Statement of Faith
Who We Are
- Veterans Christian Fellowship (VCF) is a fellowship of believers under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Our desire is to know Christ and be conformed to His image by the power of the Holy Spirit.
- We are not a denominational congregation, nor are we opposed to denominations as such, only to the over-emphasis of doctrinal differences that lead to division in the Body of Christ.
Why We Are
- We believe there is one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Gn 1:1,26; Dt 6:4; Mt 28:19; Mk 12:29).
- We believe God the Father is the personal, transcendent, and Sovereign Creator of all things visible and invisible, and that He created the universe by His spoken Word in six literal days for His glory (Gn 1; Ex 20:11; Rom 11:36; Col 1:16-17).
- We believe in the Deity of Jesus Christ Who is fully God and fully human - the image of the invisible God in Whom all the fullness of Deity lives in bodily form (Jn 10:30, 14:9; Col 1:15, 2:9; Rv 1:8, 22:13); He was born of a virgin (Lk 1:34-35), lived a sinless life (2 Cor 5:21; Heb 7:26), provided for the atonement of our sins by His vicarious death on the Cross (1 Cor 15:3; Heb 2:9), was bodily resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:11; 1 Cor 15:4; Lk 24), ascended back to the right hand of God the Father (Mk 16:19; Acts 1:9; Heb 1:3), ever lives to make intercession for believers (Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25), and His return to earth in glory and power (Mt 24:30; Rv 19:11-13).
- We believe that after Jesus ascended to Heaven, the person of the promised Holy Spirit was poured out on the believers in Jerusalem, enabling them to fulfill His command to preach the Gospel to the entire world, an obligation shared by all believers today (Mt 28:18-20; Jn 14:12-26, 15:26-27, 16:7-15; Acts 1:8, 2:4).
- We believe in the present ministry of the person of the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:12-26; Acts 2:38, 4:31, 5:32; Rom 8:9; 1 Cor 6:19), Who indwells followers of Christ enabling them to live the Christian life (Eph 1:13-14), and His giving of gifts to the Church to fulfill His purpose (1 Cor 12).
- We believe a disciple of Christ has had a conversion of the heart (Prv 3:5-7; Jer 29:13, 31:33; Ez 36:26-27; Mt 4:17, 5:8, 6:21; Mk 12:29-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:10; 2 Cor 5:17), and has assurance of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ (Eph 2:8-10).
What Dictates Who And Why We Are
- We believe the Holy Bible to be the inerrant and infallible God-breathed Word of God (2 Tm 3:15-17), from which we derive all things of faith and practice (Heb 4:12; 2 Pt 1:3-4,12-21).
When We Are
- We believe that all people are by nature separated from God and responsible for their own sin, but that salvation, redemption, and forgiveness are freely offered to all by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 3:23-24, 6:23).
- When a person repents of sin and accepts Jesus Christ as personal Savior and Lord, trusting Him to save, that person is born again and sealed by the Holy Spirit, their sins are forgiven, and they become a child of God, destined to spend eternity with the Lord (Jn 1:12, 3:16; Acts 2:38).
Where We Are
- We believe that followers of Christ are to live by faith, not by sight (2 Cor 5:7). If a person has been born again by the Holy Spirit then they have been united with the Lord and are one with Him in spirit (1 Cor 6:17). Christ’s disciples know that they live in Him and He lives in them because He has given them of his Spirit (1 Jn 4:13). Born-again believers who are united with Christ have repented, and are to keep with repentance, from a mind set on the flesh which leads to death, to a mind set on the Spirit which is life and peace (Mt 3:8; Jn 6:63; Rom 8:6; Jas 1:27). As the Holy Spirit dwells in followers of Christ, they are God’s holy temple who are to glorify God and walk by the Spirit, not gratifying desires of the flesh (1 Cor 3:16-17, 6:19-20; Gal 5:16). And being united with Christ and walking by the Spirit, believers are with Him in the heavenly realms (Eph 2:6).