Core


LifePoint’s theological foundation—the core—is comprised of our theological perspective and our core theology.

Theological Perspective

We use theological perspective to understand God. Not that we as humans have the capacity to fully understand God, but that as Christ-followers through Holy Spirit’s revelation we can know God. We need theological perspective because we need to know how to relate to God.

God is the beginning and the end. He is the creator, source, and sustainer of life and is known because he has chosen to reveal himself. Because of his revelation we can know him, but while God is known and can be experienced, he is not fully comprehensible. This pursuit is our theology—the revelation of God and how we have come to know him as he draws us closer to himself. With this
perspective, we know God in three ways:

Truth

God is completely revealed in his son Jesus Christ, in his Word, and by Holy Spirit. Jesus is God Incarnate and is the origin for all that is. God is Truth, and there is no truth beyond him. God as Truth provides authority (John 1:14).

Mystery

We cannot fully know or fully comprehend God, but he reveals himself so we may know him more fully. Not to say that God does not desire to be known. He does. But he is above and beyond all. He is known and not yet fully known. God as mystery provides freedom to pursue him (1 Tim. 3:16).

Story

God is at work to reconcile the world unto himself in Christ Jesus. He calls his people—the church—to be on mission with him in reconciling the nations unto himself for his glory. God as Story provides continuity and synergy (John 1:1–4).

Core Theology

As Christ-followers, we need a set of beliefs that serve as a foundation for our lives. Core theology details the foundational beliefs on which our journey as Christ-followers is based and which are essential to every member at LifePoint.

The Bible

The Bible is God’s holy Word written by men under divine inspiration and is God’s revelation to man for salvation in Jesus Christ. It is truth without error and holds authority for life, faith, and practice. It is our foundation, instruction, direction, standard, measure, and ultimate authority.

God

There is only one true and living God, and he is holy and perfect in all of his attributes. He is eternal and sovereign. He is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-present. God is the creator, source, and sustainer of all life, and he is one-in-three, the triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They are co-equals and worthy of worship. God is ultimate and intimate and desires relationship with man for his glory.

God the Son, Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ is the Son of God and lived a sinless human life and offered himself as the perfect substitutionary sacrifice of atonement for sin by dying on a cross. After three days, he rose from the dead to demonstrate his power over sin and death; he then ascended to heaven’s glory and will someday return to earth to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is fully God and fully man and is the one mediator between God and man. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to God except through him. He now sits enthroned at the right hand of God, where he fulfills his ministry as representative, intercessor,
and advocate.

God the Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit is the divine counselor, who inspired men to write the Bible and who convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He calls humanity to Jesus Christ, seals every believer as a guarantee of salvation, and works within every believer to illuminate Scripture and transform life. He empowers all believers to serve and glorify God by giving them spiritual gifts and provides the believer with power for living, for understanding spiritual truth, for conviction of sin, and for guidance in doing right. He intercedes for believers in their weakness with God’s will. As believers, we are to live under his control every day.

Humanity

We as humanity were created to glorify God in relationship with him. By choice, Adam sinned and eternally separated us from God, condemning us to death and hell. We are in bondage to sin at birth through our sinful natures and are unable to please God or glorify him. Though we hold a desire to know God, our sinful nature rebels against God, does not seek God, and is antagonistic toward the things of God. Without a savior, we are hopeless and helpless to know God.

Salvation, Eternal Security, & Assurance

Salvation is a gift of God given to us by grace, and we receive it by a personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. By trusting Jesus as personal Savior and Lord, we can be rescued from hell through a new birth, called regeneration; redeemed from sin with a full acquittal, called justification; reconciled to God the Father in relationship to become more like Jesus, called sanctification; and prepared for Jesus’ return to spend eternity in heaven with God, called glorification. Because God gives eternal life through Jesus Christ, a true Christ-follower is secure in that saving relationship for eternity. If Christ-followers biblically surrender their lives to Christ and accept his gift of life through his forgiveness of sin, they cannot lose their salvation, for salvation is given, kept, and completed by his grace and power. We cannot earn it, so we cannot unearn it. By faith, those saved will persevere to the end.

Priesthood of the Believer, Ministry, and Spiritual Gifts

All believers are baptized with Holy Spirit at their conversions and thus have direct access to God through prayer, and God hears the prayer of faith, in accordance with his will. All believers are given spiritual gifts by the sovereign will of God and are responsible to develop and use those gifts, and all believers are called to serve, regardless of their vocations.

