We believe that every word of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments (from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, consisting of 66 books) constitutes the inspired Word of God; the final and only authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible, God-breathed, divinely preserved to this day. (Mt 5:18, 24:35; Jn 16:12-13; 2Tim 3:16-17; 2Pet 1:20-21)
The Godhead
We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; each being equal, not three gods but one. (Dt 6:4; Isa 48:16; 2Cor 13:14; 1Jn 5:7) We believe that God is a Spirit (Jn 4:24), who is limitless (1Ki 8:27; Acts 17:28), eternal (Ps 90:2), self-existent (Ex 3:14), unchangeable (Mal 3:6), omnipotent (Rev 19:6), omniscient (Ps 147:5), omnipresent (Ps 139:7-11), holy (1Pet 1:15-16), righteous (Jn 17:25), loving (1Jn 4:8), good (Ps 100:5), truthful (Dt 32:4, Jn 14:6), and sovereign (Rom 8:28-29; Eph 1:11).
The Person and Work of the Father
We believe the Father is the first person of the Trinity, totally and completely God and manifesting all the divine attributes. (Mt 5:48, 6:8,18,25-30; Lk 10:31; Jn 3:16, 5:26, 6:57, 10:29, 14:23, 16:32, 17:11; Rom 1:7, 8:27, 16:27; 1Cor 1:3,9; Eph 1:3,6)
We believe the Father is active in creation, absolute in sovereign authority, the source of all divine revelation, and the giver of all good gifts. (Jn 16:15; 1Cor 2:9-10, 8:6; Heb 1:1-2; Jas 1:17; Rev 1:1, 4:9-11)
We believe the Fathers role in eternity past was to determine those who would be recipients of salvation, having predestinated them to adoption in Christ. He gave His Son as the sacrifice for sin and then seals His own with the Holy Spirit. (Jn 3:16; Eph 1:5, 1:13-14; 2Th 2:13-14; 1Jn 4:10)
We believe only the Father knows the time of Christs return, and that He will send His Son at the time He has chosen. (Mt 24:36)
The Person and Work of Christ
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men. (Lk 1:35; Jn 1:1-2,14, 14:7-11; Gal 4:5; Phil 2:6-8)
We believe that Jesus Christ, after a sinless life, accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and, our justification is made sure by His literal physical resurrection from the dead. (Rom 3:24-25; Eph 1:7; 1Pet 1:3-5, 2:24)
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate. (Acts 1:9-10; Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25, 9:24; 1Jn 2:1-2)
We believe in the "Blessed Hope," the personal, imminent, pre-tribulation, and pre-millennial coming of Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones; and in His subsequent return to earth with His saints to establish His millennial kingdom; and create a new heaven and new earth that eternally delights in the immediate splendor and blessing of God, glory without end. (Zech 14:4-11; Mt 25:31-46; Acts 1:10-11; 1Th 1:10, 4:13-18, 5:9; 2Pet 3:13; Rev 3:10, 19:11-16, 20:1-6, 21-22)
The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
We believe the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He is the supernatural agent in regeneration and indwells and seals believers unto the day of redemption. (Jn 16:8-11; Rom 8:9; Eph 1:13-14)
We believe that the person of the Holy Spirit is the Divine Teacher who guides believers into all truth; and that it is the privilege and duty of every believer to be led by the Spirit and to live a life characterized by the Spirit. (Jn 16:13; 1Cor 3:16; Gal 5:22-23; Eph 5:18; 1Jn 2:20-27)
Creation
We believe in the Genesis account of creation; it is to be accepted literally, not as an allegory or myth; that man was created directly in God's own image; that he did not arise from other species by the process of evolution. (Gen 1:1,26-27, 2:7; Ex 20:11; Mt 19:4; Acts 17:23-26; Rom 1:20; Heb 11:3)
