Statement of Faith
the holy scriptures
We believe the Holy Bible, comprised of the Old and New Testament, to be the verbally and plenary inspired Word of God. The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible, and God-breathed, and therefore the final authority for faith and life. (Deut. 5:22, Psa. 12:6-8, Psa. 19:7-11, Psa. 119:89, Psa. 119:105, Psa. 119:130, Psa. 119:160, Prov. 30:5-6, Isa. 8:20, Luke 24:25-27, Luke 24:44-45, John 5:45-47, John 12:48, John 17:17, Acts 1:16, Acts 28:23, Rom. 3:4, Rom. 15:4, Eph. 6:17, 1 Thes. 2:13, 2 Tim. 3:16-17, Heb. 4:12, 1 Pet. 1:23, 2 Pet. 1:19,20 , Rev. 22:19)
God
We believe that there is one, and only one, living and true God, an infinite, intelligent Spirit, the maker and supreme ruler of heaven and earth; inexpressibly glorious in holiness and worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love; that in the unity of the triune Godhead there are three equal persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost – equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption. (Exo. 20:2-3, Deut. 6:4, Psa. 90:2, Jer. 10:10, Matt. 28:19, John 1:1-3, John 14:10, 1 Cor. 12:4-6, 1 Cor. 8:6, 2 Cor. 13:14, Eph. 2:18, Eph. 4:6, Phil. 2:5-6, 1 John 5:7)
Jesus Christ
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, as no other man has ever been born or can be born of woman, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men. (Gen. 3:15, Psa. 2:7, Isa. 7:14, Isa. 9:6, Matt. 1:18-25, Mark 1:1, Luke 1:35, John 1:1-2, John 1:14, 1 Cor. 15:47, 2 Cor. 5:19-21, Gal. 4:4-5, Phil. 2:5-8, 1 John 5:20)
We believe 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. Of the resurrection, we believe that Christ rose bodily the third day according to the Scriptures. (Matt. 28:6-7, Mark 16:6, Luke 24:4-6, Luke 24:39, John 20:27, Rom. 3:24-25, 1 Cor. 15:4, 1 Pet. 1:3-5, 1 Pet. 2:24)
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. (Isa. 9:6, Luke 24:51, Acts 1:9-10, Rom. 8:34, 1 Tim. 2:5, Heb. 7:25, Heb. 8:1, Heb. 8:6, Heb. 9:24, 1 John 2:1-2)
We believe in the blessed hope – the personal, imminent return of Christ, who will return bodily, personally, visibly, pre-tribulational and premillennial. We believe Christ will rapture His church prior to the seven-year tribulation period. When Christ returns, the dead in Christ shall rise first, and then the living saints shall all be changed in a moment and join them. At the end of the tribulation, Christ will personally return and visibly return with His saints to establish His earthly Messianic Kingdom and reign for a thousand years on the throne of David in Israel. (Psa. 72:8, Psa. 89:3-4, Dan 2:31-45, Zech. 14:4-11, Matt. 24:27, Luke 1:32, John 14:3, Acts 1:9-11, 1 Cor. 15:25, 1 Cor. 15:42-44, 1 Cor. 15:51-53, 1 Thes. 4:13-18 [I Thes. 4:16-17], Tit. 2:13, Rev. 3:10, Rev. 3:21, Rev. 19:11-16, Rev. 20:1-6)
holy spirit
We believe the Holy Spirit is a divine person, equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature. We believe the Holy Spirit is the 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 unto the day of redemption. (John 14:16-18, John 16:8-11, Rom. 8:9, 1 Cor. 12:2-4, 2 Cor. 3:6, Eph. 1:13-14, 2 Thes. 2:7)
We believe the Holy Spirit is the divine Teacher who assists believers to understand and appropriate the Scriptures and that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit. (Eph. 1:17-18, Eph. 5:18, 1 John 2:20, 1 John 2:27)
We believe God is sovereign in the bestowal of spiritual gifts to every believer. God uniquely uses evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip believers in the assembly in order that they can do the work of the ministry. (Rom. 12:3-8, 1 Cor. 12:4-11, 1 Cor. 12:28, Eph. 4:7-12)
We believe the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues, and the gift of healing, were temporary and ended with the completion of the Scriptures. Speaking in tongues was never the common or necessary sign of the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit. Ultimate deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection, though God frequently chooses to answer the prayers of believers for physical healing. (1 Cor. 1:22, 1 Cor. 13:8, 1 Cor. 14:21-22)
creation
We believe the Genesis account of creation, and that it is to be accepted literally, and not allegorically or figuratively. We believe that God created the universe in six literal, 24-hour periods. We reject evolution, the Gap Theory, the Day-Age Theory, and Theistic Evolution as unscriptural theories of origin. (Gen. 1:1, Gen. 1-2, Exo. 20:11, Neh. 9:6, Jer. 10:12, John 1:1-3, Acts 4:24, Acts 17:23-26, Col. 1:16-17, Heb. 11:3, Rev. 4:11, Rev. 10:6)
The Fall and Total Depravity of Man
