God the Father and Creation
We believe in one God who is omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, infinitely perfect, and eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe in God as creator and sustainer of all things and accept the Genesis account of creation as authentic. We believe that man was created in the image of God but fell into sin and depravity through willful rejection of the known will of God. We believe that children become accountable before God when they reach a level of maturity in which they can make a voluntary choice to accept or reject Christ as their personal Savior and Lord.
Jesus Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God and was born of a Virgin; that He lived a perfect life; that He died and shed His blood to redeem mankind from their sin; that Christ arose from the dead, ascended to the right hand of the Father, intercedes for believers, and empowers for service and victorious living. We believe that Christ will return as He went into heaven and that He will reward the righteous, judge the unrighteous, and bring to fulfillment the restoration of all things.
Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit works in the world to bring men to Christ and that He dwells in the believer to comfort and guide them into all truth.
Evil
We believe that Satan is the personal enemy of God and all that is good and that he is at work deceiving men and promoting evil. We believe Christians are called to resist the devil as well as to seek protection and victory over him through the life, presence, and power of Christ.
Scripture
We believe that the entire Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit, inerrant in the original writings, authentic in its matter, and authoritative in its counsels. We believe that the Bible, as interpreted by the life and teaching of Christ, is the final authority for Christian living. Faith Builders Training Institute embraces the historic Anabaptist understanding of Christianity that emphasizes faith, repentance, discipleship, unselfish living, and the application of the Word to daily life.
Salvation
We believe in a salvation theology that makes the life, death, and resurrection of Christ the heart of Christianity and the community of faith the arena through which God reigns in the world. We believe that our relationship with Christ brings us into harmony with the Father, the created order, and the community of believers. As believers surrender to the lordship of Christ and follow Him in obedience, they are delivered from the power of Satan and the practice of sin. Since they are citizens of the heavenly kingdom while they live on earth, believers work in harmony with Christ to bring all that is under their dominion into conformity to the purposes of God for the universe so that all things under their dominion might be reconciled to God. We believe that God has called Christians to flee sin, to follow righteousness, and to fight the good fight of faith (I Timothy 6:11, 12). God is calling Christians to die to sin and to rise with Christ to a victorious lifestyle. The Biblical view of salvation emphasizes both faith in Christ and obedience in life (discipleship).
Church
We believe that the church is the body of Christ and is called to be a brotherhood that encourages, instructs, and disciplines God’s people for the maintenance of purity and the promotion of spiritual growth. We believe that FBEP is responsible to assist the church and the home in their task of preparing people for Christian service.
Civil Government
We believe that the civil government is ordained of God to maintain order in society and that it is the Christian’s duty to honor and pray for those in authority. Followers of Christ love all men, witness to the lost and to those in authority, and resist evil without the use of carnal force.
Human Sexuality
We believe that God designed sexual relations to be an expression of love in the marriage between one man and one woman and that sexual relations outside of marriage are sinful. Therefore, homosexual or lesbian relations, bisexuality, transsexual expressions, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are perversions of God’s gift of sex. (Genesis 2.24; Genesis 19.5, 13; Leviticus 18; Romans 1.26-29; 1 Corinthians 5.1; 6.9; 7.1-5; 1 Thessalonians 4.1-8; Hebrews 13.4)
Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage
We believe that the only Scriptural marriage is the union of one man and one woman for life. (Genesis 2.24; Romans 7.2; 1 Corinthians 7.10; Ephesians 5.22, 23) We further believe that God disapproves of divorce and intends marriage to last until one of the spouses dies. We understand Jesus to forbid divorce of one’s lifelong marriage partner and to say that remarriage to another while one’s lifelong partner is living constitutes adultery. (Malachi 2.14-17; Matthew 19.3-12; Romans 7.1-3; 1 Timothy 3.2, 12; Titus 1.6)
Other Doctrines
In addition to these brief doctrinal statements, we accept the historic creeds of the Christian church (e.g., Apostles and Nicene Creed) and the statement of Christian Doctrine adopted by the Mennonite Church in 1921 at Garden City, Missouri. We also have an appreciation for the Schleitheim Confession (1527) and the Dortrecht Confession (1632).
