"...seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God." - Colossians
eLevate Your Perspective...
What We Believe
ELevation Church of the Eastern Sierra
The Godhead (Trinity):
In Genesis 1, when we are told that God created the Heavens and the earth, the Hebrew word used for God is “Elohiym” (Gen 1:1), which means “gods”…plural. The Bible is adamant, however, that there is only one true and living God (Deut 6:4, John 17:3, 1 John 5:20-21), who is eternally self-existent (Ex 3:14) and does not ever change (Malachi 3:6, Heb 13:8, James 1:17)…He doesn’t “morph” from one form, or god, into another. Additionally, scripture is clear that all other “gods” are in fact false idols and not “gods” at all (Psalm 96:4-5, Jer 5:7, 1 Cor 8:4).
“…I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me.” (Isaiah 46:9)
“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!” (Deut 6:4)
The natural question, then, is, “if God is one and there is no other, and He doesn’t change, why does He give us a name for Himself that indicates not one god, but many?” The answer is found in the concept of the Trinity, or the Tri-unity of God. Going back to Genesis 1, the word “Elohiym” is used as a plural intensive, which is a plural word that has a singular meaning. In other words, it talks about a bunch of things as though they are one, plural and singular at the same time. What this means is that by using the word “Elohiym”, Scripture is showing us that “Gods” equals “God” - and “God” equals “Gods”; One God, plural persons – Father, Son and Holy Ghost. When you take this fact and combine it with the clear teaching of Scripture that the incommunicable, divine attributes of God are held by God the Father (Gen 1:1, Acts 17:24, 1 Pet 1:3-5), Jesus (John 1:3, Col 1:16, Heb 1:2-3) and the Holy Ghost (2 Cor 3:17-18, Eph 4:30, Heb 9:14) what you are left with, is the essential doctrine of the Trinity…
That is…We believe in one unchanging Triune God, eternally existing in three persons – God the Father (God), God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit (the Holy Ghost) – who are co-eternal in nature and being, co-equal in power, glory and perfection, and each equally deserving of worship and obedience (Matt 28:19, 2 Cor 13:14).
God the Father:
We believe that God the Father, the first Person of the Trinity (Matt 28:19), directs and disposes all things that come to pass according to His own purpose and grace, and for His own glory (Rom 8:28, 1 Cor 8:6, Eph 1:11). He is the source and creator of all things (Gen 1:1-31, Eph 3:9), and as such is the only absolute, omnipotent ruler in the universe (Psalm 103:19, Rom 11:36). As creator, He is Father to all people and spiritual Father to those that come to Him through Jesus (Rom 8:14, 2 Cor 6:18). We believe that God the Father is perfectly just, boundless in love, infinitely gracious, and the source of all truth (Psalm 103:17, Lam 3:22-23, John 1:16, 17:17, 1 Jn 4:16). He continually upholds and governs all creatures and events and is sovereign over creation, providence and redemption (1 Chron 29:11, Jonah 2:9, Matt 6:9-13, John 17:2). God the Father saves from sin all people who come to Him through the Son, adopts them into His family, and becomes, upon adoption, Father to His own (John 1:12, Rom 8:15, 10:9-13, Gal 4:5).
God the Son:
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful man (John 1:1,2,14; Luke 1:35). We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice, and that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Romans 3:24; I Peter 2:24; Ephesians 1:7; I Peter 1:3-5). We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as our High Priest, he fulfills the ministry as Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate (Acts 1:9, 10; Hebrews 7:25, Hebrews 9:24; Romans 8:34; I John 2:1-2).
God the Holy Spirit:
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of
righteousness, and of judgment; and that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption. (John 16:8-11; II Corinthians 3:6; I Corinthians 12:12-14; Romans 8:9; Ephesians 5:18)
The Scriptures:
We believe that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the complete written revelation of God to His people (Heb 1:1,2). They were transmitted through dual authorship, meaning that chosen men inscribed the words of the text exactly as they were given by the Holy Spirit (John 16:13, 1 Cor 2:13, 2 Pet 1:20,21). Through their different personalities and writing styles, the human authors were superintended by God to compose His Word to man with complete accuracy (2 Tim. 3:16, 2 Pet 1:20,21). Therefore, we believe that the Scriptures (the Bible) are absolutely without error in the original documents, infallible and completely God-breathed. As such, they comprise the only infallible rule of faith and practice (John 17:17, 2 Tim 3:15-17, Heb 4:12).
Creation:
We believe that the heavens, the earth and all that is in them, came into being not through a long drawn-out progression of chance, random process and mutation, but by the direct purpose and creative action of God…out of nothing. (Gen 1:1, Heb 11:3) We also believe in the literal, grammatical-historical interpretation of Scripture…which means that we take the words of the Bible literally, in context, unless there is a good reason not to. What this brings to bear on the creation narrative is that not only did God create everything directly and specifically out of nothing, but He also created everything quickly…in six literal, twenty-four hour days (Gen 1:31, Ex 31:17). Science, when practiced objectively, always gives evidence of this fact (Rom 1:20). Nevertheless, the Word of God is above science and stands in judgment of science…never the other way around (Job 38:3-4, Rom 3:4, 1 Cor 1:20). Therefore, we believe that human beings are not an accident of chance, with no special purpose or higher calling, but instead were created fully and immediately by God, in His image, to know Him and enjoy Him forever (Gen 1:27).
