Tenets of Faith | The Journey Church

THE JOURNEY CHURCH TENETS OF FAITH AND DOCTRINE

The church accepts the Scriptures as the revealed Will of God, the all-sufficient rule of faith and practice, and for the purpose of maintaining general unity, adopts these Statements of Fundamental Truths and Doctrine.

Section 1. The Scriptures Inspired. The Bible is the inspired Word of God, a revelation from God to man, the infallible and final authority regarding the rule of faith and conduct, and is superior to conscience and reason, but not contrary to reason (2 Tim. 3:15-17; I Pet. 1:23-25; Heb. 4:12).

Section 2. The One True Godhead. The triune Godhead is comprised of 3 separate and distinct personalities, The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit, who are eternally self-existent, self-revealed and function as one entity. Jesus Christ, who is God manifested in the flesh, is the second member of the Godhead, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the third member of the trinity and He is the primary agent at work in the earth today. (John 16:7-15) Jesus said it was actually better for Him to leave because the Holy Spirit would inhabit every believer who invited Him in. This personal indwelling of the Holy Spirit greatly multiplies God’s ability to cover the earth in human form. When we accept Christ as our savior the Holy Spirit comes to live in us fully.

Section 3. Man, His Fall and Redemption. Man was created good and upright, for God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness". But, man, by voluntary transgression, fell and his only hope of redemption is in Jesus Christ the Son of God. (Genesis 1:26-31, 3:1-7: Romans 5:12-21)

Section 4. The Salvation of Man.

(4a) Man's only hope of redemption is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. On the cross, Jesus Christ became sin and sickness providing both salvation and divine healing for all mankind (Psalm 103:3), being justified freely by His Grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. For by grace we are saved through faith. "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart; that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." (Romans 3:24; Ephesians 2:8; Romans 10:8-10)

(4b) The evidences of Salvation. The inward evidence to the believer of his salvation, is the direct witness of the Spirit (Romans 8:16). The outward evidence to all men is a life of righteousness and true holiness. “And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us" (I John 3:23). The promises in God’s word are the evidence to the believer of his salvation.

(4c) Faith and Works. Salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ and not by human works. (Romans 10:9-10 and II Cor. 5:10)

Section 5. Baptism in Water. The ordinance of baptism by a burial with Christ should be observed as commanded in the Scriptures by all who have repented and in their hearts, have truly believed on Christ as Savior and Lord. (Matt. 28:19; Acts 10:47, 48; Romans 6:4). In doing so, they declare to the world that they have died with Jesus and that they have also been raised with Him to walk in newness of life. Baptism is an outward sign of an inward spiritual reality. We depict our death, burial and resurrection with Christ in this ordinance. THE JOURNEY CHURCH does not practice infant baptism based on the fact that we must first believe.

(5a) Child Dedication: As noted above, making a cognitive decision to die to your old self, and live a new life for Christ is an essential element to baptism (Rom. 6:4-10). As a result, infants are unable to choose Christ, so we teach that God protects them until they are capable of deciding to choose or reject Christ for themselves. Consequently, we encourage parents to make a public declaration to a room full of witnesses that they see God as the source of everything for their family (Ps. 127). This is called child dedication. In this declaration, they state to God and others that they are committed to raising their children in a Christ centered home. We teach that this is not an act of salvation.

Section 6. The Lord's Supper referred to as communion is observed repeatedly throughout our Christian lives as a sign of continuing in relationship with Christ. Communion at THE JOURNEY CHURCH is an open invitation to all who would like to join us in remembering what Jesus did for us in His life, death, burial and resurrection (Matt. 26:26-29; 1 Cor. 11:17-34). Both the bread (breaking of Christ’s body) and juice (pouring out of Christ’s blood for us) symbolize what Christ’s death accomplished on the cross.

Section 7. Prayer. Prayer is continuous personal communication (talking and listening) with God (Phil. 4:6; Col. 4:2; 1 Thess. 5:17-18). God’s desire is that we pray according to His will (1 Jn. 5:14-15), with faith (Mk. 11:24), in obedience (Js. 4:3-4), to confess sins (Js. 5:16), to forgive others (Matt. 6:14-15), in humility (Js. 4:6). In regard to unanswered prayer, we reference the Joseph story (placed in a pit, put in slavery in Egypt, and many years later “God used it for good” Gen. 50:20). We communicate vocally, silently, or through non-articulate language to God (Mk. 11:22-26; 1 Cor. 14). Prayer brings us into a deeper relationship with God, and this relationship involves faith/trust and dependence in Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5).

