What We Believe

The following are the core beliefs of Creekside Bible Church - Rogue River based on the foundational truths taught in the bible. All of our teaching and ministry is rooted in and flows out of these biblical doctrines.

We believe the Scriptures, both Old and New Testament, to be the inspired Word of God without error in the original writings. The Bible is the essential and infallible record of God’s revelation of Himself and His will for all mankind. Written by men, moved by God and protected by the Holy Spirit, the Bible is free of all error. Each book is to be interpreted according to its context and purposes and in reverent obedience to the Lord who speaks through it. The Bible is the Christian’s final authority and guidance and rule for doctrine and life (2 Timothy 3:16, 17; 2 Peter 1:20, 21; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; Hebrews 4:12).

We believe in one God who is infinitely perfect, holy, righteous, good and loving, and eternally exists in three persons; God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and these three are one God. These three persons are identical in essence, possessing the same nature, attributes, and perfections, differing in their roles, and are worthy of the same worship, confidence, and obedience (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5-7; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Matthew 28.19; John 1:18; Acts 5:3,4; 1 Peter 1:2).

We believe God the Father is the Creator of heaven and earth and all humanity. In His wisdom and out of His love He created the world for His glory. God the Father continues to sustain His creation through His Sovereign power. He is also the Sovereign wise Ruler over His creation whose plans cannot be altered. It was out of His love that He planned the redemption of humanity from before the foundations of the world through His Son, Jesus, to His glory and praise. (Genesis 1:1, 27; Isaiah 43:7; Psalms 19:1; Acts 17:24-25; Ephesians 1:3-6, 12, 14).

We believe Jesus of Nazareth is the unique Son of God and eternal Word who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary and exists as fully God and fully man. He is perfect in nature, teaching, and obedience. All things were created by Him, through Him and for Him and He holds all things together by the word of His power. In Jesus dwells the fullness of God (John 1:1, 14; Luke 1:35; Philippians 2:5-7; Titus 2:13; 2 Peter 2:1; Colossians 1:15-19; Hebrews 1:3).

We believe the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. The Holy Spirit, through the proclamation of the Gospel, persuades people to repent of their sins, and confess Jesus as Lord. The Holy Spirit unites believers to Jesus Christ in faith, brings about the new birth, and indwells and permanently seals all believers unto the day of redemption. The Holy Spirit glorifies the Son Who, in turn, glorifies the Father. The Holy Spirit fills and empowers believers for godly living and obedience (John 16:8-11; 15:26; Acts 5:3, 4; 1 Thessalonians 1:5; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 4:30; 5:18).

We believe God created man and woman in His image and likeness as the crown of creation, free from sin to enjoy intimate fellowship with Him. Tempted by Satan humanity voluntarily rebelled against God, resulting in separation from God, a corrupt nature, and death. While still maintaining the image and likeness of God, humanity is now utterly incapable of returning to God apart from a special work of grace. All individuals, except Jesus, are born with a radical and pervasive sin nature that affects one’s mind, will, and affections. Humanity lives under the dominion of sin and Satan and is God’s hostile, rebellious, enemy unable and unwilling to love God as God. Fallen sinful people’s only hope is in the salvation that Jesus alone provides (Genesis 1:27; 3:1-6; 6:5; 8:21; 9:6; Psalms 51:5; Romans 1:28-32; 3:10-18, 20; 8:5, 7-8; Ephesians 2:1-10; Romans 5:6, 10).

We believe people’s greatest need is to be reconciled to their Creator God. Sincere efforts, humanitarian activities, church attendance, or spiritual activities will not reconcile one to God. We believe that reconciliation to God is available only through Jesus Christ. Jesus’ birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension are the Good News that everyone needs. Jesus’ crucifixion is the heart of the Gospel. Jesus’ death is a substitutionary and propitiatory sacrifice to God for our sins that satisfies His holy justice and appeases His holy wrath. Jesus’ crucifixion is God’s holy love, the means for reconciliation with God and justification before God. There is no other name or person by which humanity will be saved. Jesus is the only mediator between God and man.
 Having been drawn by the Holy Spirit to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the proper response is faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ, a faith that is accompanied by repentance from sin. Saving faith is characterized by repentance from sin and a changed life evidenced by a love for God and others. Good deeds cannot serve to save a person nor keep a person saved. However, good works are designed by God for the Christian.
Anyone who repents from sin and turns to Christ and His substitutionary death receives the gift of eternal life, forgiveness of sins, and is declared righteous by God as a free gift. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to the individual. Through Christ’s atonement for sin, the individual is forgiven, justified and reconciled to God and becomes God’s child, eternally secure in Him. There is nothing and there is no one who can separate God from His redeemed people. This Gospel, then, is the basis for all that takes place our hearts, our church, and our ministries. This Gospel will be proclaimed to all peoples in all places (John 3:16-18; 5:24; 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 3:19-20; 8:31-39; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-10; Hebrews 9:27; 1 John 2:2; 4:10; Matthew 28:20).

