THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
We believe/teach that the Bible is God’s written revelation to man, and thus the 66 books of the Bible given to us by the Holy Spirit constitute the complete (inspired equally in all parts) Word of God (1 Cor. 2:7-14; 2 Pet. 1:20, 21).
We believe/teach that the Word of God is inspired in every word (2 Tim. 3:16), absolutely inerrant in the original documents, infallible, and God-breathed. We teach the literal, grammatical, historical interpretation of Scripture.
We believe/teach that the Bible constitutes the only infallible rule of faith and practice (Matt. 5:18; 24:35; John 10:35; 16:12, 13; 17:17; 1 Cor. 2:13; 2 Tim. 3:15-17; Heb. 4:12; 2 Pet. 1:20, 21).
We believe/teach that, whereas there may be several applications of any given passage of Scripture, there is but one true interpretation.
We believe/teach a literal 24-hour six-day creation.
GOD
We believe/teach that there is but one living and true God (Deut. 6:4; Is. 45:5-7; 1 Cor. 8:4), an infinite, all-knowing Spirit (John 4:24), perfect in all His attributes, one in essence, eternally existing in three persons (the triune God)—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14)—each equally deserving worship and obedience.
GOD THE FATHER
We believe/teach that God the Father, the first person of the Trinity, orders and disposes all things according to His own purpose and grace. He is the creator of all things. As the only absolute and omnipotent ruler of the universe, He is sovereign in creation, providence, and redemption (Gen 1:1-31; Eph. 3:9; Ps. 103:19; Rom. 11:36).
GOD THE SON
We believe/teach that Jesus Christ is the second Person of the Trinity, possesses all the divine Excellencies, and in these He is coequal, consubstantial, and coeternal with the Father (John 10:30; 14:9). He is God incarnate (God becoming man) (Phil. 2:5-8; Col.2:9), born of a virgin (Is. 7:14; Matt. 1:23, 25; Luke 1:26-35), for the purpose of revealing God, redeeming men, and to rule over God’s kingdom (Ps. 2:7-9; Is. 9:6; John 1:29; Phil. 2:9-11; Heb. 7:25,26; 1 Pet 1:18,19).
We believe/teach that our Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through the shedding of His blood and sacrificial death on the cross and that His death was voluntary, substitutionary, propitiatory, and redemptive (John 10:15; Rom. 3:24-25; 1 Pet. 2:24).
We believe/teach that on the basis of the efficiency of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, the believing sinner is freed from the punishment, the penalty, the power, and one day the very presence of sin; and that he is declared righteous, given eternal life, and adopted into the family of God (Rom. 3:25; 5:8, 9; 2 Cor. 5:14, 15; 1 Pet. 2:24; 3:18).
We believe/teach that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead and that He is now ascended to the right hand of the Father, where He now mediates as our High Priest (Matt. 28:6; Luke 24:38, 39; Acts 2:30, 31; Rom. 4:25; 8:34; Heb. 7:24; 9:24; 1 John 2:1).
GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe/teach that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person, eternal, possessing all the attributes of personality and deity, including intellect (1 Cor. 2:10-13), emotions (Eph. 4:30), will (1 Cor. 12:11), eternality (Heb. 9:14), omnipresence (Ps. 139-7-10), omniscience (Is. 40:13, 14), omnipotence (Rom. 15:13), and truthfulness (John 16:13). In all the divine attributes He is coequal, consubstantial with the Father and the Son (Matt. 28:19; Acts 5:3, 4; 28:25, 26; 1 Cor. 12:4-6; 2 Cor. 13:14; and Jer. 31:31-34 with Heb. 10:15-17).
We believe/teach that the work of the Holy Spirit in this age began at Pentecost when He came from the Father as promised by Christ (John 14:16-17; 15:26) to initiate and complete the building of the Body of Christ, which is His church (1 Cor. 12:13). The broad scope of His divine activity includes convicting the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ and transforming believers into the image of Christ (John 16:7-9; Acts 1:5; 2:4; Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 3:18; Eph. 2:22).
MAN
We believe/teach that man was directly and immediately created by God in His image and likeness. Man was created free of sin with a rational nature, intelligence, volition, self-determination, and moral responsibility to God (Gen. 2:7; 15:25; James 3:9).
We believe/teach that God’s intention in the creation of man was that man should glorify God, enjoy God’s fellowship, live his life in the will of God, and by this accomplish God’s purpose for man in the world (Is. 43:7; Col. 1:16; Rev. 4:11).
We believe/teach that in Adam’s sin of disobedience to the revealed will and Word of God, man lost his innocence; incurred the penalty of spiritual and physical death; became subject to the wrath of God; and became inherently corrupt and utterly incapable of choosing or doing that which is acceptable to God apart from divine grace. With no recuperative powers to enable him to recover himself, man is hopelessly lost. Man’s salvation is thereby wholly of God’s grace through the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ (Gen. 2:16, 17; 3:1-19; John 3:36; Rom. 3:23; 6:23; 1 Cor. 2:14; Eph. 2:1-3; 1 Tim. 2:13, 14; 1 John 1:8).
We believe/teach that because all men were in Adam, a nature corrupted by Adam’s sin has been transmitted to all men of all ages, Jesus Christ being the only exception. All men are thus sinners by nature, by choice, and by divine declaration (Ps. 14:1-3; Jer. 17:9; Rom. 3:9-18, 23; 5:10-12).
SALVATION
We believe/teach that salvation is wholly of God by grace on the basis of the redemption of Jesus Christ, the merit of His shed blood, and not on the basis of human merit or works (John 1:12; Eph. 1:4-7; 2:8-10; 1 Pet. 1:18,19).