The Church & Two Ordinances: Baptism & Lord’s Supper

The church is God’s physical presence in the world and is made up of those who have been rescued, redeemed, reconciled, and redefined to the world. The Bible refers to two types of churches: the universal Church and the local church. Universally, the Church is the bride of Christ preparing for Christ’s return, the body of Christ serving in Jesus’ name, the family of God growing in relationship with God and one another, and the army of the Lord advancing his kingdom mission. God uses both the universal and local churches to carry the gospel to the people of the world.

Christ is the recognized head of LifePoint—not any person, group, or religious organization—, and while recognizing the value of associating and cooperating with other groups of Christians, every local church should be autonomous, self-governing, and independent from any denominational control. The establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined
in New Testament Scriptures.

We recognize believer’s baptism and the Lord’s Supper as scriptural means of testimony for the church. Believer’s baptism is a step of spiritual obedience and public testimony and symbolizes the spiritual work of salvation; however, there is no power for salvation in baptism. Likewise, the Lord’s Supper elements symbolize Christ’s body by the bread and his blood by the cup; again, the elements hold no power for salvation.

Second Coming

Jesus will return to this earth personally, visibly, and universally. Those who have received Jesus are sealed with the Holy Spirit and will be taken to heaven. Those who have rejected Jesus will be eternally condemned to hell. This return will usher in the eternal state.

Eternity: Heaven & Hell

People were created to exist forever, and we will either exist eternally separated from God by sin or eternally with God through forgiveness and salvation. To be eternally separated from God is hell, but to be eternally in union with him is eternal life. Heaven and hell are real places of eternal existence.

Core Values

Core values are basic principles of Scripture that identify what we value as a body of believers.

Relationship

We were created to have a special relationship with God and with others. We were created in God’s image, blessed by God, made to be a living being by God’s own breath of life, placed in the garden of Eden to care for all creation, given a perfect knowledge of creation, given a suitable helper with whom we were to become one, given dominion over every creature, and able to be completely

authentic with one another without shame. While sin denied anyone beyond Adam and Eve this natural experience by severing their relationship with God, God is on mission to supernaturally redeem this relationship with his people through his Son, Jesus Christ.

Relationship is expressed in a covenant that God established with humanity. His promise is as it has always been: I will be their God, they will be my people, and I will dwell among them. In this covenant relationship, we have a love for God that encompasses all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Our hearts connect with God and become his dwelling place, engage to experience God as he is, and are actively directed to know God. In relationship, we are set apart unto Christ and rescued from hell to a relationship with God.

Expression

Expression is the standard of living as a servant that models the Master, Jesus Christ, in how he lived: “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.” Relationship with God defines relationship with others, and serving is how we measure and model all relationships in order to reflect God’s love to others. Expression as a servant determines how we live as much as what we do with our lives. Servants are compelled to expression by design. Every servant, by God’s created intention, has a unique design of abilities, talents, experiences, and gifts that are to be used to glorify God, to build up the body of Christ to serve others, and to grow in spiritual maturity. In Christ, we are redeemed from sin to glorify God by expressing the life he has given us, which provides life satisfaction.

Authenticity

God created us to be authentic—real without pretense—before him and other people. Authenticity was given through a perfect knowledge of God, but sin destroyed authenticity with a perverted knowledge of God. This perverted knowledge created pretense, a claim made or implied, not supported by fact, or an insincere attempt to attain a certain condition or quality. Pretense leads us to try to be what we are not, to do what we cannot, and to think what we should not. Pretense deceives us to believe we are god. In gospel reconciliation, authenticity grows as we experience transformation by the renewing of our mind to know God’s perfect will and live as disciples, surrendering our lives to him, sacrificing our lives for him, and living our lives obediently following him. Disciples live in covenant community with one another, working together to make new disciples.

Mission

God has chosen to use people in relationship with him to impact the people of the world. His kingdom mission is to make disciples of all people, pursuing his desire that none should perish but that all should come to eternal life. Mission mandates that Christ-followers have a new worldview, continue the work of God on earth, and share the gospel as they make disciplines of all people—from our neighbors to the nations. Missional living is not activity that you do with your life; it is life in relationship with God, working to share him with all people, and provides life fulfillment.