Home Bible Study Fellowships

 

 

 

 

 

 

The International Association of Home Bible Study Fellowships and Home Churches

Our Beliefs...

Home Bible Study Fellowships is guided by a well-defined philosophy that fosters a devotion to learning and a commitment to growth. At our core, we desire that Jesus Christ be proclaimed to all nations. 

To accomplish this, we provide the education essential to equip our home Bible study leaders to teach the uncompromised Word of God.

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Here we stand…

There are many fine religions and philosophies, but they will not save mankind. Jesus is the only way to reach God. He is the Messiah spoken of in the Old Testament. He is the only savior of mankind.

We teach the full council of God's Word and believe every truth is essential to the spiritual health of individuals and Fellowships.

We believe that God is unchanging, as scripture states, "…the same yesterday, today, and forever."

The sole basis of our beliefs is the Bible, God's written Word, the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments. We believe that it was uniquely, verbally and fully inspired by the Holy Spirit and is God's complete written revelation to mankind. All Truth must be lined up with Scripture.  It is the supreme and final authority in all matters on which it speaks, both for faith and practice.  Many people add the phrase, "...in the original manuscripts."  We believe that statement infers the Bible we have today may contain errors.  If this is the case, it would prove unreliable.  Therefore, we omit this phrase from our statement of faith.  We believe that God preserved His Word and the Bible we have today is fully reliable, not only in the original manuscripts, but in the form that has been passed down to us today.  Sola Scriptura!

We are not against denominations, but we are against the modern divisions that have split the church because of denominations. We accept those areas of doctrinal teaching on which, historically, there has been general agreement among all true Christians. We believe there should be unity in the church, but no compromise on doctrinal truth.

1.There is one true God, eternally existing in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - each of whom possesses equally all the attributes of Deity and the characteristics of personality.

2.Jesus Christ is God, the living Word, who became flesh through His miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit and His virgin birth. Hence, He is perfect Deity and true humanity united in one person forever.

3.He lived a sinless life and voluntarily atoned for the sins of men by dying on the cross as their substitute, thus satisfying divine justice and accomplishing salvation for all who trust in Him alone.

4.He rose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He lived and died.

5.He ascended bodily into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God the Father, where He, the only mediator between God and man, continually makes intercession for His own.

6.Man was originally created in the image of God. He sinned by disobeying God; thus, he was alienated from his Creator. That historic fall brought all mankind under divine condemnation.

7.Man's nature is corrupted, and he is thus totally unable to please God. Every man is in need of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

8.The salvation of man is wholly a work of God's free grace and is not the work, in whole or in part, of human works or goodness or religious ceremony. God imputes His righteousness to those who put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation, and thereby justified them in His sight.

9.It is the privilege of all who are born again of the Spirit to be assured of their salvation from the very moment in which they trust Christ as their Savior. This assurance is not based upon any kind of human merit, but is produced by the witness of the Holy Spirit, who confirms in the believer the testimony of God in His written word.

10.The Holy Spirit has come into the world to reveal and glorify Christ and to apply the saving work of Christ to men. He convicts and draws sinners to Christ, imparts new life to them, continually indwells them from the moment of spiritual birth and seals them until the day of redemption. He enlightens the Bible to those who read it in faith.

He empowers believers and bestows gifts on them through the laying on of hands and /or the Baptism given to all who ask, for the purpose of becoming active in the service of Jesus Christ as 'royal priests'. His fullness, power and control are appropriated in the believer's life by faith, daily indwelling and filling us.

11.Every believer is called to live so in the power of the indwelling Spirit that he will not fulfill the lust of the flesh but will bear fruit to the glory of God. Sin should be a stumbling in our walk, not a way of life or a practice. We are to pursue purity and holiness in our individual lives.

12.Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, His Body, which is composed of all men, living and dead, who have been joined to Him through saving faith.

13.God admonishes His people to assemble together regularly for worship, for participation in ordinances, for edification through the Scriptures and for mutual encouragement.

14.At physical death the believer enters immediately into eternal, conscious fellowship with the Lord and awaits the resurrection of his body to everlasting glory and blessing.

15.At physical death the unbeliever enters immediately into eternal, conscious separation from the Lord and awaits the resurrection of his body to everlasting judgment.

16.Jesus Christ will come again to the earth - personally, visibly and bodily - to consummate history and the eternal plan of God. He will 'rapture' the Church prior to the wrath that will come during the 70th week of Daniel. At the end of the 70th week He will come, with His Church, to establish His kingdom on earth.  We are 'pre-millennial' as a matter of dogma, but we will not divide the Church on issues relating to the timing of the rapture.  We believe we must live in a state of readiness and attempt to fulfill the great commission - taking the Gospel to all nations.  (We accept people with other views on this point)

17.The Lord Jesus Christ commanded all believers to proclaim the gospel throughout the world and to disciple men of every nation. The fulfillment of that Great Commission requires that all worldly and personal ambitions be subordinated to a total commitment to "Him who loved us and gave Himself for us."

 

18. The Vision of Home Bible Study Fellowship is to empower and support individuals, Churches, and families to grow in their knowledge of Biblical and Theological truth to make them more effective in reaching the lost with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We see a campus that is committed to being a light to the world. We see Home Fellowships  that encourage people in the faith. Our purpose is to glorify God, teach the Word of God, lift up the name of Jesus, build up the Body of Christ, and to compel others to find true life in Christ.