ELECTION
We believe/teach that divine election is the act of God by which, before the foundation of the world, He chose in Christ those whom He graciously regenerates, saves and sanctifies (Rom. 8:28-30; Eph. 1:4-11; 2 Thess. 2:13; 2 Tim. 2:10; 1 Pet. 1:1,2). Divine election is not related to any initiative on a person’s part nor to God’s anticipation of what they might do by their own will, but it is solely of His sovereign grace and mercy (Eph. 1:4-7; Titus 3:4-7; 1 Peter 1:2).
We believe/teach that divine election does not contradict or negate the responsibility of man to repent and trust Christ as Savior and Lord (Ezek. 18:23, 32;33:11; John 3:18, 19, 36; 5:40; 2 Thess. 2:10-12; Rev. 22:17). It is the immediate duty of all to accept Christ in repentant faith; and we believe/teach that nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth but his own inherent depravity and voluntary rejection of the gospel, whose rejection involves him in eternal condemnation. All whom the Father calls to Himself will come in faith, and all who come in faith the Father will receive (John 6:37-40,44; Acts 13:48; James 4:8).
REGENERATION
We believe/teach that regeneration is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit by which the divine nature and divine life are given (John 3:38; Titus 3:5). It is instantaneous and is accomplished solely by the power of the Holy Spirit through the instrumentality of the Word of God (John 5:24), when the repentant sinner, as enabled by the Holy Spirit, responds in faith to the divine provision of salvation. Genuine regeneration is manifested by fruits worthy of repentance as demonstrated in righteous attitudes and conduct. Good works will be its proper evidence and fruit (1 Cor. 6:19-20; Eph. 5:17-21; Phil. 2:12b; Col. 3:12-17; 2 Pet. 1:4-11).
JUSTIFICATION
We believe/teach that justification before God is an act of God (Rom. 8:30,33) by which He declares righteous those who, through faith in Christ, repent of their sins (Luke 13:3; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 11:18; Rom. 2:4; 2 Cor. 7:10; Is. 55:6,7) and confess Him as sovereign Lord (Rom. 10:9,10; 1 Cor. 12:3; 2 Cor. 4:5; Phil. 2:11). This righteousness is apart from any virtue or work of man (Rom. 3:20; 4:6) and involves the placing of our sins on Christ (Col. 2:14; 1 Pet. 2:24) and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to us (1 Cor. 1:2, 30; 6:11; 2 Cor. 5:21). By this means God is enabled to “be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26).
SANCTIFICATION
We believe/teach that every believer is sanctified (set apart) unto God by justification and is therefore declared to be holy and is therefore identified as a saint. This sanctification is positional and instantaneous and should not be confused with progressive sanctification. This sanctification has to with the believer’s standing, not his present walk or condition (Acts 20:32; 1 Cor. 1:2, 30; 6:11; 2 Thess. 2:13; Heb. 2:11; 3:1; 10:10, 14; 13:12; 1 Pet. 1:2).
We believe/teach that there is also by the work of the Holy Spirit a progressive sanctification by which the state of the believer is brought closer to the likeness of Christ through obedience to the Word of God and the empowering of the indwelling Holy Spirit. The believer is able to live a life of increasing holiness in conformity to the will of God, becoming more and more like our Lord Jesus Christ (John 17:17, 19; Rom. 6:1-22; 2 Cor. 3:18; 1 Thess. 4:3,4; 5:23).
SECURITY
We believe/teach that all the redeemed once saved are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever (John 5:24; 6:37-40; 10:27-40; Rom. 5:9,10; 8:1, 31- 39 1 Cor. 1:4-9; Eph. 4:30; Heb. 7:25; 13:5; 1 Pet. 1:4,5; Jude 24).
We believe/teach 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 excuse for sinful living and carnality (Rom. 6:15-22; 13:13,14).
THE CHURCH
We believe/teach that all that place their faith in Jesus Christ are immediately placed by the Holy Spirit into one united spiritual body, the church (1 Cor. 12:12,13), the bride of Christ (2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:23-32; Rev. 19:7,8), of which Christ is the head (Eph. 1:22; 4:15; Col. 1:18; Gal. 5:13,16,17,25,26; Titus 2:11-14).
We believe/teach that the formation of the church began on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-21, 38-47) and will be completed at the coming of Christ for His own, at the Rapture (1 Cor. 15:51,52; 1 Thess. 4:13-18).
We believe/teach that two ordinances have been committed to the local church: baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Acts 2:38-42). Christian baptism by immersion (Acts 8:36-39) is the solemn and beautiful testimony of a believer showing forth his faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, and his union with Him in death to sin and resurrection to a new life (Rom. 6:1-11). It is also a sign of fellowship and identification with the visible body of Christ (Acts 2:41, 42).
We believe/teach that the Lord’s Supper is the commemoration and proclamation of His death until He comes, and should always precede solemn self-examination (1 Cor. 11:23-32). We also believe/teach that whereas the elements of communion are only representative of the flesh and blood of Christ, the Lord’s Supper is nevertheless an actual Communion with the risen Christ who is present in a unique way, fellowshipping with His people (1 Cor. 10:16).
We believe/teach that the biblical model of leadership in the local church is a plurality of elders. Therefore this church will follow that example and be governed by a board of elders, also referred to as pastors. This board will consist of men whom God has raised up from within this church. The office of elder is reserved for those who meet the qualifications as outlined in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1.
