What We Believe

DOCTRINAL STATEMENT

Section 1:  The Holy Scriptures

     

      We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally and plenary inspired Word of God and inerrant in the original writings. The           sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are the complete and divine revelation of God to man, and therefore, are the final authority for faith and life.          The Scriptures shall be interpreted according to their grammatical, historical and dispensational meaning (II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:20-21).


       We also believe God inspired His words in the original writings in Hebrew and Aramaic for the Old Testament, and Koine (common) Greek in the             New Testament.  Although we no longer have the original writings, there are many copies of ancient manuscripts.  In these bodies of manuscripts,           we believe that God has preserved His words for all people (Psalm 12.6, 7).  We also believe that accurate translations from these preserved                 ancient Hebrew and Greek manuscripts can be made into the various languages of the world with such accuracy, that with complete confidence we         can say that we have the word of God in our hands today in the English language. 

Section 2:  The Godhead

 

      We believe in the one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, each co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature,          co-equal in power, glory, and having the same attributes and perfections (Genesis 1:1; Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; John 10:30; Acts 5:3-4; II Cor. 13:14).

Section 3:  The Person and Work of Jesus Christ

 

      1. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, having laid aside the independent use of His divine attributes to 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 (Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-2, 14; Gal. 4:4-5; Phil. 2:5-8).

  1. 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 was made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Acts 2:18-36; Rom. 3:24-25; Eph. 1:7; I Pet. 1:3-5; 2:24).
  1. 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; I Cor.15:1-4, 20-25; Heb. 9:24; I John 2:1-2).
  1. We believe in the “blessed hope:” the personal, bodily, pretribulational, premillennial, and imminent return of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Matt. 24:44; John 14:1-3; I Thess. 4:14-18; Titus 2:11-13).

Section 4:  The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit

 

  1. We believe that the Holy Spirit is a Divine person of the Godhead 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; Rom. 8:9; I Cor. 12:12-14; II Cor. 3:6; Eph. 1:13-14).
  1. We believe that the Holy Spirit 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 and controlled by the Spirit (I Cor. 2:9-16; Eph. 1:17-18; 5:18; I John 2:20, 27).
  1. We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowal of spiritual gifts to every believer.  God uniquely uses pastors and teachers to equip believers in the assembly in order that they can do the work of the ministry (Rom. 12:3-8; I Cor. 12:4-11, 28; Eph. 4:7-12). 
  1. We believe that the sign gifts and sign miracles of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues and the gift of healing, were temporary and ended with the completion of the New Testament.  We believe the ending of the sign gifts further supports the sufficiency and authority of Scripture. We believe that speaking in tongues never has been a common or necessary sign of the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit. While ultimate deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection, God may choose to miraculously answer the prayers of believers for physical healing (I Cor. 1:22; 13:8; 14:21-22; 2 Timothy 3.16-17; James 5.13-15).

Section 5:  Creation

 

      We believe that the triune God created the universe by His word out of nothing (i.e., ex nihilo).  Further that He created the universe and the earth          in six, literal, 24 hour days without the process of evolution. (Genesis 1.1-17; Exodus 20.8-11; Nehemiah 9.6; Colossians 1.16-17; Hebrews 11.3).

Section 6:  Mankind

      A. We believe that man was created in the image of God, that he sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death, but also spiritual death which        is separation from God, and that all human beings are born with a sinful nature and are now sinners by birth and by choice, naturally inclined to evil,        and therefore under just condemnation to eternal punishment without defense or excuse (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:17;  Psalm 51.5; 58:3; Matthew 25.46;        Romans 1:20; 3:23; 5:12- 21; I Corinthians 2:14).

