- 1. THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
- We believe the Holy Scripture of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally inspired
Word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings,
infallible and God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16,17; 2 Peter 1:20,21; Matthew 5:18; John
16:12,13).
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- 2. THE GODHEAD
- We believe in one Triune God eternally existing in three persons--Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit-- co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and
having the same attributes and perfections (Deuteronomy. 6:4; 2 Corinthians 13:14).
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- 3. THE PERSON AND WORK OF CHRIST
- a. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without
ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary,
in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men (John 1:1,2,14; Luke 1:35).
b.
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the
cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and, that our
justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Romans
3:24,25; 1 Peter 2:24; Ephesians 1:17; 1 Peter 1:3-5).
c. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, and is now exalted at the
right hand of God, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the Ministry of Representative,
Intercessor, and Advocate (Acts 1:9,10; Hebrews 9:24; 7:25; Romans 8:34; 1 John 2:1,2).
- 4. THE PERSON AND WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
- a. We believe that the Holy Spirit is a Person who convicts the world of sin, of
righteousness, and of judgment, and, that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration,
baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them until the day
of redemption (John 16:8-11; 2 Corinthians 3:6; 1 Corinthians 12: 12-14; Romans 8:9;
Ephesians 1:13,14).
b. We believe that He is the Divine Teacher who guides believers
into all truth: and that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with
the Spirit (John 16:13; 1 John 2:20,27; Ephesians 5:18).
- 5. THE TOTAL DEPRAVITY OF MAN
- We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam's sin
the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and that man is
totally depraved, and of himself utterly unable to remedy his lost condition (Genesis
1:26,27; Romans 3:22,23; 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3,12).
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- 6. SALVATION
- We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by
personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the
forgiveness of our sins (Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:1; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18,19).
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- 7. THE ETERNAL SECURITY AND ASSURANCE OF BELIEVERS
- a. We believe that all the redeemed once saved are kept by God's power and are thus
secure in Christ forever (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Romans 8:1,38,39; 1 Corinthians 1:4-8; 1
Peter 1:5).
b. We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the
assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God's Word; which clearly forbids
the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh (Romans 13:13,14; Galatians 5:13;
Titus 2:11-15).
- 8. THE TWO NATURES OF THE BELIEVER
- We believe that every saved person possesses two natures, with provision made for
victory of the new nature over the old nature through the power of the indwelling Holy
Spirit; and that all claims to the eradication of the old nature in this life are
unscriptural (Romans 6:13; 8:12,13; Galatians 5:16-25; Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:10;
1 Peter 1:14-16; 1 John 3:5-9).
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- 9. SEPARATION
- We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon
their Savior and Lord; and that separation from all religious apostasy, all worldly and
sinful pleasures or associations is commanded of God (2 Timothy 3:1-5; Romans 12:1,2;
14;13; 1 John 2:15-17; 2 John 2-11; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1).
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- 10. MISSIONS
- We believe that it is the obligation of the saved to witness by life and by word to the
truths of the Holy Scripture and to seek to proclaim the Gospel to all mankind (Mark
16:15; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:19,20).
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- 11. THE MINISTRY AND SPIRITUAL GIFTS
- a. We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowment of all His gifts; and that the
gifts of evangelist, pastor and teacher are sufficient for the perfecting of the saints
today; and, that speaking in tongues and the working of sign miracles gradually ceased as
the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their authority became established (1
Corinthians 12:4-11; 2 Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 4:7-13).
b. We believe that God does
hear and answer the prayer of faith, in accord with His own will, for the sick and
afflicted (John 15:7; 1 John 5:14,15).
- 12. THE CHURCH
- a. We believe that the Church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is a
spiritual organism made up of all born-again persons of this present age (Ephesians
1:22,23; 5:25-27; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; 2 Corinthians 11:2).
b. We believe that the
establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New
Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:27; 20:17; 28-32; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11).
c. We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority of
control (Acts 13:1-4; 15:19-31; 20:28; Romans 16:1,4; 1 Corinthians 3:9,16; 1 Corinthians
5:4-7,13; 1 Peter 5:1-4).
d. We recognize the ordinances of water baptism and the Lord's Supper as a Scriptural
means of testimony for the Church in this age (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41,42; 18:8; 1
Corinthians 11:23-26).
- 13. DISPENSATIONALISM
- We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense reveal
divinely determined dispensations or rules of life which define man's responsibilities in
successive ages. These dispensations are not ways of salvation, but divinely ordered
stewardships by which God directs man according to His purpose. Three of these -- the age
of Law, the age of Church, and the age of the Millennial Kingdom -- are the subjects of
detailed revelation in Scripture (John 1:17; 1 Corinthians 9:17; 2 Corinthians 3:9-18;
Galatians 3:13-25; Ephesians 1:10; 3:2-10; Colossians 1:23,25; Hebrews 7:19; Revelation
20:2-6).
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- 14. THE PERSONALITY OF SATAN
- We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the cause of the fall; that he
is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and, that he shall be eternally punished in
the Lake of Fire (Job 1:6,7; Isaiah 14; 12-17; Matthew 4:2-11; 25:41; Revelation 20:10).
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- 15. THE SECOND ADVENT OF CHRIST
- We believe in that "Blessed Hope", the personal, imminent, pre-tribulation,
and premillennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones; and in His
subsequent return to earth, with His saints, to establish His Millennial Kingdom (1
Thessalonians 4:13-18; Zechariah 14:4-11; Revelation 19:11-16; 20:1-6; 1 Thessalonians
1:10; 5:9; Revelation 3:10).
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- 16. THE ETERNAL STATE
- a. We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the
unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46; John 5:28,29; 11:25,26;
Revelation 20:5,6,12,13).
b. We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death
absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the
first resurrection, when spirit, soul and body are reunited to be glorified forever with
the Lord (Luke 23:43; Revelation 20:4-6; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; 3:21; 1
Thessalonians 4:16,17).
c. We believe the souls of the unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious misery
until the second resurrection, when with soul and body reunited they shall appear at the
Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be
annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment (Luke 16:10-26; Matthew
25:41-46; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Jude vv. 6,7; Mark 9:43-48; Revelation 20:11-15).
