Distinctives

Christian Tradition

As a Bible church you will discover we celebrate a rich tradition of Christians devoted to proclaiming Scripture including Saint Augustine, Jonathan Edwards, and Charles Spurgeon. At the same time we appreciate the contributions of contemporary expositors and scholars the likes of John MacArthur, Charles Swindoll, Alistair Begg, and Albert Mohler.


The Scriptures

We recognize the Holy Bible is the inspired and inerrant Word of God (2 Tim 3:16). As such it is the sole source for all matters of faith and practice for Christians. Scripture is sufficient to meet every spiritual need of the believer pertaining to life and godliness (2 Pe 1:3). We also believe the Bible should be interpreted literally unless there is valid evidence the writer intended to communicate otherwise through figures of speech, symbolism, poetry, apocalyptic language, etc.

 

The Church

The Church is described in the Bible as the Body of Christ (Eph 4:12, 1 Cor 12:12). Just as a human body has only one head but many individual members that serve different functions, so also the Body of Christ has one Head but is made up of many individual members. The “Head” of the Church is Jesus Christ and He is it's supreme influence. The individual members of His Body assure we will observe a rich diversity among Christians. Scripture affirms believers are each gifted by the Holy Spirit to fill various roles in the Church so that the Christ's Body functions in a healthy manner. 


Theological Distinctives

Theology is the systematic and rational study of how God relates to man as revealed throughout the pages of Holy Scripture. Overarching biblical principles are recognized through careful and repeated examination of God’s Word, meditation, and prayer. These theological principles provide clarity of understanding and offer a harmonious biblical framework through which the members of a congregation can grow in unity as we combine our energies to build Christ’s Church (1 Cor 3:10-15). 


This being said, Port St. Lucie Bible Church believes the following: 


          Exclusivity of Christ: Scripture proclaims Christ is the only Savior of the world (John 3:16-18). As God's one and only Son, He alone is "the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father, but through Him" (John 14:6). The message of Good News we proclaim is that God's Son lived a sinless life and died willingly on the cross to pay the penalty of our sins and was raised up from the dead on the third day (1 Pe 2:24). Jesus is God's gift to a sinful and rebellious humanity and by God's grace and through faith in Him alone, we are reconciled to God the Father (Col 1:22, Eph 2:8-9). There exists no other path of salvation for sinful man (Acts 4:12).


          Soteriology: The Holy Spirit plays a crucial role in salvation. He convicts of sin (Jn 16:8), washes, regenerates and renews the heart (Ti 3:5), and He seals us as God's possession until the day of redemption (Eph 4:30). We acknowledge the Bible places a strong emphasis on the sovereignty of God in salvation.


         Literal Return and Reign of Christ: During His earthly ministry Jesus preached, "repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Mt 4:17). Today, we spiritually enter God's kingdom by turning from sin to trust in Christ as our Savior (Col 1:13). By the Holy Spirit we are born again as new creatures, made alive to God (2 Cor 5:17). Yet the nagging presence of sin has not yet been fully removed. Therefore, Christians anxiously await Christ's literal return when He will establish His physical kingdom on a new earth where righteousness dwells. (2 Pe 3:8-13, Luke 17:22-30).        


         Local Autonomy: We acknowledge that Christ’s Church is comprised of born-again believers across denominational and theological traditions. As to the local church, however, we believe each individual congregation is best governed by local pastors and elders through biblical principles discerned from the pages of Scripture as guided by the Holy Spirit (1 Pe 5:1-6, Titus 1:5-9, Acts 14:23). Port St. Lucie Bible Church is, therefore, self-governing and does not submit to any synod or belong to any denomination.


        Non-charismatic: Scripture describes the Holy Spirit as granting individual believers with gifts for service to Christ's Church. Among the spiritual gifts given in the New Testament, some were more observably supernatural manifestations God's power. We believe Scripture reveals these supernatural gifts were for the temporary nurturing of the fledgling Church, and to discern true apostles from false until the authoritative Canon of Scripture was completed (2 Cor 12:12). Scripture affirms the gift of tongues (miraculously speaking in unlearned human languages) and new prophecy have clearly ceased (1 Cor 13:8, Rev 22:18).

       

Other gifts were intended to be permanent and have been present in every age of the Church. By calling ourselves non-charismatic, we emphasize that we do not elevate expressions of emotion or experience over faith, doctrine, and reason. Additionally, since the Canon of Scripture is closed, we do not recognize individual dreams, visions, personal experiences, or any claims of extra-biblical "revelation" as authoritative for the Church today (Co. 2:18-19).


Core Values

Bible Exposition: We value faithful, accurate, and relevant teaching and preaching of the Scriptures as being essential to the spiritual vitality of our church (2 Timothy 4:1-2, Acts 2:42, Psalm 119:1-8).


Prayer: We acknowledge and recognize our desperate need for God to guide, equip, and empower Christians and the Church through prayer (Psalm 5:3, Acts 2:42, Ephesians 6:18).


Missions: We accept and understand our church’s responsibility to support and train ministers to spread the gospel locally and worldwide (Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8).


Discipleship: We are convinced each person in our church is called to follow Christ wholeheartedly and to equip and encourage others to do the same (Titus 2:1-8, 2 Timothy 2:2, Psalm 119:9).


Christian Sacrifice: We anticipate that all servants of Christ will realize "worldly loss” to some level as a representative of Jesus Christ (Luke 9:23-26, John 15:18-23).


Evangelism: We are passionate of the need to reconcile estranged sinners to God through Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:18-21, Matthew 28:18-20).


Financial Responsibility: We accept and understand that sharing our wealth with other Christians and giving to the work of the Church is the joy and privilege of every believer (1 Corinthians 16:1-2, 2 Corinthians 8:1-5; 9:5-14).


Compassion: We are fully aware of God’s call upon our church to meet the various and pressing needs of the poor and dejected (James 1:27, Isaiah 1:17).


Ministry of the Saints: We recognize our greatest ministry aspirations will only be realized through equipping every believer for the works of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-13, Titus 2:3-5, 1 Peter 2:9-10).


Community: We appreciate that individual spiritual growth and overall church health is facilitated through genuine and transparent relationships (Proverbs 27:17, Ecclesiastes 4:11-12, Acts 2:46).