Clifton Bible Church

Doctrinal Statement

The Scriptures

We believe all Scripture, Old and New Testament, is inspired by God. This refers to the original autographs as written by the prophets and apostles. Thus, the Bible is inerrant, and without mistakes in the original words. We believe all Scripture points to the Lord Jesus Christ and reveals the mind of God to man, and the only way of Salvation is through Christ. The Scriptures also are the only guide for our practical, moral, and spiritual instruction.
[Mark 12:26, 36; 13:11; Luke 24:27, 44; John 5:39; Acts 1:16; 17:2-3; 18:28; 26:22-23; 28:23; Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 2:13; 10:11; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21]

The Interpretation of Scripture

In some ways interpretation of Scripture would not be considered "doctrine," yet it is extremely important as to the method that one approaches in the study of the Bible. In this sense, interpretation becomes an essential doctrinal issue.

"Hermeneutics" is the science of interpretation. There are evidences in both the Old and New Testaments as to the method that Biblical truth is to be interpreted. Conservative, normal, and literal hermeneutics takes a very tried and true approach to understanding the Bible that should include observation, interpretation, and application. It would argue for but one sense or meaning for each passage of Scripture. As well, normative hermeneutics leaves no room for a new "complementary hermeneutics" approach in the popularly labeled system of Progressive Dispensationalism.

Though taking the Word of God literally, and at face value, in classical hermeneutics there is room for poetry, figures of speech, illustrations, types, and symbols. But these literary devices do not take away from the foundational or normal interpretative understanding of Biblical truth. Normal interpretation also argues for progressive revelation, i.e., that the Holy Spirit over a period of time revealed certain truths in a progressive fashion. For example, the revelation of Jesus Christ starts in Genesis, but is not fully complete until the book of Revelation.

Literal interpretation is in opposition to allegorical interpretation. Though the Apostle Paul in Galatians "creates" an allegory in order to make an isolated point or illustration (4:21-26), allegory as a system is but an unacceptable philosophical approach to understanding the Word of God. It is clearly contrary to proper Biblical interpretation.
[Luke 1:1-4; 24:35; 44-46, 48; Acts 10:8; 17:11-12; 26:6-7; 26-27]

The Godhead

We believe that the Godhead eternally exists in three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit - and that these three are one God, having the precise same nature, attributes, and perfections and worthy of precisely the same honor, confidence, and obedience.
[Mt. 28:18-19; Mark 12:29; John 1:14; Acts 5:3-4; 2 Cor. 13:14; Heb. 1:1-3; Rev. 1:4- 6]

God's Eternal Purpose

We believe that according to the "eternal purpose" of God (Eph. 3:11) salvation in the divine reckoning is always "by grace through faith," and rests upon the basis of the shed blood of Christ. We believe that God has always been gracious, regardless of the dispensation, but that man has not at all times been under an administration or stewardship of grace as is true in the present dispensation of the Church.
[Cor. 9:17; Eph. 3:2; 3:9; Col. 1:25; 1 Tim. 1:4]

IN TIMES LIKE THESE ...

Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps. He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; who makes lightning for the rain; who brings forth the wind from His treasures. (Psa. 135:6-7)

Only a fool would say that things in God’s universe happen by accident and chance. He is in charge of all things. While He often uses the rules and laws He has put in place, to cause events to come about, yet He is still in charge, they do not come about by happenstance. With His laws of the universe, He knows the end to which they will go. He has declared, by the laws He has created, the beginning from the end. The Rabbis say, “The Lord has the power of doing His own will!” – Dr. Mal Couch

For God spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, ...” (Psa. 33:9-11a)

What is happening in America, and in our world presently, is not happening by accident! All things are moving toward the end that He has in mind. What we see in the headlines is happening because of His designs. It is all going in the direction He wishes. There are no accidents.

The Rabbis say, “that from time to time by supernatural powers God performs His deeds, sometimes for good and sometimes for destruction. At the thought of His majestic works man should be filled with a sense of reverence.” There is the old saying, which I don’t like, “Man proposes, God disposes.” The problem with this is that even in Man’s proposing God is at work in the minds of human beings! God is at work in the minds of the people of the nations and in individuals. God’s thoughts stand in contrast to the thoughts of the peoples of the earth! – Dr. Mal Couch

So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it (Isa. 55:11).

What God says either amplifies judgment or it brings about a change in circumstances or in people. His Word never goes forth without having a result. God knows what He is doing. He does not speak empty thoughts that simply fly off into the wilderness! All things are doing exactly what He wishes. – Mal Couch(2-11)

Whatever the Lord pleases, He does” (Psa. 135:6)

This is stated in 115:3 also. There it adds “Our God is in the heavens ...” The Rabbis say He has the power of doing His will, in contrast to the heathen gods who are material objects, corporal and visible. The Rabbis added, “If the God of Israel permitted the nation to suffer, it was the consequences of His decree and not of His inability to avert it.” The Lord does as He pleases; He is in charge! – Mal Couch

The Lord has established His throne in the heavens; and His sovereignty rules over all. (Psa. 103:19)

If you haven’t noticed, these little “Times Like These” are focusing on God’s absolute sovereignty. He is in charge of His universe. He is sovereign and we are but His servants. He is in control of all things.

