OHC Biblical Distinctives
What sets Overland Hills Church apart from the culture around us? What might make our church doctrinally distinct from another church? There are matters of biblical interpretation where faithful Christians can and will disagree. For some believers these may be matters of conscience. Furthermore, as the culture and sadly, many churches bow to secularizing, anti-biblical pressures we must be explicit with the implications of our doctrinal positions for both moral and legal reasons.
For these reasons we have set forth the following distinctives.
Biblical Marriage and Gender
We believe that God created and sanctioned marriage to bring together a man and woman by joining them in a “one-flesh” union (Genesis 2:18-25). Marriage between one man and one woman for life uniquely reflects Christ’s relationship with His Church (Ephesians 5:21-33). Marriage also serves as the foundational unit of a stable society (I Corinthians 7:2). God’s creative intent provides for sexual intimacy only in the context of heterosexual, monogamous, lifelong marriage. We believe that any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, incest, and use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God (Matthew 15:18-20).
We believe that gender matters. God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female. These distinct, equal, and complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God (Genesis 1:26-27). God has made us male or female, and no alterations to or defilement of the physical form can change that.
Only God’s power enables all persons to grow into increasing freedom from their sin nature. All persons are created in the image of God and must therefore be treated with love and respect. These persons have the freedom to make their own choices. When engaging with Christians or non-Christians who disagree with our view of godly sexuality, we will do so in a winsome, respectful, and loving manner.
The Sanctity of Human Life
Human life is created by God and is good. Since we are uniquely created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) and formed by God (Genesis 2:7; Job 33:4; Psalm 139:13–16), we hold to the sanctity of all human life (Genesis 9:6; Matthew 6:26). The bible tells us that human life begins at conception (Psalm 139:13–16; Jeremiah 1:5). Human conception is the creation of a human embryo through the fertilization process, whether naturally or aided by technology. Life also lasts beyond death into eternity (John 5:28–29; 1 Corinthians 15:51–52; 2 Corinthians 5:8–10). God gives life and breath to everyone (Acts 17:25), calling us to value equally the dignity of every individual life in its entirety, which compels us to love and have compassion for all peoples of the world (2 Corinthians 5:14–15)
Since God alone is the author of life, we hold that it is a sinful act to unjustly terminate human life, whether by means of abortion (including abortifacient drugs), euthanasia, suicide, or murder.
Divorce and Remarriage
The Bible teaches that divorce is the severing of a lifelong, one-flesh union that God has joined together. (Matthew 19:6) Christian obedience calls us to more than mere permanence, but to seek to pattern marriage after the sacrifice and submission example of Christ and his bride, the Church. (Ephesians 5:22-33) Divorce is therefore a final sinful act of betrayal (“you have been faithless,” Malachi 2:14) that is the result of sinful neglect of the marriage covenant on the part of one or both parties.
Because of unrepentant or unforgiving “hardness of heart,” (Matthew 19:8) Jesus affirmed the OT law that permitted divorce for “indecency,” (Deuteronomy 24:1-4) which Jesus narrowly defined as sexual immorality. (Matthew 19:9) 1 Corinthians 7:15 adds abandonment (interpreted to including battery and abuse) also as a permissible condition for divorce.
Since gospel obedience calls Christians to repentance and forgiveness, restoration of the marriage covenant is always preferable where possible. Where restoration is not possible, then divorce is permissible (possibly even advisable) for the abandoned or abused party in the above stated circumstances. When a divorce is biblically permissible, remarriage is likewise permissible.
Past sins, (divorce, sexual immorality, abandonment) are forgiven at the cross of Christ for those that are truly repentant. (1 John 1:9) Whatever someone’s past choices and experience, God grants the grace to live in joyful obedience moving forward.
The Sufficiency of Scripture
Because all scripture is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16) it is therefore true, authoritative, and sufficient for the whole mission of the church. Only scripture can bind the Christian’s conscience. The Holy Spirit applies the scriptures to make one wise to salvation (2 Timothy 3:15), to sanctify believers (John 17:17) and build up the body of Christ (Acts 2:42). The work of the Holy Spirit is never separated from what scripture declares. So, any individual’s claim to the Holy Spirit’s leadership must always be subject to the scriptures.
Because scripture is sufficient and the supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct, we are therefore committed to preach and teach the whole counsel (Acts 20:27) of the word of God (2 Timothy 4:2), pray, read, and sing the word of God when we gather for worship and fellowship. We deny that that any program, technique or the use of any fad is needed as a supplement to scripture.
Church Membership
We believe that membership in a local gospel church is an essential mark of discipleship. Joyfully covenanting with other believers for worship and fellowship is not optional for a Christian. Membership in the local church is an expression of the believer’s heavenly citizenship and a necessary condition to fulfill Jesus’ command to exercise the keys of the kingdom of God, (Matthew 16:19; 18:18) and carry out the disciple-making mission he gave to the church (Matthew 28:19-20). Membership in, and a commitment to gather with the local church is how Christians are encouraged in faith and strengthened to live it out in the world. (Hebrews 10:23-25)
A Transformed Life as Evidence of Salvation
We believe that the ground of genuine Christian faith is the vicarious death of Jesus Christ on the cross and his resurrection from the grave. This salvation is all of grace which is a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9). However, we hold that true faith issues forth in a life marked by works of faith that include repentance and visible marks of discipleship. A true disciple is a new creation in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21). Indwelt by the Holy Spirit, the true believer is empowered to live a life of obedience. The true Christian 1) identifies with Christ and his Church, 2) regularly gathers with the Church for worship and fellowship, 3) increasingly becomes like Christ in character and 4) serves others with the time, abilities and resources entrusted to him by God. Any individual’s claim to faith in Christ is suspect if not accompanied by an orientation towards Christian obedience. (James 2:17)
The Complemen- tary Roles Men and Women
Men and women are created in the image of God and equal in their likeness, worth, essence and dignity before God. However, the bible teaches that men and woman differ in their roles both at home and in the church. God created men and women (Genesis 1:27) with distinct and complementary traits, inclinations and dispositions which are to be embraced as His plan for men and women to accomplish His purposes at home and the church. While we explicitly reject the notion that men are superior to women, we do acknowledge that men are designed by God to fulfill the leadership role at home as the head of the wife (Ephesians 5:22-24) and if biblically qualified, may serve as the leaders of the church in the office of elder, pastor, bishop, or overseer (terms for the same office found in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 primarily). The Bible teaches that in the church a woman is not to hold a teaching authority over a man (1 Timothy 2:12). Women have an equal importance in their role as wives who love their husbands (Titus 2:4), submit to their leadership (Titus 2:5), serve as a helper to their husbands (Genesis 2:18), and finally are primarily oriented to their home and children (1 Timothy 2:15). By serving in this role and with these focus areas women serve the Lord as God intended in a way that does not revile the Word of God (Titus 2:5). A women can faithfully fulfill her God-given role in the home in various ways, but it would be an error for us to prescribe specifically how. Women who are mothers may fulfill that role by solely focusing on raising children and homeschooling while others may work outside of the home while their children attend public or private school. The Bible does not prescribe specifics and it is within the bounds of Christian liberty for how each family may choose to obey these God given roles.
Women may serve in many roles in the church but are not permitted to serve in the office of an elder (1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9) nor are they permitted to serve in roles that would require them to have a teaching authority over a man (1 Timothy 2:12). There are many roles within the church outside of an elder and male teaching roles that are available to women such as: serving in teaching children, teaching, and mentoring other women (Titus 2:3-4), and serving in roles such as deaconess, administrative, and service roles.