What We Believe | Dunkard Brethren Church

What We Believe

Beliefs & doctrines practiced by the Dunkard Brethren Church...



The Word Of God

We believe that the Word of God is the final authority for faith and practice. The Bible holds this position because it is the very words of God. It is fully inspired, perfectly preserved, completely inerrant, and totally sufficient.

(2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:19-21)


God, The Father

We believe that God is a self-existing, eternal Spirit that exists in the unity of three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God in His first-person revelation of Himself is a Father communicating His provision, protection, discipline, love, training and care for His creation.

(Matthew 29:19-20, I John 5:6-9, John 3:16)


God, The Son

We believe that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh as the only begotten of the Father being fully God and fully man. We believe that Jesus was virgin born, sinless in life, and the perfect sacrifice as the substitute for man’s sins.

(John 1:1-12, Luke 2, Hebrews 4:15, I John 2:1-2)


The Holy Spirit

We believe the Holy Spirit is God, co-equal with the Father and Son; the third member of the Trinity. We believe the Holy Spirit is an active agent in creation, inspiration, salvation, sanctification, and spiritual gifts to equip the believer for service within the local church. The sign gifts have been completed.

(I Corinthians 12:11,18 & 13:8, John 16:7-13)


The Creation

We believe that God created the world in six literal 24 hour days, and on the seventh, He rested. We reject any other theories that would deny the truth of His word.

(Matthew 19:4, Genesis 1 & 2)


Man's Purpose

We believe that man was created on the sixth day of the creation week, created in the image of God: body, soul and spirit. We believe that man’s highest purpose in this world is to receive God’s gift of salvation, and his chief aim is to worship God.

(Exodus 20:11, Genesis 1:26-28)


The Family

We believe that the greatest human relationship is found in the institution that God designed and instituted called marriage. It is a relationship that is designed as one biological man and one biological woman for a lifetime. (See Distinctives)

(Genesis 2: 18-25, Ephesians 5:25)


Man's Need For Salvation

We believe that sin is man’s disobedience to the perfect law, principles and precepts of God, and his inability to perfectly conform to God’s absolute holiness. We believe that every man has a sin nature and has sinned against God by his own free-will.

(Romans 3:10,11,23 & 5:12)


God's Plan For Salvation

We believe that in perfect fulfillment of the Law, Jesus’ death as a sacrificial lamb on the cross provided the perfect payment for the sins of the world, and His bodily resurrection guarantees the believer eternal life with God in Heaven. Salvation can only be obtained by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

(Ephesians 2:8-9, Hebrews 10:11-18, Romans 5:8)


The Church

We believe that the church is a local, visible, called out assembly under the headship of Jesus Christ alone. We believe the primary responsibilities of the local church are to magnify Christ through corporate worship and to multiply disciples by fulfilling the Great Commission.

(Matthew 16:18, 28:19-20, Revelation 4:10-11)


Biblical Prophecy

We believe in a literal interpretation of prophecy. The next revealed prophetic event to be the Rapture of the church, followed by a seven-year period of trial and judgment called the tribulation. We believe in the pretribulational, premillennial, and bodily return of Christ.

(I Corinthians 15:51-58, Ephesians 4:13-18, 2 Thessalonians 2, Daniel 9:25-27, Revelation 4:1)

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Separation Of Church And State

We believe in the original intent of separation of Church and State. The Church has no power over the government; neither does the government have any say in church matters. (See Distinctives)

(Romans 13:1-7, 2 Timothy 2:1-2, Acts 4:19-20)

Distinctives

There are certain Distinctives that set the Dunkard Brethren apart from some church denominations that we believe the Bible clearly teaches and we hold to be true.


Baptism by Immersion

We believe Baptism is entered into as a sincere response to the gospel and in good conscience toward God. The doctrine we find in the New Testament is baptism by immersion into water. Baptism by immersion is meant to be symbolic of the believer identifying with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. We practice triune immersion in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

(Romans 6:1-14)


Non-Resistance

We believe non-resistance is the way the Christian believer relates to war and conflict. Jesus taught us that his kingdom is not of this world, so we do not have to fight to maintain it instead, we are to love our enemies and pray for them who despitefully use and persecute us. The Apostles continued to teach this as well by confirming the weapons of our warfare are not carnal and that we are to overcome evil with good. Therefore we do not learn the art of war or participate in any branch of the military establishment that exists for the purpose of taking the life of another person.

(Matthew 5:44, John 18:36, 2 Corinthians. 10:4, Romans 12:21)


Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage

We believe marriage is instituted by God to be a lifelong covenant relationship. Although western cultures seem to have fluid definitions of marriage, we believe that an unchanging God alone has the ultimate authority to define the marital relationship . With this understanding, we only recognize marriages that meet the biblical definition of one biological gender-normative man and one biological gender-normative woman. The elders and ministers of the Dunkard Brethren Church will only participate in weddings or officiate marriages that meet this definition. Jesus and the Apostles also taught us that divorce on the part of Christians was an act of hard-heartedness, except in cases of sexual unfaithfulness. Marrying a second time while the first companion lives or marrying a divorced person is outside of scriptural marriage.

(Genisis 2:24; Matthew19:1–9; Mark 10:1–12, Matthew 19:3-13)


Complementarianism

We believe men and women are equal in essence, dignity, and value but are distinct by God’s design. As part of the created order, men and women are to have different yet complementary roles and responsibilities in the home and church. As it relates to the church, men and women are both expected to lead with their roles in mind; however, official leadership positions are reserved for qualified men.

(1 Timothy 3 & Titus 1)


Headship Veiling

We believe veiling or covering the heads of Christian women recognizes God’s complementary design and His order of authority. It is the outward symbol of a woman's willingness to submit herself to the teaching of Scripture and it expresses an awareness of the spiritual battle she faces every day as outlined in Genesis 3:16. It also allows her to participate in a Biblical and historic Christian practice that celebrates her femininity. The doctrine, as it relates to men, states that they should honor Christ in times of worship or prayer by leaving their heads uncovered.

(1 Corinthians 11:1-16)


Love Feast & Feet Washing

We believe reenacting a supper symbolic of the last supper which includes a simple meal and the washing of each other's feet is an aid to remembering the life of Jesus and his love for serving people. This is combined with communion in a service that attempts to translate the common into commemorative, as we celebrate the life, substitutional death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

(John 13, John 19)


Christian Greeting

We believe that a Christian greeting is a special privilege and one that the Apostles expressed as a “holy kiss.”

(Acts 20:37, Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, 2 Corinthians 13:12, 1 Thessalonians 5:26, 1 Peter 5:14)