STATEMENT OF FAITH We except and believe what the Holy Bible teaches on the subject of ... SCRIPTURES -- We believe that "all scripture is given by inspiration of God", and as originally written, was verbally inspired and the product of Spirit-controlled men. We believe that it is the guide of Christian union and the only infallible rule for all humans. We believe the Holy Bible is the Final Authority in revealing God's perfect will and for all matters that pertain to mankind. (II Tim.3:16-17; II Pet.1:19-21; Psa.68:11, Deut. 4:2). GOD -- We believe that there is only one living and true God, who is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent. The Godhead eternal exists in three persons -- the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit -- one in substance and equal in every divine perfection (Exo.20:2-3; Isa.45:22; I Cor.8:6; I John 5:7, Rom. 1:20, Matt 28:19, Deut. 4:35, John 17:5). JESUS CHRIST -- We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is both true God and perfect man, a unique, supernatural manifestation of God in the flesh (II Cor.5:19; 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), 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 of sin, righteousness and judgement, bears witness to the truth, is the agent of the new birth, and that He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses to, sanctifies, and helps the believer, indwelling every true child of God (John 14:16-17; John 16:12-15; Rom.8:14-27; II Cor.13:14). We believe that the sign gifts of the Spirit were for the Apostolic Age (Eph.2:20; Heb.2:3-4; I Cor.13:9-10) and are not to be sought after in our age. THE DEVIL OR SATAN -- We believe in the distinct personality of Satan, that he is the god of this age, author and prince of all powers of darkness and sin, and is destined to the judgement 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", by direct act and not by the process of evolution (Gen. 1 and 2; Psa.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 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 in sin and shapen in iniquity and become practical sinners with the first expression of personal choice, not only by constraint but by choice, and so are without excuse before God (Gen.3; Gen.5:1-4; Rom.5:10-19; 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 Him a human body, being made in the likeness of men (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; 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 grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (John 3:1-19; Acts 4:12; Acts 16:30-33; Rom.10:9-13; II Cor.5:17). SALVATION -- We believe that salvation is by faith in the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose death, burial, resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Father are the only premises for salvation (Eph.1:7; Rev.1:5); 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 set apart from human works (Eph.2:8-9); that by the new birth one dead in trespasses and sins is quickened into eternal life, made righteous, justified, and is made partaker of the Divine nature (II Pet.1:4), eternally secured unto the praise of His glory. We believe that true faith is not just a mental ascent or head belief in the facts of Jesus Christ, but true faith includes and cannot be separated from repentance (change of mind, which results in a change of behavior), and the acknowledgement of Jesus Christ as Lord in ones life at the moment of salvation. (Rom. 10:9-10). SECURITY OF THE BELIEVER -- We believe at the moment of salvation the Holy Spirit takes up residence in the new believer and deliver's that person from the power of darkness into the kingdom of His Son (Col. 1:13), and that deliverance results in a changed life (2 Corin. 5:17). We believe in what scripture teaches that a true believer can not lose or forfeit their salvation, but the true believer is sealed unto the Day of Redemption for all eternity (Eph. 1:13-14). Although true believers can and will fail, fall and sin against the Lord, but the Lord will not allow sinning believers to stay in that sin but will deal with them accordingly (1Corin. 11:30, Heb. 12:3-11). THE CHURCH The Church Universal -- 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.12:12-13). The Church Local -- We believe that a local 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; exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in it by His Word; that its officers are pastors -- also called bishops or elders (Eph.4:10-11; Acts 20:26-32; I Tim. 3:1-7; I Pet.5:1-5; Phil.1:1) and deacons (Phil.1:1; I Tim.3:8-13); that it has the absolute right of self-government in matters not covered by the New Testament; that it is directed by the Holy Spirit and is answerable only to Christ (Acts 2:41-42; I Cor.11:2; Eph.1:22-23; Eph.4:11; Eph.5:23-24; I Tim.3:17; Col.1:18; Acts 20:17-28). We believe that there are two church ordinances: Baptism (Matt. 28:18-20) and The Lord's Supper (1 Corin. 11:23-26). THE LORD'S RETURN -- We believe in the bodily, personal, imminent, and pre millennial return of Jesus Christ; that He will come before the seven year tribulation period to catch away His church, and that He will come with His church at the close of the tribulation to judge the living nations and set up His kingdom (I Thess.4:13-17; 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 shall stand in their bodies at the Great White Throne of Judgement to receive their final doom (John 5:21-30; I Thess.4:16; Rev.7:9-17; 20:11-15). EVANGELISM -- We believe in evangelization of the world, which is the great commission, from the Lord Jesus Christ, for all people of God in this age (Matt 18:14, Matt 28: 18-20, Mark 16:15, 2 Corin. 5:18,19). |
