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What We Believe
THE
HOLY SCRIPTURES. We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the
verbally inspired Word of God, inerrant in the original writings, infallible and
God-breathed, the final authority for faith and life. (II Tim. 3:16,17; II Pet.
1:20,21; Mt. 5:18; Jn. 16:12,13)
THE GODHEAD. 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; Matt. 28:19; II Cor.
13:14)
THE PERSON AND WORK OF CHRIST. 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, and
forever continues true God and true man. (Jn. 1:1,2,14; Mt. 1:21; Lk. 1:35)
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His
death on the cross as a representative, substitutionary sacrifice; and, that our
justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead.
(Rom. 3:24,25;4:24,25; I Pet. 1:3-5;2:24; Eph. 1:7; I Cor. 15:3,4)
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. 1:3;9:24;7:25;
Rom. 8:34; I Jn. 2:1,2)
THE PERSON AND WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. We believe that the Holy Spirit is a
Person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and
that He is the Supernatural Agent of regeneration, baptizing all believers into
the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption. (Jn.
16:8-11; II Cor. 3:6-8; I Cor. 12:12-14; Rom. 8:9; Eph. 1:13,14; I Cor. 6:19)
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. (Jn. 16:13; I Jn. 2:20,27; Eph. 5:18)
THE TOTAL DEPRAVITY OF MAN. 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; 5:1,2; Eph. 2:1-3,12)
SALVATION. We believe that salvation is
the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ, who shed His precious blood on Calvary and rose again that
our sins might be forgiven, and that we might have eternal life. (Eph.
1:7;2:8-10; II Tim. 2:8; Jn. 1:12; I Pet. 1:18,19)
THE ETERNAL SECURITY AND ASSURANCE OF BELIEVERS. We
believe that once saved, all the redeemed are kept by God’s power and are thus
secure in Christ forever. (Jn. 6:37-49;10:27-30; Rom. 8:1,38,39; I Cor. 1:4-8; I
Pet. 1:5; II Tim. 1:12)
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)
THE
TWO NATURES OF BELIEVERS. 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; I Pet. 1:14-16; I Jn. 3:5-9)
SEPARATION. 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 and all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices and
association is commanded by God. (II Tim. 3:1-5; Rom. 12:1,2;14:13; I Jn.
2:15-17; II Jn. 9,11; II Cor. 6:14-7:1; Eph. 5:7-11)
MISSIONS. We believe that it is the obligation of the saved to witness by
life and by work to the truths of Holy Scripture and to obey our Lord’s
commandment to make disciples as we proclaim the Gospel to all mankind. (II Tim.
3:1-5; Rom. 12:1,2;14:13; I Jn. 2:15-17; II Jn. 9,11; II Cor. 6:14-7:1; Eph.
5:7-11)
THE MINISTRY AND SPIRITUAL GIFTS. We believe that God is sovereign in the
bestowment of all His gifts for the edification of the Body of Christ. The gifts
of evangelists, pastors, and teachers are given for the perfecting of saints
today. Gifts, such as faith, ministry, teaching, exhortation, giving, ruling,
and mercy are also functional in the Church. Each individual believer should
look to the Lord to bestow and develop His gifts. Sign miracles gradually ceased
as the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their authority became
established. These include the office of Apostle, gifts of prophecy, speaking in
tongues, interpretation, healing, and special wisdom and knowledge on a par with
Scripture revelation. (Rom. 12:3-8; I Cor. 12:4-11,27-31; 13:8-10; II Cor.
12:12; Eph. 4:7-12; Mk. 16:20; Heb. 2:3,4)
We believe that God does hear and answer the prayer of faith in accord with His
own will, for the sick and afflicted. (Jn. 15:7; I Jn. 5:14,15; Jas. 5:14,15)
THE CHURCH. We believe that the Church, which is the body and the
espoused bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born again
persons of this present age. (Eph. 1:19-23;5:25-27; I Cor. 12:12-14; II Cor.
11:2)
We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly
taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures. Believers are to be
encouraged to unite with a Bible-believing church. (Acts 14:27;20:17,28-32; I
Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11)
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; I Cor. 3:9,16;5:4-7,13; I
Pet. 5:1-4)
We recognize the ordinances of water baptism and the Lord’s Supper as a
scriptural means of testimony for the Church in this age. (Mt. 28:19,20; Acts
2:41,42;18:8; I Cor. 11:23-26)
DISPENSATIONALISM. We believe the Scriptures interpreted in their
natural, literal sense reveal divinely determined dispensations or rules of life
which define man’s responsibilities in each age. These dispensations are not
ways of salvation, but 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 the subjects of detailed
revelation in Scripture. (Jn. 1:17; 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)
THE PERSONALITY OF SATAN. We believe that Satan is a person, 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; Mt. 4:2-11;25:41; Rev. 20:10; Ezek. 28:12-19)
THE SECOND ADVENT OF CHRIST. We believe in that “Blessed Hope,” the
personal, imminent, pre-tribulation and premillennial 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. (Zech. 14:4-11; Rev.
19:11-16;20:1-6; I Th. 1:10;4:13-18;5:9; Rev. 3:10)
THE ETERNAL STATE. We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men; the
saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment.
(Mt. 25:46; Jn. 5:28,29;11:25,26; Rev. 20:5,6,12,13)
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.
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.
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