What We Believe

1. We believe in the verbal plenary inspiration of Scriptures as originally given by God to be the supreme and final authority in faith and life. (II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:20-21)

2. We believe in one God, eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  (Genesis 1:1; Matthew 28: 19; II Corinthians 13:14)

3. We believe in the absolute deity of the Lord Jesus Christ; in His being begotten by the Holy Spirit; born of the Virgin Mary (being true God and true man); His Perfect humanity (that is, it was impossible for our Lord to have sinned); His vicarious substitutionary death through the shedding of His blood for the remission of our sins; His bodily resurrection and ascension into Heaven; His present high-priestly ministry and in the imminence of His second coming to rapture the Church before the tribulation. (Matthew 1:23; Luke 24; 1-53; John 1:1-2, 14, 18; Romans 3:24-26; I Thessalonians 1:10; 4:13-18; Hebrews 5:5-10; I Timothy 3:16)

4. We believe in the personality and deity of the Holy Spirit; that He convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; that He regenerates the sinner by the Word of God; that He permanently indwells the church, the body of each believer; that He seals, enlightens, instructs, and guides every born-again person; and that He is the efficient power for Godly living, Christian service, and spiritual worship. (John 3:5-7; 14:16-17, 26; 16:7-15; Ephesians 4:30; I Peter 1:23)

5. We believe in angels: (1) ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to those who will be heirs of salvation, and (2) fallen angels (demons). (Hebrews 1:13-14; II Peter 2:4; Jude 6)

6. We believe in the reality and personality of Satan, a fallen angel, prince of demons, the god of this age, the great enticer and deceiver, the adversary of Christ and His people, the accuser of the brethren, whose end is the Lake of Fire. (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:12-19; Matthew 25:41; II Corinthians 4:3-4; I Peter 5:8; Revelation 12:9-10; 20:10-15)

7.  We believe in a Heaven and a Hell.  Heaven is the place of eternal conscious joy for all who receive Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.  Hell is the place of eternal conscious punishment in the Lake of Fire for all who reject Jesus Christ and, therefore, die in their sin. (Psalms 9:17; 16:10-11; John 14:16; Revelation 20:10-15)

8. We believe that man was created in the image of God; that he sinned and thereby incurred, not only physical death, but also that spiritual death which is separation from God; and that all human beings are born with a sin nature, are totally depraved, and in the case of those reaching moral responsibility, become sinners in thought, word, and deed, so that they must be born again to be accepted of God. (Genesis 1:26-27; John 3:1-21; Romans 3:10-20; 5:12)

9. We believe that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice, and that all who believe in Him in their hearts and confess with their mouths, are justified on the grounds of His shed blood. We believe that He arose bodily from the dead on the third day in the same body in which He suffered and died; that our Lord ascended into Heaven; that He is now seated at the right hand of the Father. We believe that by His finished work on the cross and His unceasing ministry of intercession in Glory, that Jesus Christ has procured for every believer eternal redemption, eternal salvation, and everlasting life. We also believe that neither baptism, the Lord’s Supper, nor any other rite, ceremony, or work can avail in any way to save the sinner. Christ alone saves. God justifies (declares righteous) all who thus receive Christ by faith. (John 3:16; 20:27; Romans 5:9; 10:9-10; I Corinthians 15:1-4; Ephesians 1:7; Hebrews 5:9; 7:25; 8:1; 9:12; I John 2:1)

10. We believe that the Church of Jesus Christ (invisible) was begun at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended from Heaven and came into the church; that it is composed solely of born-again believers who have been called out from among the Jews and Gentiles to become the Body and Bride of our Lord. Christ glorified in Heaven is her Head, and the Holy Spirit on earth is the active Agent of the Godhead who ever seeks to bring about within her ranks conformity and obedience to the Word of God and the will of God. This one body unites believers to each other, and all to Christ. Her chief purpose of existence is to glorify God in all things. (Matthew 16:17-18; Acts 1:8; 2; 15:14; Romans 1:16; I Corinthians 12:12-13; Ephesians 5:23-24)

11. We believe in a visible or local church composed only of scripturally-baptized believers (by immersion); that each church is independent and autonomous and must be free from interference by an ecclesiastical or political authority; and that the church and state must be kept separate as having functions, each fulfilling its duties, free from the dictation or patronage of the other. It provides a center to worship God, a center of evangelization for the community, a center for Christian education and spiritual growth, and a center for missionary outreach, all of which is based upon Biblical exposition.   (Luke 20:21-26; Acts 1:8; 13:1-3; 20:28; I Corinthians 14:26; Hebrews 10:25; I Peter 5:1-4)

12. We believe that Christian baptism is immersion in water of a believer in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and that it is an ordained testimony, portraying the believer’s union with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. (Matthew 3:13-17; 28:19; Acts 8:26-38; 10:44-48)

13. We believe in the Lord’s Supper as an ordinance of the church providing, a means of showing forth in symbol Christ’s death for us until He comes again. AD regenerated persons living in fellowship with and obedience to Jesus Christ are expected, after self-examination, to partake of the elements as commanded by our Lord. All born-again believers are welcome to the Lord’s table. (Matthew 26:26-29; Luke 22:19-20; I Corinthians 11:23-32)

14. We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the just at the rapture and the unjust at the consummation of the ages. (John 5:28-29; I Corinthians 15:51,57; I Thessalonians 4:16-17; Revelation 20:11,15)

15. We distinguish between the Blessed Hope, the personal and imminent coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in the air for His saints (pre-tribulation), and the personal, visible, and glorious return of Christ to the earth with His saints. We also distinguish between Israel and the Church; Israel, now dispersed in unbelief, destined to be re-gathered to her land, to be judged by God, and ultimately to enter into the blessings of an earthly, literal kingdom under the reign of the Messiah; the Church, now being built by the Lord through the calling out of a people (from among Jews and Gentiles) for His name, and destined to be caught up into the air to meet her Lord prior to the tribulation period and the entrance of Israel and Gentile nations into kingdom blessings. (I Corinthians 10:32; Ephesians 2:11-17; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; Revelation 20:4-6)

16. We believe that the Scriptures clearly teach nonconformity to the world for every born-again believer; that born-again believers should be separated from the world unto Christ; that it is clearly commanded of God to all believers to live lives of separation from all worldly and sinful practices and to be holy as He is holy. We believe that positional sanctification occurs at the moment of regeneration, that practical sanctification is to be progressive throughout the entire life span of a believer here on earth, and that prospective sanctification will be ultimately achieved when we see the Lord face to face. God’s provision for holy living is in the believer’s identification with Christ in His death, resurrection, and ascension; the indwelling person and power of the Holy Spirit and the believer’s yieldedness to Him; and by the powerful Word of God. (John 17:17; Romans 6:1-14; I Corinthians 6:19-20; II Corinthians 6:14-17; Colossians 3:1-4; Titus 2:14; I John 3:1-3)

17. 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 were used for the foundation and authentication of the early church and gradually passed away as the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their authority established. We believe that God hears and answers the prayers of faith for the sick and afflicted in accordance with His own will. (John 15:7; Romans 12:3-8; I Corinthians 12-14; II Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 4:7-12; James 5:13-16; I John 5:14-15)