Doctrinal Statement
Of
The Midwest Messianic Center

The Holy Scriptures

We believe that the Bible is God’s written revelation to man, and that the entire Bible is the Word of God.  We believe the Bible to be verbally inspired in every word, inerrant in the original documents, infallible, and God-breathed. We believe that the Bible constitutes the only infallible rule of faith and practice for mankind.

(2 Peter 1:20-21; John 10:35; 16:12-13; 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 4:12)

God

We believe that there is but one living and true God, an infinite, all-knowing Spirit, perfect in all His attributes, eternally existing in three Persons; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each equally deserving worship and obedience. 

(Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:57; John 4:24; 1 Corinthians 8:4; Matthew 28:19)

God the Father

We believe that God the Father, the first person of the Trinity, orders and disposes all things according to His own purpose.  As Creator He is Father to all men, but He is spiritual Father only to believers. 

(Psalm 145:8-9; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 4:6; Romans 8:14; 2 Corinthians 6:18)

God the Son

We believe that the Messiah Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, possesses all the divine attributes, and that He is coequal and coeternal with the Father.  We believe that in the incarnation Jesus surrendered only the prerogatives of deity, but that He entirely retained His deity.  In His incarnation He became the God-man.  We believe that He was virgin born and was God incarnate.  We believe that the Messiah Jesus accomplished our redemption through the shedding of His blood and sacrificial death on the cross.  We believe in His literal, physical resurrection from the dead.  We believe that the Lord Jesus will return to receive the church, which is His body, unto Himself at the rapture.  When He returns with His church in glory, He will establish His millennial kingdom on earth. 

(John 10:30; Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 7:14; John 1:1, 14; Romans 3:24-25; Matthew 28:6; Luke 24:38-39; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 20)

God the Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, eternal, possessing all the attributes of personality and deity. We believe that the Holy Spirit is the supernatural and sovereign agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit also indwells, sanctifies, instructs, empowers them for service, and seals them unto the day of redemption.  We believe that God the Holy Spirit is sovereign in the bestowing of all His gifts for the perfecting of the saints today.  We believe that speaking in tongues and the working of sign miracles in the beginning days of the church were for the purpose of pointing to and authenticating the apostles as revealers of divine truth.  We teach that there were two kinds of gifts given the early church: miraculous gifts of divine revelation and healing, given temporarily in the apostolic era for the purpose of confirming the authenticity of the apostles’ message; and ministering gifts, given to equip believers for edifying one another.  We believe that the miraculous confirming gifts have ceased. 

(1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 1:13; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 13:8-10; 2 Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 4:7-12; Hebrews 2: 1-4)

Man

We believe that man was created by God in His image and likeness.  Man was created free of sin with a rational nature, intelligence, will, and moral responsibility to God.  We believe that because of Adam’s sin of disobedience he incurred the penalty of spiritual and physical death; became subject to the wrath of God; and is totally incapable of doing that which is acceptable to God apart from divine grace. With no ability to save himself, man is hopelessly lost.  We believe that because all men are born in Adam, a nature corrupted by Adam’s sin has been transmitted to all men, Jesus the Messiah being the only exception. As a result, all men are sinners by nature, by choice, and by divine declaration. 

(Genesis 2:7, 15-25; 3:1-19; James 3:9; John 3:36; Romans 3:23; 6:23; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Ephesians 2:1-3; 1 Timothy 2:13-14; 1 John 1:8; Psalm 14:1-3; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:9-18, 23)

Salvation

We believe that salvation is wholly of God by grace on the basis of the redemption of Jesus the Messiah, the merit of His shed blood, and not on the basis of works.

(John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-10; 1 Peter 1:18-19)

Regeneration

We believe that regeneration is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit.  Genuine regeneration is manifested by fruits worthy of repentance as demonstrated in righteous attitudes and conduct. Good works will be its proper evidence and fruit, and will be experienced to the extent that the believer submits to the control of the Holy Spirit in his life through faithful obedience to the Word of God. 

(Titus 3:5; Ephesians 2:10; Ephesians 5:17-21; Philippians 2:12; Colossians 3:16; 2 Peter 1:4-10)

Justification

We believe that justification before God is an act by which He declares righteous those who, through faith in Jesus the Messiah, repent of their sins. This righteousness is apart from any virtue or work of man and involves the placing of our sins on Jesus and the imputation of His righteousness to us. 

(Luke 13:3; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 11:18; Romans 2:4; 2 Corinthians 7:10; Isaiah 55:6-7; Romans 3:20; Colossians 2:14; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21)

Sanctification

We believe that every believer is sanctified (set apart) unto God and is declared to be holy and is therefore identified as a saint. This sanctification has to do with the believer’s standing, not his present walk or condition.  We believe that there is also by the work of the Holy Spirit a progressive sanctification by which the state of the believer is brought closer to the standing the believer positionally enjoys through justification. Through obedience to the Word of God and the empowering of the Holy Spirit, the believer is able to live a life of increasing holiness in conformity to the will of God, becoming more and more like our Lord Jesus. 

