BIBLE
We believe that the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, is the inspired Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16), inerrant in the original writings, complete as the revelation of God’s will for salvation (Hebrews 1:1,2) and the supreme and final authority in all matters to which they speak (2 Peter 1:3).
We believe that God spoke in His written Word by a process of dual authorship. The Holy Spirit so superintended the human authors that, through their individual personalities and different styles of writing, they composed and recorded God’s Word to man (2 Peter 1:20-21) without error in the whole or in the part (Matthew 5:18; 2 Timothy 3:16).
We believe that, whereas there may be several applications of any given passage of Scripture, there is but one true interpretation. The meaning of Scripture is to be found as one diligently applies the literal grammatical-historical method of interpretation under the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit (John 7:17; 16:12-15; 1 Corinthians 2:7-15; 1 John 2:20).
GOD
We believe there is but one living and true God (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5-7; 1 Corinthians 8:4), an infinite, all-knowing Spirit (John 4:24), perfect in all His attributes, one in essence, eternally existing in three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14)—each equally deserving worship and obedience.
GOD the FATHER
We believe in God the Father, an infinite, personal Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power, and love. We believe God is all-powerful and all-knowing and His perfect knowledge extends to all things past, present and future, including the future decisions of his free creatures (Psalm 103:19; Romans 11:33, 36; Luke 22:21,22).
We believe He concerns Himself in the affairs of men (1 Chronicles 29:11), that He hears and answers prayer (1 John 5:14), and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.
GOD the SON
We believe that Jesus Christ is God’s eternal Son and has precisely the same nature (John 1:1; Hebrews 1:8), attributes (Colossians 1:16; John 17:5) and perfections (John 1:14) as God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. We believe that He is not only perfect God, but perfect Man, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary (Matthew 1:20, 23).
We also believe in His sinless life (2 Corinthians 5:21), His substitutionary atonement (1 Peter 2:24), His bodily resurrection from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:1-8), His ascension into heaven (1 Timothy 3:6), His priestly intercession on behalf of His people (Hebrews 7:25) and His personal, visible, premillenial return from heaven (John 14:3; Revelations 20).
We believe that in the incarnation (God becoming man) Christ surrendered only the prerogatives of deity but nothing of the divine essence, either in degree or kind. In His incarnation, the eternally existing second Person of the Trinity accepted all the essential characteristics of humanity and so became the God-Man (Philippians 2:5-8; Colossians 2:9). In His sinless humanity, Christ was fully capable of genuine temptation (Hebrews 4:15). In his deity, Christ was not only sinless, but unable to sin (James 1:13).
We believe Jesus Christ rose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He had lived and died. We believe that, upon His ascension, He was accepted by His Father, and His acceptance is the ultimate assurance that His redeeming work was perfectly accomplished. We believe Jesus is the head of the church (Colossians 1:18) and He continues to intercede for the saved (Hebrews 7:25).
GOD the HOLY SPIRIT
We believe the Holy Spirit is a Person (Acts 5:3, 4) and is fully God (1 Corinthians 2:11). We believe the Holy Spirit regenerates (Titus 3:5), baptizes into the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13), indwells every believer (John 14:16), guides and empowers believers, and gives gifts to all believers to be used in ministry so that the church functions properly (Ephesians 4:7).
We believe that the Holy Spirit administers spiritual gifts to the church. The Holy Spirit glorifies neither Himself nor His gifts by ostentatious displays, but He does glorify Christ by implementing His work of redeeming the lost and building up believers in the most holy faith (John 16:13-14; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 2 Corinthians 3:18).
We believe that God the Holy Spirit is sovereign in the bestowing of all His gifts for the perfecting of the saints today, and that speaking in tongues and the working of sign miracles in the beginning days of the church were for the purpose of pointing to and authenticating the apostles as revealers of divine truth, and were never intended to be characteristic of the lives of all believers (1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 13:8-10; 2 Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 4:7-12; Hebrews 2:1-4).
HUMANITY
We believe God directly created the first man and first woman, Adam and Eve, in His own image and free from sin (Genesis 27:15-25). We believe God created humanity as rational, intelligent and morally responsible. Humanity has been given the purpose to glorify God, enjoy His fellowship and accomplish His will on earth (Isaiah 43:7; Colossians 1:16).
We believe marriage has been instituted and consecrated by God. Marriage is defined as the exclusive covenantal union between one genetic male and one genetic female (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:3-9; Ephesians 5:22-33; I Timothy 3:12). We believe that any sexual relationship outside of the safety and sanctity of a 1 male and 1 female marriage is prohibited by God. (Genesis 2:23-24; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 6:15-18; 7:1-9; Romans 1:24-32).
