DOCTRINAL STATEMENT

This is the Doctrinal position of the Mount Carmel Institute of Biblical Studies.  As we see it, these are the non-negotiable elements of a Biblical world view. God - We believe that there is but one God, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent.  He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things, both visible and invisible, and is revealed to us in three distinct Persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God The Father - We believe in God the Father, the Ancient of Days, who is not aloof from human history but who, through various covenants, has initiated a relationship with mankind, and to whom we have now been reconciled through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ upon the Cross.  Because of Jesus Christ, we too can now call God our "Father." God The Son - We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (the second Person of the Triune God), His deity, His virgin birth, that He died, was buried and on the third day rose back to life.  We believe that He ascended to heaven and is now seated at the right hand of the Father.  We believe that He is the eternal Son of God, for whom and by whom all things were created. God The Holy Spirit - We believe that the Holy Spirit (the third Person of the triune God) proceeded from the Father and the Son, and is of one substance, majesty and glory with the Father and the Son. The Holy Scriptures - We believe in the divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, as contained in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, as the sole revelation of the mind and will of God, and we accept them in their original form as the divine Word of God. The Devil - We believe that the Devil (Satan), through temptation and deception, initiated the downfall of man and now seeks to destroy the faith of every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and to hinder the further spread of the Gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ. Justification by Faith - We believe that it is impossible to attain salvation through self-effort, but that through simply believing in the atoning death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and in acting out that faith through receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we receive the remission of all our sins, reconciliation with God and the gift of eternal life.  We hold that the believer has an eternal salvation secured in Christ. The Sacraments - We believe in the two Sacraments established by our Lord, Jesus Christ, during His earthly ministry. These are: Baptism in Water - We believe in fulfilling the command of Jesus to baptize believers into the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and that this baptism is symbolic of our death, burial and resurrection with the Lord Jesus Christ in His redemptive work on the Cross. The Lord’s Supper - We believe, in accordance with the command of the Lord Jesus, that we should celebrate this ordinance in remembrance of the atoning work of Christ and as an act of fellowship together. Sanctification - We believe it is the glorious privilege of every believer in Christ to be made pure in heart and wholly sanctified by the operation of the Holy Spirit through the blood of Christ and the Word of God.  A believer cannot be justified by works, but evidences that justification through works empowered by the Holy Spirit. The Church - We believe in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, made up of all who have believed on the Lord Jesus and received the salvation of the Cross, and that this Church will come to the full expression of unity that can only be found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, according to the prayer of Jesus Christ in John 17. The Rapture of the Church and  the Second Coming of Christ - We believe in the rapture of the church and  the physical second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, returning as He ascended, with power and majesty, to judge the dead and the living.  Those not found in the Book of Life will be consigned to everlasting separation from God, described in the Scriptures as the Second Death.   Those found in the Book of Life will enter into the glorious presence of God.