To say that His throne is in the heavens means that from there He causes all things to happen. He does not “wish” that things take place; He causes them to come about! The orthodox Jewish Rabbis get the point. They write: “Unlike earthly dynasties which are liable to change, the Divine throne is firmly in heaven, everlasting and unchanging. Not only in Israel, but among all other peoples, would they recognize this awesome truth! – Dr. Mal Couch

Our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases. O Israel, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. (Psa. 115:3, 9)

God is in charge; who do we think we are? Verse 3 is almost the same words of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:35. “He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can hold back His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”

God does not have to do what people want. He is not bound by their wishes or their thoughts. If He desires to follow their thoughts He can, but He is not bound by their plans! To say that God is “in heaven,” means He rules from there over His whole universe. His thoughts govern the movement of all the molecules of His creation. He adds: “There is no savior besides Me. It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed” (Isa. 43:11-12). “I am God. Even from eternity I am He; and there is none who can deliver out of My hand: I act and who can reverse it?” (vv. 12b-13).

Only a fool, or one who has not read his Bible, denies the sovereignty of God! He is in charge. – Dr. Mal Couch

So the king did not listen to the people; for it was a turn from the Lord, that God might establish His word, which the Lord spoke through Ahijah (1 Kings 12:15).

As with Pharaoh, God caused the king to reject what was being said to him by the crowds. The Lord can blind the mind, stop up the ears, change the direction of a man, all for His purposes. He can use the sinful heart and make that sin serve His purposes, though the Lord is not the author of sin. While this is hard for us to understand, the Bible is full of such events. Unger rightly says, “The Lord was overruling in events to fulfill His word spoken by Ahijah.” He is doing the same today with all men, and especially with the stubborn leaders of the world. He brings them to judgment by hardening their hearts! – Dr. Mal Couch

Jonathan said to his armor bearer: Come and let us cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; perhaps the Lord will work for us, for the Lord is not restrained to save by many or by few. (1 Sam. 14:6).

God does not respond to numbers—to few or to many. He is sovereign and does as He pleases whether there is a large number or small number who is following Him. He works through people but He does not have to. The Israelites were in combat with the Philistines, the most pagan of the people in the land. God would use the Jews, though He did not have to, to destroy this large society of immoral Gentiles. The same today: He is not beholding to numbers, either to His own people or to the response of the pagans that His people were in conflict with. – Dr. Mal Couch

God told “the man of God,” Shemaiah, “speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, ‘You shall not go up or fight against your relatives; return every man to his house, for this thing is from Me.’” (2 Chron. 11:4).

Rehoboam came up against Israel with 180,000 chosen men, warriors, to fight. This was all driven by the Lord, He was bringing up these troops to go to war. God can bring people together to do what He wishes. He is in charge! Nothing happens in this life, personally, internationally, or among the peoples of the earth, by accident. God moves men about as He pleases. He is the One who manipulates the nations and the forces of both good and evil. Why did we bury the doctrine of the sovereignty of God? Of course, we replaced this truth with God being passive and helpless. We think we are in charge of ourselves; the Lord is not around! What foolishness! Jehovah is in command of His own universe and He does with it as He pleases! Don’t forget this! -- Dr. Mal Couch

I know, O Lord, that a man’s way is not in himself, nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps. ... Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not know You” (Jer. 10:23, 25a).

Putting the two thoughts together above, God moves the nations as He pleases in order to bring wrath and judgment upon them. As in Old Testament days, the Lord brings judgment on the peoples of earth today. What is happening in America and the rest of the world is not happening by accident. The plan is being played out! And yet strangely, man is responsible. I can’t figure that out! He directs the nations as He pleases. They are but drops in a bucket! He is not waiting on people. They do His will. He is not beholding to them! “No mortal can order his way or direct his own steps!” Unger notes. “Who do we think we are?” – Dr. Mal Couch

Consider the work of God, for who is able to straighten what He has bent? In the day of prosperity be happy, but in the day of adversity consider—God has made the one as well as the other so that man may not discover anything that will be after him (Eccl. 7:13-14).

No verses are so straightforward about God’s sovereignty than these passages. There is no misunderstanding about the meaning! God is in charge of His world, and, sometimes He allows evil (the bent) to remain as is for His own designs and purposes. The Lord can manipulate sin though He is not the author of it. He can take the wrong (the adversity) and the prosperity (the good) and do with it as He pleases. He has made both! Therefore, we can not follow His footsteps and trace out His paths. We don’t know what will happen when we have moved off the scene. The Rabbis write:

“The writer advises us not to perplex ourselves too much about the mysteries of the universe, but by observing and reflecting upon God’s methods, seek to discover how we may rule our lives in accordance with the Divine will. God’s plan was not to make human life an unbroken spell of happiness or calamity, but both are constituents of life in His scheme and they interchange.” – Dr. Mal Couch

Whatever the Lord please, He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps. He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; who makes lightning for the rain; who brings forth the wind from His treasures. (Psa. 135:6-7)