We believe Adam sinned, and as a result humanity has been tainted by the effects of sin (Genesis 3; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 5:10-12). We believe all people are sinners by nature and choice and are spiritually dead in their relationship to God (Ephesians 2:1).
We believe that, although created and still bearing the image of God, a person’s ability to reflect God’s holiness has been negatively affected by the presence of sin (Colossians 3:10). Humanity has the capacity to do good, sense right and wrong, and reflect aspects of God’s nature.
We believe all people stand in need of a Savior, someone who can address their spiritually dead condition (Romans 3:10). We believe those who repent of sin and trust Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and reconciled to God (Romans 10:9,10; 2 Corinthians 5:20; Titus 3:5).
SALVATION
We believe that God created male and female, in the image of God and free from sin (Genesis 1:26). Due to the fall of Adam, each individual is born of sin, and therefore, is a sinner by nature (Romans 5:12), having nothing whereby he might justify himself before God the Father (Romans 3:10, 20). Each individual must, therefore, accept the death of Jesus Christ on the cross as for themselves (Ephesians 2:8-10), and must ask forgiveness for their sins. Having accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, they are spiritually born again (1 Peter 1:3) and are thereafter children of God (Romans 8:16, 17) and members of the family of God for time and eternity (John 10:29).
We believe God the Father, by His love and grace, was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself by giving His Son as the sinless sacrifice for sinful humanity. In the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, full payment was made for the sins of the world and God’s perfect justice was satisfied. In His death and resurrection the righteousness of Jesus Christ was made available to all that trust in Him as Savior.
We believe personal salvation is received through faith in the person and redemptive work of Jesus Christ alone, apart from any human merit, deed, or ritual (Ephesians 2:8-10; Romans 3:20). Eternal life, by its very nature, and because of God’s faithfulness guarantees the eternal security of all believers (John 10:27,28; 2 Timothy 2:13).
The CHURCH
We believe that all who place their faith in Jesus Christ are immediately placed by the Holy Spirit into one united spiritual Body, the church (1 Corinthians 12:12-13), the bride of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:23-32; Revelation 19:7-8), of which Christ is the Head (Ephesians 1:22; 4:15; Colossians 1:18).
We believe the autonomy of the local church, free from any external authority or control, with the right of self-government and freedom from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations (Titus 1:5). We teach that it is scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other for the presentation and propagation of the faith. Each local church, however, through its elders and their interpretation and application of Scripture, should be the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation. The elders should determine all other matters of membership, policy, discipline, benevolence, and government (Acts 15:19-31; 20:28; 1 Corinthians 5:4-7, 13; 1 Peter 5:1-4).
We believe that two ordinances have been committed to the local church: baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Acts 2:38-42). Christian baptism by immersion (Acts 8:36-39) is the solemn and beautiful testimony of a believer showing forth his faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, and his union with Him in death to sin and resurrection to a new life (Romans 6:1-11). It is also a sign of fellowship and identification with the visible Body of Christ (Acts 2:41-42).
We believe that the Lord’s Supper is the commemoration and proclamation of His death until He comes, and should be always preceded by solemn self-examination (1 Corinthians 11:28-32). We also believe that, whereas the elements of Communion are only representative of the flesh and blood of Christ, participation in the Lord’s Supper is nevertheless an actual communion with the risen Christ, who indwells every believer, and so is present, fellowshipping with His people (1 Corinthians 10:16).
LAST THINGS
We believe in the bodily resurrection of the saved and lost (1 Corinthians 15:12), the eternal existence of all people either in heaven or hell (Matthew 25:46), in divine judgments (Revelation 20:12), rewards and punishments (1 Corinthians 3:12-14).
We believe a person’s eternal destiny is forever sealed by their acceptance or rejection of Christ and His work on the cross in this lifetime. Believers will experience eternity in the presence of God in heaven (Philippians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:8). Unbelievers will experience eternity separated from the presence of God in hell, a place of suffering and loss (Daniel 12:2; John 5:29; Revelation 20:13-15).
We believe in the personal, imminent, return of Christ in the air for His church (John 14:1-3; I Corinthians 15:51-53; I Thessalonians 4:15-5:11). We also believe in the pre-millennial coming of Jesus Christ to the earth with His saints to establish His kingdom on earth (Acts 1:10, 11; Matthew 25:30; Revelation 20:1-7).
