ABOUT GOD
God is the Creator and Ruler of the universe. He has eternally existed in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are co-equal and are one God. (Genesis 1:1, 26, 27; Psalm 90:2; Matthew 28:19; 1 Peter 1:2; 2 Corinthians 13:14)
ABOUT JESUS CHRIST
Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is co-equal with the Father. Jesus lived a sinless human life and offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people by dying on a cross. He arose from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended to Heaven’s glory and will return again someday to earth to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. (Matthew 1:22-23; Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1-5, 14:10-30; Hebrews 4:14-15; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Romans 1:3-4; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Timothy 6:14-15; Titus 2:13)
ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and the Son of God. He is present in the world to make people aware of their need for Jesus Christ. He also lives in every Christian from the moment of salvation. He provides the Christian with power for living, understanding of spiritual truth, and guidance in doing what is right. He gives every believer a spiritual gift when they are saved. As Christians, we seek to live under His control daily.
(2 Corinthians 3:17; John 14:16-17, 16:7-13; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 2:12, 3:16; Galatians 5:25; Ephesians 1:13, 5:18)
ABOUT THE BIBLE
The Bible is God’s Word to us. It was written by human authors, under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is the supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs and living. Because it is inspired by God, it is the truth without any mixture of error.(2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Timothy 1:13; 2 Timothy 3:16; Psalm 119:105, 160; Proverbs 30:5)
ABOUT HUMAN BEINGS & SIN
We believe that all people are, by nature and by choice, separated from God and responsible for their own sin. Sin is willful transgression of the law of God and deserves death. At the fall, humankind incurred physical death and spiritual death, which is separation from God. Sin has alienated humankind from God and subjected it to His wrath. The Bible clearly states the following: adultery, murder, stealing, homosexual/transexual behavior, sexual promiscuity and pornography, child molestation, abuse of substances or people (physical, sexual, emotional), continuous slander, disobedience to civil authority, and involvement in witchcraft or demonology, and the like are sinful behaviors which break God’s law.
But salvation, redemption, and forgiveness are freely offered to all by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
When a person repents of sin and accepts Jesus Christ as his/her personal Savior and Lord, trusting Him to save, that person is immediately born again and sealed by the Holy Spirit, all his/her sins are forgiven, and that person becomes a child of God. (Genesis 1:26, 27; 2:17; 3:6; Exodus 20:1-17; Deuteronomy 18:10-13; Isaiah 53:6; Isaiah 59:1-2; Proverbs 16:28; Matthew 18:1-6, 10; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 3:23; Rom. 5:12-19; Romans 13:1-5; 1 Corinthians 6:18-20; 1 Corinthians 7:1-4; 8-9; Galatians 5:16-21)
ABOUT SALVATION
Salvation is God’s free gift to us, but we must accept it. We can never make up for our sin by self-improvement or good works. Only by trusting in Jesus Christ as God’s offer of forgiveness can anyone be saved from sin’s penalty. When we turn from our self-ruled life and turn to Jesus, in faith, we are saved. Eternal life begins the moment one receives Jesus Christ into his/her life by faith. (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9; John 1:12, 14:6; Titus 3:5; Galatians 3:26; Romans 5:1)
ABOUT ETERNITY
People were created to exist forever. We will either exist eternally separated from God by sin, or eternally with God through forgiveness and salvation. To be eternally separated from God is Hell. To be eternally in union with Him is eternal life. Heaven and Hell are real places of eternal existence. (John 3:16, Romans 6:23; Revelation 20:15)
ABOUT MARRIAGE
We believe, based on the teaching of the scriptures in both the Old and New Testaments, that marriage is an institution ordained by God from the foundation of the world, and intended as a lifelong union of one man and one woman as created by God.
The Apostle Paul states in Ephesians 5:22-32 that marriage is not merely a human institution, but is a special divine metaphor that is supposed to illustrate the union of Christ and the church. For this reason, only a union between one man and one woman can be a proper marriage. Any other union between a collection of people could not properly illustrate the relationship between Christ and His Church.
HUMAN SEXUALITY
Mountain View Church believes that humanity came from the hand of God with only two sexual distinctions—male and female—both in the image of God, emerging from one flesh with the unique physical capacity to reunite as one flesh within marriage. God’s original creation design and intent for marriage as expressed in Genesis 2 is therefore exclusively between one genetic/identified-at-birth man and one genetic/identified-at-birth woman.
We affirm the worth and relevance of human gender and sexuality, and of all sexual intimacy as distinctively reserved for marriage between one genetic/identified-at-birth man and one genetic/identified-at-birth woman. Based on Scripture (Leviticus 18; 1 Corinthians 5-6), heterosexual sex outside of marriage, homosexual sex, same-sex romantic relationships, and gender identification are incongruent with one’s genetically identified-at-birth-sex, and violate God’s generous intention for human relationships. Such practices misrepresent the nature of God Himself, and therefore are sinful under any circumstances.
We also recognize that we all struggle with sin, therefore Mountain View Church will provide an environment that welcomes all people who struggle with sexual sin. We will seek to love all people in Jesus’ name, pointing them towards Christ’s power to forgive and heal. We seek God to discern ways that we can directly and indirectly minister and share God’s love with those who struggle with every kind of sin. (Genesis 1:27, 2:24; Matthew 19:4-6; Leviticus 18; Romans 1:18-27; 1 Corinthians 5-6)