What We Believe
The Bible
We believe the Bible, the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament and the twenty-seven books of the New Testament, is supernaturally inspired, so that it is inerrant in the original manuscripts and preserved by God in its verbal and plenary inspiration, so that it is a divinely authoritative standard for every age and every life. (Matthew 5:18; 1 Corinthians 2:13; 2 T
imothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:21)
God
We believe in one God who eternally exists and reveals Himself in three persons – Father, Son, Holy Spirit – having each the same nature, attributes and perfections, worthy of the same worship and confidence. (Matthew 3:16-17,28:19, John 1:11-2, 14,10:30, 14:15-17, 1 Corinthians 8:6; 2 Corinthians 13:14
We believe in God as absolute and sole Creator and Sustainer of the universe, and that creation was by divine command, from nothing and not through an evolutionary process. (John 1:3,10; Acts 17:24-25; Genesis 1:1)
We believe that God, by His Sovereign choice and out of love for men, sent Christ into the world to save sinners. (John 3:16; 1 Timothy 1:15; 1 John 4:14)
God the Son
We believe that Jesus Christ was fully God in the flesh and fully man in one person, that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin and that He lived a sinless life, in which He taught and performed mighty works and wonders and signs exactly as revealed in the four gospels. We believe that He was crucified, shed His blood, died to pay the penalty for our sins and was raised bodily from the dead on the third day. Forty days later He ascended to the Fathers right hand where He is Head of the Church and intercedes for believers as our great High Priest. From there He is coming again personally, bodily and visibly to this earth to set up His Millennial kingdom. (Isaiah 7:14, 9:6; Hebrews 1:1-2, 7:2; Luke 1:30-35; Ephesians 4:8; John 1:1-5, 10-14, 14:3; Colossians 2:9; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Acts 1:3,11; Revelations 20:4)
God the Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person and is God, possessing all the divine attributes. He convicts of sin, regenerates, indwells, baptizes and seals all believers at the moment of their salvation, filling them in response to yieldedness with the goal of conforming them to the image of Christ. (John 3:5, 16:7-11; Acts 5:3-4; Ephesians 1:13, 4:30, 5:18; 1 Corinthians 6:19. 12:13)
Man
We believe that man was created by a direct act of God in His image and likeness, but that in Adam's sins the race fell, inherited a sinful nature and became alienated from God. We believe that all men are morally corrupt, sinners by nature and by choice, guilty for their sin, under the penalty of death and of themselves utterly unable to remedy their lost condition. (Genesis 1:26027; Romans 1:18, 3:23, 5:12; Ephesians 21-3, 12)
Salvation
We believe that salvation is a gift of God, initiated by Him, wholly by grace. Salvation was accomplished through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In submission to the will of the Father, Jesus, while not ceasing to be God, became man, yet without sin. He humbled Himself, took our sin and its penalty upon Himself and by shedding his blood in death satisfied the just demands of a holy and righteous God over our sins. His sacrifice was a voluntary substitution of Himself in our place, the just for the unjust. He rose from the dead in victory over sin and death making possible our justification by faith. Salvation is received by man through repentance and personal faith in Jesus Christ, His sacrifice for sin and His resurrection. We believe that man is justified through the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ by grace through faith apart from works and that all true believers, once saved, are kept secure in Christ forever. (Acts 13:38-39; Romans 4:5, 6:23,8:1,38-39; John 10:27-29; Ephesians 2:8-9, 1 Corinthians 15:3,4)
The Church
We believe that the true Church is composed of all persons who are regenerated by the Holy Spirit through saving faith in Jesus Christ; that they are united together in the body of Christ of which He is Lord and Head; and are commissioned for the God-given tasks of worshiping, fellowshipping, teaching, evangelizing and exercising the spiritual gifts. (Acts 2:42,47; Romans 12:5; Ephesians 1:22-23,5:23-24; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; 2 Corinthians 11:2)
We believe that the establishment and continuance of the local church is clearly taught in the New Testament Scriptures. (Acts 14:27, 20:17, 28-32; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11)
We believe that the local church is autonomous and free of any external authority or control. (Acts 13:1-4, 20:28; Romans 16:1,4' 1 Corinthians 3:9,16,5:4-7, 13; 1 Peter 5:1-4)
The Ordinances
We believe the ordinances for the believer are water baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper as a memorial. They are, however, not to be regarded as a means of salvation. But both of which are an evidence of obedience and fellowship with the Lord. (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:38,41,8:12,35-38; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29)
The Christian Life
We believe that a Christian should walk in holiness and not after the flesh, with the goal of being conformed to the image of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As a new creation, walking in the Spirit, the Christian learns to grow in faith, in obedience to Scripture, in prayer, in fellowship with the saints and in a life of service. We believe that the Christian will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to have his life evaluated according to his deeds. (Galatians 5:16-26; Hebrews 10:25; Ephesians 4:20-24; Hebrews 11:6, 12:1-2; John 17:17; Ephesians 6:18; Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Corinthians 3:10-15)
The Second Coming
We believe in the personal, premillennial and imminent coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead, of the believer to everlasting glory and the unbeliever to judgment and everlasting conscious punishment. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52; Titus 2:11-13; John 14:1-6; Matthew 25:46; Revelation 20:11-15; 2 Peter 3:10)
