Statement of Faith

A. The Holy Scriptures: We believe in the Holy Scriptures, accepting fully the writing of the Old and New Testaments as the very Word of God, verbally inspired in all parts and therefore wholly without error as originally given of God, altogether sufficient in themselves as our only infallible and authoritative rule of faith and practice. II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:21

B. The Triune God: We believe in the One Triune God, Who is personal, Spirit and sovereign, perfect, infinite and eternal in His being, holiness and love, wisdom and power; absolutely separate and above the world as its Creator, yet everywhere present in the world as the Upholder of all things; self-existent and self revealing in three distinct persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, each having a distinct ministry in God’s relation to His creation and people. Romans 1:19-20; Genesis 1:26; Isaiah 6:8; John 4:24; Acts 17:24; Matthew 3:16-17; Romans 5:8

C. The Lord Jesus Christ: We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the second person of the Triune God, the eternal Word and only begotten Son; that without any change in His divine person, He became man by miracle of the virgin birth, that as man He was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin; that as the perfect Lamb of God He gave Himself in death upon the cross, bearing the sin of the world, and suffering its full penalty of divine wrath in our stead; that He arose bodily from the grave and was glorified; that as our great High Priest He ascended into heaven, there to appear before the face of God as our Advocate and Intercessor. John 1:18-20; John 1:14; Isaiah 7:14; Hebrews 4:15; Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 9:11-15; I Corinthians 15:20-23; II Corinthians 5:21

D. The Holy Spirit: We believe in the Holy Spirit, Who is the third person of the Trinity, and the divine agent in nature, revelation and redemption, that He convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgment, that He regenerates, indwells, baptizes, seals and anoints all who become children of God through Christ; that He further empowers, guides, teaches, sanctifies and fills believers who daily surrender to Him. John 16:7-15; Romans 8:9; Genesis 3:1-7; Romans 3:10; Romans 3:21-23; John 3:36; Acts 4:12

E. The Sinful Nature of Man: We believe all men are by nature and choice sinful and lost; that man was the direct creation of God, made in His image and likeness, that by personal disobedience to the revealed will of God man became a sinful creature, the father of a fallen race which is universally sinful in both nature and practice, thus alienated from the life and family of God, under the righteous judgment and wrath of God, and has within himself no possible means of salvation. Genesis 1:26-27; Genesis 2:15-17; Genesis 3:1-7; Romans 3:10; Romans 3:21-23; John 3:36; Acts 4:12

F. Salvation by Grace: We believe in salvation by grace through faith, that salvation is the free gift of God, neither merited nor secured in part or in whole by any virtue or work of man, but received only by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, in Whom all true believers have as a present possession the gift of eternal life, a perfect righteousness, adoption into the family of God, deliverance and security from all condemnation, every spiritual resource needed for life and godliness, and the divine guarantee that they shall never perish; that this salvation affects the whole man; that apart from the shed blood of Christ there is no possible salvation. Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12-13; Revelation 1:5; Romans 5:9; Ephesians 2:11-12; Ephesians 4:17-29

G. Security of the Believer: We believe that all of the redeemed are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever. We also believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of the Word of God; which however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh. John 10:27-30; Romans 8:1; Romans 8:38-39; Hebrews 12:23; I Peter 1:5; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11-15

H. The Separated Life: We believe in righteous living and godly works: not as a means of salvation in any sense, but as its proper evidence and fruit; and therefore as Christians we should obey the Word of our Lord, seek the things which are above, walk as He walked, accept as our solemn responsibility the duty and privileges of bearing the Gospel to the lost world; remembering that victorious and fruitful Christian life is possible only for those who, in gratitude for the infinite and undeserved mercies of God, have presented themselves wholly to Christ. I Timothy 6: 11-12; Titus 2:11-12; Ephesians 2:10; Ephesians 4:20-29

I. Satan: We believe in the existence of Satan; who originally was created a holy and perfect being, but through pride and wicked ambition rebelled against God, thus becoming utterly depraved in character, the great adversary of God and His people, leader of all other evil angels and spirits, the deceiver and god of this present world, that his powers are vast, but strictly limited by the permissive will of God Who overrules all his wicked devices for good; that he was defeated and judged at the cross. Therefore we overcome Satan in the armor of God, by the blood of the Lamb and through the power of the Holy Spirit. Isaiah 14:12-17; Job 1:6; 1 Peter 5:8-9; I Corinthians 10:13; Ephesians 6:10-18; Revelation 20:10

