, 105, 130), convict (Heb. 4:12-13), regenerate (James 1:18; I Peter 1:23), sanctify (John 17:17; Eph. 5:26), instruct, reprove, correct and train in righteousness (II Tim. 3:16:17). Whatever is not revealed in or established by the Scriptures cannot be made an article of faith essential to salvation (II Tim. 3:15-17).

The one true and living God (I Kings 8:60, Isa. 43:10, 11; Mark 12:29, 32; I Thess. 1:9) is the eternal, personal Spirit. He is infinite and unchangeable in power, wisdom, holiness, and love (Isa. 6:3; James 1:17). He is the Creator, Sovereign Ruler, and Preserver of all things whether visible or invisible (I Peter 4:19; Psa. 103:19; Heb. 1:3). In the divine unity of his Godhead there eternally exist three Persons of one essence, perfection, and power: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 3:16, 17; 28:19; II Cor. 13:14).

Jesus Christ is the eternally begotten Son, the second person of the triune Godhead. He was eternally one with the Father (John 1:1; 10:30) and by the conception of the Holy Spirit was born of the virgin Mary (Luke 1:27, 35; Matt. 1:20). Thus, two whole and perfect natures were forever united in one perfect personality in Jesus Christ. He is the eternal Word made flesh, the only begotten Son of the Father, and the Son of Man (John 1:14; John 3:16; Matt. 16:13). He is the Godman, truly and fully God and truly and fully man. He was sinless in life (I John 3:5). He and he alone was qualified to be our substitute, our Savior (I Tim. 2:5; Jude 25).

He arose bodily from the dead (I Cor. 15:17, 20, 23; Phil. 3:21). He ascended into heaven into the right hand of the Father, the Majesty on high (Acts 1:9, 11; Heb 1:3; 8:1), where he is now enthroned. He will return from heaven in a second personal advent (Acts 1:11; Heb. 9:28; Rev. 20:6). He will be the Judge of all men (Acts 10:42; II Tim. 4:1). He will reign in righteousness and will consummate his redemptive mission (Rev. 11:15; 22:12, 13). This blessed hope of the Christian inspires us to holy living, to missionary witness, and to sacrificial service (Titus 2:13; Luke 19:13; Matt. 16:27).

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the triune Godhead. He is of one substance with the Father and the Son, from whom he has proceeded (John 15:26) and is co-equal with them in eternity, grace, and power. It is his ministry to glorify Jesus Christ (John 16:14), and he is ever present and active in the Church of Christ (John 14:16, 17). He convicts the world of sin (John 16:7, 8), regenerates those who repent and believe (John 3:7, 8), and sanctifies and empowers the believers for godly living and service (Rom. 15:16; Acts 1:8).

The Holy Spirit sovereignly bestows and distributes his gifts within his Church (1 Cor. 12:11, 18). No one gift of the Spirit is distributed to all believers (I Cor. 12:29, 30). Individual members of the Church receive a gifts(s) of the Spirit for the purpose of ministry and the up-building of the Church (Eph. 4:12, Rom. 12:6-8 and I Cor. 12:8-10).

Man was created in the image of God (Gen. 1:27) and was innocent and pure (Rom. 5:12). Godlikeness included his ability to choose between right and wrong, and he was thus morally responsible (Gen. 3:3; Deut. 30:19; Rom. 2:15). By his sinful free choice Adam rebelled against God, fell from his original innocence and purity, and received a fallen and sinful nature (Rom. 5:12). Each human being today is born with this sinful nature (Psa. 51:5; Gal. 3:22) and by his own sinful deeds has become guilty before God (Rom. 3:11-23). Apart from the regenerating work of God, man today is lost in sin, is dead in his trespasses and sin, and is without God and without hope (II Cor. 4:3; Eph. 2:1-3, 12).

The prevenient grace of God through Jesus Christ is freely bestowed upon all men, enabling all who will turn from sin to righteousness and through believing on Christ receive pardon and cleansing from sin (John 1:4, 9; Rom. 5:17, 18, I John 1:9). We therefore have a gospel for all the world so that whosever will may come (Rev. 22:17), whoever is thirsty may come (John 7:37), and whoever will can believe and have everlasting life (John 3:16).

