We believe the Holy Scriptures, consisting of the Old and New Testaments only, to be the plenary, verbally inspired Word of God, inerrant in the original manuscripts, authoritative, infallible and God-breathed; and that they are the only supreme and ultimate authority for faith and practice (II Tim. 3:16-17; II Pet 1:20-21; Matt 5:18; II Cor 13:14; Isa 8:20).
We believe in one triune God, existing in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, eternal in being, identical in essence, equal in power and glory and having the same divine attributes and perfections; yet exercising them in varied offices (Deut. 6:4; Matt 28:19; John 14:7-12; John 16:7; II Cor 13:14).
1. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men (Matt 1:18-20; John 1:1,2, 14, 18; Luke 1:35).
2. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, as a substitutionary sacrifice, and that all who receive Him are justified on the ground of His shed blood (Rom. 3:24-26; 4:25; I Cor. 15:3-4; II Cor 5:21).
3. We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord Jesus Christ and that our redemption and salvation is guaranteed to us by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead; in His bodily ascension into heaven; and in His present life there for us as High Priest and Intercessor (Matt 28:5,6; I Cor 15:12-19; Acts 1:9; Heb 4:14-16; 7:23-25; 9:24; I John 2:1,2).
We believed in the blessed hope, the personal, imminent, pretribulational, premillennial coming of our Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones, and His subsequent return with His own to rule and reign one thousand years on the earth (Zechariah 14:4-11; I Thess 1:10; 4:13-18; 5:9; Rev. 3:10; 19:11-16; 20:1-6).
1. We believe in the Holy Spirit who is the third person of the Trinity. We believe that among His ministries are included the following: the restraining of evil in the world to the measure of the divine will; the convicting of the world regarding sin, righteousness, and judgment; the regeneration of all believers; the indwelling of all who are saved, and the continued filling for power, teaching, and service of all among the saved who are yielded to Him (John 3:6; 16:7-11; Rom 8:9; Eph 4:30; 5:18; II Thess 2:7; I John 2:20-27; John 15:26-27).
2. We believe that some gifts of the Holy Spirit such as apostleship, prophecy, and tongues were temporary, a sign to the unbelieving Jew, and not intended for today. We believe that speaking in tongues was never the common or necessary sign of the filling or baptism of the Spirit. We believe that the Holy Spirit testifies concerning Jesus Christ and never leads any person at any time contrary to the teaching of the Bible (I Cor 12:4-13; 13:8-11; 14:21-40; Eph 4:30).
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam's sin the race fell and thereby incurred not only physical death, but also spiritual death, which is separation from God; and that all mankind have inherited a sinful nature, became willful sinners with the first expression of personal choice, are totally unable to regain their former position, and are without excuse before God (Gen 1:26; 3:1-24; Rom 3:23; 5:12; 1:20; Eph 2:1-6, 12; Jer 17:9; Isa 64:6)
1. We believe that salvation is a gift of God brought to men by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of sins. Salvation is solely through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who shed His blood for the forgiveness of our sins and, being a gift, is not earned by any good works whatsoever. All those who receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are regenerated and became sons of God (Eph 1:1; 2:8, 9; John 1:12; 3:5..1) .
2. We believe that the Scriptures teach that regeneration, or the new birth is that change in the soul by the Holy Spirit by which a new nature and spiritual life, not before possessed, are imparted, and the person becomes a new creation in Jesus Christ, and is declared justified, and without it salvation is impossible (John 3:3-6; II Cor 5:11; I Peter 1:23; Titus 3:5; Rom 3:24; Acts 13:39).
3. We believe that the salvation of every believer is secure for all eternity from the moment of regeneration. This security is given to each believer by the fact that the life received is eternal life, by the keeping power of God, by the sealing ministry of the Holy Spirit, and by the interceding ministry of Christ (John 5:24; 10:21-30; Rom 8:29-39; Eph 4:30; Heb 1:25).
1. We believe that immediate, positional sanctification is that act of God whereby believers are, at the time of regeneration, eternally set apart as belonging to Him by redemption, thereby being placed in the family of God as children, joint heirs with Jesus Christ (I John 3:1; Rom 8:14-11; I Cor 1:2; Heb 10:10..14).
2. We believe that progressive sanctification is the process by which, according to God's will, we are made partakers of His Holiness; that it is progressive; that it is begun in regeneration; that it progresses if the believer is yielded to the Holy Spirit's control, that it is carried on in the hearts of believers by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God, self-examination, watchfulness and prayer (I Thess 4:3; 5:23; Prov. 4:18; I John 2:29; Phil 2:12, 13; Eph 6:18; John 11:11).
