Our Statement of Faith
What We Believe
• In essential beliefs - we have unity.
"There is one Body and one Spirit...there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of us all...."
Ephesians 4:4-6
• In non-essential beliefs - we have liberty.
"Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters...Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls... So then each of us will give an account of himself to God...So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God."
Romans 14:1,4,12,22
• In all our beliefs - we show charity.
"If I hold in my mind not only all human knowledge but also the very secrets of God, and if I have the faith that can move mountains - but have no love, I amount to nothing at all."
1 Corinthians 13:2
Table of Contents
Section 1: The Holy Scriptures
Section 2: The Godhead
Section 3: The Person and Work of Christ
Section 4: The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
Section 5: The Total Depravity of Man
Section 6: Salvation
Section 7: The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers
Section 8: The Two Natures of the Believer
Section 9: Separation
Section 10: Missions
Section 11: The Ministry and Spiritual Gifts
Section 12: The Church
Section 13: The Ordinances
Section 14: The Personality of Satan
Section 15: The Second Advent of Christ
Section 16: The Eternal State
SECTION 1: THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally inspired Word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible, and God-breathed (II Tim. 3:16,17; II Pet. 1:20,21; Matt. 5:18; John 16:12,13).
SECTION 2: THE GODHEAD
We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections (Deut. 6:4; II Cor. 13:14; Matt. 28:19). We believe the Godhead created the heavens and the earth and all that inhabits His creation in perfection, without sin, without the shedding of blood or death, in six literal 24 hour days, and rested on the seventh day (Gen. Chapters 1-2; Ex. 20:9-11; Rom. 5:12).
SECTION 3: THE PERSON AND WORK OF CHRIST
A. 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, in order that He might reveal God to men and redeem sinful men to Himself (John 1:1,2,14; Luke 1:35).
B. We believe that 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 (Rom. 3:24,25; I Pet. 1:3-5; 2:24; Eph. 1:7).
C. 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 (Acts 1:9,10; Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25; 9:24; I John 2:1,2).
SECTION 4: THE PERSON AND WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
A. We believe that the Holy Spirit possesses personality and all the attributes of deity who convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and 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 16:8-11; II Cor. 3:6; I Cor. 12:12-14; Rom. 8:9; Eph. 1:13-14).
B. We believe that the Holy Spirit is the Divine Teacher who guides believers into all truth, illuminates the mind to understand the living Word, and that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit (John 16:13; I John 2:20,27; Eph. 5:18, I Cor. 2:9-16).
SECTION 5: THE TOTAL DEPRAVITY OF MAN
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin, the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and that man is totally depraved and, of himself, completely unable to remedy his lost condition (Gen. 1:26,27; Rom. 3:22,23; 5:12; Eph. 2:1-3,12).
SECTION 6: 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 (Eph. 1:7; 2:8-10; John 1:12).
SECTION 7: THE ETERNAL SECURITY AND ASSURANCE OF BELIEVERS
A. We believe that all the redeemed, the elect who come by faith alone to Jesus Christ for salvation, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Rom. 8:1, 28-30,38,39; I Cor. 1:4-8; I Pet. 1:5).
B. We believe that 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 opportunity to satisfy the lustful desires of the flesh (Rom. 13:13,14; Gal. 5:13; 1 John 5:13; Tit. 2:11-15).
SECTION 8: THE TWO NATURES OF THE BELIEVER
We believe that every saved person possesses two natures, with provision made for victory of the new nature over the old nature, and that the eradication of the old nature, in this life, is unscriptural (Rom. 6:13; 8:12, 13; Gal. 5:16-25; Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:10; I Peter 1:14-16; I John 3:5-9).
SECTION 9: SEPARATION
We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord, and that separation from all religious apostasy (those have denied the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith) and secret associations (e.g., Free Masonry) is commanded of God (2 Tim. 3:1-5; Rom. 12:1-2; 14:13; 1 John 2:15-17; 2 John vs. 9-11; 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1).
SECTION 10: MISSIONS
We believe that it is the obligation and privilege of the saved to witness by life and by word the truths of the Holy Scriptures and to seek to proclaim the Gospel to all mankind (Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; 2 Cor. 5:19-20).
SECTION 11: THE MINISTRY AND SPIRITUAL GIFTS
We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowment of all His gifts; that the gifts of evangelists, pastors, and teachers are sufficient for the perfecting of the saints today; and that speaking in tongues and the working of sign miracles gradually ceased as the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their authority became established (1 Cor. 12:4-11; 2 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 4:7-12; 1 Cor. 13:8-13).
SECTION 12: THE CHURCH
A. We believe that the Universal Church, which is the Body and the espoused bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again persons of this present age (Eph. 1:22-23; 5:25-27; 1 Cor. 12:12-14; 2 Cor. 11:2).
B. We believe the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:27; 20:17, 28-32; 1Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11).
SECTION 13: THE ORDINANCES
We believe that the Lord taught us to observe two ordinances: the Lord's Supper and Believer's Baptism (Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; 18:8; 1 Cor. 11:23-26). The Lord's Supper is to be celebrated by believers in remembrance of Him. Believer's Baptism is administered to those who proclaim that Jesus is Lord.
SECTION 14: THE PERSONALITY OF SATAN
We believe that Satan has personhood; is the author of sin; is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire (Job 1:6, 7; Isa. 14:12-17; Matt. 4:1-11; 25:41; Rev. 20:10).
SECTION 15: THE SECOND ADVENT OF CHRIST
We believe in the "Blessed Hope," the personal, imminent, pre-tribulational, and pre-millennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones, and in His subsequent return to earth, with His saints, to establish His Millennial Kingdom (I Thess. 4:13-18; Zech. 14:4-11; Rev. 19:11-16; 20:1-6; I Thess. 1:10; 5:9; Rev. 3:10).
SECTION 16: THE ETERNAL STATE
A. We believe in the bodily resurrection of all people: the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (Matt. 25:46; John 5:28-29; 11:25-26; Rev. 20:5-6,12-13; Daniel 12:1-2).
B. We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the resurrection, when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord (Luke 23:43; Rev. 20:4-6; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; 3:21; 1 Thess. 4:16,17).
C. We believe that the souls of the unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious misery until the second resurrection, when with soul and body reunited, unbelievers 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 with Satan and his demons (Luke 16:19-26; Matt. 25:41-46; 2 Thess. 1:7-9; Jude vs. 6-7; Mark 9:43-48; Rev. 20:11-15).