"And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity." 2 Peter 1:5-7
DOCTRINAL POSITION
At Sumter Christian School, students receive so much more than an ordinary education. We pride ourselves on creating a unique, exciting environment that embraces all types of learners and promotes growth both academically and spiritually.
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Sumter Christian School is honored to have students from many area churches in the student body. Although Sumter Bible Church with its various ministries is not affiliated with any denomination, we do embrace a baptistic position, fully delineated in the Sumter Bible Church Constitution.
Parents may be assured that other positions are not presented in a poor light, nor is there any desire to use the classroom to proselytize students for Sumter Bible Church. The majority of time spent in Bible instruction is devoted to emphasizing prayer, Bible study, witnessing, giving, fellowship, character, and godliness based on chapter-by-chapter exposition, doctrinal, and biographical instruction.
A truly Christian school is characterized first by a faculty composed entirely of born-again Christians. Each is also certified by the South Carolina Association of Christian Schools.
Secondly, the curriculum is thoroughly biblical: it is based on a biblical philosophy and incorporates Scriptural applications in the presentation of all subject matter. Thirdly, the student body is predominately Christian. Many students are professing Christians, and none are hostile to Bible teaching and behavior standards.
Our primary goal of maintaining a spiritual community in the pursuit of academic goals is the feature which distinguishes Sumter Christian School from public and other independent schools.
Parents who accept the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Jehovah's Witnesses, or certain oriental religions, seldom choose to enroll their children in Sumter Christian School. The school's emphasis on the cardinal doctrines of Scripture would produce severe conflicts in the child's mind regarding the absolute nature of truth and would create a potential source of friction between parents and school staff.
Articles of Faith
Members of Sumter Bible Church subscribe to the following Articles of Faith:
​1. THE SCRIPTURES We believe that the Old and New Testaments are verbally inspired by God, that they are inerrant in the original manuscripts, and that they are the final authority for faith and practice. We believe that a natural interpretation of their contents reveals several dispensations which, if disregarded, lead to much confusion and error. We reject the claim that any other than the sixty-six canonical books are inspired or that some translations of the original texts are inspired. I Thessalonians 2:13; II Timothy 3:16,17; II Peter 1:20,21; Matthew 5:18; Galatians 3:13‑25; Ephesians 3:2‑10; Revelation 22:18,19.
2. THE GODHEAD We believe that the Godhead exists eternally in three persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), and that these three are one God, having precisely the same nature and attributes. Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 3:16,17; II Corinthians 13:14.
Father We believe that God the Father is a spirit, possessing unchanging attributes and a definite nature. He is eternal, omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. His nature is holy, just, merciful, and loving. While His holiness and justice demand a penalty for sin, His mercy and love sent the Savior to pay the price of that sin. John 4:24; Deuteronomy 4:35; Psalm 90:2; Genesis 17:1; Psalm 139:7‑10; 147:5; Isaiah 6:3; Deuteronomy 32:4; I John 4:8.
Son We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ exists eternally. We believe in His incarnation by means of the Virgin Birth; His sinless life; His death on the Cross as a substitutionary atonement for sin; His literal, bodily resurrection from the dead; His present ministry of intercession in Heaven; and His personal return to earth. John 1:1,2,14; Hebrews 1:8; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18,23; Hebrews 4:15; Romans 5:8; Hebrews 9:26; I Corinthians 15:4‑8; Matthew 28:6; Hebrews 7:24,25; Romans 8:34; Matthew 24:30,31; Acts 15:13‑18.
Holy Spirit We believe that the Holy Spirit convicts men of sin, regenerates, baptizes at salvation, indwells, seals, and sets believers apart unto a holy life, empowers them for service, and leads them into all truth. We believe that speaking in tongues and the other sign miracles ceased with the canonization of the Scriptures and the deaths of the Apostles. John 16:8; Titus 3:5; I Corinthians 12:12‑14; 3:16; Ephesians 1:13,14; Romans 8:14; John 14:26; I Corinthians 13:8.
3. MAN We believe that man was created innocent and pure by a direct act of God; that Adam fell through the sin of disobedience; that all men are thereby corrupted in body, mind, and spirit; that all are in need of redemption; and that all are utterly incapable of remedying their lost condition. Genesis 1:26,27; Romans 5:19; 3:23; John 3:3; Ephesians 2:1,12.
4. SALVATION We believe that salvation is by grace, a free gift of God apart from works, based on Christ's shed blood and appropriated by personal faith in Him; that all who receive Him are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and become children of God; that all who are truly saved will be kept forever; and that nonetheless God cannot condone sin in His children and will therefore chasten them in love in order to correct and purify them. We reject the doctrines of limited atonement and predestination to salvation or to damnation. We also reject the notion that it is possible to live sinlessly in the earthly body. Ephesians 2:8,9; Hebrews 11:6; John 1:12; Romans 8:35‑39; Hebrews 12:5,6; I John 1:7‑9.
5. THE CHURCH We believe that the Church, in its invisible form, is the true Body and Bride of Christ, and that all who are born again are members, regardless of organizational affiliation. We believe that, in its visible form, the Church is composed of those who organize or associate themselves according to God's Word for the purpose of worship, edification, and service. We believe that the members individually and the visible Church corporately have been commissioned by Christ to proclaim the Gospel throughout the world. I Corinthians 12:13; I Thessalonians 1:6‑9; Acts 1:8.
We believe that the local Church is to observe two ordinances:
The Lord's Supper The Lord's Supper shall be observed by the Church regularly as the Official Board shall decide. The Lord's Supper shall be open to all true believers and shall be preceded always by solemn self examination. I Corinthians 11:20‑34.
Believer's Baptism The Church observes the ordinance of baptism by immersion for believers in obedience to the command and example of our Lord and the Apostles. Though Baptism has no saving merit, it does identify the believer in death, burial, and resurrection with the Lord Jesus, and it does picture to the Church and to the world that the believer takes a stand of total identification with Christ. Matthew 3:13; 28:19; Romans 6:1‑10.
6. THE ANGELS We believe that God created a great host of holy, angelic beings who minister to believers continuously; that a host of these, led by Lucifer, fell into sin; that Satan (Lucifer) is a personal being; that he is the wicked one who represents and perpetrates all that is opposed to God; that he is the archenemy of the believer; that he blinds the minds of unbelievers; and that his power is limited. Psalm 148:2‑5; Matthew 25:41; II Corinthians 4:4; I John 4:4; Hebrews 1:14.
7. THE FUTURE We believe that Jesus Christ will come in the air, for the saints, to gather them unto Himself at the Rapture, before the Tribulation; and that He will come to the earth, with His saints, to establish His Messianic kingdom at the Second Advent, after the Tribulation, to reign over the earth for one thousand years. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just to eternal felicity in the glory of His presence, and the bodily resurrection of the unjust to everlasting, conscious punishment in Hell. We reject the false teaching of "soul-sleep." We believe in the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ with all the saints of all the ages in the New Jerusalem for all eternity. John 14:3; I Thessalonians 4:13‑18; I Corinthians 6:2; John 5:24, 29; Revelation 20:15; II Corinthians 5:8; Revelation 21:1 - 22:5.