What We Believe

(A) The Holy Scriptures

We believe the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments in their entirety, to be the verbally inspired Word of God. We believe in both the verbal (Matthew 5:18; Luke 16:17) and plenary (2 Timothy 3:16) inspiration of the sixty-six canonical books that make up the Old and New Testaments. For reasons of unity within the church and textual reliability we choose to use the King James version of the Bible.

A. Inspiration: The Bible is “God-breathed.” Holy men of God were inspired by a supernatural act of the Holy Spirit enabling them to write the Holy Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:19-21).

B. Inerrancy: The Holy Scriptures are without error in every spiritual, moral, historical and scientific teaching. The Bible is true and accurate in everything that it affirms (Psalm 12:6; 19:7; Daniel 10:21; John 10:35).

C. Authority: The Scriptures are infallible and are the absolute and sufficient authority for Christian faith and practice (Deuteronomy 4:2; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Revelation 22:18-19).

D. Eternality: The Word of God is forever settled in heaven (Psalm 119:89), shall stand forever (Isaiah 40:8), shall never pass away (Luke 21:33), and endureth forever (1 Peter 1:25).

E. Preservation: God has supernaturally preserved His word from error. God inspired an inerrant record of His word in the original autographs, and has preserved for every generation a perfect, reliable, and authoritative record of His Word (Psalm 33:11; Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:16).

 

(B) The Godhead

We believe in one, triune God, eternally existing in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—each co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, coequal in power and glory, having the same attributes and perfections, and deserving of the same praise, worship and adoration (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; John 14:10, 26; 2 Corinthians 13:14).

 

(C) The Person and Work of Christ

1. 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 (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-2, 14; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; Galatians 4:4-5; Philippians 2:5-8).

2. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and, that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Acts 2:18-36; Romans 3:24-25; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:3-5; 2:24).

3. 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; Romans 8:34; Hebrews 9:24; 7:25; 1 John 2:1-2).

 

(D) The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit

1. We believe that God the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and, that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption (John 16:8-11; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Ephesians 1:13-14).

2. We believe that He is the divine Teacher who assists believers to understand and appropriate the Scriptures and that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 1:17-18; 5:18; 1 John 2:20, 27).

3. We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowal of spiritual gifts to every believer. God uniquely uses evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip believers in the assembly in order that they can do the work of the ministry (Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 28; Ephesians 4:7-12).

4. We believe that the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues and the gift of healing, were temporary. Speaking in tongues was never the common or necessary sign of the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit. Ultimate deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection, though God frequently chooses to answer the prayers of believers for physical healing (1 Corinthians 1:22; 13:8; 14:21-22).

 

(E) The Fallen State of Man

We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin the human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God. Man is totally unrighteousness and of himself utterly unable to remedy his lost condition (Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 3:22-23; 5:12; 6:23; Ephesians 2:1-3; 4:17-19).

 

(F) Salvation

We believe that 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. We believe that all sins, except blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, are forgivable (Matthew 12:31-32; John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-10; 1 Peter 1:18-19; 1 John 1:9).

 

(G) The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers

1. We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Romans 8:1, 38-39; 1 Corinthians 1:4-8; 1 Peter 1:4-5).

2. We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh (Romans 13:13-14; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11-15).

 

(H) The Local Church

1. We believe that the local church, which is made up of the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is solely born-again persons (1 Corinthians 12:12-14; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 1:22-23; 5:25-27).

2. We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:27; 20:17, 28-32; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11).

3. We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority or control (Acts 13:1-4; 15:19-31; 20:28; Romans 16:1, 4; 1 Corinthians 3:9, 16; 5:4-7, 13; 1 Peter 5:1-4).

4. We recognize water baptism and the Lord’s Supper as the Scriptural ordinances of obedience for the church in this age (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; 8:36-38; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

 

(I) Separation

We believe that all the saved should walk in the Spirit which will lead to living in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord or become a stumbling block to others (Leviticus 19:28; Romans 12:1-2; 14:13; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; 1 John 2:15-17; 2 John 9-11).

 

(J) The Second Advent of Christ

We believe in that blessed hope, the sudden return of Christ, Who will rapture His church. At the end of the Tribulation, Christ will personally and visibly return with His saints, to establish His earthly Messianic Kingdom which was promised to the nation of Israel (Psalm 89:3-4; Daniel 2:31-45; Zechariah 14:4-11; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; Revelation 3:10; 19:11-16; 20:1-6).

 

(K) The Eternal State

1. We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46; John 5:28- 29; 11:25-26; Revelation 20:5-6, 12-13).

2. We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord (Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; 3:21; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; Revelation 20:4-6).

3. We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious punishment and torment until the second resurrection, when with soul and body reunited, they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment and torment (Matthew 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Revelation 20:11-15).

 

(L) The Personality of Satan 

We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the cause of the Fall of Man; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and that he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire (Job 1:6-7; Isaiah 14:12-17; Matthew 4:2-11; 25:41; Revelation 20:10).

 

(M) Creation 

We believe that God created the universe in six literal, 24-hour periods. We reject evolution, the Gap Theory, the Day-Age Theory, and Theistic Evolution as unscriptural theories of origin. (Genesis 1:1-2:25; Exodus 20:11)

 

(N) Civil Government 

We believe that God has ordained and created all authority consisting of three basic institutions: 1) the home, 2) the church, and 3) the state. Every person is subject to these authorities, but all (including the authorities themselves) are answerable to God and governed by His Word. God has given each institution specific Biblical responsibilities and balanced those responsibilities with the understanding that no institution has the right to infringe upon the other. The home, the church, and the state are equal and sovereign in their respective Biblically assigned spheres of responsibility under God (Romans 13:1-7; Ephesians 5:22-24; Hebrews 13:17; 1 Peter 2:13-14).