Fenton Park Bible Church

FPBC Beliefs

 

This involves the teaching position of the elders of Fenton Park Bible Church. It is our document of UNITY. In order for the church to be of one mind, in unity these are the positions we support. Though an individual can be a member of Fenton Park Bible Church and disagree with portions of What We Teach they may not teach any other position to a believer in our Fellowship for the sake of unity and accountability.


The Scriptures imply that life begins at conception and indicate that all children are a gift from the Lord (not just those “wanted” or physically perfect).
Psa 139:13-16 Psa 127:3; Ex 21:22-25.

Creation

We teach that God’s creation of the heaven and earth is recent, not millions of years ago; out of nothing ex nihilo and special in 6 consecutive 24 hour periods called “days”. Man therefore was created directly and immediately by God in His image and likeness.
Gen. 1; Gen. 2:7, 15-25; James 3:9.

Church Discipline

The primary goal in Church discipline is to “turn one back” and bring the person to repentance so that they can be restored to the body. Discipline is a regular, normal practise that begins with the loving confrontation of sin and is first primarily the responsibility of the believer in the body (not the leadership) to one another. The kind, length, and severity of discipline depends on the nature of the sin.

Marriage

Marriage is considered by God as the Grace of Life. This in no way diminishes the importance of singleness in the Bible but exalts God’s design.
The Foundational requirement for Christian marriage is that a believer should not marry an unbeliever, but to marry a fellow believer for life. In order to marry in God’s will, a couple must have a pure relationship, demonstrate maturity and responsibility so each partner can meet appropriate Biblical expectations of the husband and wife in marriage.
Genesis 2:24,25; 2 Cor 6:14; 1 Cor 7:1-5.

Divorce

God hates divorce because it is a violation of His original plan and design for marriage. Although God hates divorce, he allowed for it to protect the “innocent party” (In the Old Testament adulterers were stoned). The primary reason for allowing, but not requiring divorce, is an ongoing pattern of adultery (continual unrepentant sin).
There is the possibility that Scripture allow for divorce between a believer and unbeliever.
Gen. 2:24; Mal. 2:16; Matt 19:6, 19; Matt 5:32; 1 Cor. 7:15

Remarriage

The Scriptures indicate that death frees a spouse to remarry. Where a Biblically permissible divorce has occurred the possibility of remarriage is assumed.
Rom 7:1; 1 Cor. 7:39

Homosexuality

God’s original design was for a man to be married to a woman, for life. Therefore, the Scriptures condemn homosexual behaviour. This condemnation is not cultural, but expresses God’s attitude towards behaviour that mocks His original design. Ultimately Christ and the spiritual resources He provides (The Holy Spirit, prayer, the Word, fellow believers) are the only answer for this sin.
Gen. 1:27; Rom 1:26,27, 1 Cor. 6:9; 1 Cor 5:9-11.

Spiritual Gifts

Scripture contains many clear passages about the subject of Spiritual Gifts. Eg: Rom 12, 1 Cor 12, Eph 4:11-13, 1 Peter 4:10-11.
Spiritual Gifts are special abilities distributed by the Holy Spirit to every believer according to God’s design and grace for the benefit of the body of Christ.
Spiritual Gifts allow us to serve one another, build up one another for ministry in the church, and ultimately bring glory to God.
Here at FPBC we provide an assessment guide to help you discover your God given Passions, Spiritual Gifts and Personal Style. The Elders encourage you to be involved in this process.

Sign Gifts - COMING SOON...

The Man’s Role

In the home the man is to provide headship and leadership for the family, loving his wife by sensitively communicating with her, protecting her purity and encouraging her spiritual growth. He should provide for the tangible needs of the family household, and should train the children to be faithful followers of Christ. In the church the men are to be the leaders and teachers.
Eph 5:23 – 29; 6:4; 1 Cor 11:3; 1 Tim 2:12

The Woman’s Role

The Scriptures teach that women are equally created in the image of God and in relation to salvation and standing with Christ, are equal with men. Although equal with men as far as identity and person, women have a distinct and different role.
In the home: The primary responsibility for women is within the family (It is recognised that God has sovereignly allowed for singles and women without children to have unique freedom for other ministry.)
In the church: Christian women have spiritual gifts and are expected to utilise them in ministering to the Body according to their Biblical design.
1 Tim 5:14; Eph 5:22; 1 Tim 2:12,15; Titus 2:3-5.

Government

God is the author of government and sovereignly controls those who are in power. Their purpose is to punish evil and deter its effects as well as reward those who do good.
Believers are required to submit to and honour their governmental authority as well as pray for their government.
A believer’s goal is not to clean up our government or society but to proclaim the gospel of Christ, and allow Him to change society from the inside out.
Romans 13:1-7; 1 Tim 2: 1,2; 1 Peter 2:17