The believer is securely kept by the power of God as he abides by faith in vital fellowship with Christ. However, since he continues to be morally responsible to God after his conversion and continues to have free will, it is possible for a Christian to stop trusting in Christ, to fall away and rebel against God. If he does not return or seek restoration through repentance, and faith, but persists in his sin and dies in this rebellious state he will be eternally lost (Ezek. 33:12, 13, 18; 18:24; 3:20; Rom. 11:22; Heb. 3:6, 14).

Jesus Christ made a full atonement for the sins of the whole world (I John 2:2) by shedding his own blood upon the cross as a perfect and sufficient sacrifice (Heb. 9:13, 14, 26). His sacrifice need never be repeated or anything added to it, for he accomplished salvation once and for all (Heb. 10:10, 14, 15; John 19:30). His vicarious substitutionary death is the only ground for our salvation (Acts 4:12; I Cor. 3:11; 15:3). It is a sufficient atonement for the whole world (I Tim. 2:6; 4:10). This atonement is efficacious for the salvation of little children in the innocency and for those whose mental faculties are so limited as to render them incapable of making moral decisions (Rom. 2:15; 5:13; Matt. 19:13-15). It is efficacious for those who have reached the age of accountability only when they repent and believe the gospel (Acts 3:19).

Repentance is that godly sorrow for sin which results from the convicting work of the Holy Spirit (John 16:7-11; II Cor. 7:9). It involves a sensing of personal guilt before God (Psa. 51:4), a voluntary turning away from sin (Acts 26:20; Isa. 55;7), and the confessing of sin and making restitution where possible (Prov. 28:13; I John 1:9; Ezek. 33:15; Luke 19:8). It is the essential preparation (Mark 1:15; Matt. 3:8; Acts 3:19; 20:21; 26:20) for saving faith—the simple trust in Christ for salvation (John 20:31; Rom. 1:16; Eph. 2:8).

Justification is the gracious judicial act of God fully acquitting the repenting and believing sinner (Rom. 3:24-26; 5:1). God grants full pardon of all guilt, release from the penalty of sins committed, and acceptance as righteous, not on the basis of the merits or efforts of the sinner, but upon the basis of the atonement by Jesus Christ and the faith of the sinner (Rom. 3:28; Gal. 2:16; Titus 3:7).

Regeneration or the new birth is the gracious work of God changing the moral nature of the repentant believer from darkness to light, from nature to grace, from death to life, from bondage of sin to liberty in Christ (Acts 26:18); Rom. 6:22; Eph. 2:1; Titus 3:5). The believer becomes a new creature in Christ Jesus, is born of the spirit, and enters into a life of peace with God, obedience to the will of God, and love for all (II Cor. 5:17; Rom. 5:1; 6:13, 18, 19).

Adoption or reconciliation is the gracious act of God by which the justified and regenerated believer is constituted a son of god with the privilege of access to the Father, membership in the family of God, and inheritance with Christ (John 1:12; Rom. 8:15; 17). Justification, regeneration, and adoption are simultaneous in the heart of the repentant believer.

The Holy Spirit is the witness to salvation by the inner assurance he imparts to the child of God (Rom.8:16; I John 3:24; 4:13; 5:6, 10; Rom. 8:9), and by the fruit of his life according the standard of Scripture: peace with God (Rom. 5:1, 8:1), love for the children of God (I John 3:14; 4:12), joy in Christ (Rom. 15:13; Gal. 5:22; I Thess. 1:6), the guidance of the Spirit (Rom. 8:14), and righteous conduct (I John 2:3-5; 3:9, 10). Good works are the visible fruit of a life lived in Christ; they are not the condition of salvation, but the result of salvation (Eph. 2:8, John 15:8, 16).

The fullness of the Spirit is one of several terms used in the Bible to describe that work of grace in the heart of the believer subsequent to the new birth by which he is cleansed from sin and empowered for Holy life and service (Acts 2:4; 15:9; 1:8). It has been termed entire sanctification because there is an initial cleansing of the defilement of committed sins in the new birth (Titus 3:5), because of the wholeness of the commitment necessary for one who would be Spirit-filled (Rom. 12:1, 2; 6:13), and because of the wholeness of the cleansing from the defilement of the inner nature which results (I Thess. 5:23, 24). The Spirit-filled person is enabled by the in-dwelling Holy Spirit to love God with his whole being (Matt. 22:37, 38; Rom 5:5) and his neighbor as himself (Matt. 22:37, 38; Rom. 5:5), and is enabled to live in true holiness of life (Luke 1:75; Eph. 5:25-27; Matt. 5:8; Titus 2:12).

