What We Believe

What we believe is a result of our faith in the Word of God. The following statements are a summary of what we believe the Bible teaches. 

We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally inspired Word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible and God-breathed (II Tim. 3:16,17; II Peter

1:20,21; Matt. 5:18; John 16:12,13).

We believe in 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; II Cor. 13:14; | John 5:7; Acts 5:3,4).

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 (John 1:1,2.14: Luke 1:35).

2. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for all mankind as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice, and that the sufficiency of this atoning sacrifice to accomplish the redemption and justification of all who trust in Him is assured by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Rom. 3:24,25;

4:25; Eph. 1:7; I Tim 4:10; Heb. 2:9; I Peter 1:3-5; 2:24; and II Peter 2:1).

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;

Heb. 9:24: 7:25: Rom. 8:34: 1 John 2:1. 2).

1. We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness and of iudament; and, that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the dav of redemption (John 16:8-11: |I Cor. 3:6: | Cor. 12:12-14: Rom. 8:9: Eph. 1:13-14).

2. We believe that He is the Divine Teacher who guides believers into all truth; and that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit (John 16:13; | John 2:20, 27; Eph. 5:18).

We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam's sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and that man is totally depraved and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition (Gen. 1:26,27; Rom. 3:22,23; 5:12; Eph. 2:1-3, 12).

We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace through the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Man must hear the gospel and place his faith in the completed work of Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins (Eph. 1:7, 13; 2:8-10; John 1:12; I Peter 1:18, 19).

We believe that the will of God for every believer is to be made holy and like Jesus Christ (I Thess. 4:3; Rom. 8:29). At the point of salvation, the believer receives a holy standing before God due to the righteousness of Christ, often referred to as positional sanctification (Heb. 10:10.14). The new birth creates within every believer a new nature which is made after the likeness of God in true holiness and righteousness (Eph. 4:24). There still remains in the believer unsubdued tendencies toward sin which are in constant conflict with the new nature (Gal. 5:16-21). The biblical process of spiritual growth, often called progressive sanctification, requires removing the sinful patterns of the unsaved condition and replacing these with patterns of godly character (Eph. 4:22-24). The Holy Spirit accomplishes these changes as the believer, by faith, yields in obedience to the Word of God (Rom. 6:11-13; II Cor. 3:18) and puts to death all sinful practices (Rom. 8:13; Col. 3:5). The believer will ultimately be made completely holy when he enters the presence of Jesus Christ either at death or Christ's return (Phil. 1:6, 3:21; | Thess. 5:23; | John 3:2).

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; Rom. 8:1,38,39; I Cor. 1:4-8; | Peter 1:5, | John 5:13, 14).

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 (Rom. 13:13, 14; Gal. 5:13; Titus 2:11-15).

We believe that every saved person possesses two natures, with provision made for victory of the new nature over the old nature through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit; and that all claims to the eradication of the old nature in this life are unscriptural (Rom. 6:13; 8:12, 13; Gal. 5:16-25; Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:10; 1 Peter 1:14-16; 1

John 3:5-9).

We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord; and that separation from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices, and associations is commanded of God (Il Tim. 3:1-5; Rom. 12:1,2; 14:13; | John 2:15-17; II John vv. 9-11; I| Cor. 6:14-7:1).

We believe that it is the obligation of the saved to witness by life and by word to the truths of Holy Scripture and to seek to proclaim the Gospel to all mankind (Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; lI Cor. 5:19, 20).

1. We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowment of all His gifts; and that the gifts of evangelists, pastors, and teachers are sufficient for the perfecting of the saints today; and that speaking in tongues and the working of sign miracles gradually ceased as the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their authority became established (I Cor. 12:4-11; II Cor. 12:12; Eph. 4:7-12).

2. We believe that God does hear and answer the prayer of faith, in accord with His own will, for the sick and afflicted (John 15:7; 1 John 5:14, 15).

1. We believe that the Church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all regenerated persons of this present age (Eph. 1:22.23;5:25-27; I Cor. 12:12-14: II Cor. 11:2).

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; | Tim.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; Rom. 16:1,4; | Cor. 3:9, 16; 5:4-7,13; I Peter 5:1-4).

4. We believe in the ordinances of Believer's Water Baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper as scriptural means of testimony for the church age (Acts 10:47, 48; 16:31-34: 18:8; 1 Cor. 11:23-26).

We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense reveal divinely determined dispensations or rules of life which define man's responsibilities in successive ages. These dispensations are not ways of salvation, but rather divinely ordered stewardships by which God directs man according to His purpose. Three of these - - the age of law. the age of the church, and the age of the millennial kingdom - - are subjects of detailed revelation in Scripture (John 1:17: | Cor. 9:17: II Cor. 3:9-18; Gal. 3:13-25: Eph. 1:10; 3:2-10; Col. 1:24. 25;

Heb.7:19; Rev. 20:2-6).

We believe that Lucifer is a fallen angelic being, also called Satan, the author of sin and the cause of the fall; 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; Isa. 14:12-17; Matt. 4:2-11; 25:41; Rev. 20:10).

We believe in that "Blessed Hope," the personal, imminent, pre-tribulation and pre-millennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones; and in His subsequent return to earth, with His saints, to establish His Millennial Kingdom (I Thess. 4:13-18; Zech. 14:4-11; Rev. 19:11-16; 20:1-6; | Thess. 1:10; 5:9; Rev. 3:10).

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).

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; Rev. 20:4-6; II Cor.5:8; Phil. 1:23; 3:21; 1 Thess. 4:16,17).

3. We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious misery 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 (Luke 16:19-26; Matt. 25:41-46; II Thess. 1:7-9; Jude v. 6.7; Mark 9:43-48; Rev. 20:11-15).