At THE JOURNEY CHURCH, we teach that speaking and praying in other tongues is a gift from God designed to assist our communion with the Father, creating a channel by which we can communicate as an act of faith, intended to be spiritual communication with God that bypasses our intellect (1 Corinthians 14). It is however not an indication of a renewed mind, evidence of the fruit of the spirit or a sign of spiritual maturity. These qualities can only be acquired by spending time with God in bible study and meditation. God even hears the feeblest prayers of man no matter what the language spoken. God knows the intents of our hearts, hears the thoughts of our minds, and He sees the actions of our lives. These things are not disregarded just because we speak in other tongues. (Acts 2:4; 10:44-46; 19:2,6: 1:8).

Section 8. The Church. The church is the body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit, with divine appointments for the fulfillment of her great commission (Matthew 28). Each believer, born of the Spirit, is an integral part of the general assembly and church of the first born, which are written in Heaven. (Ephesians 1:22; 2:19-22; Hebrews 12:23)

Section 9. Total Prosperity is found in an active personal relationship with Jesus Christ and permeates every area of life. Prosperity comes from God for His purpose of reaching a lost world and not for heaping on ourselves.

(a) Spiritual. John 3:3,11; II Cor. 5:17-21; Romans 10:9-10.

(b) Mental. II Tim. 1:7; Romans 12:2; Isaiah 26:3.

(d) Financial. 3 John 1:2; Malachi 3:10-11; Luke 6:38; II Cor. 9:6-19; Deut. 28:1-14.

(e) Social. Proverbs 3:4.

Section 10. Heaven and Hell: Jesus says heaven is an actual place (1 Pet. 3:22) that is in the presence of God and it is a place for His committed followers (John 14:2-3). It is an eternal place created for people (1 Peter 1:4). Hell is a real place (Matt. 25:30, 41, 46) and we each have an opportunity to avoid it through Jesus Christ (Jn. 14:6). Every person will stand before the judgment seat and be held accountable for their life lived on earth (Matt. 10:15; 11:22, 24; 12:36; Rom. 14:10-12; 1 Cor. 4:5; 2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 20:12; 22:12). Each person’s spirit will exist forever, either in the presence of God or separated from God (Matt. 25:31-46).

Section 11. The Lake of Fire (Hell). Those who have not accepted the redemptive work of Jesus Christ will suffer eternal separation from the Godhead. The devil and his angels, the beast and the false prophet, and anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life, shall be consigned to everlasting punishment in the lake of fire that burns with brimstone. This is the second death, the lake of fire. (Rev. 19:20; 20:10-15).

Section 12. The Millennial Reign of Jesus. The return of our Lord Jesus Christ with His saints from Heaven to rule and reign for one thousand years on earth as the Scriptures promised. (Romans 11:25-27; II Thess. 1:7; Rev. 19:11-16; 20:1-7). After this, there shall be a new heaven and a new earth. (Rev. 21).

Section 13. Marriage and Sexuality. We believe that term “marriage” has only one meaning and that is marriage sanctioned by God which joins one natural man and one natural woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. (Gen. 2:24, Rom. 1:21-27) We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to only occur between a man and a woman who are married to each other. We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of sexual immorality, such as, but not limited to, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, pornography or any attempt to change one’s gender, or disagreement with one’s biological gender, is sinful and offensive to God. We believe that in order to preserve the function and integrity of the church as the local Body of Christ, and to provide a biblical role model to the church attenders and the community, it is imperative that all persons employed by the church in any capacity, or who serve as non-paid leaders, should abide by and agree to this Statement on Marriage and Sexuality and conduct themselves accordingly. We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity. Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture nor the doctrines of the Church.

Section 14: Life. We believe that all Human life is sacred and created by God in His image. Human life is of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including pre-born, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death. We are therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life. (Ps. 139)