(Acts 20:32; 1 Corinthians 1:2, 30; 6:11; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; Hebrews 2:11; 3:1; 10:10, 14; 13:12; 1 Peter 1:2; John 17:17, 19; Romans 6:1-22; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4; 5:23)

Security

We believe that all believers are kept by God’s power and are secure in Him forever.  We believe that believers can rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion for sinful living and carnality

(John 10:27-30; Ephesians 4:30; 1 Peter 1:5; Jude 24; Romans 13:13-14; Titus 2:11-14)

The Church

We believe that all who place their faith in the Messiah Jesus are immediately placed by the Holy Spirit into one body, the church of which the Messiah Jesus is the Head.  We believe that the formation of the body, began on the day of Pentecost and will be completed at the coming of Jesus for His own at the rapture.  The church is distinct from Israel, a mystery not revealed until this age.  We believe that the establishment and continuity of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures and that the members of the one scriptural body are directed to associate themselves together in local assemblies.  We believe that the purpose of the church is to glorify God by building itself up in the faith, by instruction of the Word, by fellowship, by keeping the ordinances and by advancing and communicating the gospel to the entire world.

(Hebrews 10:25; Acts 14:23, 27; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Ephesians 4:13-16; Acts 2:47; 2 Timothy 2:15; Acts 2:38-42Matthew 28:19; Acts 1:8; 2:42)

Angels and Satan

We believe that angels are created beings and are therefore not to be worshiped.  Although they are a higher order of creation than man, they are created to serve God and to worship Him.  We believe that Satan is a created angel and the author of sin.  He incurred the judgment of God by rebelling against his Creator, by taking numerous angels with him in his fall, and by introducing sin into the human race by his temptation of Eve.  We believe that Satan is the open and declared enemy of God and man, the prince of this world who has been defeated through the death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah and that he shall be eternally punished in the lake of fire. 

(Hebrews 1:6-7, 14;  Revelation 5:11-14; 19:10; 22:9; Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:11-19; Matthew 25:41; Revelation 12:1-14; Genesis 3:1-15)

Israel

We believe that God chose the Jewish people and that He entered into a special covenant relationship with them that was based upon His sovereign choice.  As such, they are unique among the nations of the earth, in that they are specially loved and known by God.  This is not to suggest that God does not also love the world.  We believe that Israel and the church are two distinct and separate entities.  The church being made up of Jewish people and Gentiles, forming one body in which Messiah Jesus is the head.  Both have their own distinct plan that is laid out in the Word of God.  We believe that God is not finished with ethnic Israel and that He has a plan for them that still awaits fulfillment.

(Deuteronomy 7:6-9; Amos 3:2; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Exodus 4:22; Zechariah 2:8; Ephesians 2:14-16)

Last Things (Eschatology)

The Rapture of the Church

We believe in the personal, bodily return of our Lord Jesus before the seven year tribulation to translate His church from this earth and between this event and His glorious return with His saints, to reward believers according to their works.

(1 Thessalonians 4:16; John 14:1-3; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53; 2 Corinthians 5:10)

The Tribulation Period

We believe that immediately following the removal of the church from the earth the righteous judgments of God will be poured out upon an unbelieving world and that these judgments will be climaxed by the return of Jesus in glory to the earth.  At that time the Old Testament and tribulation saints will be raised and the living will be judged.  This period includes the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophecy.

(1 Thessalonians 4:13 18; Matthew 24:27-31; 25:31-46; 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12; Daniel 12:2-3; Revelation 20:4-6; Daniel 9:24-27)

The Second Coming and the Millennial Reign

We believe that after the tribulation period, the Lord Jesus will come to earth to occupy the throne of David and establish His Messianic kingdom for a thousand years on the earth.  During this time the resurrected saints will reign with Him over Israel and all the nations of the earth. We believe that the kingdom itself will be the fulfillment of God’s promise to Israel to restore them to the land. We believe that this time of our Lord’s reign will be characterized by harmony, justice, peace, righteousness, and long life.

(Matthew 25:31; Luke 1:31-33; Revelation 20:1-7; Ezekiel 37:21-28; Revelation 19:11-16; Ezekiel 37:21-28; Zechariah 8:1-17; Deuteronomy 28:15-68; Matthew 21:43; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:22-32; Romans 11:25-29; Matthew 21:43; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:22-32; Romans 11:25-29 Isaiah 11; 65:17-25)

Eternity

We believe that after the closing of the millennium, the temporary release of Satan, and the judgment of unbelievers, the saved will enter the eternal state of glory with God, after which the elements of this earth are to be burned up and replaced with a new earth where righteousness dwells. Following this, the heavenly city will come down out of heaven and will be the dwelling place of the saints, where they will enjoy fellowship with God and one another forever. 

(2 Thessalonians 1:9; Ephesians 5:5; John 17:3; Revelation 21, 22)