The crisis experience of the infilling of the Spirit or entire sanctification is the instantaneous experience based upon heart thirst (John 7:37-39), self-humbling (Isa. 6:3-7; Rom. 7:24, 25), and consecration (Rom. 6:13, 16, 19) wherein the Holy Spirit fills the believer (Acts 2:4), baptizes with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5), and bestows his power (Acts 1:8; 2:39). It is entered into by faith (Acts 26:18; 15:9).

The progressive aspect of sanctification is that process of growth in Christian maturity, Christ-likeness, and practical godliness which results from walking obediently in the light (I John 1:7), from spiritual nurture and discipline (Rom. 12:2; II Cor. 3:17, 18), and from the Holy Spirit’s continuing ministry in the cleansed and yielded believer (Acts 4:31; Eph. 3:19; 5:18; Rom. 8:26).

The Holy Spirit is his own witness in the soul (Rom. 8:16; Heb. 10:14, 15). He evidences his holy presence primarily by imparting his holiness to the life of the believer (Ezek. 36:26, 27; Gal. 5:16; Eph. 1:4 with Rom. 5:5), and producing within the believer the abundant fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-25). The evidence of the Spirit-filled and Spirit-empowered life is not the presence of any one gift or manifestation (I Cor. 12:4, 5, 11), but is manifested in a heart attitude of perfect love and in righteous behavior.

It is the privilege of the believer to ask God to heal those who are sick (James 5:15), for the Lord in interested in our body (I Cor. 6:13). It may not always be God’s will to heal (Gal. 6:11; II Cor. 12:7-9).

There will be a resurrection of the body for both the saved and unsaved dead (I Cor. 15:16, 17, 42-44; John 5:29). There will be eternal life and blessedness in heaven for the saved (John 14:2, 3: John 3:16) where they will be in the immediate presence of God (Rev. 22:3, 4) and will share his eternal reign (Rev. 22:5). There will be eternal death and punishment for the unsaved in hell, the lake of fire (Rev. 20:15) where they shall consciously share the company of the damned (Rev. 21:8) in eternal separation from God (II Thess. 1:9), under the punishing wrath of God (John 3:36) which will be as eternal for the unsaved as life will be for the saved (Matt. 25:46).

The Church is the universal body of Christ composed of all true believers in Christ, with Christ as its head (Col. 1:18). All who are born again are baptized into this one Church by the Holy Spirit (I Cor. 12:12, 13). Christ builds his own Church (Matt. 16:18). This Church does not become fractured by the fact that there is more than one denomination, nor does it become one through church union, for there never can be more than one true body of Christ (Eph. 4:4) and its membership record is in heaven, not on earth (Heb. 12:23). All true Christians are members of one another (I Cor 12:12-27; Eph. 4:25). It is the responsibility of this Church and of each of its members to obey Christ’s great commission to it and reach the whole world with the gospel of Christ (Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47-49; John 20:21, 22; Acts 1:8).

The Biblical foundations for marriage are found in the creation account (Gen. 1–2). “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them and said unto them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth…” (Gen. 1:27–28). Human beings were designed by God as gendered beings. “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Gen. 2:24). Jesus reiterated this understanding of marriage and strengthened it by declaring “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matt. 19:6). The term “marriage” as delineated in Scripture and sanctioned by God has only one meaning: the joining of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive covenantal union.

God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other. God commands that there be no intimate sexual activity outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. Any form of sexual immorality, such as adultery, pre-marital sex, all forms of same-sex practice, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, polygamy, polyandry, pornography, or any attempt to change one’s biological gender is sinful and offensive to God.

We believe that in order to preserve the function and integrity of the Francis Asbury Society as an organization committed to the ministry of the gospel of Jesus Christ both in and through the church, it is imperative that all persons employed by FAS in any capacity, or who serve as volunteers, must abide by and agree to this statement and conduct themselves accordingly.

We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking his mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Regardless of our temptations, orientations, or tendencies, we believe that sanctifying grace is available to enable a child of God to live in obedience to the will of God as revealed in the Bible.

We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity. All forms of harassment and/or unchristian attitudes directed toward any individual or group are to be repudiated and are not in accord with God’s inspired Word.