OUR BELIEFS
STATEMENT OF FAITH
We believe the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the inspired word of God, inerrant in the original writings, complete as a revelation of God’s will for salvation, and the supreme and final authority in faith and life. (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21)
We believe in one God, eternally existing in three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each Person of the Trinity is fully God, sharing the same nature and attributes. (Gen. 1:26; Deut. 6:4; Matt. 3:16-17, 28:19)
We believe in God the Father, an infinite personal Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power and love. We believe He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men, hears and answers prayer, and saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ. (John 16:23-27; Gal. 4:4-6; Eph. 1:3, 17-23)
We believe that Jesus Christ is God’s eternal Son. He is true God and true man, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. We believe that He lived a sinless life on earth and died a substitutionary death on the cross that His atonement for the sins of all men satisfied God’s justice, and that all who believe in Him are freed from the penalty of sin and made acceptable before God on the grounds of His shed blood. We also believe in His bodily resurrection from the dead, His ascension into heaven, His priestly intercession on the behalf of His people, and His personal, visible return from heaven. (Matt. 1:18-23; Lk. 24:1-8; John 1:1, 14; Acts 1:11; 2 Cor. 5:19-21; Heb. 4:14-16; 1 John 2:1; Rev. 19, 20)
We believe the Holy Spirit is the third Person in the Trinity, and is fully God, having both the essence and all the divine attributes of the Godhead. We believe that the Holy Spirit was sent into the world by the Father and the Son to apply to mankind the saving work of Christ. He enlightens the minds of sinners, awakens in them recognition of their need of a Savior and regenerates them. At the point of salvation He permanently indwells every believer to become a source of assurance, strength, and wisdom, and uniquely endows each believer with gifts for the building up of the body. (Matt. 28:19; John 3:5; 16:13; Acts 1:8; 5:3- 4; 1 Cor. 6:11,19; 12:4-13; Eph. 3:16; 4:11-16)
We believe God created man, male and female, in the image of God and free from sin. We further believe that man, because of his fall in Adam, is a sinner by nature and choice and is therefore spiritually dead and in need of salvation. (Gen. 1:26-27; 2:7-13, 19; Rom. 3:23; 5:12- 21; 6:23)
We believe that Satan is a being, a fallen angel, the first created being to sin, that he is an enemy of God and man, and that he will suffer eternal, conscious punishment in the Lake of Fire. (Gen. 3:1-6; Ez. 28:1-10; John 8:44; 1 John 3:8; Rev. 12:9-11; 20:10)
We believe in salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. We further believe that this salvation is based upon the sovereign grace of God, was purchased by Christ on the cross, and is received by man through faith, apart from any human merit. (John 1:12; 3:3-7; 5:24; Eph. 2:8-10; 1 Tim. 2:5)
We believe that the church is the spiritual body of which Christ is the head. The true church is composed of all persons who through saving faith in Jesus Christ have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. This “body” expresses itself in local assemblies whose members have been baptized upon a credible confession of faith. The ordinances of the local church are believer’s baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper. We also believe in the interdependence of local churches and the mutual submission of believers to each other in love. (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; 2:41-47; Eph. 5:21; Col. 1:18; Heb. 10:24-25)
We believe that each local church is self-governing in function and must be free from interference by any ecclesiastical or political authority. We further believe that every human being is directly responsible to God in matters of faith and life, and that each should be free to worship God according to the dictates of his conscience. (Matt. 22:21; Rom. 13:1; 1 Tim. 2:1-6)
We believe that the supreme task of every believer is to glorify God in his life. The believer should live blamelessly before the world, be a faithful steward of his possessions, and seek to realize for himself the full stature of maturity in Christ. (1 Cor. 10:31; Col. 1:28; 1 Tim. 6:6-9; 1 Pet. 1:14-15)
We believe in the bodily resurrection of the saved and the lost, the eternal conscious existence of all men either in heaven or hell, and in divine judgments, rewards, and punishments. (John 5:29; 1 Cor. 3:11-15, 15; 2 Cor. 5:8, 10; Eph. 2:8-9; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; 2 John 8; Rev. 19-20)