1981-1982 Academic Catalog

126 Statement of Doctrine and Conduct Cedarville College is an approved school of the.qeneral .Asso– ciation of Regular Baptist Churches., and those afflhated w1~h the college shall be committed to the beliefs and stan?ards of t~1s. As– sociation. This institution stands doctrinally with the B1bhcal, historical position accepted by the General Association of Regu– lar Baptist Churches, and requires each t~stee" faculty.and st~ff member to sign a statement annually dealing with certam specif– ics of that position. DOCTRINAL STATEMENT I. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. We believe in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testa– ments as verbally inspired by God and inerrant in t~e orig– inal writings, and that they are of supreme and fmal au- thority in faith and life. . . . We believe in one God eternal, ommpotent, ommsc1ent, and omnipresent, manifesting Himself in Three Persons– -Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--one in nature, attrib– utes, power and glory. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, and that He is true God and true man. We believe in the literal account of creation and that the Scriptures clearly and distinctly teach that the ~reation of man lies in the special, immedia~e and formative acts <?f God· that he sinned and thereby mcurred not only physi– cal death but also that spiritual death which is separation from God· and that all human beings are born with a sinful nature, and in the case of those who reach moral responsi– bility become sinners in thought, ':'ord; and deed .. We believe that the Lord Jesus Chnst died for our sms ac– cording to the Scriptures as a r~presenta~ive .a~d ~ubstitu­ tionary sacrifice, and rose agam for our Justification; and that all who believe in Him are justified on the ground of His shed blood and are saved by grace through faith whol– ly apart from human merit a!1d work~. We believe that all who receive by faith the Lord Jesus are born again by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God and thereby become the chil~r~n.of Go.d" We believe that the Holy Spmt 1s a D1vme Person-the 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. administrator of the Godhead--convicting of sin, reveal– ing Christ, teaching trut~, restrainin~ evil, en_ergizing be– lievers in prayer, worship, and service, and 1s ever pres– ent in the believer as Comforter and Helper. We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord His ascension into Heaven, His present life there as our High Priest and Advocate, and ~is pe.rson.al, bodily, visible, premillenial return to establish His Kmgd?m on earth and to reign as the only Potentate, the Kmg of Kings, and Lord of Lords. We believe that at any moment the rapture of the saved may occur, when "the Lord shall descend from Heaven" to catch up His people to meet Him in the air, and "so shall we ever be with the Lord." We believe in the bodily resurrection of all the dead-the saved to a life of eternal glory and bliss in Heaven with God· the unsaved to eternal judgement of conscience suf- feri~g and woe in the lake of fire. . We believe in personal separation from all practices and influences which hinder a spirit-filled life. We believe i_n ecclesiastical separation from all fo~ms of ap~stasy. This we believe necessary as the only Scnptural basis for a hap- py and useful Christian li~e" . . . We believe that it is the pnvilege and respons1b1lity of ev– ery believer to be a personal soul-winner and to do his ut– most to give the Gospel of Christ to the whole world. We believe that the true universal Church includes all be– lievers in Christ during this present dispensation and is the body and bride of Christ of.which He is t~e Hea?. We be– lieve that the local church 1s a congregation of immersed believers associated by covenant, observing the ordinan– ces of Christ, exercising the gifts, privileges, and. respon– sibilities given in the New Testament, and followmg a de- mocratic and congregational type of gov.ernment. . We believe that there are two church ordmances: Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Baptism is the immersion of a be– liever in water to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Sav– ior and our death to sin and resurrection of a new life, and that it is prerequisite to local church relation. The Lord's