The Total Depravity of Man
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but in Adam's sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and man is totally depraved, and is utterly unable to remedy his lost condition. By total depravity we mean that every part of man is infected by sin, and thereby man is separated from God. (Gen 1:26-27; Isa 64:6; Rom 3:22-23, 5:12; Eph 2:1-3,12)
Salvation
We believe that because of the total depravity of man, and death in sin, no one can enter the Kingdom of God/receive salvation without personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that this salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins. (Jn 1:12, 14:6; Acts 13:38-39; Rom 4:5; Eph 1:7, 2:8-10; 1Pet 1:18-19)
The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers
We believe that all the redeemed, once truly saved, are kept by God's power and are secure in Christ forever. (Jn 6:37-40, 10:27-30; Rom 8:1,38-39; 1Cor 1:4-8; 1Pet 1:5)
We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God's Word and godly living. (Rom 13:13-14; Gal 5:13; Tit 2:11-15)
We believe in God's discipline of believers on earth and His judgment of believers in heaven. This judgment of believers in heaven is separate and distinct from the judgment upon the lost. The discipline and judgment of believers shows the believer's safety ("inside the family" discipline, not rejection). (Rom 14:10; 2 Cor 5:10; Heb 12:5-11)
Sanctification
We believe that the process of sanctification begins at the moment of salvation. Positionally, the believer is given a new nature; progressively, the believer grows in His ability to walk in the Spirit and overcome the habits of the flesh; and finally; the believer will be set apart from all sin only when he is glorified in the presence of our Savior. (Rom 6-8; Gal 5:16-25; Eph 4:22-24; Col 3:10; 1Pet 1:14-16; 1 Jn 3:5-9)
Separation
We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord; and that separation from all religious apostasy, sinful practices and associations is commanded by God. (Rom 12:1-2, 14:13; 2Cor 6:12-7:1; 2Tim 3:1-5; Jas 4:4; 1Jn 2:15-17; 2Jn 9-11)
The Church
We believe that the Church, in the eternal sense, is the Body of Christ, His Bride, a spiritual organism made up of all born again persons of the Christian era. (1Cor 12:12-14; 2Cor 11:2; Eph 1:22-23, 5:25-27; Col 1:18-24)
We believe that the New Testament emphasis for believers is the local church, a body of baptized believers, organized, independent, self governing, and voluntarily associated together for the worship and service of God. (Acts 2:41-42, 15:28, 16:15; 1Tim 3:15; Heb 10:25)
The Ministry and Spiritual Gifts
We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowal of all His gifts on all believers for Christian service and the edification of the Church. These spiritual gifts are to be exercised according to biblical guidelines. (Rom 12:3-8; 1Cor 12:4-13; Eph 4:7-12; 1Pet 4:10-11) We believe the church age was initiated through the ministry of the apostles and prophets, and was accompanied by additional sign gifts* to confirm the apostles and prophets message. These sign gifts gradually ceased as the New Testament Scriptures were completed, and their authority became established. Therefore, we do not practice, teach, encourage, or endorse sign gifts for this present age. (1Cor 12:28-31, 13:8-10, 14:1-28; 2Cor 12:12; Eph 2:19-22; 2Tim 3:16-17; Heb 2:3-4)
*These sign gifts are: apostleship; prophesying; healing; speaking in tongues; interpretation of tongues; knowledge; and miracles.
