First Ruston’s Statement of Beliefs

1. We believe the Bible is the perfect word of God. 2 Timothy 3:16, and 2 Peter 1:20-21
2. We believe there is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being. Matthew 28:19-20, and 2 Corinthians 13:14
3. We believe God is Father to those who become His children through faith in Christ. Yet God acts fatherly to all as He rules with kind care of all His creation. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise.
4. We believe Jesus is uniquely God and God the Son. We believe He was born of a literal virgin, lived a sinless life on earth 100% God and 100% man. We believe He died literally on the cross for the sins of the world, and that He literally, physically walked out of the tomb on the third day.
5. We believe the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God and God in Spirit. He convicts the lost of their sinfulness and draws people to Christ for salvation. He seeks to magnify and point us to Jesus. For the Christian, He is God in us. He guides us, counsels us, convicts us, and comforts us.
6. We believe all people are lost without Jesus Christ. Left in this state, the lost will miss the true purpose of life here on earth and miss eternity in heaven with God in the afterlife. We believe God provided a plan to save everyone through His Son Jesus Christ. We believe salvation is available through the grace of God alone, by faith alone, in Jesus alone. We believe without reservation that Jesus is the only way to salvation, that He alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. John 3:18, John 3:16, Ephesians 2:8-9, and John 14:6
7. We believe a person is saved when they are willing to repent of their sins and call on Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior. We believe faith in Christ that saves involves repentance, intellectual acceptance, and a surrender of one’s life. When one truly places their faith in Christ, He saves them! Although we sadly believe many will not be saved, we truly believe everyone can be saved.
8. We believe that there is a Judgement coming for everyone at the end of life on this earth. We believe that the saved will spend eternity in Heaven with God forever. We believe that those not in Christ will spend eternity in Hell separated from God forever. We believe that Heaven is real and wonderful and that Hell is real and horrible.
9. We believe in the literal Second Coming of Christ. We believe someday Jesus will literally and visibly return to earth as the coming King. How all this plays out, we don’t know. We just believe He is literally coming again someday! 
10. We believe the church is the body and bride of Christ. We believe the church does consist of the saved of all ages of all time. But we believe church, as found in the New Testament, primarily refers to the local body of believers. We are supportive of many para-church organizations but we believe the Biblical local church is the hope of the world.
11. We believe all sex outside of marriage is wrong. We love all people but we believe marriage is between a male and female and that all sexual expression is to be within this relationship.