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin the human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God. Man is totally depraved and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition. All mankind are sinners both by choice and by nature inherited through Adam, and therefore under just condemnation without defense or excuse. (Gen. 1:26-27, Gen. 3, Ezek. 18:19-20, Rom. 1:18, Rom. 1:20, Rom. 1:28, Rom. 1:32, Rom. 3:10-19, Rom. 3:22-23, Rom. 5:12, Rom. 5:19, Rom. 6:23, Gal. 3:22, Eph. 2:1-3, Eph. 4:17-19)
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. (Matt. 12:31-32, John 1:12, John 6:37, Acts 20:21, Eph. 1:7, Eph. 2:8-9, 1 Pet. 1:18-19, 1 John 1:9)
We believe in God’s grace; that the blessings of salvation are made free to all by the Gospel; that it is the immediate duty of all to accept them by cordial, penitent and obedient faith; and nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth but his own inherent depravity and voluntary rejection of the Gospel; which rejection involves him in an aggravated condemnation. (Isa. 55:1, Isa. 55:6-7, Matt. 11:28, John 3:3, John 3:16, John 3:18, John 5:40, John 6:37, Acts 2:38, Rom. 8:29-30, Rom. 10:9-10, Rom. 10:13, 1 Cor. 15:10, 2 Cor. 5:17, Eph. 2:4-5, 1 Thes. 1:4, 1 Tim. 1:15, Tit. 1:1, 1 Pet. 1:2, Rev. 22:17)
We believe that men are justified by faith alone and are accounted righteous before God only through the merit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The great Gospel blessing which Christ secures to such as believe in Him is justification. Justification includes the pardon of sin and the gift of eternal life on principles of righteousness, and is bestowed not in consideration of any works of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in the Redeemer’s blood, as His righteousness is imputed to us. (Isa. 53:11, Hab. 2:4, Zech. 13:1, Acts 13:39, Rom. 1:17, Rom. 4:1-8, Rom. 5:1, Rom. 5:9, Rom. 8:1, Gal. 3:11, Tit. 3:5-7, Heb. 10:38)
We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever. We believe it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh. (John 6:37-40, John 10:27-30, Rom. 8:1, Rom. 8:38-39, Rom. 13:13-14, I Cor. 1:4-8, Gal. 5:13, Tit. 2:11-15, 1 Pet. 1:4-5, Jude 1-2)
the church
We believe the local church is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is solely made up of born-again believers of this present age which began with Christ and the Apostles, and was empowered at Pentecost, and will be caught up to be with Christ at the Rapture. (Matt. 16:18, Luke 6:12-16, Acts 2:1-4, 1 Cor. 12:12-14, 2 Cor. 11:2, Eph. 1:22-23, Eph. 5:25-27)
We believe the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament. (Acts 14:27, Acts 20:17, Acts 20:28-32, Jude 3-4) We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority or control. The local church has the absolute right of self-government, free from interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations. (Acts 15:19-31, Acts 20:28, Rom. 16:1, 1 Cor. 3:9, 1 Cor. 3:16, 1 Cor. 5:4-7, 1 Cor. 5:13, Eph. 4:11, Col. 1:18, 1 Pet. 5:1-4) We believe water baptism, by immersion, and the Lord’s Supper are the only Scriptural ordinances of obedience for the church. (Matt. 28:19-20, Acts 2:41-42, Acts 8:36-38, 1 Cor. 11:23-26)
missions
We believe God has given the church a Great Commission to proclaim the Gospel to all nations so there might be a great multitude from every nation, tribe, ethnic group, and language group who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, the mission of the church is found in the Great Commission: first, to make individual disciples; second, to baptize; and third, to build up and instruct the believers as Christ commanded through the local church. As ambassadors of Christ, we must use all available means to go to the foreign nations and not wait for them to come to us. We believe the role of missionaries is to obey the Great Commission on behalf of local churches and carry the Gospel to places the local church cannot reach. The missionary’s primary functions are to fulfil the mission of the church by making disciples, baptizing them, and instructing them through the establishment of local churches. The missionary is accountable and under the authority of the sending church, but may cooperate with other, like-minded churches and utilize missions boards to achieve this task. (Matt. 28:19-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:46-48, John 20:21, Acts 1:8, Acts 13:1-4, Acts 15:4, Rom. 10:13-15, 2 Cor. 5:20, 2 Cor. 8:1-6)
The Eternal State
We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment. (Matt. 25:46, John 5:28-29, John 11:25-26, 1 Cor. 15:51-58, Rev. 20:5-6, Rev. 20:12-13) We believe 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, 2 Cor. 5:8, Phil. 1:23, Phil. 3:21, 1 Thes. 4:16-17, Rev. 20:4-6) We believe the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious punishment and torment until the second resurrection when, with soul and body reunited, they shall appear at the Great White Throne of judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting, conscious punishment and torment. (Matt. 25:41-46, Mark 9:43-48, Luke 16:19-26, 2 Thes. 1:7-9, Jud 6-7, Rev. 20:11-15)