We believe that in accord with His own will, God does hear and answer the prayers of His servants and that His power in our age is in no way limited except by His own sovereign will. (Isa 59:1-2; Jn 15:7; 1Jn 5:14-15)
Evangelism
We believe that it is the obligation of the saved to witness, by life and word, to the truths of the Holy Scriptures, and to seek to proclaim the gospel to all people. (Mk 16:15; Acts 1:8; 2Cor 5:19-21; 1Pet 3:15)
Dispensationalism
We believe in the dispensational view of biblical interpretation that exalts the grace of God, separates us from the system of law, and preserves an elect relationship of Israel to the prophetic Word of God. (Mt 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42, 18:8; Rom 11:1,11,26-29; 1Cor 11:23-26; Gal 2:16-21)
Church Ordinances
We believe the observance of the ordinances stated below in no way confers any spiritual grace but they are intended only as symbols and types. We are to observe them after we are saved, in obedience to the commands of Christ, looking only to the blessing that follows each step of faith. (Pr 3:5-6)
Baptism - We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of the believer in water, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, which is a solemn and expressive declaration of the believer's faith and identification with the crucified, buried, and risen Savior. It is also a sacred engagement to walk henceforth in newness of life. We believe that it is the duty of every believer to be baptized publicly as a confession of his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. (Mt 3:16, 28:19; Mk 1:5, 16:16; Acts 2:41, 8:12,36-38, 10:47, 16:14-16,33-34, 18:1; Rom 6:4; 1Cor 1:16; Eph 4:5; Col 2:12)
The Lord's Supper - We believe that the Lord's Supper is the commemoration by believers of Christ's death. It should be practiced until He comes, and should be preceded by baptism or a committal to the same if possible, and always by solemn self-examination. (Mk 14:22-26; Acts 2:41-42; 1Cor 11:18-34)
Angels
Angels and Demons - We believe God individually created angels as finite, celestial, spiritual beings and they are subject to Him. There are good angels who are sinless, whose ministry is to stand in the presence of God and to worship Him; rejoice in the works of God, execute Gods will, and minister to believers. There are fallen angels (demons) who are wicked, unclean, and sinful, who follow Satan and oppose God and His will. (Ps 103:20, 148:2; Mt 25:41; Mk 8:38; Lk 15:10, 16:22; 1Tim 5:21; Heb 1:14; 1Pet 3:22; Rev 5:11-14)
Satan - We believe that Satan is a fallen angel, the author of sin, and the cause of the fall. He is the open and declared enemy of God and His redeemed. He is the "god of this world," the master of every unsaved man, and that his chief art is deception whereby men are content to live apart from the grace of God in Jesus Christ. We believe that he will be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire. (Job 1:6-7; Isa 14:12-17; Mt 4:2-11, 25:41; Jn 8:44; 2Cor 2:11; 1Pet 5:8; Rev 12:9-12, 20:10)
Eschatology
We believe that the world will not be converted during the present dispensation but is fast ripening for judgment, and there will be a fearful apostasy in the professing Christian body. Therefore, the Lord Jesus will come in person to rapture the Church, followed by a tribulation period, followed by the millennial age, when Israel will be restored to its own land, and the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord. This personal and premillennial advent is the blessed hope set before us in the Gospels, for which we should be constantly looking. (Lk 12:35-40, 17:26-30, 18:8; Acts 15:14-17; 2Th 2:3-8; 2 Tim 3:1-5; Tit 2:11-15)
Heaven, Hell, and the Lake of Fire
We believe that Heaven is a place prepared for all born-again believers. (Jn 14:1-6) We also believe that Hell is a place prepared for the devil and his angels (Mt 25:41), and those who die in unbelief. (Lk 16:19-31; Rev 21:8) We also believe that Hell will be cast into the Lake of Fire for eternity. (See Article T, Rev. 20:14-15)
The Eternal State
We believe that the souls of the redeemed at death are absent from the body and present with the Lord. There in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul, and glorified body are united again to be forever with the Lord. (Lk 25:43; 2Cor 5:8; Phil 1:23, 3:21; 1Th 4:16-17; Rev 20:4-6)
We believe the souls of the unsaved remain after death in conscious misery until the second resurrection. Then with soul and body reunited, they will appear at the Great White Throne Judgment and be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment according to their works. (Mt 25:41-46; Mk 9:43-45; Lk 16:19-26; 2Th 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Rev 20:11-15)
We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men; the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment. (Mt 25:46; Jn 5:28-29; 11:25-26; Rev 20:5-13)
We believe that God will create a new heaven and earth where the redeemed will spend eternity in the glorious presence of the Lord Almighty and the Lamb, Jesus Christ. (Heb 12:27, 2Pet 3:12-13, Rev 21:1-27)
Separation of Church and State
We believe that government should not establish, support, nor endorse a state church. We believe that civil government is of divine appointment, and that governors of states and nations should be obeyed when the laws they seek to enforce are not in conflict with the Bible. (Rom 13:1-7; Mt 22:21; Acts 4:19-20)
