Our Beliefs
The Holy Scriptures
We believe the Holy Scriptures to be the only verbally inspired Word of God and to be authoritative, inerrant, infallible, God-breathed, and sufficient for all of life and godliness.
We believe that the whole Bible is inspired in the sense that holy men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit to write the very words of Scripture. This divine inspiration extends equally and fully to every portion in the original manuscripts.
We believe the meaning of scripture is found by diligently utilizing the literal, grammatical, historical hermeneutic under the illumination of the Holy Spirit.
We believe that in the Holy Scripture, the Triune God reveals Himself, and therefore, there is no other source that shows us the specific character of God. We also believe that all Scripture reveals God’s redemptive plan for His chosen ones, determined before the foundation of the world, and centered on the Lord Jesus Christ. Scripture reveals His Person and work in His first and second advent. We believe both the Old Testament and New Testament reveal Christ and His work, and therefore we affirm that all Scripture is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.”
We believe the Bible to be the true center of Christian union and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions shall be tried. (Mark 12:26; Luke 24:27,44; John 5:39; Acts 1:16,17:2-3,18:28,26:22-23,28:23-27; Rom. 15:4; I Cor. 2:13,10:11; II Tim. 3:14-17; II Pet. 1:19-21)
The Godhead
We believe in one Triune God, existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, eternal in being, identical in essence (neither three separate Gods, nor one God for whom the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are mere modes of manifestation taken on at different times), equal in power and glory, and having the same divine attributes and perfections. We believe that the Triune God chose to reveal Himself to His creation and through the Holy Scripture. (Deut. 6:4; Isa. 45:22,48:16; Matt. 28:19; I Cor. 8:6; II Cor. 13:14; Phil 2:6; Rev. 4:11)
Creation
We believe that God, according to His sovereign will and for His own glory, brought forth in the beginning the whole visible and invisible universe in six literal days, without any evolutionary process and without the use of pre-existent material, and thus gave it an existence, distinct from Him yet always dependent on Him and predestined by Him according to the counsel of His own will. (Gen. 1:1-2:25; Acts 17:24-25; Eph. 1:11; Col. 1:15-17; Heb. 1:1-3)
We believe God created mankind as male and female. This is part of God’s redemptive plan and is essential to the prosperity of mankind and to obedience to God’s intent and design. God created the institution of marriage as the lifelong monogamous union of one man and one woman for His glory and as the general pattern for human flourishing. God gave mankind the gift of sex to be exercised only within the context of marriage as described above (Gen 2:18-25; Matt 19:4-6; Rom 1:26-27; 1 Cor 6:17-20).
We also affirm that life begins at the moment of fertilization. At that point, God gives life, and the new person is a human created in the image of God and should therefore be granted the dignity afforded to any other person.
The Personality of Satan
We believe in the existence of Satan as a personal being and a fallen angelic creature of God, who is the open and declared enemy of God and the adversary of those of the household of faith. (Job 1:6-12; Isa. 14:12-17; Matt. 4:2-11; II Cor. 4:3-5,11:3,11:14-15; I Pet. 5:8)
The Total Depravity of Man
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin all mankind fell, inherited a sinful nature, became alienated from God, and is totally unable to regain his former position or to meet God’s perfect standard of righteousness required to enter His presence. (Gen. 1:26; 3:1-24; Rom. 3:23,5:12,8:7-8; Eph. 2:1-3)
The Person and Work of Christ
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal God the Son, became man without ceasing to be God, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men. We believe that He accomplished our redemption through His birth as a man, living a sinless and completely obedient life, and His death on the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice.
We believe that our redemption and salvation are guaranteed to us by His literal physical resurrection from the dead. (Isa. 53:4-12; John 1:1,14,18; 10:14-16,26-30; Luke 1:35; Rom. 3:21-26,4:25)
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is now in heaven, exalted to the right hand of God, serving as the High Priest of His people. He fulfills the ministry of intercession and advocacy. (Heb. 1:3,3:1,7:23-25,9:24,12:2; I John 2:1-2)
The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the blessed Trinity, is fully God and possesses full personhood. We believe that according to the New Covenant, He dwells in every believer, by His baptism unites all to Christ in one body, and as the Indwelling One is the source of all power and all acceptable worship, and service.
We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer from the moment of salvation for the rest of eternity. (Ezek 36:25-27; John 14:16-17; 16:7-15; I Cor. 6:19; Eph. 2:22; II Thess. 2:7)
We believe that in this age, certain well-defined ministries are committed to the Holy Spirit and that it is the duty of every Christian to understand them and to be adjusted to them in his own life. These ministries include the restraining of evil in the world to the measure of the divine will; the convicting of the world respecting sin, righteousness and judgment; the regeneration of all the elect; the indwelling of all who are saved, thereby sealing them unto the day of redemption; the baptizing into the one body of Christ all who are saved; and the filling for power and service. (John 3:6,16:7-11; Rom. 8:9; I Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:30,5:18; II Thess. 2:7; I John 2:20-27)
We believe that some gifts of the Holy Spirit were signs given to the Apostles to affirm their authority as the authors of Scripture (signs of the Apostles) and therefore were temporary. These were never common, nor were they a necessary sign of the baptism or of the filling of the Spirit. Our emphasis is on that which edifies the Church. (Isa. 28:11; Acts 4:8,31; Rom. 8:23; I Cor. 12:12-13,18:8,14:21)
Salvation
We believe that salvation is the gift of God by grace and is received by man only through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit that enables personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed for the forgiveness of our sins. (Jn. 1:12-13; Eph. 1:7,2:8-9)
We believe that due to the sin of Adam, all men are born into sin and are sinners. Therefore , no one can enter the kingdom of God unless born again; and no degree of reformation (however great), no attainments in morality (however high), no culture (however attractive), no baptism or other ordinance (however administered), can help the sinner to take even one step toward heaven; but that a new nature imparted from above and a new life implanted by the Holy Spirit through the Word are absolutely essential to salvation; and that only those thus saved are sons of God.
