Beliefs

DOCTRINAL STATEMENT OF FAITH

A. THE 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, infallible and God-breathed. The scriptures have been preserved in the Greek in the Textus Receptus and in the English language in the King James Version. ( II Timothy 3:16, 17; II Peter 1:20, 21; Matthew 5:18; and John 16:12, 13.)

B. THE TRINITY

We believe in one 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. (Deuteronomy 6:4; II Corinthians 13:14; and I John 5:7.)

1. The person and work of God, the Father. God the Father is seen in God's Word to be the Administrative Head of the Trinity, with the following examples:

a. God, the Father, chose us in Christ. (Ephesians 1:4.)

b. God, the Father, gave and sent His Son for us. (John 3:16 and John 5:36.)

c. God, the Father, sent the Holy Spirit.( John 14:16,17,26.)

2. The Person and Work of Christ:

a. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal only begotten 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 and redeem sinful men. (John 1:1, 2, 14, and Luke 1:35.)

b. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross. Our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead. (Romans 3:24, 25; I Peter 2:24; Ephesians 1:7 and I Peter 1:3-5.)

c. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is High Priest. He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate. (Acts 1:9, 10; Hebrews 9:24, 7:25; Romans 8:34, and I John 2:1,2.)

3. The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit:

a. We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of 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 Corinthians 3:6; I Corinthians 12:12-14; Romans 8:9; and Ephesians 1:13,14.)

b. We believe that He is the Divine Teacher who guides believers into all truth; 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; and Ephesians 5:18.)

C. THE PERSONALITY OF SATAN

We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the cause of the fall; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and that he shall be eternally punished in the lake of fire. (Job 1:6, 7; Isaiah 14:12-17; Matthew 4:2-11, 25:41; and Revelation 20:1.)God and not by evolution. (Genesis 1 and 2; Colossians 1:16-17: and John 1:3.)

D. THE CREATION

We accept the Genesis account of a literal six day creation, and believe that men came by direct creation of God and not by evolution. (Genesis 1 and 2; Colossians 1:16-17: and John 1:3.)

E. THE FALL OF MAN

We believe that man, in the person of the first Adam, was created in innocence, but by voluntary transgression fell into sin, thus plunging the whole race into condemnation and death, so that now all mankind is born with a sinful nature, and in the case of those who reach moral responsibility, become sinners in thought, word, and deed, and so are without excuse before God. (Genesis 3:1-6; Romans 5:10-19; Ephesians 2:3; Romans 1:18; and Genesis 3:24.)

F. THE BLOOD ATONEMENT FOR SIN

We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly by grace, through the mediatorial office of the Son of God, who by the appointment of the Father freely took upon Him our nature, yet without sin, honored the Divine Law by His personal obedience; and by His death made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins. He made a voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinners place, the just dying for the unjust; Christ the Lord, bearing our sins in his own body on the tree; that, having risen from the dead, He is now enthroned in heaven, and is in every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate, and an all-sufficient Saviour. (Hebrews 9:12, 22; 10:19; Ephesians 2:8; Acts 15:1; Romans 3:24; John 3:16; Matthew 8:11; Philippians 2:7; Hebrews 2:14; Isaiah 53:4-7; Romans 3:25, I john 4:10; I Corinthians 15:3-11; and II Corinthians 5:21.)

G. SALVATION BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH, APART FROM WORKS

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 an instantaneous act 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 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 and faith and newness of life (John 3:3: II Corinthians 5:17-19; I John 5:1; John 3:6, 7; Acts 16: 30, 31; II Peter 1:4; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-10; Colossians 2:13; John 3:8; and Titus 3:5-7.)

H. THE SECURITY OF THE BELIEVER

We believe that all the saved have "eternal life"; and shall never perish, and that they are kept by the power of God, through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. (John 10:28, 29; I John 5:10-13; I Peter 1:5; and Ephesians 1:12-14.)

 

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 occasion to the flesh. Born-again believers should be separated from worldliness in every form. (Romans 13:13,14; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11-15; Romans 8; I John 2:15; Colossians 3:1, 2; I Corinthians 6:19; Philippians 1:6; and John 20:31.)

