The Word of God
We believe the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, in its sixty-six books from Genesis through Revelation, is the only verbally inspired written Word of God [1 Cor 2:7-14; 2 Pet 1:20-21], and is without error in its original autographs [Matt 5:18, 24:35; Ps 119:89], that it is the full and complete revelation of God’s will for the salvation of man, and the Divine and final authority for Christian faith and conduct [John 10:35; 16:12-13; 17:17; 1 Cor 2:13; 2 Tim 3:15-17; Heb 4:12]. It is God’s objective [Exod 17:14] propositional revelation [1 Thess 2:13], and is verbally inspired in every word [2 Tim 3:16]. We believe the canon is closed and all who add or take away from it shall suffer the wrath of God [Rev 22:18-19; Deut 4:2; Jude 1:3].
The Trinity
We believe that there is one living and true God, eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that these are equal in every Divine perfection and that they execute distinct but harmonious offices in the work of creation, providence and redemption [Isa 43:10; 1 Cor 8:4-6; Matt 28:19; John 1:1; Acts 5:3-4].
God The Father
We believe in God the Father, an infinite, personal Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power, and love. We believe that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayer and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ [John 4:24; 6:27; Lev 19:2; 1 Pet 1:14-16].
Jesus Christ
We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, God incarnate, conceived by the Holy Spirit. We believe in His virgin birth, sinless life, miracles and teachings.
We believe in His substitutionary atoning death, bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven, perpetual intercession for His people, and personal visible return to earth [Isa 7:14; 9:6; Matt 1:23; Luke 1:35; 1 Cor 15:4; 2 Cor 5:21]. We believe that Jesus Christ is fully God [John 1:1, 18; Col 1:1-20; Heb 1:1-14; Rev 1:4-8], and fully man [Luke 2:52; 1 Tim 2:5; Heb 2:14-18].
The Holy Spirit
We believe in the Holy Spirit who came forth from the Father and Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment and to regenerate, sanctify, and empower all who believe in Jesus Christ. We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Christ and that He is an abiding helper, teacher and guide. We believe that the one Baptism in the Holy Spirit is an act whereby Jesus Christ places the believer into the Church [the Body of Christ], that it takes place at the moment of salvation [Matt 3:16-17; 28:19; 1 Cor 2:10-13; 12:12-13; Acts 1:8; Eph 1:13; 4:30].
Man
We believe in the creation and fall of man, that he was the direct creation of God; spirit, soul, and body, not in any sense the product of an animal ancestry, but made in the divine image [Gen 1:26-27; 2:7; Matt 19:4; 1 Thess 5:23]; that by personal disobedience to the revealed will of God man became a sinful creature and the progenitor of a fallen race [Gen 3:1-24; 5:3], all of whom are universally sinful in both nature and practice [Eph 2:3; Rom 3:23; 5:12], alienated from the life and family of God [Eph 4:18, John 8:42-44]; under the righteous judgment and wrath of God [Rom 1:18; 3:19]; and has within himself no possible means of recovery or salvation [Matt 19:25-26; Mark 7:21-23; Rom 7:18].
Regeneration
We believe that all men are sinners by nature and by choice and are, therefore, under condemnation [Rom 3:23]. We believe that all who are regenerated by the Holy Spirit repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ as Savior [Titus 3:5; Rom 10:9-19].
Salvation
We believe that we are granted salvation from sin and its penalty as a free gift by grace alone through faith alone [Rom 6:23], unaided by human effort or merit [John 3:16; Eph 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7]. The death of Christ is full payment for our sin and satisfies the just requirement of God [1 Cor 15:3; Heb 9:12; 1 Pet 1:18-21]. We are no longer slaves to sin, but have been adopted as children by God [John 1:12; Rom 6:1-23; 8:14-17]. We believe faith is expressed through obedience to Christ’s commands [Rom 1:5]. A faith limited to intellectual assent does not constitute a genuine or salvific faith [James 2:14-26].
Eternal Security
Upon regeneration, every believer is a full possessor of every spiritual blessing and is complete in Christ [John 5:24; 17:23; 1 Cor 3:21-23; 2 Cor 5:21; Eph 1:3, 2:6; Col 2:10; 2 Pet 3:18]. Every justified person is absolutely secure in the permanency of his salvation, and will neither totally nor finally fall or be removed from his converted state [John 3:16, 36; 5:34; 6:39-40; 10:25-30; Rom 8:1, 29-39; 2 Cor 5:17; Eph 1:12-14; 4:30; Phil 1:6; 2 Tim 2:12-13; Heb 7:25; 1 Pet 1:3-5; 1 John 2:19, 25; 5:13]. It is the privilege of all saints to be assured of their salvation from the very day of their true conversion based exclusively on the testimony of God’s Word [2 Cor 5:1, 6-8; 2 Tim 1:12; 3:15; Heb. 6:1; 10:22; 2 Pet 1:10; 1 John 5:13].