 

     B. We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female and that these two distinct, complementary genders               together reflect the image and nature of God. (Genesis 1.27; Mark 10.6)

Section 7:  Spirit Beings

 

      We believe that God created an innumerable company of sinless spirit beings.  One of these, though created holy by God, sinned through pride,               thereby becoming Satan, the Devil, the enemy of his Creator, leading a host of angels in rebellion against God.  He became the prince of the                   power of the air and the ruler of all the powers of darkness and is destined to the judgment of an eternal punishment in the lake of fire (Ezek. 28:1-         19; Isa. 14:12-16; Matt. 25:41; II Cor. 4:3-4; Eph. 2:2; Col. 1:16; Heb. 12:22; Rev. 12:7-9; 20:10).

Section 8:  Salvation

  1. We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in Jesus Christ, whose blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of sins for all those who would trust in the Christ’s finished work of the cross (John 1:12; Eph. 1:7; 2:8-10; I Pet. 1:18-19). We believe that genuine faith will also include genuine repentance (Mark 1.15; Acts 20.21) and genuine fruit (Matt. 3.8; John 3.8; 2 Cor. 5.17).
  1. We believe that all the redeemed are kept by God’s power and are thus secure (eternally saved) in Christ forever (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Rom. 8:1, 38-39; I Cor. 1:4-8).
  1. 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 (Rom. 13:13-14; Gal. 5:13; Titus 2:11-15).
  1. We believe that with respect to salvation, God’s sovereignty and man’s free will coexist.  While these seem to be mutually exclusive, the scripture teaches both are true.  (Ephesians 1:3-12, I Peter 1:2)

Section 9:  Eschatology: Future Events and Final Destinies

     1.  We believe that the next event in prophetic calendar is the rapture or catching away of the church.  This is the event described in 1                                  Thessalonians 4:17 and 1 Corinthians 15:52 where Christ will return and the dead in Christ will be raised bodily and believers who are alive will              be caught up to meet Christ in the air.   Either coincident with the rapture or shortly thereafter the seven-year tribulation described in Daniel 9                 (known as the seventieth week of Daniel) will begin.  At the end of the tribulation, Christ will return physically to the earth with His saints to                       establish His kingdom on earth and reign on His throne for one thousand years (Rev 20).  At the end of the thousand years there will be the Great           White Throne Judgment where the unbelieving dead will be judged according to their works (Rev 20:13) and God will establish a new Heaven and           a new Earth (Rev 21:1)

  1. We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (Matt. 25:46; John 5:28-29; 11:25-26; Rev. 20:5-6, 12-13).
  1. We believe in a literal Heaven.  We believe that the souls of believers in Christ do at death immediately pass into His presence, and there remain until the resurrection of the body at the rapture when soul and body reunited shall stand before Christ to be judged of their Christian works for the giving of rewards; and they shall then be associated with Him forever in glory (I Cor.3:11-15; II Cor. 5:10 (expand to 5.8-10); I Thess. 4:13-18).
  1. We believe in a literal Hell.  We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain after death in conscious misery until the final resurrection at the end of the millennium for judgment; the result of this judgment will be that all will be judged according to their works and be cast into the lake of fire, not to be annihilated, but to be punished with everlasting separation from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power (Luke 16:19-26; II Thess. 1:6-9; Rev. 20:11-15).

 

Section 10:  The Local Church

 

  1. We believe that the local church is a company of believers in Jesus Christ; baptized by immersion on an acceptable confession of faith; associated for worship, edification, and service, fellowship, observance of the ordinances, and the spread of the Gospel to all the world; and having two offices; pastor and deacon, which positions are to be held by men only (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; 2:41-42; 10:47-48; Phil. 1:1; I Tim. 2:12; 3:1-13; Heb. 10:25).
  1. We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches are clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:27; 20:17; Titus 1:5-11).
  1. We believe in the autonomy of the local church, free of any external authority or control (Acts 13:1-4; 14:23; 15:19-31; 20:28; I Cor. 3:9, 16; 5:4-7, 13; I Pet. 5:1-4).

To see our fuller Doctrinal Statement, please contact us!