What We Believe
1
GOD
We believe in the one true God, as revealed in the Scriptures. He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things. He is eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere present, holy and good. He is revealed to us in three distinct persons--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--who are equal in divine essence and in all divine power and attributes.
Deut. 6:4; Isaiah 43:10, 45:18, 22; Colossians 1:16-17; Leviticus 11:44; II Peter 3:5-7
2
JESUS
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is eternally God, as the second person of the Trinity, God the Son; that through the virgin birth He became a man, without ceasing to be fully God; that, as a man, He was tempted in all points as we are, but without sin; that as the sinless God-man, He shed His blood in His death on the cross, suffering the full penalty of God's wrath against sin in our place; that, He arose from the grave in a glorified body and ascended to Heaven to the Father's right hand, to act as our Advocate and intercessor.
John 1:1, 14; 3:16; Matthew 1:18-25; Philippians 2:6-10; I Corinthians 15:3-7; Hebrews 4:14-16; I John 2:1-2
3
HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead; that He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and of judgment, and that He testifies of Christ; that He regenerates, indwells, and seals all believers; that He empowers, teaches, and fills those believers who daily surrender to Him. We believe that the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues and gift of healing were temporary and have ceased at the completion of the Word of God. We believe that the Holy Spirit is the divine agent in revelation and redemption.
Gen. 1:2; John 16:7-14, 14:16-17; Rom. 8:9; Ephes. 1:13-14, 5:18; Mark 16:17-20
4
SALVATION
We believe that salvation is only by the grace of God, through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross for the payment of the believer's sins; that salvation is a free gift from God, neither merited nor secured in part or in whole by any virtue or work of man; that eternal life is a present possession of every believer; and that, in Christ, the believer possesses a perfect righteousness, and, that, once saved, a believer can never be lost, or lose any of these benefits.
Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; John 1:12, 3:16, 10:27-29; Romans 5:1, 8:1; Philippians 1:6
5
HOLY LIVING
Although salvation is not obtained nor retained by our works, we believe that Christians are a special possession of Christ and are to be zealous of good works. Being separated to Christ requires that we strive to be separate from anything that would hinder our relationship with Him. This would include all religious apostasy, sinful pleasures, practices, and associations, and immodest appearances. II Corinthians 6:17-18; I Corinthians 6:19-20; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 13:8-16
6
CHURCH
We believe that a church is a local, organized assembly of baptized believers for the purpose of glorifying God by spreading the gospel, baptizing believers, and edifying the saints. Its Scriptural officers are pastor and deacons. Its ordinances, to which it has exclusive right, are baptism and the Lord's Supper. A church should be self-governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating, subject always to the Scriptures. No outside ecclesiastical organization has any right to govern, to guide, or to dictate the use of funds of the local church. We believe that the ordinances are symbolic and have no saving value. Baptism is by immersion in water, under the authority of the local church, of believers only, and brings the believer into the membership of the local church. (Matthew 18:15-20; Acts 2:41,42,47; Acts 11:26; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:15-26, 6:1-7; Philippians 4:10-19; I Corinthians 16:1-3; II Corinthians 8:1-11)
7
ESCHATOLOGY
We believe in a series of divinely ordained stewardships in human history, known as dispensations. At least three of these dispensations--the law, the age of grace, and the millennial kingdom--are the subject of detailed revelation in Scripture. We believe that the age of grace will end with the pre-tribulation rapture of the church saints, followed by the seven years tribulation period; the tribulation period will end with the pre-millennial return of Christ to earth to rule from Jerusalem for one thousand years. Following the thousand years will be the Great White Throne Judgment, followed by eternity in a new heaven and a new earth. (Jude 14-15; John 14:1-3; Acts 1:9-11; Revelation 19:11-16; Daniel 9:24-7; II Thessalonians 2:1-12; Revelation 1:19, 4:1-2; Zechariah 14:1-9)
8
BIBLE
We believe that the sixty-six books of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation were written by Holy Spirit-controlled men, guided and guarded so that both the thoughts and the words were without error. Once given, they have God's promise of preservation forever. We believe that the Bible is, and will remain for all eternity, the complete and final revelation of God to man. We believe the the King James Version is the preserved Word of God translated for the English-speaking people. (II Timothy 3:16-17; I Peter 1:23-25; II Peter 1:19-21; Psalm 12:6-7; Proverbs 30:5a; Psalm 119:160)
9
MANKIND
We believe that the first man was created directly by God and made in the image and likeness of God; that by personal, willful disobedience to the revealed will of God, man became a sinful creature; that all mankind since has been by nature and by choice both sinful and lost, alienated from God, and under God's righteous judgment and wrath; that man has within himself no possible means of salvation. The sacredness of each human life is evident in that man is created in God's image, and in that Christ died for each human being. Therefore, every individual possesses innate dignity. (Genesis 1:26-27, 3:6; Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:23, 5:12; Galatians 3:11; Ephesians 2:12)