Houston Brethren Assembly

We believe in the following doctrinal truths:

• The Bible is the Word of God, each word having been God-breathed. God gave His word to His people to help keep His precepts and to walk in His ways; the universal church is to serve God in obedience to the Bible, His Holy Word. We hold the Bible as the final and supreme authority for our doctrine and lives, and that it is without error in its original writings (1 Corinthians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21).

• One God, who eternally exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each is equal in attributes, power, and glory (Deuteronomy 6:4; Ephesians 4:4-6; 2 Corinthians 13:14).

• God created man in His own image, but through man’s willful choice to disobey God, sin came into the world and death through sin. All now are born in sin, spiritually dead, separated from God, corrupt in nature, and guilty before God (Genesis 1:26; 3:1-7; Romans 3:12; 5:12; 6:23).

• Jesus Christ is the Son of God, true God and true man; by the power of the Holy Spirit, He was born of a virgin, whose name was Mary, to live and walk among His people as an example for them to follow for God’s glory. (Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-14; 5:22-23).

• Jesus Christ died for our sins in our place. He is our substitutionary and representative sacrifice; He rose again from the dead on the third day, never to die again. His work of salvation is finished, that the righteous demands of God are fully satisfied in the work of Christ on the cross, and there is salvation in no other (Mark 10:45; Romans 6:1-14; Romans 3:24-25; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; 2:24; John 19:30; Hebrews 10:18; John 14:6).

• All who repent and believe the gospel are eternally saved. Salvation is a free gift of God, given apart from any human merit. God’s offer of salvation is free by His grace; His mercy toward mankind withholds the just punishment for the sinner who He reconciles. Those who add human merit to the gospel preach a false gospel (Mark 1:15; Romans 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-10; Galatians 2:21; 3:10).

• Every genuine believer is born again, sealed with the Spirit of God, and eternally secure in Christ. The evidence of new birth is the fruit of the Spirit and obedience to Christ. Every believer is a member of the body of Christ, the universal church, and gifted by the Holy Spirit for spiritual service. The goal of the Holy Spirit in this age of grace is to magnify Christ, who is the head of the church and those who believe are called to serve Him. The local church is God’s primary means for reaching the lost and caring for the saved (John 5:7; 1 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 1:13; 1 Corinthians 12:13; 1 Corinthians 12:11; John 16:14; Colossians 1:18; Luke 9:23; Matthew 16:18).

• Two ordinances put forth for those who declare Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior, Creator and Master are first to be Baptized testifying to the death of the old sinner and resurrected into the newness of life in Christ and second, to become part of the local body of believers, and as members of a local church gathering to partake in the Lord’s Table which declares to the world what He has already accomplished in remembrance of Him until His imminent return. (John 3:5; Acts 2:38; Romans 6:3-4; Colossians 2: 12-13; Galatians 3:27; Acts 2:42; I Corinthians 11:24).

• The personal and imminent return of Jesus Christ for His church, the establishment of His millennial kingdom upon the earth, and the everlasting conscious punishment of the lost. (John 14:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 20:4-15).