Statement of Faith
What we believe, and what shapes how we read Scripture, worship, and live together.
What follows is what Selah is building on, organized by theme so it's easy to find what you're looking for.
Scripture & God
Holy Bible
The Holy Bible, and only the Bible, is the authoritative Word of God. It alone is the final authority in determining all doctrinal truths. In its original writing, it is inspired, infallible, and inerrant.
Trinity
There is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These three are co-equal and co-eternal.
Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is God the Son, the second person of the Trinity. On earth, Jesus was fully God and fully man, the only man ever to have lived a sinless life. He was born of a virgin, performed miracles, died on the cross for mankind, and atoned for our sins through the shedding of His blood. He rose from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and will return again in power and glory.
Virgin Birth
Jesus Christ was conceived by God the Father, through the Holy Spirit, in the virgin Mary's womb. He is the Son of God.
Resurrection
Jesus Christ was physically resurrected from the dead in a glorified body three days after His death on the cross. Both the saved and the lost will be resurrected: the saved to the resurrection of life, and the lost to the resurrection of eternal damnation.
Salvation & the Christian Life
Redemption
Man was created good and upright, but by voluntary transgression he fell. His only hope of redemption is in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Regeneration
For anyone to know God, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
Salvation
We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, His death, burial, and resurrection. Salvation is a gift from God, not a result of our good works or of any human effort.
Repentance
Repentance is the commitment to turn away from sin in every area of our lives and to follow Christ, which allows us to receive His redemption and to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Through repentance we receive forgiveness of sins and appropriate salvation.
Sanctification
Sanctification is the ongoing process of yielding to God's Word and His Spirit to complete the development of Christ's character in us. It is through the present ministry of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God that the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
Jesus Christ indwells all believers
Christians are people who have invited the Lord Jesus Christ to come and live inside them by His Holy Spirit. They relinquish the authority of their lives to Him, making Jesus the Lord of their life as well as Savior, and put their trust in what Jesus accomplished for them when He died, was buried, and rose again from the dead.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is manifested through a variety of spiritual gifts to build and sanctify the church, demonstrate the validity of the resurrection, and confirm the power of the Gospel. These gifts always operate in harmony with Scripture and should never be used in violation of Biblical parameters.
The Church & Its Practices
The Church
The church is the Body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit, with divine appointments for the fulfillment of Jesus' Great Commission. Every person who is born of the Spirit is an integral part of the church as a member of the body of believers.
Water baptism
Following faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the new convert is commanded by the Word of God to be baptized in water in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
The Lord's Supper
A unique time of communion in the presence of God, when the elements of bread and grape juice, the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, are taken in remembrance of His sacrifice on the cross.
Marriage
Marriage
We believe marriage is defined in the Bible as a covenant, a sacred bond between one man and one woman, instituted by and publicly entered into before God.