The Holy Scriptures We believe in the Holy Bible, in its entirety from Genesis to Revelation all sixty-six books. That it is the verbally inspired and the infallible word of God. By “inspired” we mean that the books of the Bible were written by holy men of God who were “moved by the Holy Spirit” in such a way as to insure their writings were the exact words of God (Deut. 4:2; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21; Ps. 12:6-8).
We believe in the one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections (Deut. 6:4; 2 Cor. 13:14).
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. (John 1:1-2,14; Luke 1:35; Is. 9:6; 7:14; Phil. 2:5-8; Gal. 4:4-5) We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His finished work on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead. (Rom. 3:24-25; 1 Pet. 2:24; Eph. 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:3-5) 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; Heb. 9:24, 7:25; Rom. 8:34; 1 John 2:1-2) We believe the “Blessed Hope” of our Lord’s return is literal, personal, visible, Imminent, premillennial, and pretribulational. He will rapture His Church prior to the seven years of tribulation, and at the end of the tribulation Christ will return with His saints to establish His thousand-year reign on the earth. (1 Theses 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; 1 Theses 1:10; Rev. 3:10; Zech. 14:4-11; Rev. 19:11-16; 20:1-6; Ps. 89:3-4)
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person; co-equal with God the Father and God the Son and is of the same nature, essence and being; that He was active in the creation; that in His relation to the unbelieving world He restrains the Evil one until God’s purpose is fulfilled; that He convicts of sin, of judgment and of righteousness; that He bears witness to the truth of the Gospel in preaching and testimony; that He is the agent in the New Birth; that he seals, baptizes, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies and helps the believer. We further hold that the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance) is the evidence of His indwelling rather than those temporary sign gifts such as speaking in tongues and other spectacular demonstrations. (Gen. 1:1-3; Mat. 3:11; 28:19; Mark 1:8; Luke 1:35; 3:16; 24:49; John 1:33; 3:5-6; 14:16-17, 26; 15:26-27; 16:8-11, 13; Acts 5:30-32; 11:16; Rom. 8:14, 16, 26-27; Gal. 5:22-23; Eph. 1:13-14; 5:18-21; 2 Theses 2:7, 13; Heb. 9:15; 1 Pet. 1:2)
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3) as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice; and all who receive Him are justified on the single ground of His shed blood. (Rom. 3:24-25) We further believe that all who receive by faith the Lord Jesus Christ are born again of the Holy Spirit and thereby become children of God (John 1:12-13; Rom. 8:16), and are the recipients of everlasting life (1 Pet. 1:3-5), which cannot be taken away or lost (John 3:16; 10:28-29).
We believe that the local church is a congregation of baptized believers associated by a covenant of faith, observing the ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, and exercising the gifts and privileges invested in them by God’s Word; that its officers are pastors (elders) and deacons. We believe that the local church has authority under God to govern itself free from the interference of any hierarchy or imposed organization; that Christ is the head of the church and superintends over the work of the church through the Holy Spirit; that it is scriptural for churches of like faith and practice to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the Gospel; that every church is the sole and only judge of the measure and method of its cooperation on all matters of membership, policy, government, discipline, and benevolence, and that the will of the church, in accordance with biblical principle, is final. (Mat. 18:15-20; Acts 5:29; 1 Cor. 6:1-8)
We believe that Christ has given the church two ordinances; baptism and the Lord’s Supper to be observed in the local church setting by born again believers. We believe that the New Testament baptism is the immersion in water of a born again believer in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, with the authority and approval of the local church to show forth in a solemn and beautiful testimony of our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Lord, as it pictures our death to sin and our resurrection to walk in newness of life; that it is a prerequisite to the privilege of church membership. We believe that the Lord’s Supper should always be preceded by solemn self-examination and that the sacred use of unleavened bread and the fruit of the vine symbolically commemorate the death of Christ until His return. (Mat. 3:13-17; 26:26-27; 28:19-20; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 22:19, 30; John 3:22-23; Acts 8:38-39; Rom. 6:3-5; 1 Cor. 10:16-17; 11:23-26)