- THE
SCRIPTURES – We believe the Bible, consisting of the 66
books of the Old and New Testaments only, to be the Word of God; that
it was written by men who were moved by the Holy Spirit so that their
writings, in the original, were supernaturally and verbally inspired
and free from error, as no other writings have ever been or ever will
be. They are the complete and final revelation of the will of God to
man, and so are the supreme authority in all matters of faith and
conduct.
(Psalm 19:7-11; 119:89; Proverbs 30:5-6; John 17:17; Romans 15:4;
Ephesians 6:17; II Timothy 3:16-17; I Hebrews 4:12; Peter 1:23; II
Peter 1:19-21; Revelation 22:18-19)
- THE
TRUE GOD – We believe in the existence of the one, and
only, living, personal, triune God, as revealed in the Bible; Creator
of the universe and man in six literal days, eternally existing in
three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – who
are eternal in being, identical in essence, equal in power and glory
and having the same divine attributes and perfections, though
exercising them in their distinct offices.
- God
the Father – We believe in God the Father perfect in
holiness, boundless in love, infinite in wisdom, measureless in power.
We believe that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men,
that He hears and answers prayers, and that He saves from sin and death
all who come to Him through Jesus Christ, His Son.
- God
the Son – We believe in Jesus Christ, God the Son,
pre-existent with the Father, begotten by the Holy Spirit and born of
the Virgin Mary: sinless in nature and life, infallible in His
teaching, making atonement for the sins of the world by His
substitutionary death on the cross. We believe in His bodily
resurrection, His ascension into Heaven, and His perpetual intercession
for His people.
- God
the Holy Spirit – We believe in the deity and
personality of God the Holy Spirit. We believe that He came from God to
convince and convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of
judgment; and to regenerate, seal, sanctify, indwell, teach, guide,
comfort and empower those who believe in Jesus Christ.
(Genesis 1:1-3; Exodus 15:11; 20:2-3; Psalm 83:18; 90:2; 147:5;
Jeremiah 10:10; Matthew 28:19; Luke 1:35; John 4:24; 10:30; 14:16-17;
14:26; 15:26-27; 16:8-11; 16:13; Acts 5:30-32; Romans 8:14-16; 8:26-27;
11:33; I Corinthians 8:6; II Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 1:13-14;
2:18; 4:6; Philippians 2:5-6; I Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 9:14; Revelation
4:11)
- THE
CHURCH – We believe that a New Testament local church is
a congregation of baptized believers in Jesus Christ who are united in
covenant for worship, instruction and fellowship. We believe that
Christ is the head of this church. We believe in the offices of pastor
and deacon as defined in the Scriptures. We believe that the true
mission of the church is to develop followers of Christ who love, serve
and obey Him. We believe it is the responsibility of church members to
discover, improve and use their spiritual gifts to assist in the work
of the church. We believe God has committed to the church for perpetual
observance, two ordinances: the baptism of believers by immersion and
the Lord’s Supper. We hold that the local church is
independent and autonomous and must be free from any interference by
ecclesiastical or political authority. Therefore, we believe that the
church and state must be kept separate as having different functions,
each fulfilling its duties free from the dictation and patronage of the
other.
- Baptism
and the Lord’s Supper – We believe that Christian
baptism is the immersion in water of a believer; in the name of the
Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, with the authority of the
local church, to stand as a representation of their faith in the
crucified, buried and risen Savior, with its effect in their death to
sin and resurrection to a new life; that it is a pre-requisite to the
privileges of church membership and the Lord’s Supper; in
which the members of the church, by the symbolic use of bread and grape
juice are to commemorate together the dying love of Christ, preceded
always by solemn self-examination.
(Matthew 28:19-20; 3:16; Acts 2:41-42; 6:5-6; 8:36-39; Romans 6:3-5; I
Corinthians 11:23-32; Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:11-12; 5:23-24; Colossians
1:18; 2:12; I Timothy 3:1-13; I Peter 5:1-4)
- MAN
- We believe that man was created in the image of God; that he
willfully sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death, but also
that spiritual death which is separation from God. We believe that all
human beings are born with a sinful nature, and in the case of those
who reach moral responsibility, become sinners in thought and deed by
choice.
(Genesis 3:1-6; Romans 3:23; 5:12; 5:19; 7:9; Galatians 3:22; Ephesians
2:1-3)
- SALVATION
- We believe that God has not abandoned mankind to sin, but in love
provided salvation through the blood which Christ shed on the cross as
the substitute sacrifice for lost sinners. We believe salvation is
offered as a free gift that may be obtained by any man who will repent
of sin and trust Christ to save him apart from any human merit or
sacrament. This salvation is secured eternally for the believer.