I. 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, through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit; and, that all claims to the eradication of the old nature in this life are unscriptural. (Romans 6:13; 8:12, 13; Galatians 5:16-25; Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:10; I Peter 1;14-16; and I John 3:5-9.)

J. SANCTIFICATION

We believe that sanctification is both instantaneous and progressive, beginning at conversion. In its instantaneous sense, it is positional, and has to do with our standing. In its progressive sense it is experiential and has to do with our walk and state. (Hebrews 10:14; I Thessalonians 4:1-7; 5:23.)

K. THE MINISTRY AND SPIRITUAL GIFTS

We believe that since God has vindicated Himself by miracles and we now have the complete Word of God the gifts of evangelists, pastors and teachers are sufficient "for the perfecting of the saints, for the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." (Ephesians 4:7-12; I Corinthians 13:8-13; I Corinthians 12:4-11; and II Corinthians 12:12.)

We believe that God does hear and answer the prayer of faith in accord with His own will. (James 5:14-16; I John 5:14-16; John 15:7; Hebrews 4:16; James 1:5-7; Philippians 4:6.)

L. THE CHURCH

1. We believe that the Church, which is the body and the espoused Bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again believers of this present age. (Ephesians 1:22, 23; Ephesians 5:25, 27; I Corinthians 12:12-14; and II Corinthians 11:2.)

2. We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament scriptures. (Acts 14:27; 20:17, 28, 32; I Timothy 3:1-13; and Titus 1:5-11.)

3. This church is a 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; its officers and pastors and deacons, whose qualifications, claims, and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures. We believe that 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, by majority vote of any individuals or organizations, and that the one and only Head is Christ, through the Holy Spirit; that it is scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the Gospel; that each local church is the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation; and that in all matters of membership, of policy, of government, of discipline, of benevolence, the will of the local church is final. (Acts 2:41, 42; I Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:23, 24, and Acts 15:13-18.)

M. BAPTISM AND THE LORD'S SUPPER - THE TWO ORDINANCES OF THE CHURCH

1. We believe that since there can only be one Scriptural mode of baptism, it is the Immersion in water of the believer, to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem, our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Saviour; and that every new convert should be baptized as soon as possible.

2. We believe that the Lord's Supper is the commemoration of His death until He comes, and should be preceded always by solemn self-examination The pastor shall extend an invitation to those who know the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. (Acts 8:36-39; John 3:23; Romans 6:3-5; Matthew 3:16; Colossians 2:12, I Corinthians 11: 23-28; Matthew 28:19, 20.)

N. 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 through faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and sanctified by the Spirit of our Lord, 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 hold among men both in and after death, in the everlasting blessedness of the saved and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost. (Malachi 3:18; Genesis 18:23; Romans 6:17, 18; I John 5:19; Romans 7:6; Romans 6:23; Luke 6:25; Luke 16: 19-28; John 8:21; and Psalms 37:28.)

O. CIVIL GOVERNMENT

1. We believe that civil government is by divine appointment, for the interests and good order of human society; that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored, and obeyed except in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, as revealed in the Bible, who is the only Lord of conscience, and coming Prince of the Kings of the earth. (Romans 13:7; II Samuel 23:3; Exodus 18: 21, 22; Acts 5:17-20; Acts 4;18, 20; and Daniel 3:17-18.)

2. We believe in the principals of religious liberty and separation of Church and State. (I Peter 5:1-3; I Peter 2:13-17; and Matthew 22:21.)

P. THE SECOND ADVENT OF CHRIST

We believe in that Blessed Hope, the personal, imminent, pre-tribulation, 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 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Zechariah 14:4-11; Revelation 19:11-16, 20:1-6; I Thessalonians 1:10; I Thessalonians 5:9; and Revelation 3:10.)

Q. THE 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 eternal punishment. (John 5:21-30; I Thessalonians 4:16; Revelation 7:9-17; and Revelation 20: 11-15.)