Our Statement of FAITH

 

 

 

A. The Scriptures
1. We believe in the authority and sufficiency of the Holy Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, as originally written, that it was verbally and plenarily inspired and is the product of Spirit-controlled men and, therefore, is infallible and inerrant in all matters in which it speaks.

2. We believe the Bible to be the true center of Christian unity and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creed, and opinions shall be tried (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:19-21)

B. The True God
We believe there is One 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 Godhead there are three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit Who are equal in every divine perfection and Who execute distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption (Ex. 20:2-3; I Cor. 8:6; Rev. 4:11)

C. Jesus Christ
1. We believe in the absolute deity of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that he was divine as no other man can be, existing from all eternity co-equal with the Father and the Spirit; that he never ceased to be God for one instant; and that His humiliation did not consist in laying aside His Deity.
2. We further believe that as a man He was miraculously begotten of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, that His two natures remained distinct and yet acted in complete harmony with each other in willing subjection to the will of the Father

(I John 1:1-2; Matt. 1:20; Phil. 2:8; John 4:34).

D. The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, equal with God the Father and God the Son, and of the same nature, that He was active in the creation, that in His relationship to the unbelieving world: He restrains the evil one until God’s purpose is fulfilled. He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment; He bears witness to the truth of the gospel; and in preaching, He guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies, and helps the believer. (John 14:16-17; Matt. 28:19; Heb. 9:14; John 14:26; Luke 1:35; Gen. 1:1-3; John 16:8-11; Acts 5:30-32; John 3:5-6; Eph. 1:13-14; Mark 1:8; John 1:33; Acts 11:16; Luke 24:49; Rom. 8:14, 16, 26-27).

E. The Devil or Satan
We believe in the reality and personality of Satan, the Devil, that he was created by God as an angel, but through pride and rebellion, he became the enemy of his Creator; that he became the unholy god of the age and the ruler of all the powers of darkness and is destined to the judgment of an eternal justice in the lake of fire (Matt. 4:1-11; 2 Cor. 4:4; Rev. 20:10).

F. Creation
We believe the Biblical account of the creation of the physical universe, angels, and man, that this account is neither allegory nor myth, but a literal, historical account of the direct, immediate, creative acts of God without any evolutionary process; that man was created by a direct work of God and not from previously existing forms of life; and that all men are descended from the historical Adam and Eve, first parents of the entire human race (Gen. 1:2; Col. 1:16-17; John 1:3).

G. The Fall of Man
We believe that man was created in innocence (in the image and likeness of God) under the law of his Maker. But by voluntary transgression, Adam fell from his sinless and happy state, and all men sinned in him; in consequence of which, all men are totally depraved, are partakers of Adam’s fallen nature, and are sinners by nature and by conduct, and therefore under just condemnation without defense or excuse (Gen. 3:1-6; Rom. 10:3-19; 5:12, 19; 1:18, 32).

H. The Virgin Birth
We believe that Jesus was begotten of the Holy Spirit in a miraculous manner and born of woman, and that He is both Son of God and God, the Son (Gen. 3:15; Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:18-25; Luke 1:35; John 1:14)

I. Salvation
1. We believe that the salvation of sinners is divinely initiated and wholly of grace through the mediatory office of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who by the appointment of the Father, voluntarily took upon Himself our nature, yet without sin honored the divine law by His personal obedience, thus qualifying Himself to be our Savior, that by the shedding of His blood in His death He fully satisfied the just demands of a holy and righteous God regarding sin, that His sacrifice consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was a voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner’s place, the just dying for the unjust, Christ the Lord bearing our sin in His own body on the tree; that having risen from the dead He is now enthroned in Heaven and uniting, in His Wonderful Person, the most tender sympathies with divine perfection. He is in every way qualified to be a suitable, compassionate, and an all-sufficient Savior.
2. We believe that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation. Repentance is a change of mind and purpose toward God, prompted by the Holy Spirit, and is an integral part of saving faith (Jonah 2:9; Eph. 2:8; Acts 15:11; Rom. 3:24-25; John 3:16; Matt. 18:11; Phil 2:7-8; Heb. 2:14-17; Isa. 53:4-7; I John 4:10; I Cor. 15:3; 2 Cor. 5:21; I Pet. 2:24)

J. Resurrection and Priesthood of Christ
We believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ and His ascension into Heaven, where He now sits at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us as our High Priest (Matt.28:6-7; Mark 16:6; Luke 24:2-6, 39, 51; John 20:27; Acts 1:9-11; I Cor. 15:4; I Tim. 2:5; Heb. 2:17; 5:9-10; 8:6; 12:2; 7:25; I John 2:1; Rev. 3:21).

K. Grace and the New Birth
We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be born again, that the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus; that it is instantaneous and not a process; that in the new birth the one dead in trespasses and in sins is made a partaker of the divine nature and receives eternal life; the free gift of God; that the new creation is brought about by our sovereign God in a manner above our comprehension, solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the gospel; that its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance, faith, and newness of life (I John 5:1; John 3:3; 2 Cor. 5:17; Acts 16:20-33; 2 Pet. 1:4; Rom. 6:23; Eph. 2:1,5; Col. 2:13)

L. Justification
We believe that justification is that judicial act of God whereby He declares the believer righteous upon the basis of the imputed righteousness of Christ; that it is bestowed, not in consideration of any work of righteousness which we have done but solely through faith in the Redeemer’s shed blood (Rom. 3:24; 4:5; 5:1,9; Gal. 2:16; Phil. 3:9).