Christian Conduct
We believe that a Christian should live for the glory of God and the well being of his fellowmen, that his conduct should be blameless before the world, that he should be a faithful steward of his possessions, and that he should seek to realize for himself and others the full stature of maturity in Christ [1 Cor. 10:31; Eph. 4:13; 1 Thess. 5:11].
The Church
We believe the Church is an elect company of believers baptized by the Holy Spirit into one body; its mission is to witness concerning its Head, Jesus Christ, preaching the gospel among all nations. We believe in the autonomy of this local church with Biblically designated officers who serve under Christ as elders, also called bishops and pastors, as they lead and direct as servants of Christ, with the congregation submitting to the leadership [Acts 20:28; Eph 4:11; 1 Tim 5:17-22; Titus 1:5-9; Heb 13:7, 17; 1 Pet 5:1-5].
We believe the purpose of the church is to glorify God. We do this by the edification which involves building one another up in the faith; by instructing in the Word of God, and bringing every believer to maturity in Jesus Christ; by evangelism to advance and communicate the gospel of Christ to the entire world; by discipleship; by devoting mutual accountability of all believers to each other; by disciplining of sinning members of the congregation in accord with Biblical standards; by fellowship; by prayer; and by keeping the ordinances [Matt 18:14-20, 28:19-20; Acts 2:42-47; 1 John 1:1-3].
We believe that water baptism and the Lord’s Table are two ordinances to be observed by the church today. While neither add to nor in any way aid an individual in meriting salvation, both should be seen as a necessary expression of the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit in someone’s life. Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water symbolizing the believer’s death to sin with Christ, burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in the newness of life [Matt 28:18-20; Acts 10:47-48; 16:32-33; 18:7-8; Rom 6:1-4]. The Lord’s Table is a symbolic act testifying of Christ’s saving work for the redeemed, and expectant anticipation of Christ’s Second Coming [Acts 2:42-47; 1 Cor 11:17-32].
We believe that the gifts of tongues and their interpretation, the gift of healing and the working of sign miracles have ceased to be necessary in the ministry of the church [1 Cor 13:8-13; 14:22]. These gifts were intended to confirm the message and ministry of the apostles, and that because the Bible was completed at the end of the first century A.D., the purpose of these gifts has been achieved [Mark 16:17-20; Heb 2:1-4]. Although no one possesses the gift of healing today, we believe God does hear and answer the prayer of faith on the part of every believer, and will answer in accordance with His own perfect will for the sick and afflicted [2 Cor 12:6-10; James 5:13-16; 1 John 5:14-15].
Angels
A. Holy Angels
We believe that angels are created beings, and therefore are not to be worshiped. Although they are a higher order of creation than man, they are created to serve God and to worship Him [Luke 2:9-14; Heb 1:6-7, 14; 2:6-7; Rev 5:11-14; 19:10; 22:9].
B. Fallen Angels
We believe that Satan is a created angel and the author of sin. He incurred the judgment of God by rebelling against his Creator, involving numerous angels in his fall [Job 1:6-7; Isa 14:12-17; Ezek 28:11-19], and introducing sin into the human race by his temptation of Eve [Gen 3:1-14]. We believe that Satan is the open and declared enemy of God and man [Matt 4:1-11; 25:41], the prince of this world who was defeated through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ [Rom 16:20], and that he shall be eternally punished in the lake of fire [Isa 14:12-17; Ezek 28:11-19; Rev 20:10].
The Last Things
We believe in the personal, bodily and visible Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ prior to the millennial kingdom of Christ. Following the coming of Christ, He will establish a glorious and literal kingdom over the nations for 1,000 years [Isa 9:6-7; 11:2-5; Matt 13:43; Rev 19:1-20:6], fulfilling the Davidic Covenant [2 Sam 7:8-17].
We believe in the future life, bodily resurrection, and eternal judgment: that upon death the spirits of the saved go immediately to be with Christ in Heaven [Phil 1:21-23; 2 Cor 5:8], where they abide in joyful fellowship with Him until His Second Coming, when their bodies shall be raised from the grave and changed into the likeness of His own glorious body [1 Cor 15:35-58; Phil 3:20-21; 1 John 3:2], at which time their works shall be brought before the judgment which may result in the loss of reward, but not the loss of the soul [1 Cor 3:8-15; 2 Cor 5:10], that the spirits of the unsaved at death descend immediately into Hades where they are kept under punishment until the final day of judgment [Luke 16:19-31; 2 Pet 2:9], at which time their bodies will be raised from the grave and they themselves shall be judged according to their works, and cast into the place of final and everlasting punishment [Mark 9:43-48; Jude 1:13; Rev 20:11-15; 21:8].