What We Teach

Compelling Word Bible Church is wholly Christian in the Biblical and historical sense, affirming Christ Jesus as Lord, and holding to the orthodox doctrines and confessions derived from Scripture.

Because Compelling Word Bible Church is wholly Christian, we fully embrace the truth that there is salvation in none other than Christ Jesus. He is the Son of God, who came in the flesh, born of a virgin, sinless, who laid down His life for His sheep, being crucified, dying for our sins—the sins of His people—according to the Scriptures, was buried, raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, appearing to many, and ascending into heaven, seated at the right hand of the Father.

By embracing the truth that can only be found in Christ, Compelling Word Bible Church does not recognize any other religion or professed faith apart from Christianity as true. They are false and ultimately lead to destruction, for salvation is realized in Christ alone. Our desire is to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with the lost, and to serve the Body of Christ by helping the saints stand guard so as not to be led astray by the error of unprincipled men, and to grow in the knowledge and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Compelling Word Bible Church embraces the truth that the Bible, which consists of the closed canon’s 66 books of Scripture (Genesis–Revelation), is the inspired Word of God that by nature is binding, authoritative, inerrant, and infallible. Objectively, Scripture is the only infallible rule of faith and practice. It is sufficient, certain, and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. It also overrides all contrary subjective thoughts, ideas, suppositions, theories, confessions, creeds, and philosophies.

Scripture is self-authenticating and self-authoritative by its very nature. Its authenticity and authority are neither derived from nor dependent upon the authority of man, the church, or any external entity, for it is wholly dependent upon God, who is the very fountain of truth and whose words are breathed out and written therein. The Holy Spirit, working by and with the Word in our hearts, bears full persuasion of its divine authority. Thus it is rightly called the Word of God, and there exists no greater authenticity or authority, nor any equivalent.

While we like to simply call ourselves Bible-believing Christians, today there is often a need for greater specificity that explains in what ways one is a Bible-believing Christian. Although the term “reformed” stems from the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, which fostered a global increased focus on Biblical teaching in opposition to Roman Catholicism, the substantive meaning of being reformed is rooted in Scripture from Genesis through Revelation. To be reformed means that we have been reformed by the power of God’s Word. The primary focus is upon God—His sovereignty, His holiness, all of who He is—and from that lens His self-revelation and His purpose for His creation are embraced.

Being reformed, Compelling Word Bible Church affirms that the corporate worship service is to be conducted according to what God has revealed in His Word. This is called the Regulative Principle of Worship, and it guards against both excess and deficiency when God’s people gather. What God has prescribed for corporate worship is empowered by the Holy Spirit to nourish disciples and to point all participants to Christ. The prescribed elements of worship are:

While these elements are fixed by Scripture, the circumstances of worship—such as the time and place of meeting—are ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word. The zeal to “think outside the box” or to innovate upon what God has appointed, in order to enhance worship, is often sincere; yet such zeal is unwise and ultimately causes harm. Deviations and alterations from what has been substantively prescribed in Scripture are therefore to be avoided.

Being reformed means that Compelling Word Bible Church maintains a strong view of Biblical authority and inerrancy, which—because of the innate power of God’s Word and the work of the Holy Spirit in us—reforms our worldview, our interactions with others, our thoughts, our perceptions, and our presuppositions. Doctrinally, Compelling Word Bible Church affirms many aspects of the historic reformed confessions and catechisms, since they provide excellent summaries of what the Bible teaches. The church is the pillar and support of the truth, and confessions exemplify that. Any confession that faithfully summarizes Biblical teaching will itself affirm that only Scripture is the certain, sufficient, and infallible standard for all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience. A confession is not a replacement for Scripture, nor equivalent to it; it is a time-tested summary of Biblical teaching embraced by fellow Christians, in most cases for many centuries. Compelling Word Bible Church substantially holds to the 1689 Second London Baptist Confession of Faith.

Being reformed means Compelling Word Bible Church is also Evangelical in the theological sense, with a focus on the Gospel and on making disciples by teaching them to observe all that Christ has commanded.

Being reformed, Compelling Word Bible Church affirms the “5 Solas” as attested in Scripture and by the nature of Scripture:

Being reformed, Compelling Word Bible Church strongly affirms the doctrines of grace as presented in Scripture. Salvation is wholly a work of God and not based on any human work or merit. As a result of sin, man needs God’s intervention, for he is dead in his sin and totally incapable of turning to God on his own; in Adam all die. Before He created the earth, God unconditionally elected His sheep from among the totally depraved by His grace alone. Christ effectively and vicariously atoned for the sins of His sheep as a propitious sacrifice. God is sovereign, His grace is irresistible, and He preserves all who are His. Righteous works are evidenced in those whom God saves. We are therefore saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus, and not by our works. From what are God’s people saved? His righteous wrath incurred from sin. The Father justifies us through faith in Jesus Christ, and we have peace with Him as a result. The Holy Spirit sanctifies us, progressively conforming us into the image of Christ, and He is the seal of our salvation, the guarantee of our inheritance.

