The Bible We
understand the Bible to be the inspired and inerrant Word of
God. As such it is the sole source and standard for matters of
faith and practice for the believer. It is sufficient to meet
every spiritual need of the Christian (II Peter 1:3).
The
Bible should be understood plainly and literally unless there
is reason in a given passage to believe that it was intended
to be taken otherwise (e.g., figures of speech, prophetic language,
etc.). The meaning of the Scripture can be understood through
careful (II Tim. 2:15) and prayerful (I John 2:27) study.
The
Church The
Church is described in the Bible as the “body of Christ” (Eph.
4:12; I Cor. 12:27). The Apostle Paul explains this metaphor
in I Corinthians 12. Just as the physical body has only one head
but has many individual parts that perform different functions,
even so the “Body of Christ,” the Church, has one
head but is made up of many individual members. The head of
the Church is Jesus Christ. He is the central organizing and
directing influence of the Church. The body, made up
of eyes and ears and hands and feet, constitutes the wide diversity
of individual Christians. We are individually gifted and enabled
by Christ to perform specialized functions in the Church so that
the Church functions in a healthy manner.
The
Apostle Paul also describes the Church as the “pillar and
support of the truth” (I Tim. 3:15). For this reason we
see one of the great privileges and responsibilities of the Church
to be the preaching and teaching of the Word (II Tim. 4:2). Therefore,
we see the teaching and preaching of the Bible as one of the
central focuses of the various ministries of the Church.
Theological
Distinctives Broadly
understood, theology is simply the message of the Bible
understood in all of its various elements and details. It is
a synthetic understanding of the whole of the Bible (all 66 Books—Old
Testament and New Testament) set out topically and systematically.
Christians and churches have traditionally recognized various
theological movements or schools of thought that are helpful
in describing important biblical ideas (e.g., salvation, redemption,
sanctification, End Times, etc.).
This
being said, Denton Bible is:
Calvinistic.
We believe that the Protestant Reformation was a real recovery
of the Biblical truth concerning salvation and the role of
the Scriptures in the life of the believer and the Church.
We firmly embrace the 5 Solas (Latin for “alone”)
of the Reformation: Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia,
Solus Christus, and Soli Deo Gloria. We also recognize that
the Bible places a strong emphasis on the sovereignty of God.
Non-charismatic. The
Greek word underlying this word literally means grace—“the
unmerited favor or blessing of God.” The New Testament
describes God as individually gifting believers with certain
spiritual gifts for the benefit of the Church. Among the various
spiritual gifts described in the New Testament we see some
that were more vividly supernatural manifestations of the power
of God and the influence of the Holy Spirit. Some of
these gifts were intended to be temporary and were uniquely
suited to the founding of the Church during the lifetime of
the Apostles. Other gifts were intended to be permanent and
have been manifested in every age of the Church from the first
century forward. By “non-charismatic” we
mean to indicate that we
acknowledge this distinction.
Dispensational. Dispensationalism
refers to the observation that God seems to have related with
man throughout history in different ways throughout different
ages or dispensations. These dispensations are typically characterized
by certain distinct organizing principles. It does NOT suggest
or infer that man was saved in different ways at different times.
Man has always—in every age—been saved by grace through
faith (Eph. 2:8-9).
Dispensationalism
is characterized by a clear distinction between Israel and the
Church and by a consistent use of a literal principle of interpretation.
Dispensationalists differ on the specific number of dispensations.
Some would see as few as two dispensations, identifying a period
before Christ and a period after Christ. Others would see as
many as seven or more (Innocence, Conscience, Government, Promise,
Law, Grace, Millennial Kingdom).
Premillennial. A
large portion of the Bible speaks of events which were future
at the time they were written. Of these passages
a significant portion refer to future events yet to be
fulfilled. These passages are generally understood as referring
to the “End
Times.” Two
of the most significant end-time events yet remaining to
be fulfilled are the return of Jesus Christ to the earth
(the Second Coming) and the establishing of a physical kingdom
by Jesus Christ here on earth (the “Millennium”).
By premillennial we understand the ordering of these events
to be such that the Second Coming precedes the
Millennium.