Scriptures – We believe that the Holy Bible is the Work of God and was verbally inspired in the original autographs only, and the product of Spirit controlled men. We therefore believe it is truth without a mixture of error for its matter. We believe that it is the true center of Christian union and the only infallible rule for all human conduct, creeds, and opinions (II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:19-21; Psalm 68:11). We further believe God preserved His word for successive generations but no single translation of the Scriptures can claim inspiration.
God – We believe that there is only one living and true God, infinite in every excellence; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three personal distinctions, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit-One in substance and equal in every Divine perfection (Exodus 20: 2-3; Isaiah 45:22; II John 5:7).
Jesus Christ – The Lord Jesus Christ is both true God and perfect man, the unique super-natural manifestation of God in the flesh (II Cor. 5:10; I Tim. 3:16). Born of the Virgin Mary, after having been miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35; Matt. 1:18-20); the only Savior of mankind (Acts 4:10-12; John 14:6), and the proper object of our worship.
Holy Spirit – We believe that the Holy Spirit is a Divine person, equal with the Father and Son and of the same substance and nature; that He convicts men of sin, righteousness, and judgment; bears witness to the truth; is the agent of new birth; that He seals, endues, guides, teaches witnesses to, sanctifies and helps the believer, indwelling every true child of God We are a non-charismatic church and believe that the sign gifts ceased when the Scriptures were completed(John 14:16-17; John 16: 12-15; Rom. 8:14-27; II Cor. 13:14).
The Devil or Satan – We believe in the distinct personality of Satan, that is the god of this age, author and prince of all the powers of darkness and sin and is destined to the judgment of an eternal justice in the Lake of Fire (Matt. 4: 1-3; Matt. 25:41; II Cor. 4:4; Rev. 20:10).
Creation – We believe that God created the heavens and the earth including all life, “each after its own kind”. We believe creation took place as recorded in the book of Genesis and that God created all that exists by the power of His word and not from preexisting material. We further believe that the creation took place in six, 24-hour days, and that God ceased creating on the seventh day. (Gen 1:2; Psalm 33:6-9; John 1:3; Col. 1:16-17).
The Fall of Man – We believe that man, in the person of the first Adam, was created sinless but willfully disobeyed God and in so doing, sinned and thus plunged the whole race into condemnation and death so that now all mankind is born in sin and shaped in iniquity (Psalm 51:5); and became practical sinners with the first expression of personal choice, not only by constraint but also by choice; and so we are without excuse before God (Gen 5: 1-4; Rom. 5:10, Eph. 2: 1-3).
The Atonement – We believe that the only escape from the condemnation of sin is through the atonement wrought by Jesus Christ when He voluntarily took upon Himself a human body, being made in the likeness of man (Rom. 8:3; Phil. 2:7), yet without sin and by his suffering, death and resurrection, made full satisfaction to the justice of God for the sin of man (I Peter 2:24), that the blessings of this salvation are given on the grounds of grace to all who believe and confess and that it is the immediate duty of all to accept these offers of mercy (John 3: 1-10; Acts 4:12; Acts 16:30-33; Rom. 10: 9-13; II Cor. 5:17).
Salvation – We believe that faith in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ whose death, burial, resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of the Father is the only premise for salvation (Eph. 1:7; Rev. 1:5) and that this faith is begotten through hearing the Word of God (Rom 10:17; I Pet. 1:18-25), that it is the free gift of God, wholly apart from human works (Eph. 2:8,9), that by new birth, one dead in trespasses and sin is quickened into eternal life (Eph. 2: 1-3), made righteous, justified (II Cor. 5:21; I Cor. 1:30; Rom. 3: 21-26) and is made partaker of the Divine Nature (I Pet.1:34), eternally secured unto the praise of His glory (John 10: 28-31).
The Church – We believe every born again believer is by the mystical act of God accorded a place in the body of Christ and that this body is Biblically identified as “The Church” (Eph. 3:3-7; Col. 1:24; I Cor. 12:12-23). 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, excising the gifts, rights and privileges invested in it by His Word. We believe that its officers are pastor (I Tim. 3:8-13) and deacons (Eph. 4:10-11; Phil. 1:1), that it has the absolute right of self government directed by the Holy Spirit and is answerable only to Christ; and that in all matter of membership, policy, government discipline, and benevolences, the will of the local church is final (Acts 2: 41-42; I Cor. 11:2, Eph. 1:22-23). We believe in the absolute separation of Church and State (Matt. 22:21).
Church Ordinances – We believe that there are two church ordinances, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper (communion).
Mode of Baptism – The pastor or some person authorized by the church shall administer the ordinance of baptism by a single immersion in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. It sets forth in a beautiful and solemn way our faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, with its effects in our life of death to sin and resurrection to a new life. Baptism is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership.
The Lord’s Supper – The Lord’s Supper shall be served to the congregation by the pastor or some person designated by the church through its deacons the first Sunday of each month or the first Sunday that is convenient. Since it is the Lord’s Table, none who are His shall be barred, but the pastor shall state the Scriptural order and shall explain the meaning of the ordinance (Acts 8:36-39; Matt. 3:16; Col. 2:12).
The Lord’s Return – We believe in the bodily, personal, imminent, premillennial return of Jesus Christ. We believe that He will come before the seven year tribulation period to catch away His church, coming only into the air, and that He will come with His church at the close of the Tribulation to judge the living nations and to set up His kingdom (I Thess. 4:13-36; Matt 25: 31-46; Rev. 19:11-21).
Resurrection – We believe in the resurrection of the bodies of the dead, that believers who sleep in Jesus will be raised at the coming of Christ for His church and caught up with transformed living saints to meet the Lord in the air, and that the wicked dead will be raised at the close of the Millennial Kingdom and stand in their bodies at the Great White Throne Judgment to receive their final sentence to doom (John 5:21-30; I Thess. 4:16; Rev. 7:9-17; Rev. 20:11-15). |