We also believe that our redemption has been accomplished according to the New Covenant solely by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was made to be sin and was made a curse for us, dying as our substitute, and that no repentance, no feeling, no faith, no good resolutions, no sincere efforts, no submission to the rules and regulations of any ecclesiastical body that has ever existed since the days of the Apostles can add in the very least degree to the value of the blood or to the merit of the finished work wrought for us by Him who united in His person true and proper deity with perfect and sinless humanity. (Lev. 17:11; Isa. 64:6; Matt. 26:28; Luke 22:20; John 3:5,18; Rom. 5:6-9; II Cor. 5:21; James 1:18; I Pet. 1:18-19,23)
We believe that the new birth of the believer is a gift of God by the Holy Spirit and manifested through faith in Christ and that repentance is a vital part of believing, and is no way in itself a separate and independent condition of salvation; nor are any other acts such as confession, baptism, prayer, or faithful service to be added to believing as a condition of salvation. (John 1:12-13; 3:16-17,36; 5:24; 6:29; Acts 13:38-39; 16:31; Rom. 1:16-17; 3:22,26; 4:5: 5:1; 10:4; Gal. 3:22)
We believe that when salvation is wrought in an unregenerate person as illustrated and described in the New Testament, he immediately passes out of spiritual death into spiritual life, and from the old creation into the new, being fully justified, accepted before the Father as Christ His Son is accepted, loved as Christ is loved, having his place and portion as linked to Him and one with Him forever. Though the saved one should grow in the realization of his blessings and know a fuller measure of divine power through the yielding of his life to God, he is, as soon as he is saved, in possession of every spiritual blessing and absolutely complete in Christ. (John 5:24; 17:23; Acts 13:38-39; Rom. 5:1; I Cor. 3:21-23; Eph. 1-3; Col. 2:10; II Pet. 3:18; I John 4:17; 5:11-12)
Sanctification
Sanctification is the process by which the Holy Spirit is conforming all of God’s people into the image of Jesus Christ. It is entirely a work of God, yet it requires us to strive for holiness. We believe that sanctification, the setting apart unto God, is threefold:
The believer receives the imputed holiness of Christ upon justification when new life is bestowed upon him by the Holy Spirit at the time of the new birth. He is therefore counted as righteous and perfect in Christ. (I Cor. 1:30; II Cor. 5:21; Heb. 10:10-14)
Our sanctification is wholly a work of God, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, who sanctifies us. Yet, the believer is commanded to strive to be holy in thought, speech, and life, and to grow in Christ by putting off the old self and putting on the new self, created in the image of Christ. (I Cor. 10:31; II Cor. 3:18; Eph. 4:11-16; I Peter1:2,3:18)
The believer in glorification is going to be made perfect in Christ when he shall see his Lord and be “like Him.” (I Cor. 15:42-49; Phil. 3:20-21; I John 3:2)
Perseverance of the Saints
We believe that Scripture teaches that those who are truly regenerate, being born of the Holy Spirit, will not utterly fall away and finally perish, but will endure unto the end. All true believers, once saved, are kept secure by the power of God in Christ forever. (John 6:39,8:31,10:27-29; Rom. 8:35-39; Heb. 1:14,13:5; I Pet. 1:5; I John 2:19,27-28,5:18; Jude 24-25)
The Church
We believe that the Universal church, the Body and Bride of Christ, which began on the day of Pentecost, is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again persons irrespective of their affiliation with Christian organizations. (I Cor. 12:12-13; Eph. 1:20-23,4:1-16; Col. 3:14-15)
The Rapture of the Church
We believe that, in accordance with the promise of Jesus, He will come and call the Church to meet Him in the clouds. All those in the church who are dead at that time will be resurrected, and those alive will be perfected and will all meet Jesus in the clouds and be with Him forever. This event is not the same as the second coming of Jesus and will precede the beginning of the great tribulation.(John 14:2; 1 Thess 4:16-17)
The Second Coming of Christ
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, with His Church, will return after the great tribulation to set up and rule during the millennial kingdom. (Zech. 12:9-10,14:4-11; I Cor. 15:50-54; I Thess. 1:9-10,4:13-18; Rev. 3:10,19:11-20:6)
The Eternal State
We believe that the souls of those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation do at death immediately pass into His presence and there remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the physical body at His coming for the Church, when soul and body reunited shall be associated with Him forever in glory, but the souls of unbelievers remain after death in conscious misery until the final judgment of the great white throne at the close of the millennium, when soul and body reunited shall be cast into the lake of fire, not to be annihilated, but to receive everlasting punishment, under the righteous wrath of God in separation from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. (Luke 16:19-26,23:43; II Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; II Thess. 1:7-9; Rev. 20:11-15)
The Responsibility of Believers
We believe that every believer should seek to walk blamelessly before God and men in order to bring glory to His Lord while in the world through a humble obedience to the Word of God; to walk by the Spirit, not bringing reproach upon His Lord and Savior; and to be separated from those worldly pleasures and practices that are forbidden by God. (Rom. 12:1-2; II Cor. 6:14,7:1; Gal. 5:16,25)
We believe that it is the obligation of every believer to witness by life and by word to the truths of Holy Scripture and to seek to proclaim the gospel to all the world. (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8)
We believe that it is the responsibility of every believer to remember the work of the Lord in prayer and to support it with his means as the Lord has prospered him. (I Cor. 16:2; II Cor. 8:1-9:15)
We believe that every believer has the privilege to be used by the Spirit of God so that the body of Christ might be edifying itself in love. (Eph. 4:11-16)