Bible Church Distinctives

A Bible Church typically is an independent, nondenominational church whose purpose it is to build lives on the firm foundation of the Word of God and reach the lost with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Bible Churches exist to help people understand the Bible and encourage them towards spiritual growth and fruitful Christian service. The ministry from the pulpit consists primarily of the exposition of Scripture, with life-centered application(s) for families and individuals of all ages.

In a Bible Church, people are more important than programs, the nurturing of lives is more important than the numbers in attendance, and success is measured in terms of the spiritual growth and maturity of the people rather than the size of the offering. It is a place where one can step aside from the "world" to be refreshed by the Word in the company of a loving church family.

A Bible Church is typically dispensational in its theology, which means Bible churches hold to the understanding that God has a plan and program for the church in the present age that is distinct from His plan and program for the nation of Israel, beginning with Abraham in the Old Testament. The church is not Israel and Israel is not the church. God broke off normal dealings with Israel at the commencement of the present Church Age. He will resume His special prophetic relationship with that nation (Israel) at the conclusion of the Church Age when the church is taken from the earth to heaven by way of what's commonly known as the Rapture. God made promises to Israel in the Old Testament and those promises that remain unfulfilled can only be fulfilled at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and during His reign throughout the Millenial Kingdom. A correct understanding of this distinction between God's dealings with Israel and the Church is the single most important issue in “rightly dividing the Word,” and it has significant practical ramifications for the Christian who seeks to live a life pleasing to the Lord.

Because of its ability to make proper distinctions, dispensationalism naturally results in the view of salvation that has been termed Free Grace. Free Grace holds that a person can receive eternal life only through faith in Jesus Christ’s person and work without any mixture of effort on the part of the believer. While other views claim to hold to salvation by grace through faith in Christ, Free Grace is the only one consistent in teaching that no work or effort on the part of the sinner plays any role in securing eternal life or maintaining one’s right standing before God. By contrast, Lordship Salvation (Calvinistic and Arminian) holds that a person must persevere in good works to experience salvation at the end of one’s life. In this way, Lordship Salvation makes works an ex post facto requirement for salvation and negates the true freeness of salvation so clearly taught in Scripture. Free Grace can uphold this freeness while promoting the proper role of works in the Christian life by making the Biblical distinction between justification and sanctification.

A key aspect of salvation involves our legal standing before God. As the judge, God has rightly found all mankind guilty from birth and deserving of eternal hell. To save us from this reality, God offers justification through Jesus Christ. Christ went to the cross in our place and paid the penalty for our sin through His death. Because He was perfect, God allows His righteousness to be applied to our account. We know this because Christ rose from the dead, displaying God’s satisfaction with His payment.

Justification, then, is a legal verdict in which God declares us righteous through our faith in Christ. This declaration is not a change in experience but a change in standing. We still live in sinful human flesh, but God counts us to be righteous in His court of law. This declaration is also not a process. It happens at an exact point in time—the moment we believe. Thus, anything a believer experiences after has no effect on his standing. Furthermore, this declaration is accomplished by Christ’s work but is accounted to us through faith. The reason faith is so essential is that it gives God the glory by relying on His goodness and power. Faith testifies that only God, in the person of Jesus Christ, could accomplish the impossible task of redeeming unrighteous man from his frightening destiny. To contribute any amount of effort or action takes the focus away from it being solely God’s accomplishment.

Works are certainly important for Christians as they are the immediate goal of the Christian life, but they have no bearing on whether a person is saved or not. There is no guarantee that a believer will engage in good works. To have good works a Christian must begin to grow in his relationship to God. This process of growth is sanctification.

In sanctification, a believer is increasingly set apart from sin unto God’s purposes. In this process, works are the result of sanctification and never the cause. We are sanctified the same way we received Christ (Col. 2:6), as the Christian life is a walk by faith (Gal. 5:7). When a believer begins to take in the truth of God’s Word, believe what it says, and yield to God through it, God does the work within him to produce the good works He desires. Unfortunately, some believers struggle to ever begin or to continue in the sanctification process due to failing to spend time in God’s Word, neglecting to participate in a sound local church, entertaining ungodly influences, and allowing a variety of other hindrances. This does not mean those believers are not saved, but it will mean they miss out to some degree on the additional blessings of rewards at the Bema Judgment. There, Christ will test the quality of our works by fire, and those that endure will be rewarded. Yet, even at that event, those whose works are burned up will still be saved (1 Cor. 3:15).

Members of a Bible Church hold similar beliefs about the Bible and the Christian life. When someone joins a Bible Church, they are, in effect, declaring that church to be their “home church.” A “home church” is the place where one comes to hear the Word preached/taught, sing hymns and spiritual songs of praise to the Lord and one another, pray for God’s direction and blessing for their families and loved ones, enjoy the company of dear Christian friends, and use their time and talents in humble service to the Lord. It is the place where individuals and families can be spiritually strengthened and prepared to live a life pleasing to the Lord.

For many people, trying to study the Bible tends to be a hit-or-miss activity which leads to a hit-and-miss interpretation. This leads us to the question, are all Biblical Interpretations equal?

Over the years people have said, “Well, that's your interpretation!” This implies all interpretations are equal or valid. The point of any Biblical Interpretation is not to support our opinions, but to find out what the author’s (and therefore, God's) thoughts and intents were.

The other problem we face today is that most Christians don’t seem to realize Biblical Interpretation is a science; and like all science, if you don’t apply measurable standards, you end up with corrupt data which leads to people misinterpreting the information.

The science of Biblical Interpretation is called “Hermeneutics” (i.e., the skill or art of interpretation). The Apostle Paul told Timothy that he was to “rightly handle” (Greek: orthotomeo, to cut a straight line, to guide the Word of Truth along a straight line) “the Word of God” (2 Timothy 2:15).

We are also told in 2 Corinthians 2:17 that some people “abuse” (Greek: kapeleuo, to be a huckster, to adulterate) God’s Word.

So you see,
not all interpretations are equal!