God sends His Spirit into the lives of His children to produce a new life that is modeled and shaped after His Son, Jesus. The Holy Spirit actively renews the believer’s mind, will, and affections to conform to the image of Christ. While sin continues to indwell God’s children, they are no longer enslaved to sin’s commands because the Holy Spirit is at work enabling them to obey Christ’s commandments and live such a life that the world will see their good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven. The Holy Spirit fills and empowers God’s children to persevere in the faith and to witness to God’s redemptive work in their lives as they serve others. Bible study, prayer, worship, and confession are spiritual disciplines that the Holy Spirit uses to transform His children into the image of His Son (Romans 3:18; 6:6, 12, 14, 22; 8:2-14, 28-29; John 14:16-17, 26; 16:13-14; 1 John 3:2-3).

We believe God through His Word and His Spirit creates the Church, calling sinful men out of the whole human race and into the fellowship of Christ’s body. All those who have placed their faith in Christ are united by the Holy Spirit into one spiritual body, the Church, of which Christ is the Head. Each member of Christ’s body is exhorted to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. The church exists to glorify God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through worship, prayer, fellowship, service, and the administration of the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
We believe the ascended Christ has given ministries (prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers) to the church for the equipping of Christ’s body so that it matures, grows, and does the work of the ministry.
All members of the universal church are to be a vital and committed part of a local church. The church as the people of God are called to live in a community that belongs to and is shaped by and proclaims the kingdom of God to the world (Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:42-47; 1 Corinthians 11:23-36; 12:12-27; 2 Corinthians 5:20; Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:11-16).

We believe baptism is obedience to Christ’s command, a testimony to God and the world of one’s union with Christ in the likeness of His death and resurrection. Therefore, water baptism is only intended for the individual who has received the saving benefits of Christ’s atoning work and reconciliation. Baptism signifies that one’s former way of life has been put to death and a new way of life exists that is united with Christ and freed from sin’s mastery. We call Baptism Believer’s Baptism because it is a visual proclamation of what Christ has done for the believer; it is not the means for salvation (Matthew 28:19; Acts 10:47-48; Romans 6:5-12).

We believe the Lord’s Supper is to be observed only by those who have become genuine followers of Christ. This ordinance symbolizes Jesus’ sacrificed body and shed blood on our behalf. It is to be repeated often in the Christian’s life. When we partake of the Lord’s Supper with an attitude of faith and self-examination, we remember and proclaim Christ’s atonement, we receive spiritual nourishment, and we signify our unity with other members of Christ’s body (Matthew 26:26-29; Luke 22:14-22; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32).

We believe the Consummation includes world-wide wrath and tribulation, the future, physical, visible, personal and glorious return of Jesus Christ, the bodily resurrection of the dead and the translation of those alive in Christ, the judgment of the just and unjust, and the fulfillment of Christ’s kingdom in the new heavens and new earth. In the Consummation, Satan, along with his hosts and those outside of Christ, will be finally and eternally separated from the benevolent presence of God where they will eternally endure punishment, while the redeemed from every tribe, tongue, and nation, in glorious bodies, will live and reign with Him forever, serving Him, and giving Him unending praise and glory. Then shall the eager expectation of creation be fulfilled, and the whole earth shall proclaim the glory of God, Who makes all things new (Matthew 24:3-31; Romans 8:18-30; 1 Corinthians 15:35-58; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18; Revelation 19-22:5).

We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the cause of the fall. He is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire (Job 1:6-7; Isaiah 14:12-17; Matthew 4:2-11; 25:41; Revelation 20:10).