Statement of Faith

We of the Ripley Church believe the following articles to be a statement of those basic truths taught in the Bible which are essential to our faith and lives.

1. REVELATION - GENERAL: God has revealed Himself generally in Creation (Psalm 19:1-6; Romans 1:20). SPECIAL: God has revealed Himself more specifically through the scriptures [the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments] (Hebrews 1:1-3; John 20:30-31) which are Divinely Inspired (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:16-21), Truthful (John 17:17), and Authoritative (John 10:34-38; 2 Corinthians 1:20; Revelation 22:18-19).

2. GOD: The God of grace and glory and goodness (2 Peter 1:3) exists eternally as Three-In-One--Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Genesis 1:26), and is the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer (Genesis 1:1; Ephesians 1:3-14; Colossians 1:15-17).

3. JESUS CHRIST: The divine Son of God (Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1-3; Philippians 2:6; Hebrews 1:3) came in human form (Isaiah 7:14; John 1:14; Philippians 2:7-8; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 4:14-16) to provide salvation for sinful man (Romans 3:21-26, 5:8-11; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Hebrews 2:17; I John 4:10)

4. MAN: Created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27, 2:7) but fallen in sin (Genesis 3) with strong adversary (Genesis 3; Isaiah 14:12-15; 2 Corinthians 11:14; 1 Peter 5:8-9) and in need of the new birth for salvation (John 3:3-5).

5. HOLY SPIRIT: The divine Companion (John 15:26; Acts 5:3-4) was sent to dwell within and empower for Christian living (Joel 2:28-32; Acts 1:7-8; John 14:26, 16:7-11; I Corinthians 12:7-11; Galatians 5:22-23; Ephesians 1:13-14, 4:30).

6. SALVATION: The gift of God's grace (Ephesians 2:4, 8-9) providing justification (Romans 5:1) through repentance and faith (2 Corinthians 7:10; 2 Peter 3:9).

7. THE CHURCH: The Body of Christ (Matthew 16:18; I Corinthians 12:12-13; Ephesians 1:22-23, 5:25-27) where Christ is head and believers are members, each with specific gifts and functions (Ephesians 4:11-13, 5:23-24; Colossians 1:18) with a mission both at home and abroad (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8).

8. CHURCH PRACTICES: Practices of the church include the Ordinance of Baptism (Matthew 28:19; Mark 1:9), The Ordinance of the Lord's Supper (Mark 14:22-25; I Corinthians 11:23-26), Anointing with Oil (Mark 6:13; James 5:14-16), Confirmation (Proverbs 23:12; I Corinthians 1:4-9), Commissioning (Numbers 27:18-19; Acts 6;1-6, 13:3), and Ordination (Mark 3:14; Acts 14:23; I Timothy 2:7; II Timothy 1:8-11; Titus 1:5-9).

9. THE CHRISTIAN LIFE: Living the Christian life includes Good Works (Ephesians 2:10), Separation (Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1), Speaking the Truth in Love (Ephesians 4;15, 25), Submitting to one Another in Home, Family and Marriage (Ephesians 5:21-6:4), Resolving Conflicts (Matthew 5:23-26, 18:15-17; I Corinthians 6:1-8), Developing the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), Praise (Hebrews 13:15-16), Fasting (Joel 1:14, 2:12-13; Luke 5:33-35), Prayer (Philippians 4:6-7, Study of Scripture (Acts 17:11; 2 Timothy 2:15), Worship (Psalm 29:1-2; Romans 12:1; Hebrews 10:19-25), Tithing (Genesis 14:20; Malachi 3:8-12; 2 Corinthians 9:6-8) Witnessing (Acts 1:7-8), and Perseverance (Romans 5:3-4; 2 Thessalonians 3:5; Hebrews 2;1-13; James 1:2-4).

10. THE SECOND COMING: Jesus Christ will come again Personally (John 14:3), Physically (Acts 1;11), Unexpectedly (Matthew 24:36-44), Visibly and Triumphantly (Matthew 24:30) and admonishes everyone to be encouraged and prepared (Matthew 24:44; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11).

11. FUTURE LIFE: Events that take place in the future life include the Resurrection of the body (Matthew 22:30-32; John 11:25-26; 1 Corinthians 15:12-58), the Final Judgment (Matthew 25:31-46; Romans 14:10-12; 2 Corinthians 5:10), and Eternal Life/Punishment (Daniel 12:2; John 5:28-29; Revelation 20:10-15).