3. We believe that ultimate sanctification will be the portion of every believer when finally in the presence of the Lord, complete and entire, with soul and spirit united in the resurrected body, free from every trace or effect of sin and rebellion (I John 3:2; I Cor 15:52-24; Eph 4:30; 5:21; Phil 4:20-21).
We believe in the Biblical doctrine of separation which encompasses three things: (1) the separation of the local church from all affliction and fellowship with those who deny the verities of the "faith once delivered to the saints;"(2) the separation of the individual believer from all worldliness such as gambling, carousing around, dancing, card playing and Hollywood movies that may dishonor the Savior, and (3) the separation of church and state (II Tim 3:1-5; Rom 12:1,2; 14:13;I John 2:15-17; II John 9-11; II Cor 6:11-1:1).
We believe that the souls of those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation do at physical death immediately pass into His presence and there remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the body at His coming when soul and body reunited shall be associated with Him forever in glory; but, that the souls of unbelievers remain after death in conscious misery unto the final judgment of the Great White Throne at the close of the millennium, when soul and body reunited shall be cast into the lake of fire from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power (Luke 16:19-26; 23:43; II Cor 5:8; Phil 1:23; II Thess 1:7-9; Rev. 20:11-15; 14:9-14; I Thess 4:13-18).
We believe in the church a living, spiritual body of which Christ is the Head (Matt l6:16-18; 28:18-20; I Cor 12:12, 13; Gal 3:27; Eph 1:22,23; 5:25-27). We believe that each local church is a visible expression of the Body of Christ and is a congregation of believers in Jesus Christ immersed upon a credi¬ble confession of faith, and associated together by covenant for worship, evangelism and observance of the ordinances and fellowship. We believe that the local church is the center of God's program for this age, and that every Christian is bound by Scripture to give his unhindered cooperation to the program of His local church (Acts 2:41-47; 14:27; 20:17; I Tim 3:1-16; Titus 1:5-11; I Cor 3:10-17; 5:1-5;11:2).
We believe that the Lord Jesus instituted two ordinances, baptism and the Lord's Supper, to be observed by all believers until His return. We believe that baptism is the immersion in water of a believer in Christ, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, to show forth by solemn and beautiful symbolism, the believer's identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection, and that it is a Spiritual prerequisite to church membership (Matt 28:19; Acts 8:36; Rom 6:3-5; Acts 2:38-41). We believe that the Lord's Supper is partaking of bread and the fruit of the vine, as symbols of Christ's body and blood, commemorating His suffering and death for us and our continual benefit therefrom that participation should be limited to those who have united with the local church by baptism and testimony, or to those who are baptized members of churches of like faith and practice, and that participation should be preceded by careful self-examination (1 Cor 11:23-32;5:1-51; Matt 18:15-17).
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has commissioned the church to take the Gospel to the world, and that evangelism at home and abroad should be primary in the program of the local church (Matt 28:19-20); Acts 1 :8).
We believe that all believers should seek to walk by the Spirit, not bringing reproach upon their Lord and Savior, execising Christian liberty regulated by love, separated from worldly pleasures and practices, separated from organizational association with apostate groups (Rom 12: 1,2; Gal 6:16; II Cor 6:14-7:1; I Cor 8:1-l3; I Tim 4:2-5). We believe that it is the responsibility of all believers to witness by life and by word to the truths of the Holy Scriptures and to assume responsibility for the propagation of the gospel to all the world (Matt 28:19,20; Acts 1:8). We believe that it is the responsibility of all believers to remember the work of the local church and its extension ministries in prayer, to support it with their tithes and offerings as the Lord prospers them, to participate in all the regular services of the Church as the Lord enables, and to voluntarily submit to the watch care and discipline of the local church (I Cor 16:2; Heb 10:19-25; 13:17. 18).
We believe in the Genesis account of creation and that it is to be accepted literally and not figuratively; that the six days of creation in Genesis chapter one were solar, that is twenty-four hour days; that all animal and vegetable life was made directly and God's established law is that they bring forth only "after their kind;" that man was created directly in God's own image and after His own likeness and did not evolve from any lower form of life; and that all men are descended from the historical Adam and Eve, first parents of the entire human race (Gen 1:1-2:25; Heb 11:3; Col 1:16-17; Ps 33:6-9; Neh 9:6; Rev 4:11; Ex 20:11; Ex 31:17)
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