M. Sanctification
We believe that sanctification is the divine setting apart of the believer unto God, accomplished in a threefold manner: first, an eternal act of God, based upon redemption in Christ, establishing the believer in a position of holiness at the moment he trusts the Savior; second, a continuing process in the saint as the Holy Spirit applies the Word of God to his life, third, the final accomplishment of this process at the Lord’s return (Heb. 3:1; 10:10-14; John 17:17; 2 Cor. 3:18; I Cor. 1:8; Eph. 5:25-27; I Thess. 4:3-4; 5:23-24; I John 3:2; Jude 24:25, Rev. 22:11)

N. The Security of the Saints
We believe that all who are truly born again are kept by God, the Father, for Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:6; John 10:28-29; Rom. 8:35, 39; Jude 1).

O. The Church
1. We believe that a local church is an organized congregation of immersed believers, associated by covenant of faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, and exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His word; that its officers are pastors and deacons, whose qualifications, claims, and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures.
2. We believe the true mission of the church is the faithful witnessing of Christ to all men as we have opportunity. We hold that the local church has the absolute right of self-government, free from the interferences of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations; that the one and only Superintendent is Christ, through the Holy Spirit, that it is Scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other, contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the gospel; that each local church is sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation; that on all matters of membership, of polity, of government, of discipline, of benevolence, the will of the local church is final (I Cor. 11:2; Acts 20:17-28; I Tim. 3:1-13; Acts 2:41-42)
3. We believe in the unity of all New Testament believers in the church, which is the Body of Christ (I Cor. 12:12-13; Eph. 1:22-23; 3:1-6; 4:11; 5:23; Col. 1:18; Acts 15;15-18).

P. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
1. We believe that Christian Baptism is the single immersion of a believer in water to show forth, in a solemn and beautiful emblem, our identification with the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, through Whom we died to sin and rose to a new life; that baptism is to be performed under the authority of the local church; and that it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership.
2. We believe the Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of His death until He comes, and should be preceded by solemn self-examination. We believe that the Biblical order of the ordinances is baptism first, then the Lord’s Supper, and participants in the Lord’s Supper should be immersed believers (Acts 8:36-39; John 3:23; Rom. 6:3-5; Matt. 3:16; Col. 2:12; I Cor. 11:23-28; Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 2:41-42).

Q. Separation
We believe in obedience to the Biblical commands to separate ourselves unto God from worldliness and ecclesiastical apostasy (2 Cor. 6:14; 7:1; I Thess. 1:9-10; I Tim. 6:3, 5; Rom. 6:17; 2 John 9-11).

R. Civil Government
We believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the interests and good order of human society, that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored, and obeyed except in those things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only Lord of the conscience and the coming King of Kings (Rom. 13:1-7; 2 Sam. 28:3; Ex. 18:21-22; Acts 23:5; Matt. 22:1; Acts 5:29; 4:19-20; Dan. 3:17-18).

S. Israel
We believe in the sovereign selection of Israel as God’s eternal covenant people, that she is now dispersed because of her disobedience and rejection of Christ; that she will be gathered again into the Holy Land, and after the completion of the Church, will be saved as a nation at the second advent of Christ (Gen. 13:14-17; Rom. 11:1-32; Ezek. 37).

T. Rapture and Subsequent Events
1. We believe in the premillennial return of Christ, an event which can occur at any moment. At that moment, the dead in Christ shall be given glorified bodies, and those living in Christ shall be given glorified bodies without tasting death, and all shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air before the seven years of the Tribulation

(I Thess. 4:13-18; I Cor. 15:42-44; 51-54; Phil. 3:20-21; Rev. 3:10).
2. We believe that the Tribulation, which follows the Rapture of the Church, will be culminated by the revelation of Christ in power and great glory to sit upon the throne of David and to establish the millennial kingdom (Dan. 9:25-27; Matt. 24:29-31; Luke 1:30-33; Isa. 9:6-7; 11:1-9; Acts 2:29-30, Rev. 20:1-4,6).

U. The Righteous and the Wicked
We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked, that only those who are justified by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and sanctified by the Spirit of our God, are truly righteous in His esteem; while all such as continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked and under the curse; and this distinction holds among men both now and after death, in the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost in the lake of fire (Matt. 3:18; Gen. 18:23; Rom. 6:17-18; I John 5:19; Rom. 7:6; 6:23; Prov. 14:32; Luke 10:25; Matt. 25:34-41; John 8:21; Rev. 20:14-15).

V. Human Sexuality
We believe God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity should be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. (Gen. 2:24; 19:5; 26:8-9; Lev. 18:-1-30; Rom 1:26-29; I Cor. 5:1; 6:9; I Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4).

W. Abortion
We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused, taking of unborn human life. Abortion is murder! We reject any teaching that abortions of pregnancies due to rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, birth control, or mental or physical well being of the mother are acceptable. (Job 3:16; Ps. 51:5; 139:14-16; Isa. 44:24; 49:1,5; 20:15-18; Lk. 1:44).