Sin:
We believe that God created this world in a perfect state and upon the creation of the man and woman God declared His entire creation “very good” (1:31). This intended state of perfect beauty in all things is described in the Old Testament as “Shalom” (Isa. 2:2-4, 11:1-9, 32:14-20, 43:1-12, 60:1-22, 65:17-25; Joel 2:24-29, 3:17-18). Surveying the condition of our planet and human life, (including death, suffering, injustice, boredom, annoyances, miseries, fears etc.) it is obvious that something has gone terribly wrong. All of the individual and corporate shortcomings of God’s perfect intentions for all of creation, whether intentional or unintentional or through omission or commission, qualify as sin. Scripture is clear that God commanded the first man and woman not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil or they would die (Gen. 2:16-17). But they did eat from the tree and thus committed the first sin. We believe that because Adam was the head of the human race, when he sinned everyone who would ever live (other than Jesus Christ who had no earthly father) was implicated in his sin (Gen. 3:1-6; Hosea 6:7; Rom. 5:12-21; I Cor. 15:21-22, 15:45-50). Therefore, everyone (except Jesus Christ) is from conception sinful by nature, corrupted to the very core of their being and therefore incapable of doing anything that pleases God (Psalms 51:5; Rom. 3:10-18; Rom. 8:7-8). Thus, everyone (except Jesus) sins (I John 1:8) by breaking God’s holy laws (Ps. 14:1-3; Isa. 53:6; Rom.3:10, 3:23; I John 3:4) because they are sinners by nature and are simply showing forth their hearts (Pr. 4:23, 17:19, 20:9; Matt. 6:21; Luke 6:45).
Salvation:
We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins (Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7; I Peter 1:18-19). We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever (John 6:37-40, 10:27-30; Romans 8:1, 38, 39; I Corinthians 1:4-8; I Peter 1:5). We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, which clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh (Romans 13:13,14; Gal 5:13; Titus 2:11-15).
We believe that only God can offer salvation and only God can save (Jonah 2:9). Therefore, those who receive eternal life merely respond to the Holy Spirit’s prompting (Acts 8:36) by the faith that God has already given them (Eph 2:8).
The Ministry and Spiritual Gifts:
We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowing of spiritual gifts. It is, however, the believer’s responsibility to attempt to develop their sovereignly given spiritual gift(s). The baptism of the Holy Spirit occurs at conversion and is the placing of the believer into the Body of Christ. We also believe that particular spiritual gift(s) are neither essential, nor do they prove the presence of the Holy Spirit, nor are an indication of deep spiritual experience (I Cor. 12:7, 11,13 & Eph, 4:7-8). WE believe that God does hear and answer the prayer of faith, in accordance with His own will, for the sick and afflicted (John 15:7 & I John5: 14, 15). We believe that it is the privilege and responsibility of every believer to minister according to the gift(s) and grace of God that is given to him (Rom 12:1-8; I Cor. 13; I Peter 4:10-11).
The Church:
We believe that the Church is a spiritual organism comprised of all born-again believers throughout the world (Eph 1:22-23; 5:25-27; 1 Cor 12:12-14; 2 Cor 11:2). The local Church is an organized manifestation of the universal Church where immersed believers are associated by a covenant of faith and fellowship of the Gospel. We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:23, 27; 20:17, 28; Gal 1:2; Phil 1:1; 1 Thess 1:1; 2 Thess 1:1) and that the members of the universal Body of Christ are directed to associate themselves together in local assemblies (1 Cor 11:18 20; Heb 10:25). We believe that the local church is autonomous, free from any external denominational control or authority, and has the right of self-government (Acts 20:28, 1 Cor 5:4-7,13; 1 Pet 5:1-4). We recognize believer’s baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper as ordinances given by Jesus for the local church to practice as an extension of worship and testimony for the church body (Matt 26:26-29, 28:19-20; Acts 2:41,42; 8:36-39; Acts 18:8; 1 Cor 11:23-26).
Church Structure at ELevation (ecclesiology):
We believe that the Church is to be governed by a plurality of male Elders (1 Tim 3:1-7) who guide the body on issues of theology and doctrine, and oversee the ministry “operations” of the church (Titus 1:5-11). Deacons, who can be men or women, lead and carry out specific ministries within the church, under the elders’ oversight (Acts 6:1-6), serving side by side with them. One elder, the lead pastor/preacher, though no higher in authority than the others, leads the church himself from the pulpit (2 Tim 4:1-5) and is the primary “vision caster” of the body (to the extent that he has that ability). We believe that the members are to submit to the teaching and leading of the elders and deacons (Heb 13:7&17), while also checking them out to make sure they are operating Biblically. In order to protect the purity of the Church (Acts 5:1-10), we believe there should be mutual accountability (Matt 18:15-17, James 5:16) of all members to each other and discipline for unrepentant members involved in known sin, according to the standards of Scripture (Matt 18:15-17, 1 Cor 5:1-13, 2 Thess 3:6-15, 1 Tim 1:19-20, Titus 1:10-13).We believe that the Senior Pastor and supreme, final authority for the universal and local church body is Jesus (Ephesians 1:22-23, 4:15, 5:23, Hebrews 3:1).