What We Believe

The following are the core beliefs of LeaveAMark Church 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 in the authority and sufficiency of the Holy Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, as originally written; that it was verbally and plenarily (complete in all aspects) inspired (God breathed) and is the product of Holy Spirit-controlled men, and therefore is infallible and inerrant (completely without error in the original manuscripts) in all matters of which it speaks. We believe the Bible to be the true center of Christian unity and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creed and opinions shall be tried. 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21.

We believe that in the nature of the One God there are three eternal beings equal and co-equal in all matters pertaining to deity, and having separate functions. We believe there is one and only one living and true God, an infinite Spirit, the Maker and supreme Ruler of Heaven and earth; inexpressibly glorious in holiness (completely without sin), and worthy of all possible honor, confidence and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, equal in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption. Exodus 20:2, 3; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Revelation 4:11.

We believe that Jesus is fully God and was begotten of the Holy Spirit in a miraculous manner, born of Mary, a virgin, as no other man was ever born or can be born of woman, and that He is both the Son of God and God, the Son. He was made of the flesh (Romans 1:3), and declared to be God (Romans 1:3-4). (He is as much God as if He was not man at all, and He is as much man as if He was not God at all.) Jesus is the Mystery of the Ages; He is the God-Man. Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:35; John 1:14.

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature; that He was active in the creation; that in His relation to the unbelieving world He restrains the evil one until God’s purpose is fulfilled; that He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment; that He bears witness to the truth of the Gospel in preaching and testimony; that He is the Agent in the new birth, and indwells the repentant and believing sinner immediately at new birth (Romans 8:9, and never leaves (Hebrews 13:5); that He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies and helps the believer. John 14:16, 17; Matthew 28:19; Hebrews 9:14; John 14:26; Luke 1:35; Genesis 1:1-3; John 16:8-11; Acts 5:30-32; John 3:5, 6; Ephesians 1:13, 14; Mark 1:8; John 1:33; Acts 11:16; Luke 24:49; Romans 8:9-14, 16, 26, 27.

We believe in the reality and personality of Satan, the Devil; and that he was created by God as an angel but through pride and rebellion became the enemy of his Creator; that he became the unholy god of this age and the ruler of all the powers of darkness and is destined to the judgment of an eternal justice in the lake of fire. Matthew 4:1-11; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 20:10.

We believe the Biblical account of the creation of the physical universe, angels, and man; that this account is neither allegory nor myth, but a literal, historical account of the direct, immediate creative acts of God without any evolutionary process; that man was created by a direct work of God and not from previously existing forms of life; and that all men are descended from the historical Adam and Eve, first parents of the entire human race. Genesis 1; 2; Colossians 1:16, 17; John 1:3.

We believe that man was created in innocence (in the image and likeness of God) under the law of his Maker, but by voluntary transgression Adam fell from his sinless and happy state, and all men sinned in him, in consequence of which all men are totally depraved, are partakers of Adam’s fallen nature, and are sinners by nature and by conduct, and therefore are under just condemnation without defense or excuse. Genesis 3:1-6; Romans 3:10-19; 5:12, 19; 1:18, 32.

We believe that the salvation of sinners is divinely initiated and wholly of grace where the repentant person receives the gift of eternal life plus and/or minus nothing, and will never perish. It is given through the mediatorial offices of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who, by the appointment of the Father, voluntarily took upon Himself our nature, yet without sin, and honored the divine law by His personal obedience, thus qualifying Himself to be our Savior; that by the shedding of His blood in His death He fully satisfied the just demands of a holy and righteous God regarding sin; that His sacrifice consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was a voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner’s place, the Just dying for the unjust, Christ the Lord bearing our sins in His own body on the tree; that having risen from the dead He is now enthroned in Heaven, and uniting in His wonderful person the tenderest sympathies with divine perfection, He is in every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate and an all-sufficient Savior. We believe that faith (believing) in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation. Repentance is a change of mind and purpose toward God prompted by the Holy Spirit and is an integral part of saving faith. As a result of repentance and believing the believer is eternally secure. Jonah 2:9; Ephesians 2:8; Acts 15:11; Romans 3:24, 25; John 3:16; Matthew 18:11; Philippians 2:7, 8; Hebrews 2:14-17; Isaiah 53:4-7; 1 John 4:10; 1 Corinthians 15:3; 2 Corinthians. 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24.

We believe that repentance is a change of mind and purpose toward God prompted by the Holy Spirit and is an integral part of saving faith. It is the commitment to turn away from sin in every area of our lives and to follow Christ, which allows us to receive His redemption and to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Thus, through repentance we receive forgiveness of sins and appropriate salvation (see Acts 2:21; 3:19; 1 John 1:9).

Resurrection and Priesthood of Christ
We believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ and in His ascension into Heaven, where He now sits at the right hand of the Father as our High Priest interceding for us. Matthew 28:6, 7; Luke 24:39; John 20:27; 1 Corinthians 15:4; Mark 16:6; Luke 24:2-6, 51; Acts 1:9-11; Revelation 3:21; Hebrews 8:6; 12:2; 7:25; 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 John 2:1; Hebrews 2:17; 5:9, 10.