J. The Second Coming of Christ: We believe in the second coming of Christ: that His return from heaven will be personal, visible and glorious, a blessed hope for which we should constantly watch and pray, the time being unrevealed but always imminent; that when He comes, He will first, by resurrection of the dead and translation of the living, remove from the earth his waiting Church, then pour out the righteous judgments of God upon the unbelieving world, afterwards descend with the nations for a thousand years. I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Thessalonians 5:2; Revelation 3:10-11; Revelation 20:4-6

K. Heaven and Hell: We believe in future life, bodily resurrection and eternal judgment: that the spirits of the saved at death go immediately to be with Christ in heaven, that their works shall be brought before the judgment seat of Christ for the determination of reward which will take place at the time when Christ comes for His own; that the spirits of the unsaved at death descend immediately into Hades where they are kept under punishment until the final day of judgment, at which time their bodies shall be raised from the grave, that they shall be judged and cast into hell, the place of final and everlasting punishment. II Corinthians 5:8; Romans 14:10; Matthew 25:46; Revelation 20:1-15

L. Civil Government: We believe civil government is of divine appointment, for the interests and good order of human society; that government officials are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed; except only in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the only Lord of the conscience, and the coming Prince of the kings of the earth. Matthew 22:21; Romans 13:1; Titus 3:1; I Peter 2:13-14

M. The Priesthood of the Believer: We believe in the priesthood of all believers; that Christ is our great high priest and through Him every person born again by the Spirit of God has direct access into God’s presence without the need of a human priest; that the believer has the right and responsibility to personally study and interpret the Scriptures guided by the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 2:17; Hebrews 4:14-15; Hebrews 9:24; I Peter 2:5; Hebrews 10:21-23; II Timothy 2:15

N. The Lordship of Christ: We believe in the lordship of Jesus Christ; that He alone is head of the body of Christ, into which all born again believers are immediately baptized at the time of their salvation by the Holy Spirit; that all members of this one spiritual body should assemble and identify themselves in local churches. Ephesians 5:23-24; Romans 14:7-9; I Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 3:24

O. The Body of Christ: We believe that the true Church consists of the entire body of those who are saved by and in relationship with Jesus Christ, and that this body is the bride of Christ. We believe in the importance of the local church; that a New Testament church is a local assembly of born again baptized believers united in organization to practice New Testament ordinances, to meet together for worship, prayer, fellowship, teaching and united testimony, and to actively engage in carrying out the great commission. The command to give the Gospel to the world is clear and unmistakable, and this commission was given to the churches. I Corinthians 12:12-13; Galatians 3:26-28; Ephesians 1:22-23; Ephesians 4:4-6; Hebrews 12:24; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8

P. The Local Church: We believe in the independence and autonomy of the local church; that each New Testament Church is free to govern itself without ecclesiastical interference, and should live in harmony with other New Testament churches; that it is responsible to follow the pattern of the New Testament church and is directly accountable to God, and that its financial needs and ministries are to be funded by the tithes and offerings of all the local body. Titus 1:5-11; Revelation 2:1, 2:8, 2:12, 2:18, 3:1, 3:7, 3:14; II Corinthians 9:1-15; I Corinthians 16:2; II Corinthians 8:7-15

Q. Ordinances of the Local Church: We believe the ordinances given to the local church are two, baptism and the Lord’s supper; that baptism is by immersion of believers, thus portraying the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ; that the Lord’s supper is the partaking of the bread and cup by the believer as a continuing memorial of the broken body and shed blood of Christ. Colossians 2:12; Acts 16:33; Matthew 28:19; I Corinthians 11:23-24

R. Literal 6 Day Creation: We believe and teach the literal, grammatical-historical interpretation of Scripture found in the opening chapters of Genesis presents creation in six literal 24 hour days. Any other theory, including atheistic evolution, or theistic evolution, is in error and directly contradicts the Word of God. Genesis 1:31; Exodus 31:17

S. Marriage and Sexuality: We believe that God designed marriage to be the sacred union of one man and one woman and that any form of sexual activity outside of heterosexual marriage is sin. We further believe than an individual’s physical gender is a gift of God given before birth and attempts to deny or change this identity are a sin against God’s design. Thus, recognizing the loving authority of God, rather than the changing opinions of men, we compassionately warn against all forms of sexual immorality, such as adultery, fornication, homosexuality, bisexuality, and bestiality, while confident of God’s gracious restoration for the repentant. Genesis 1:26-28; 2:24; Psalm 139:13-16; Matthew 19:1-10; Romans 1:24-32; I Corinthians 6:9-11; Ephesians 5:22-33; 1 Timothy 1:8-10; Hebrews 13:4; 1 John 1:9