We are deeply committed to faithfully teaching God's Word, the Bible. It is our only authority for what we believe and how we live. We strive to present the meaning and intent of Scripture, providing commentary and examples to make the passage clear and understandable and to apply it to everyday life. Our chosen preaching and teaching purpose is to engage hearts and minds with the clarity of the text of God’s Word so that lives are changed.
Below is the Statement of Faith of Westside Bible Fellowship. We humbly acknowledge that individual Christians and local churches differ in their application of the biblical principles that govern church teaching and practice. We also recognize that Westside is not necessarily the best church for everyone.
We cannot insist on uniformity of opinion in regard to all areas of church doctrine and practice. But we do encourage anyone who chooses to make Westside their home fellowship to respond to differences within the body in a way that preserves "unity" and "peace" (Ephesians 4:1-3) and from an attitude of humble submission to the leaders of the church (Hebrews 13:17).
If you have questions about our chosen beliefs, please contact one of the Elders (pastors). You may use our contact form.
Introduction
The Statement of Faith does not exhaust the extent of our beliefs. The Bible itself, as the inspired and infallible Word of God that speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality, and the proper conduct of mankind, is the sole and final source of all that we believe. The final responsibility for interpretation of the Bible’s meaning and application in regard to Westside Bible Fellowship’s doctrine, practices, and discipline rests with the group of Elders who, in turn, will need to give an account to Christ, the Chief Shepherd (Hebrews 13:17).
The Bible
We believe in the full, verbal inspiration of every word of all sixty-six books of the Bible in the original manuscripts (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21). The Bible is the infallible revelation of God and the final authority for our doctrine and conduct (John 17:17; 1 Corinthians 2:13).
The Trinity
We believe in one God in three Persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The three Persons of the Godhead are eternal, unchanging, perfect in all their attributes and equal in nature, power and glory (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5-6; Matthew 3:16-17; Matthew 28:18‑19; John 1:18; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 4:6).
We believe in the deity of Jesus Christ who, by his virgin birth, became fully God-Man (Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:26-35; John 1:1, 14, 10:30, 14:9; Hebrews 1:1-4). We believe in his sinless humanity, his substitutionary death and his bodily resurrection, ascension to heaven and future return (Acts 1:11; 1 Corinthians 15:20; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:20-23; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 1 Peter 3:18).
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the divine author of the Scriptures (2 Peter 1:20‑21; 2 Timothy 3:16). He convicts the world of sin, is the divine agent of regeneration, indwells all believers and baptizes them into the body of Christ at the moment of their conversion and seals them unto the day of redemption (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Ephesians 1:13-14, 4:30). He is the source of power for worship and fruitfulness, and he equips all believers for service by giving them spiritual gifts (Acts 1:8; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:4-13; Galatians 5:22-23). Believers are to live by the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16) and to be filled by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18-20).
Salvation
We believe that, as a result of Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden, all men are born sinners, totally depraved, under the righteous wrath of God and completely unable by their own works to save themselves from eternal punishment (Genesis 3; Psalms 51:5; Romans 3:10-23, 5:12‑14; Ephesians 2:4-9).
We believe that salvation is completely by God’s grace through faith in Christ alone, not on the basis of human effort (Romans 3:23-26; Ephesians 2:8-9; 1 Peter 1:18‑19). All who put their faith in Christ are cleansed from sin by the power of his blood (John 1:12). Salvation is completely free and permanent (John 10:27-29; Romans 6:23, 8:38-39).
We believe that true saving faith in Christ will result in a transformed life characterized by obedience and good works (John 14:15; Romans 6:1-4, 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 5:16-25; Ephesians 2:10).
The Church
We believe that the universal church, the body of Christ, consists of all believers in Christ (Romans 12:4-5; 1 Corinthians 12:13). All believers are united together by the indwelling Holy Spirit and are to love one another and live in peace (Galatians 3:26‑28; Ephesians 4:1-6; Colossians 3:12-15). Every local church has the responsibility to govern its own affairs in submission to Christ who is the head of the church (Acts 13:1-3, 20:28; Ephesians 1:20-23; 1 Timothy 5:17; Hebrews 13:17). We believe each individual Christian needs to faithfully worship and serve as well as to be served within the fellowship of a local Bible-believing church (Romans 12:4-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; Hebrews 10:24-25).
We believe God’s pattern for the church today, as in the early church, includes the baptism of believers by immersion (Matthew 3:16, 28:19; Acts 8:36, 38-39, 10:47‑48, 18:7‑8; Romans 6:3-5) and the call for all believers to be steadfastly devoted to Bible-teaching (Acts 2:42-47; 1 Timothy 4:13, 2 Timothy 4:2-4), fellowship (Acts 2:44-46; Hebrews 10:24-25; 1 John 1:7) breaking of bread (Communion) (Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26) and prayer (Acts 6:3-4; Ephesians 6:18). All believers are called to be actively involved in sharing the Gospel with unbelievers and making disciples (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:18-20).
The Return of Christ
We believe that the return of Jesus Christ to rapture the church to heaven is imminent (John 14:1-3; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). This will be followed by a period of tribulation on the earth and then by the return of Christ in power and glory to establish his righteous millennial kingdom on earth (Ezekiel 37:21‑28; Zechariah 14:4‑11; Revelation 8:1 - 16:21; Revelation 19:11-16; Revelation 20:1-7).
We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the saved and the unsaved. The saved will enjoy eternal life in heaven, and the unsaved will be personally judged and sent to hell to suffer the torment of God’s wrath for their sin forever (Matthew 25:41; John 6:39; Romans 8:11, 19-23; 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 5:9; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8; Revelation 20:11-15, 22:4-5).
Sanctity of Human Life
We believe that all human life is sacred and created by God in his image. Human life is of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including pre-born babies, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death. We are therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life (Genesis 1:27, Psalm 139:13-16).
Marriage, Gender, & Sexuality
We believe that God in His original design created people as male and female (Genesis 1:26-27). Rejection of one’s biological sex is a rejection of God’s sovereign and wise design for that person (Psalm 139:14). We believe that the term “marriage” has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, for life, as delineated in Scripture (Genesis 2:18-25, Matthew 19:4-6, Ephesians 5:31).
We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other (1 Corinthians 6:18; 7:2-5; Hebrews 13:4). We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, and use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God (Matthew 15:18-20; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8, Romans 1:24-27).
We believe that in order to preserve the function and integrity of Westside Bible Fellowship as the local Body of Christ, and to provide a biblical role model to Westside Bible Fellowship members and the community, it is imperative that all persons employed by Westside Bible Fellowship in any capacity, or who serve as volunteers, agree to and abide by this position on Marriage, Gender, and Sexuality (Matthew 5:16; Philippians 2:14-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:22).
We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking his mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ (Acts 3:19-21; Romans 10:9-10; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, 1 John 1:7-9). We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity (Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31). Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture nor the doctrines of Westside Bible Fellowship (Ephesians 4:31-5:2).