We believe the Bible to be verbally inspired by God, and inerrant in the original writings, and that it is the supreme and final authority in faith and life. (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Jude 3).

We believe in the one and only true God (Deut. 6:4, Mark 12:29), eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19; Luke 3:21-22), and referred to as the Holy Trinity.

We believe that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, and is true God and true man (Luke 1:30-35; 3:16; Phil. 2:5-11).

We believe that man was created innocent in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27), that he sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death (Gen. 2:16-17; Rom. 6:23), which is separation from God. Hence, totally depraved, man has inherited and possesses a sinful nature (Rom. 3:10-23; 7:18).

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for the sins of all men according to the Scriptures as a perfect and substitutionary sacrifice, and that all who believe on Him are justified on the basis of His shed blood (Rom. 5:8-10; 1 Tim. 2:5-6; Heb. 4:15, 1 John 2:1-2).

We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord (John 20:1-29); in His ascension into heaven (Acts 1:9-11); that He is seated at the Father’s right hand (Eph. 1:20-23), and that His present life there for us is as High Priest, Advocate and Head of the Church (Heb. 1:3).

We believe in the personal and imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ prior to the Tribulation to receive the church (1 Thess. 4:13-18; Zech. 14:1-21; 1 Cor. 15:51-58; 2 Peter 3:1-13). And, following the literal fulfillment of the Great Tribulation, He will return visibly to the earth with His saints to reign during the millennial Kingdom (Rev. 19:11-15, 20:1-6).

We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, the everlasting joy of the saved (1 Cor. 15:1-50), and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost (Rev. 20:1-6, 21:22).

We believe in a Free Grace understanding of the Gospel. Specifically, we believe that a person is born again only by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:24-28, 10:9-10). Furthermore, we believe that, at regeneration, all believers in this Church age are instantaneously indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:11), baptized by the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13), and sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30). We believe that the validation of a believer’s saving faith comes by asking and affirming the question, “Am I trusting in Christ alone for my eternal life?” (John 6:47, 20:31)

We believe that sanctification is separation unto God and is three-fold:

• Positionally, the believer was justified at conversion by virtue of union with Christ (John 17:17).

• Progressively, the believer is continually being sanctified through the Word by obedience to that Word by walking in the Spirit (Eph. 5:26), thereby controlling the lust of the flesh, producing the fruit of the spirit (Col. 3:1-4) and exercising their gift(s) of the Spirit. The evidence of a believer’s ongoing progressive sanctification and fellowship with Christ comes by the works and fruit of the Spirit that is produced in his life (John 15:4-5; Titus 2:7; Gal. 5:22-23).

• Ultimately, the believer will be glorified and completely conformed to the image of Christ when meeting the Savior face to face (Heb. 10:14; 1 John 3:1-3).

We believe that the Church is the Body of Christ, composed of all who are born again during this age of Grace which began in Acts 2, and that the local Church is to gather together for the purpose of observing the ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, and exercising the gifts, rights and privileges invested in believers by His word for the purpose of edifying the Body of Christ (Acts 2:1-47; Rom. 12:1-8; and 1 Cor. 12:1-31).

We believe in the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper and that it is the commemoration of His death until He comes, and that it should be preceded by self-examination (1 Cor. 11:23-31). We believe in the ordinance of water baptism as a symbol of the believer’s death, burial, and resurrection with Christ. (Matt. 28:19; Rom. 6:1-4).

We believe that all believers are kept secure forever in that they cannot lose their salvation. (Rom. 8:1, 38-39; John 10:27-30; 1 Cor. 1:4-3; 1 John 5:11-13.)

We believe in the personality of Satan (Job 1:6-7), and that Satan is a fallen angel who is the open and declared enemy of God (Isaiah 14:12-17) and man (2 Cor. 4:3-4; 1 Peter 5:8).

We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells the believer (Rom. 8:9-11) and baptizes the believer into the body of Christ at the moment of salvation (1 Cor. 12:13), and that evidence of this indwelling of the Spirit is the “fruit of the Spirit” spoken of in Gal. 5:22-23.  We further believe the sign gifts, such as “tongues”, “prophecy” and “healing” were a sign to Israel in the days of the Apostles (1 Cor. 14:21-22), and that the sign gifts have ceased.

We believe that, according to the Scriptures, marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God’s unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church, and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race. 

• We believe that sexual intimacy is a wonderful gift of God that is only to be expressed between one man and one woman (as genetically defined), within the love and bonds of marriage. (Gen. 2:24-25, Matt. 19:4-6, Eph. 5:21-33, 1 Cor. 7:3-5 and Heb. 13:4).

• We believe that any form of sexual intimacy outside of marriage is both immoral and a perversion of God’s gift (Lev. 18:1-30, Prov. 6:32, 1 Cor. 6:18, Rom. 1:26-27, and 1 Thess. 4:3-8).

• We believe that any form of sexual immorality such as adultery, fornication, homosexuality, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, pornography, cohabitation (regardless of the age of the individuals involved), or any attempt to change one’s gender in disagreement with one’s genetically defined gender, is sinful and offensive to God (Lev. 18:1-30 and Rom. 1).

• We believe that in order to preserve the function, unity and integrity of the church as the local Body of Christ and to provide a biblical role model to the church members and the community, it is imperative that all persons employed by the church in any capacity, or who serve as volunteers, should abide by and agree to this statement on marriage and sexuality, and conduct themselves accordingly, whether at church, home, or in the community.

• In light of our biblical commitments, the Pastor(s) of Mandeville Bible Church will not perform any same gender weddings or unions or any other non-biblically based weddings or ceremonies at the church or at any other location. Furthermore, no member or non-member parties will be allowed to use any facilities of Mandeville Bible Church for same gender and/or sexually immoral weddings, wedding receptions, or any other such functions.

• We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ (Romans 8). We also believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness and dignity. Hateful and harassing behavior, attitudes or speech directed towards any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture nor the doctrines of Mandeville Bible Church (1 Peter 2:13-25 and 1 Thess. 4:11-12).

We believe that by the command of Scripture (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:8) and by the example of New Testament Christians (Acts 3:4) the Great Commission was given to the church collectively and to each Christian.  Thus, all believers have the privilege and responsibility of telling others about Christ as the opportunity is presented.