We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must hear the Gospel (the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ – I Corinthians 15:1-4), in order to be born again; that the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus; that it is an instantaneous divine act and not a process; that in the new birth the one dead in trespasses and in sins is made a partaker of the divine nature (the Holy Spirit) and receives eternal life, the free gift of God; that the new creation is brought about by our sovereign God in a manner above our comprehension, solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the Gospel; that its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance, faith and newness of life. John 3:3; 2 Corinthians 5:17; 1 John 5:1; Acts 16:20-33; 2 Peter 1:4; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:1, 5; Colossians 2:13; John 3:8.

We believe that justification is that judicial act of God whereby He declares the believer righteous upon the basis of the imputed (charged to the repentant sinner’s account) righteousness of Christ; that it is bestowed, not in consideration of any work of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in the Redeemer’s shed blood. Romans 3:24; 4:5; 5:1, 9; Galatians 2:16; Philippians 3:9.

We believe that sanctification is the ongoing process of yielding to God’s Word and His Spirit in order to continually develop Christ’s character in us. It is through the present ministry of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God that the Christian is enabled to live a godly life. It is the divine process of setting apart the believer unto God accomplished in a threefold manner; first, an eternal act of God, based upon redemption in Christ, establishing the believer in a position of holiness at the moment he trusts the Savior; second, a continuing process in the saint as the Holy Spirit applies the Word of God to the life; third, the final accomplishment of this process at the Lord’s return. (We believe that He saves us from the penalty of sin, He is saving us from the power of sin, and that He will ultimately save us from the presence of sin. II Corinthians 1:10). John 17:17, Romans 8:29; 12:1,2; John 17:17; 2 Corinthians 3:18, 6:14-18; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 1:10; Ephesians 5:25-27; 1 Thessalonians 4:3, 4; 5:23, 24; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, Hebrews 2:11, 10:10-14, 3:1, 1 John 3:2; Jude 24, 25; Revelation 22:11.

We believe that a local church is an organized congregation of believers, associated by covenant of faith and fellowship of the Gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws; and exercising the gifts, rights and privileges invested in them by His Word; that its officers are pastors and deacons, whose qualifications, claims and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures. We believe the true mission of the church is the faithful witnessing of Christ to all men as we have opportunity. We hold that the local church has the absolute right of self-government free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations; and that the one and only Superintendent is Christ through the Holy Spirit; that it is Scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the Gospel; that each local church is the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation; that on all matters of membership, of polity, of government, of discipline, of benevolence, the will of the local church is final. 1 Corinthians 11:2; Acts 20:17-28; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; Acts 2:41, 42. We believe in the unity of all New Testament believers in the Church which is the Body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:12, 13; Ephesians 1:22, 23; 3:1-6; 4:11; 5:23; Colossians 1:18; Acts 15:13-18.

We believe that Christian baptism is the single immersion of a believer in water to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our identification with the crucified, buried and risen Savior, through Whom we died to sin and rose to a new life; that baptism is to be performed under the authority of the local church; and that it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership. We believe that the Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of His death until He come, and should be preceded always by solemn self-examination. Acts 8:36, 38, 39; John 3:23; Romans 6:3-5; Matthew 3:16; Colossians 2:12; 1 Corinthians 11:23-28; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:41, 42.

We believe in the premillennial return of Christ, an event which can occur at any moment, and that at that moment the dead in Christ shall be raised in glorified bodies, and the living in Christ shall be given glorified bodies without tasting death, and all shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air before the seven years of the Tribulation. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18;
1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 51-54; Philippians 3:20, 21; Revelation 3:10. We believe that the Tribulation lasting a period of seven years, which follows the Rapture of the Church, will be culminated by the revelation of Christ in power and great glory to sit upon the throne of David and to establish the millennial kingdom (for 1,000 years). Daniel 9:25-27; Matthew 24:29-31; Luke 1:30-33; Isaiah 9:6, 7; 11:1-9; Acts 2:29, 30; Revelation 20:1-4, 6.

We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that only those who are justified by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and sanctified by the Spirit of our God are truly righteous in His esteem; while all such as continue in impenitence (unrepentant) and unbelief are in His sight wicked and under the curse; and this distinction holds among men both in and after death, in the everlasting felicity of the saved and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost in the lake of fire. Malachi 3:18; Genesis 18:23; Romans 6:17, 18; 1 John 5:19; Romans 7:6; 6:23; Psalms 7:11; Proverbs 14:32; Luke 16:25; Matthew 25:34-41; John 8:21; Revelation 20:14, 15.

Heaven is the eternal dwelling place for all believers in the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:3,12,20; 6:20; 19:21; 25:34; John 17:24; 2 Corinthians 5:1; Hebrews 11:16; 1 Peter 1:4, Revelation 21).

After living life on earth and making a choice to reject Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, the unbelievers will be judged by God and sent to hell where they will be eternally tormented with the devil and the fallen angels (see Matthew 25:41; Mark 9:43-48; Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 14:9-11; 20:12-15; 21:8).