Support the church

We believe that marriage is a union of man and a woman, which was established by God (Gen. 2:18, 24) for the purpose of:

• Mutual help and support (Gen. 2:18, Eccl. 4:9);
• Continuation of the human species (Gen. 1:28).

We consider pre-marriage sexual relationship a sin, which is condemned by God’s Word (Heb.13:4, 12:16, 1 Thes. 4:3-5). According to God’s instructions, born-again believers marry only those who belong to the Lord (1 Cor.7:39; 2 Cor.6:14). According to Scripture, a man can only have one wife, and a woman – one husband (Matt. 19:4-6; 1 Cor.6:16; 7:2). In the case of death of the husband or the wife, the Scripture does not forbid the other party to marry again (1 Cor. 7:39, Rom.7:2-3).

Marriage between people of the same sex is a sin and is forbidden according to Scripture (Lev. 18:22, Rom. 1:26-28; 1 Cor. 6:9-10).

We believe that God commands not to divorce to those who are married (1 Cor. 7:10-13; Matt. 19:6; Mark 10:11-12). The Word of God allows divorce only in the case of sexual immorality (Matt. 19:9).

Marriage is both God’s and social institution, so it needs to be confirmed twice. First is sanctification by the Word of God and prayer (Mark 10:6-9; John 2:1-2; Col. 3:17; 1 Tim. 4:3-5), second is carried out according to the laws of the state (1 Pet. 2:13).

We believe that children in the family are God’s precious gift (Psalm 127:3-5).

Parents are responsible for the bringing up of their children before God and before society (Mt.18:6; Eph.6:4; 1 Thes. 4:10-12).

The artificial termination of pregnancy (abortion) is considered as a murder and is condemned as intentional sin (1 Cor. 5:11; Psalm 139:13, 16).

We believe that a person who converted to God should put his or her marriage relationship in accordance with the Word of God, namely:

• If in the moment of repentance he (she) was married for the second time, he (she) should not divorce (1 Cor. 7:12-17; 7:24);
• If in the moment of repentance he (she) was divorced, he (she) should reconcile and, if possible, restore the family (Mt. 3:8; Rom. 12:18);
• If in the moment of repentance he (she) was in the marriage that was not legalized, he (she) should legalize it (1 Pet. 2:13).

We believe that Christians have to contribute to establishing of peace, freedom, justice for all people through their godly life and prayer (Rom. 12:17-21; 14:19; 1 Cor. 7:21; Phil. 4:8; Heb. 12:14).

We believe that God created human for the good works to accomplish, which are:

• Expression of gratitude to God for His gift of salvation (1 Cor. 10:31; Col. 3:17);
• Means of proclamation of God’s love to people (Matt. 5:16);
• Evidence of the living faith (James 2:17).

We believe that the Christian has to work, doing something useful with his own hands (Eph. 4:28; 2 Thes. 3:6-13). The kind of activity of the Christian is the matter of his own conscience, nevertheless it should not contain any violence or deception (Luke 3:12-14; Mic. 6:8; Mal. 3:5; James 5:4).

We believe that every authority is established by God for the purpose of protecting those who do good, and punishing the wrongdoer (Rom. 13:1-2).

We believe that the Church of Christ is not of this world (John 18:36). The Church, acknowledging Christ as its Head, by its nature cannot and should not be under the rule of the secular authority; all the more cannot and should not it hold secular power itself, or act in its way or with its methods (Mat. 20:25-28, Luke 12:13-14).

We believe that the Lord instructs us to pray for all those in authority, so that there would be peace and justice in the land (Jer. 29:7; 1 Tim. 2:1-3; Luke 3: 12-14).

We believe that the Christian should be an exemplary citizen of his state and submit to the authorities “not only because of possible punishment, but as a matter of conscience” (Rom. 13:5-7; 1 Pet.2:13-17). If the demands of the state authorities limit our freedom to follow God’s commands, we reserve to ourselves the right to act as the Word of God teaches us (Matt. 22:21; Acts 5:29).

We acknowledge that Christians as citizens can take part in the government, electoral authorities, NGOs, if their activity does not get in conflict with Biblical principles. Such participation should not be on behalf of the church, it is individual initiative of the person (Rom.16:23; Phil. 4:22).

We believe that Christian liberty is freedom from the slavery of sin and death (Rom. 6:17-18, 22-23, Gal. 5:1; John 5:24).

We believe that Christian liberty should not be used to indulge the flesh or to cover up any evil, or to make the weak in faith stumble (1 Pet. 2:16; Gal. 5:13; 1 Cor. 6:12; 8:9; 10:23-24). For this reason, we:

• Totally avoid consumption of alcohol drinks, smoking, drugs and filthy language (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 6:10; Gal. 5:19-21; Col. 3:8);
• Abstain from meat of strangled animals, blood, and food sacrificed to idols (Acts 15:29). Here we mean everything that was used for any kind of sorcery, fortune-telling etc.;
• In clothing we stick to the Biblical principle “appropriate for the saints”, which corresponds to the accepted standards and cultural norms of the area where the Christian lives (1 Tim. 2:9-10; Tit. 2:3).

Liberty of conscience we interpret as the Christian’s freedom of choice (John 6:67). We believe that nobody has the right to force a person to believe or not to believe in God, to do or not to do His will, to serve Him or not (Acts 4:18-20; Phil. 3:7; 1 Pet. 5:1-3; 2 Cor. 9:7). According to this, we do not practice the baptism of infants.