(Isaiah 53:4-6; Matthew 20:28; John 3:16; 10:28; Romans 5:8; 6:23;
8:30-39; 10:13; Ephesians 2:8-9; Hebrews 9:22,26; II Peter 3:9; I John
2:2)
- ASSURANCE
OF SALVATION – We believe in the eternal security of the
believer; that once a person has genuinely trusted Christ as Savior, it
is impossible for that person to be saved again
. (John 10:27-29; Romans 8:30-39; Hebrews 5:11-6:6; I John 5:11-13)
- CHRISTIAN
LIVING – We believe that every saved person should
manifest a Christ-like lifestyle, consistently walking with and
yielding to the indwelling Spirit. We believe that a Christian should
live a distinctly separated life from the world.
(Romans 12:1-2; I Corinthians 6:14-20; Colossians 3:1-17)
- MISSIONS
- We believe the command to give the gospel to the world is clear and
unmistakable and this Commission was given to the churches. Therefore,
we believe it is our responsibility as a church body to be obedient to
this command, both at a local and global level, and support missionary
efforts through our prayers, financial giving and the sending of our
own into the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
(Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; Romans 10:13-15;
Ephesians 6:19; Philippians 4:10-19; II Thessalonians 3:1)
- GRACE
OF GIVING – We believe that Scriptural giving is one of
the fundamentals of the faith. We believe that God has commanded His
people to help fund His work by their faithful, willing, and cheerful
sacrificial giving of their financial resources.
(Leviticus 27:30; Malachi 3:8-10; Matthew 23:23; Acts 4:34-37; I
Corinthians 16:2; II Corinthians 8:7; 9:6-7; Hebrews 7:2,4)
- SATAN
- We believe that Satan was once holy, and enjoyed heavenly honors; but
through pride and ambition to be as the Almighty, fell and drew after
him a host of angels. We believe that he is now the malignant prince of
the power of the air, and the unholy god of this world. We hold him to
be man’s great tempter, the enemy of God and His Christ, the
accuser of the saints, the author of all false religions, the chief
power back of the present apostasy; the lord of the antichrist, and the
author of all the powers of darkness. We believe that Satan is
destined, however, to final defeat at the hands of God’s own
Son, and to the judgment of an eternal justice in hell, a place
prepared for him and his angels.
(Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:14-17; Matthew 4:1-3; Mark 13:21-22; John
14:30;
II Corinthians 11:13-15; Ephesians 2:2; I Thessalonians 3:5; II
Thessalonians 2:8-12;
I Peter 5:8; II Peter 2:4; I John 3:8; 4:3; Revelation 12:7-10;
13:13-14; 19:11, 16, 20; 20:1-3; 20:10)
- LAST
THINGS –
- We
believe that the next event in the fulfillment of prophecy will be the
Rapture, or catching away, of the church, which is made up of all
believers of this dispensation, both alive and dead, to meet the Lord
Jesus Christ in the clouds; that this involves the bodily resurrection
of the believing dead and the bodily translation of living believers;
and that this event is imminent and therefore will take place before
the Tribulation.
(I Corinthians 15:51-52; Philippians 3:20; I Thessalonians 1:10;
4:15-18; 5:1-10; Titus 2:13)
- We
believe that church saints will be in heaven during the seven years
following the Rapture. They will all stand before Bema (or Judgment)
Seat of Christ to receive rewards in accordance with their works as
believers in this life, and will then be gathered to the marriage
supper of the Lamb.
(I Corinthians 3:12-15; II Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 19:7)
- We
believe that the Rapture of the church will signal the beginning of the
seventieth “week” of Daniel’s prophecy, the Tribulation. This
will be a period of seven years during which God will pour out
unprecedented judgment upon the ungodly, both Jew and Gentile, in order
to punish Gentile nations, and to prepare Israel for the revelation of
Christ.
(Jeremiah 30:7; Daniel 7:25-27; 9:2, 4-27; Revelation 6:17)
- We
believe that the Tribulation will end with the personal, visible return
of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth, at which time the times of the
Gentiles will end as Christ defeats and judges the Gentile nations,
Israel will experience national salvation, and Christ will establish
His kingdom; that this kingdom will last 1,000 years, and will fulfill
the promise given to Abraham and others that Israel would have a land
to dwell in peace; and that while Jesus Christ reigns in righteousness;
Satan will be bound for the 1,000 years.
(Isaiah 11:1-14; Zechariah 14:4; Revelation 19:11; 20:1-6)
- We
believe that at the end of the Millennium (1,000 year reign of Christ
on earth) Satan will be loosed from his bonds for a short season; will
gather together the rebellious from all parts of the earth to do battle
against the righteous, but will be defeated by the power of God and
will be cast into the lake of fire prepared for him to be tormented day
and night forever.
(Revelation 20:7-10)
- We
believe that following the final defeat of Satan, all unbelievers of
all ages will face the Great White Throne Judgment, will be judged for
their wickedness and will be cast into the lake of fire to suffer
eternal torment; and that believers of all ages will enjoy eternal
blessings in a new heaven and new earth, according to the Scriptures.
(Revelation 21-22)
