WHAT WE BELIEVE

1. The Bible. The Bible consists of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, is the inerrant and complete Word of God, the final authority in all matters of faith and practice. (Matthew 5:16-18, II Tim. 3:16-17, II Peter 1:20-21; Jude 3).

2. God. There is but one living and true God, who is one in essence, while eternally existing in three distinct personalities: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Though each person of the Godhead possesses the same nature, each functions differently in respect with God’s dealing with man (Deu 6:4). All 3 members of the Trinity were an agent in creation.

3. The Father. The first person of the Trinity orders and directs all things according to His own purpose, pleasure and grace. He created the universe apart from any pre-existing materials and without any means other than His own pure power. He has decreed all things that come to pass for His own glory. He graciously involves Himself in the affairs of men, hears and answers prayer, and saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ (Matt 6:9; John 5:19-24; Eph 1:3-6).

4. The Son. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and is true God and true man. (Luke 1:30-35; John 1:18, 3:16; Phil. 2:5-11). He died as a substitutionary and complete sacrifice for the sins of the whole world and that only those who trust in His redemptive work are saved on the ground of His shed blood. (Rom. 3:24-28; 5:8-10; I Tim. 2:5-6; I John 2:1-2). The Lord Jesus Christ arose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He was crucified; He ascended into Heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of the Father as Head of the Church. (John 20:1-29; Acts 1:9-11; Eph. 1:20-23; Heb. 1:3). He will come again personally and bodily: first He will come in the air prior to the seven-year Tribulation, hence at any moment, to receive the Church, His body, unto Himself in heaven; and that following the literal fulfillment of the Great Tribulation spoken of by the prophets, He will return visibly to the earth with His saints to inaugurate His millennial kingdom of universal peace and righteousness. (Acts 1:11; I Thess. 4:13-18; I Cor. 15:51-58; II Pet. 3:1-13; Rev. 19:11-16; 20:1-6).

5. God the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is that person of the Trinity who restrains evil in the world and convicts men of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He also regenerates those who receive Christ as Savior, baptizes them into the Church, indwells them permanently, intercedes for them in prayer, seals them unto the day of redemption, bestows one or more spiritual gifts on each believer, and empowers those yielded to Him (Matt 28:19, John 3:3-7, 16:8-11).

6. Man. 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, as a consequence, all men are declared by God to be totally depraved, having inherited a sinful nature and having become sinners in thought, word, and deed. (Gen. 1:26-27; 2:16-17; 3:6-19; Rom. 3:10-23; 6:23; 7:18; 11:32; Gal. 3:22).

7. Salvation. On the sole condition of personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ men are born again by the Holy Spirit: at regeneration, all believers in this age are also indwelt by the Holy Spirit, baptized by the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ, and sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption. (Rom. 3:24-28; 8:9-11; I Cor. 12:13; Eph. 1:13; 4:30). Both the believer and the unbeliever will be resurrected bodily in their own order: the saved unto everlasting bliss, the lost unto everlasting and conscious punishment. (I Cor. 15:1-50; I Thess. 4:13-18; Rev. 20:11-15; 21:22).

8. Sanctification. Sanctification, which is separation unto God, is threefold: positionally, the believer was sanctified at his conversion by virtue of his union with Christ; progressively, he is continually being sanctified through the Word as he walks in the Spirit, thereby overcoming lusts of the flesh and producing the fruit of the Spirit; ultimately, he will be completely conformed to the image of Christ when he sees his Savior face to face. (John 17:17; Eph. 5:26; Col. 3:1-4; Heb. 10:14; I John 3:1-3).

9. The Church. The Church is the Body of Christ composed of all who are born again during this church age, which began at Pentecost and will be terminated at the rapture; this church universal is to gather together as local churches or assemblies after the pattern of New Testament doctrine and practice, including the observance of the ordinances of water baptism and the Lord’s Supper; and that God performs the ministry of His church through its members to whom He has given gifts for the purpose of edifying the Body of Christ. (Acts 2:1-47; Rom. 12:1-8; I Cor. 11:23-24; I Cor. 12:1-31; Eph. 1:22-23).

10. Mission. The Great Commission was given to the Church and that this task of world evangelism is the mission of the Church today. (Matt. 28:18-20; Rom. 10:9-17; Eph. 4:7-16).