What We Believe

1. The Bible. The Bible is without error, God the Holy Spirit is the source of the Bible in it’s entirety. It is therefore, sufficient as the first and final authority of our faith and practice (II Timothy 3:16; II Peter 1:20-21).
2. God. There is one God, and within the one essence of one God, co-exists three persons:  The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. They are co-equal & co-eternal in power (both ability and authority) scope, essence and nature (Gen. 1:1; Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 5:3-4; Col. 1:13-16; 2:9; Heb. 1:1-3).
God created the entire world and all in it in six literal days. On the sixth day he created Adam, the first man. He then created a suitable helpmate for him, Eve. Through their disobedience to God, sin, the falling short of God entered the world(Genesis 1-3).  In God’s time (Gal. 4:4), Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, was born of a virgin birth. The purpose of his life was to live a life as an example for all of mankind (I Peter 2:21-24, Phil. 2:6). When his earthly ministry work was done, he allowed Himself to be crucified on a cross in order to atone (pay for) the sins of all humanity as a sufficient sacrifice. Three days later, He was bodily resurrected and ascended into Heaven. Currently, He resides in heaven as a High Priest and Advocate, for all that believe in His deity, the fact of His death and resurrection.  (Romans 10:9-10, Matt. 1:20-23; II Cor. 5:21; I Cor. 15:3-4; Acts 1:9; Romans 8:34).
3. Mankind is Born in Sin. Man was created in spiritual image of God, which allows man to communicate understand and be understood by God in ways that no other created being is able to experience. However, through Adam in the Garden of Eden, man disobeyed God and thereby incurred spiritual death, which is separation from God, and also physical death as a consequence; and that all mankind are born sinners by nature and practice (Gen. 1:26-27; Romans 5:12-19; 7:15-21).
4. Saved from the Power of Sin by Christ. Rooted in love and as a result of the sin condition of mankind, Jesus Christ died to release us from the power and authority of sin (Romans 6:6 We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that our old self was crucified with him in order that our body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.). He did so be becoming a vicarious, substitutional sacrifice, and now all who believe in Him are in right standing (righteous/justified) with God, on the basis of His shed blood, and are born of The Holy Spirit and thereby become the children of God (Romans 5:8-9; I Cor. 15:3; II Cor. 5:21; Romans 3:24-26; John 1:12; John 3:3-6).

Believers in Jesus Christ as God and His atoning work on the Cross are born again by The Spirit of God have eternal life and can never lose their salvation (John 10:27-30; Romans 5:1-11; Romans 8:28-39; I John 5:11-13).

Christians are not under the Law but that the grace of God, which makes a lifestyle of obedience to God possible (John 14:15; Romans 6:14; Galatians 5:1; II Peter 3:18).
The Holy Spirit indwells, seals, and gives spiritual gifts to every believer; and that He guides, fills, teaches and enables every believer to do the will of God as the believer trusts and obeys The Spirit (John 14:15-31; 15:26; 16:7-15; Romans 8:9; I Corinthians 112:7-11; Galatians 5:16-18; Ephesians 4:30; 5:18; I John 2:27).
The “sign gifts” of The Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues and the gift of healing, were temporary during the beginning days of the church. The original purpose of speaking tongues was to testify to those of other languages about “the mighty works of God” (Acts 2:5-12). Our review of Scripture sees the use of the miraculous gifts wane as the church became more established. While we do not limit what God is able to do, we do not expect the speaking of tongues as a normal every day occurrence in this age. Rather, the work of testifying and spreading the gospel is now the responsibility of those in the Body of Christ - us the church of God (I Corinthians 14: 1-40; Ephesians 2:20; Hebrews 2:3-4).
The ultimate deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection (I Cor. 15:50-54; II Corinthians 12:7-10).
We Believe that God frequently chooses to answer the prayer of believers for physical healing (James 5:14-18).
5. The Church. The church is a family of like-minded believers united as one body by common faith, love and desire to worship Jesus Christ. The mission is to bear one another’s burdens, to spur each other toward spiritual maturity, and to serve the Lord by building and overseeing a righteous kingdom of God (Acts 1:8; I Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:3-4, 4:4-16).
Elders - Serve to assist the Pastor in the maintaining of the spiritual integrity of the church.
Deacons - Acts 6 is generally accepted as the beginning of the office of deacons in the church. Their role was to assist the ministry through service. Therefore, deacons will spearhead and/or co-ordinate service and outreach components of the church.
Trustees - Trustees are responsible for the maintenance of the physical church building.
6. Stewardship. Out of the abundance of a grateful heart Christ followers are called to be generous givers of God in three ways: Our Time. Our Talent. Our Treasure. Members of LongView are expected to willingly contribute their time and talent to building up the ministry through some level of service and ministry. Specifically in regards to giving, LongView believes that financial giving to the cause(s) of the Lord is a large part of one’s personal relationship with the Lord and should be done systematically (weekly) and in accordance with how God has blessed us (I Corinthians 16:1-2). We see the tithe (10% of income) as the beginning of our giving, not as a religious legality but born out of our love for Christ and as a significant spiritual discipline.  While we strongly encourage and teach each member to become a tither, it remains a part of one’s individual relationship with Christ, and God who sees in secret, rewards in secret (Deuteronomy 14:22-27; Matthew 6:1-4, Mark 12:41-44).  Therefore, neither the Pastor nor leadership of LongView Bible monitor an individual’s giving to determine a members faithfulness.
7. Second Coming of Christ. There is a day and time, which no one knows, where Jesus will come back to earth and gather those that believe in Him and “rapture” them out of the world. It will be a personal, physical return. First,  those believers that have died (physically) will be called
from their resting place whether in grave, sea, or wherever they may be to meet Jesus in the clouds. Next, those Christians that are alive, will be taken up in the clouds. Together, both the living and dead Christians will be take from the clouds, up to heaven. Once, all Christians are securely into heaven, Christ will return to the earth and judge those that have not accepted Him for their wickedness and sin.

Christ will then establish His earthly kingdom which will last for 1,000 years. Then comes the final judgment of sin and Satan (I Thess. 4:13-18; Dan. 9:24-27; I Thess. 5:9; Rev. 3:10; Matt. 24:5-21; Rev. 6:1-19, 21; Isa. 11:1-20; Rev. 29:11-21, 20:1-3, 11-15, 21:1-22:5).