Being reformed, Compelling Word Bible Church affirms the unity of God’s redemptive purpose across both the Old and New Testaments, displayed through the covenants He has made with His creation. After creation, God entered into a covenant of works with Adam as the representative of mankind, promising life upon perfect obedience and threatening death for disobedience. When Adam fell, God revealed and progressively unfolded the covenant of grace, by which He freely offers life and salvation through Jesus Christ. This covenant of grace, promised throughout the Old Testament by types, shadows, and promises, was formally established and ratified in the new covenant by the blood of Christ. Thus the Law and the Prophets (cf. also Colossians 2:17), which are a grouping of books found in our Old Testament today, spoke of Him, and all of Scripture finds its center in Christ. Covenant theology gives clarity to how God relates to His people and what He requires of them, removing uncertainty about His expectations, and it upholds the centrality of Christ as well as the importance of His church.

While not affiliated with any Baptist organization, Compelling Word Bible Church shares the Biblical convictions of Reformed Baptists (historically called Particular Baptists), particularly in the area of baptism, as distinct from what is predominantly seen, for example, among our brothers in Presbyterian churches. The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith is a confession to which Compelling Word Bible Church subscribes substantially as a summary of proper Biblical teaching, while maintaining—as the 1689 Confession itself states, along with all reputable confessions—that it is not infallible nor on par with the Word of God. The confession allows us to stand upon understanding God has granted other men, and to point to summarized Biblical truth that has been time-tested and embraced for centuries.

Being baptistic, Compelling Word Bible Church holds that the new covenant, unlike the old, is made with a regenerate people—all of whom know the Lord and have His law written upon their hearts. For this reason the sign of the new covenant belongs only to those who give a credible profession of faith in Jesus Christ, and not to the infant children of believers on the basis of natural descent. This excludes infants and very young children, who are unable to communicate a credible profession of faith. This conviction is what is meant by credobaptism.

Being baptistic, Compelling Word Bible Church embraces baptism by immersion in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as the only proper mode of baptism. It represents a Christian’s union with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. Baptism does not regenerate, nor does it cause God to provide salvation in any way; it is an act of obedience for those already in Christ.

It may seem redundant to state that Compelling Word Bible Church acknowledges that God is Triune, since one cannot be Christian or Biblical while intentionally denying the deity of the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit, or denying that each Person is distinct. “Who God is” can never be relegated to something minor, nor dismissed as non-essential. Who He is, is of utmost importance. If there is confusion about who God is—such as uncertainty about whether Jesus is God, or whether the Holy Spirit is God—then all other aspects of the faith, including the Gospel itself, are thrown into disarray. Therefore, despite the apparent redundancy, it is important to make known that Compelling Word Bible Church prominently embraces the Triune God who has been prominently revealed throughout all of Scripture, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Being Trinitarian, Compelling Word Bible Church embraces monotheism as expressed in Scripture—that there is only one God, there has only ever been one God, and there shall only ever be one God. That same one God eternally exists in three distinct Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One God, three Persons—the Holy Trinity, the Godhead. God’s Being (His ontology—that which makes God to be God, His essence and substance) is fully and equally shared by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is not divided into parts. Therefore the Father is fully God, the Son is fully God, and the Holy Spirit is fully God. The three divine Persons are the one true God. Each has the very same divine nature, are co-equal and co-eternal, and are distinct from one another, yet not separate. The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Father, the Holy Spirit is not the Son, the Son is not the Holy Spirit, the Father is not the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not the Father. Some prefer the term “Subsistence” rather than “Person” when describing the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the Godhead; the terms carry the same meaning.

Being Trinitarian, Compelling Word Bible Church affirms that the three Persons are distinguished from one another by their eternal relations of origin: the Father is unbegotten, the Son is eternally begotten of the Father, and the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son. These relations of origin alone distinguish the Persons; in all else they are one. Because the three Persons share one undivided essence, they possess one will, one power, and one operation. The external works of God are therefore undivided, performed by the three Persons together according to the order of their subsistence.

Being Trinitarian, Compelling Word Bible Church embraces the Scriptural truth that from all eternity the Father loves the Son, and that God is love. Only the Triune God can exhibit love before creation. A unitarian or unipersonal god has no one toward whom to express love and could only do so economically, after creation. The true and living Triune God exhibits love immanently among the Persons of the Trinity from all eternity.

Being Trinitarian, Compelling Word Bible Church acknowledges the role each Person of the Holy Trinity has in salvation. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit operate in complete harmony in all that they do. In salvation, in short, the Father by grace elects, the Son in love gave Himself for His sheep, and the Spirit sanctifies the sheep, setting them apart to God. His sheep are those who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood (cf. 1 Peter 1:2).

Being Trinitarian, Compelling Word Bible Church also embraces the high Christology presented in Scripture, affirming that Jesus is fully God and fully man. He was in the beginning. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being. He was the Word who was with God and the Word who was God. He is the Word who became flesh and dwelt among humanity. No man has seen God, yet Jesus—being uniquely God, who is in the bosom of the Father—has revealed Him. He is the image of the invisible God, preeminent over all creation; for by Him all things were created. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. In Him we live and move and have our being. In Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. Although He existed in the very form of God, He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped; instead He emptied Himself, assuming the form of a bond-servant in the likeness of men.