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Beliefs and Distinctives

Statement of Faith

From the Scriptures, we find the following nine truths to be essential to being part of the Kingdom of God.

  1. We believe in the Scripture of the Old and New Testaments as verbally inspired by God and inerrant in the original writings, and we believe that they are of supreme and final authority in faith and life, both individually and corporately (church, family, society). (1 Cor. 2:13; Matt. 4:4;2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pt. 1:20-21)
  2. We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
    (Matt. 28:18-21; 1 Pt. 1:1-2; Gen. 1:1-2; Matthew 1:23; 28:19; John 10:30-36, 14:9-11;1 Cor. 12:4-6, 13:14; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; Col. 1:15-17, 2:9; Philippians 2:5-8)
  3. We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and is fully God and fully man. (Matt. 1:18-25)
  4. We believe that man was created in the image of God, that he sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death, but also that spiritual death which is separation from God. We believe that all human beings are born with a sinful nature and are sinners in thought, word and deed.
    (Isaiah 53:6; Gen. 1:26-27; Gen. 2:17, Rom. 3:23; 2 Thess. 1:9, Eph. 2:1-5; Rev. 14:10)
  5. We believe that the Lord Jesus died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice, and that all who embrace Him as their personal Lord and Savior are justified on the ground of His shed blood. (John 1:12; 1 Cor. 15:1-4; 2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 5:1, 6:23)
  6. We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord, in His ascension into heaven, and His present life there for us as High Priest and Advocate. (1 Cor. 15:1-5; Acts 1:9-11; Heb. 4:14-16)
  7. We believe that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will personally return and set up His Kingdom wherein He will rule and reign in righteousness. (Acts 1:11; Rev. 21:1-6)
  8. We believe that all who receive by faith the Lord Jesus Christ are born again of the Holy Spirit and thereby become children of God. (Eph. 2:8-9; John 3:4-9, 1 John 5:11-13)
  9. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, the blessedness of the saved, and the retribution of the lost. (Matt. 10:28; Rev. 20:11-21:8)

Core Convictions

The following Core Convictions of Collierville Bible Church represent core beliefs that naturally flow from the gospel principles in our Statement of Faith. While we do not claim that one must affirm these statements to be a Christian (one may be a genuine believer yet be ignorant about what the Scriptures say about a particular topic), these are beliefs that ought to be common to all Christians.

  1. We believe that the highest calling as believers is to love God. This love is realized by our attitude toward and about God and shows in our obedience to His commands.
    (Deut 6:5, 10:12, 11:1, 11:13, 11:22, 13:3; Josh 23:11; Ps 97:10; Matt 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27; John 14:15, 14:21; 1 Cor 16:22; 2 Thess 3:5; 1 John 5:3)
  2. We believe that our second highest calling is to love others in word and deed, especially fellow believers, serving one another in unity.
    (Lev 19:18; Matt 5:43, 19:19, 22:39; Mark 12:31, 12:33; Luke 10:27; Rom 13:8-9; Gal 5:13-14, 6:10; Col 3:14; Jas 2:8)
  3. We believe that the primary role of the church is to worship God through the preaching of His Word, teaching of sound doctrine, fellowship, singing, observing the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, equipping the saints, and evangelizing the lost.
    (Acts 2:42-47; 1 Tim 4:6, 6:3; 2 Tim 4:3; 1 John 1:7; 1 Chron 16:9, 16:23; Ps 13:6, 21:13, 30:4, 33:1; Jas 5:13; Matt 28:18-20; Acts 2:38, 2:41, 8:36, 18:8, 22:16; Gal 3:27; 1 Cor 11:23-24)
  4. We believe that God created mankind male and female by the determination of God’s plan.
    (Gen. 2:24; Deut. 17:17; Eph. 5:21-23; Matt. 19:3-9; Mark 10:11-12; Eph. 5:31)
  5. We believe that God created marriage to be a permanent, singular covenant between a man and a woman. This can be summed up as “one man with one woman becoming one flesh for one lifetime”. We believe that children are part of God’s design for marriage and are given as a blessing from Him.
    (Gen. 2:24; Deut. 17:17; Eph. 5:21-23; Matt. 19:3-9; Mark 10:11-12; Eph. 5:31)
  6. We believe that sexual expression is meant only between a husband and wife in the covenant of marriage. Anything outside of that is condemned by Scripture.
    (Gal 5:19; Eph 5:3; Col 3:5; Matt 5:19; 1 Cor 6:9)

Doctrinal Distinctives

The following Doctrinal Distinctives of Collierville Bible Church represent the teaching position of the church. These distinctive understandings distinguish us from other followers of Jesus (non-essential).

In the non-essentials, we recognize that sincere and careful students of the Bible arrive at different views on a number of issues. These distinctives are reflected in the ministry, especially the teaching ministry, of CBC. The members of CBC are not expected to subscribe to the non-essentials, but they must respect it and must not use any disagreements with it to become a justification for undermining the health and effectiveness of the church.

  1. We believe that all believers are enabled by the Holy Spirit for various works of ministry. We believe that all believers have been identified with Christ through the Spirit’s ministry of baptism. Baptism with (in or by) the Spirit is something that occurs at salvation and may occur without any external evidence.
    (Eph. 1:13, 4:11-12; 1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:5)
  2. We believe that the local church is be led by a plurality of godly elders who share responsibility for the spiritual welfare of the fellowship. (Acts 14:23, 15:23; Titus 1:5)
  3. We believe that the order of headship and submission is God’s design for male-female relationships in the home and in the church. In the church, this order prohibits women from becoming elders/pastors or from teaching men in assemblies of believers. (1 Cor. 14:35; 1 Tim. 2:12, 3:2)
  4. We believe that our most fundamental responsibilities are to grow in our conformity to Jesus’ likeness, to convey the good news of salvation to a lost world, and to encourage others to do likewise. (Matt. 28:18-20; 22:37-39)
  5. We believe that the process of being conformed to Jesus’ likeness is only realized as we, through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit and in community with other believers, make earnest use of the resources He places at our disposal – including, but not limited to, study of God’s Word, prayer, corporate worship and fellowship with other believers. (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
  6. We believe that water baptism serves as the means by which one publicly identifies himself as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Baptism does not save (wholly or in part) but represents an act of obedience enjoined upon all those who would follow Jesus and declare their trust in Him for salvation. While we believe that immersion is ideal, we recognize other forms of baptism (e.g. sprinkling, pouring, etc.) as valid expressions. (Acts 2:38, 2:41)
  7. We believe that giving is a privilege. It is not a tax or something to be coerced from people. As people regularly reflect on how God’s goodness has been shown to them, their gratitude should be expressed in regular giving. Although there is no set percentage for such gifts, tithing is a healthy benchmark. (2 Cor. 8:1-5; 9:6-7)
  8. We believe that salvation should be freely and genuinely offered to every man and that whoever calls on the name of the Lord for salvation will be saved. We also believe that all who come to Christ do so because God has called them to himself. Although these two sentences seem to conflict with each other, they both capture what the Bible clearly teaches and oppose blaming God and praising oneself: The man who is lost has only himself to blame; the man who is saved has only God to thank. (Rom. 10:13; John 6:37)
  9. We believe that all who genuinely come to Christ as Lord and Savior will persevere in Christ, keep the faith, and cannot lose their salvation. Some who have never genuinely known Christ as personal Savior might give the appearance of being saved. When such persons turn away from the Lord, they have not “lost their salvation,” but simply made obvious what was previously unknown, namely, they never really belonged to Christ in the first place. (John 5:24; 1 John 2:19)