What We Believe

The following are the core beliefs of Refuge CMI based on the foundational truths taught in the bible.   All of our teaching and ministry is rooted in and flows out of these biblical doctrines.  

There is one eternally existing God who has revealed Himself in three distinct ways as  God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. He is the creator of all that exists, both visible and invisible, and is worthy of all glory and praise.  God is perfect in love, power, holiness, goodness, knowledge, wisdom,  justice, and mercy. He is unchangeable; the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
 Deut 6:4, Matt 5:48, Matt 28:19

Jesus Christ is true God and true man.  He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.  He died on a cross (The just for the unjust) as a substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of man.  All who believe in Him and accept his sacrifice are justified on the ground of His shed blood.  He rose from the dead and is now at the right hand of Majesty in Heaven as our great High Priest.  He will come again soon to establish His Kingdom, righteousness and peace.
Phil 2:6-11, Luke 1:34-38, I Peter 3:18, Heb 2:9, Rom 5:9, Acts 2:23-24, Heb 8:1, Matt 26:64

The Holy Spirit is a divine person of the triune godhead sent to indwell, guide, teach, empower the believer, and convince the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgement.  John 14:15-18, John 16:3, Acts 1:8, John 16:7-11
It is the will of God that each believer should be filled with the Holy Spirit and be sanctified wholly, being separated from sin and the world, and fully dedicated to the will of God, thereby receiving power for holy living and effective service.  This is both a crisis and progressive experience wrought in the life of the believer subsequent to conversion.  I Thess 5:23,  Acts 1:8, Romans 6:1-14

As alluded to about God above, He is a holy God.  As such we believe we are expected to live holy lives as outlined in the Bible.  This means that not only is salvation only through Jesus Christ, but that salvation includes repenting of our sins which means to turn away from any sinful lifestyle we were living before we accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior.  It goes beyond a little prayer to a total change of lifestyle from doing our own thing, to being sold out to following Jesus Christ  the rest of our days.  Lev 11:45, I Peter 1:16

Man was created in the image and likeness of God.  But he fell through disobedience, incurring both physical and spiritual death.  All of humanity is born with a sinful nature, are separated from the life of God, and can be saved only through the atoning work of Christ.  Sin is any behavior that is outlined in the Bible from a little white lie to living a sexually deviant lifestyle outside of the bonds of holy matrimony between a man and a woman.  We believe as we follow the leading of Holy Spirit and the Word of God, that we will want to give up the old lifestyle and follow the Word of God.  Those who choose not to follow Jesus Christ will face an eternity of conscious torment; those who believe in Jesus Christ and His atoning work, and choose to follow Him will spend eternity in everlasting joy and bliss.
Gen 1:27, Rom 3:23, I Cor 15:20-23, Rev 21:8, Rev 21:1-4

God has revealed himself to us through his son, Jesus Christ, who is the visible image of the invisible God, the holy scriptures, and through all of creation itself.

Humans, both male and female, were created in God's image for His glory, and that Biblical marriage is between a man and a woman. The first humans, Adam and Eve, were created without sin and appointed as caretakers of the rest of God's creations.  We also believe that human life begins at conception and we are therefore ProLife.

When Adam and Eve chose not to obey God, they ceased to be what they were made to be and became distorted images of God. This caused them to fall out of fellowship with God, and fractured all of creation ever since that time.

Jesus Christ came to reconcile us with God. He lived a life without sin and willingly died on the cross to pay the penalty for our transgressions. God raised him from the dead and now, by grace, offers as a free gift eternal life to all who follow Christ, by faith, as their Lord and Savior. That is why salvation can be found in Christ alone.  Titus 3:4-7

Provision is made in the redemptive work of Christ for the healing of our mortal bodies.  Prayer for the sick and anointing with oil are taught in the Scriptures and are privileges for the Church in this present age.  Matt 8:16-17, James 5:13-16

The Old & New Testaments were inerrant and verbally inspired by God and are a complete revelation of His will for the salvation of men.  the Bible is the divine and only rule of Christian faith and practice.  II Peter 1:22-21, II Tim 3:15-16

The Church is meant to be the visible body of Christ, sent into the world to glorify God, proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, and make disciples.  The Church consists of all those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, are redeemed through His blood, and are born again of the Holy Spirit.  Christ is the Head of the Body, the Church, which has been commissioned by Him to go into all the world as a witness, preaching the gospel to all nations.  The local church is a body of believers in Christ who are joined together for the worship of God, for edification throughout the Word of God, for prayer, fellowship, the proclamation of the gospel, and the observance of the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper.  Eph 1:22-23, Matt 28:19-20, Acts 2:41-47

Jesus Christ is returning one day soon to judge both the living and the dead and to usher in the fullness of God's kingdom on earth. There will be a bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust; the just unto life, the unjust unto judgement.  I Cor 15:20-23, John 5:28-29
The Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is imminent and a will be personal, visible, and premillennial.  This is the believer's blessed hope and is a vital truth which is an incentive to holy living and faithful service.
Heb 10:37, Luke 21:27, Titus 2:11-14