What We Believe.

Living Oaks Church is a Church of God congregation in full agreement with its teachings. The church in its community and around the world is a clear and concise presentation. The witness of the church to the world is summarized in the following basic beliefs of the Christian faith.

The Bible         

We believe in the Bible as God’s only inspired, inerrant and authoritative revelation of Himself to man in written form (2 Timothy 3:16,17)

Trinity

We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit (1 John 5:7).

 Jesus Christ

We believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:1), His virgin birth (Matt 1:18), His sinless life (2 Corinthians 5:21), His miracles (Acts 10:38), His vicarious death as the only sacrifice for the sin of the world (1 John 2:2), His bodily resurrection from the dead (Luke 24:39), His ascension to the right hand of God as our intercessor (Hebrews 4:14), and His future return in glory, first to rapture His church (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18) and second, to establish the kingdom of God upon the earth (Revelation 20:6). We believe in the finality of Christ’s mediatorial work for the redemption of humanity and the present freedom of access to the Father (1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 7:25).

 Salvation

We believe in the new birth as the only means of receiving eternal life. The new birth involves a cleansing and deliverance from the penalty and power of sin. It is effectuated through faith in Jesus Christ and repentance from sin (John 3:3,5,7; Ephesians 2:8,9; 1 Peter 1:18-20).

Healing 

We believe in divine healing for the total man, spirit, mind and body and that this healing is accomplished in the redemptive work of Christ on the cross and appropriated in the believer’s life through prayer (Isaiah 53:5; Matthew 8:17; 1 Peter 2:24; James 5:13-15).

 Baptism

We believe in the baptism in the Holy Spirit as an enduement of power for all believers (Acts 2:4,38-39; 10:44-46; 19:1-6; Ephesians 5:18). This baptism results in a deeper expression of spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:22,23), a greater growth in Christ-likeness (2 Corinthians 3:18), a genuine manifestation of spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1-11), and a more effective prayer life (Romans 8:26, 27).

Sanctification

We believe in the process of spiritual development (sanctification) wrought in the believer’s life by the Holy Spirit. The growth involves daily dying to sin and living unto righteousness (Romans 6:1-23), finds expression in a holy life (Hebrews 12:24) and will be culminated at the return of Christ (1 John 3:2).

Resurrection

We believe in the resurrection from the dead. First, the righteous unto eternal life and second, the ungodly unto eternal damnation (Daniel 12:2; John 5:28,29; Revelation 20:4-6, 11-15)

Communion

We believe in the sacraments of the church established by Jesus Christ our Lord; the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:26-30; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26) and baptism by immersion as a symbol and witness of the new birth (Matthew 28:19; 1 Peter 3:20-22).