DOCTRINAL STATEMENT
SECTION 1 -THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.
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. [2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20, 21; Matthew 5:18; John 16:12, 13]
SECTION 2 – 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, and Co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections and yet unique in ministry. [Deuteronomy 6:4; 2 Corinthians 13:1]
SECTION 3 – THE PERSON AND WORK OF JESUS CHRIST
(a) 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 man. [John 1:1-2, 14; Luke 1:35]
(b) We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead. [Romans 3:24-25; 1 Peter 2:24; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:3-5]
(c) 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; Hebrews 9:24; 7:25; Romans 8:35; 1 John 2:1-2]
SECTION 4 – THE PERSON AND WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
(a) 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 in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption. [John 16:8-11; 2 Corinthians 3:6; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; Romans 8:9; Ephesians 1:13-14]
(b) 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 controlled by the Spirit. [John 16:13; 1 John 2:20, 27; Ephesians 5:18]
SECTION 5 – 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 themselves, utterly unable to remedy their lost condition. [Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 3:22-23; 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3, 12]
SECTION 6 – SALVATION
We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to men by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins. [Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18-19]
SECTION 7 – THE ETERNAL SECURITY AND ASSURANCE OF BELIEVERS
(a) 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; Romans 8:1,38-39; 1 Corinthians 1:4-8; 1 Peter 1:5]
(b) We believe that it is the privilege of the 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 and it’s sinful desires. [Romans 13:13-14; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11-15]
SECTION 8 – THE TWO NATURES OF THE BELIEVER
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. [Romans 6:13; 8:12-13; Galatians 5:16-25; Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:10; 1 Peter 1:14-16; 1 John 3:5-9]
SECTION 9 – SEPARATION
We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner so as to honor their Savior and Lord and not bring shame upon Him; and, that separation from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices and associations is commanded of God. [2 Timothy 3:1-5; Romans 12:1-2; 14:13; 1 John 2:15-17; 2 John 1:9-11; 2 Corinthians 6:14; 7:1]
SECTION 10 – MISSIONS
We believe that it is the privilege and obligation of the saved to witness by life and by word to the truths of the Holy Scriptures and seek to proclaim the Gospel to all mankind. [Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:19-20]
SECTION 11 – THE MINISTRY AND SPIRITUAL GIFTS
(a) We believe that God is sovereign in the giving 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. [1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 2 Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 4:7-12]
(b) 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]
SECTION 12 – THE CHURCH
(a) 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.[Ephesians 1:22-23; 5:25-27; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; 2 Corinthians 11:2]
(b) 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; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11]
(c) We believe that baptism is an ordinance of Jesus Christ appointed in the church; that it is the immersion of a believer in water in the Names of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, as a symbol of our faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, and that none but those capable of and having exercised personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior are proper subjects for baptism. [Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:41; 8:36-39; Ephesians 4:5; 1 Peter 3:21]
(d) We believe that the Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of Jesus Christ appointed in the church whereby the symbols of bread and the fruit of the vine are taken to commemorate the body and shed blood of Jesus Christ given for us, and, that all believers, after being encouraged to examine themselves and confess known sin, should be invited to partake of the communion at any celebration of the Lord’s Supper. [1 Corinthians 11:23-26]
SECTION 13 – DISPENSATIONALISM
We believe in the dispensational view of Bible interpretation but reject the extreme teaching known as “Hyper Dispensationalism”, such as that teaching which will oppose either the Lord’s Table or water baptism as a Scriptural means of testimony for the Church of this Age. [Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; 18:8; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26]
SECTION 14 – THE PERSONALITY OF SATAN
We believe that Satan is a spirit being, the author of sin and the cause of the Fall; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and mankind; and, that he shall be eternally punished in the lake of fire. [Job 1:6-7; Isaiah 14:12-17; Matthew 4:2-11; 25:41; Revelation 20:10]
SECTION 15 – SECOND ADVENT OF CHRIST
We believe in that “Blessed Hope”, the personal, imminent, pre-tribulational and pre-millennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones, His Bride, the Church; and in His subsequent return to earth, with His saints, to establish His Millennial Kingdom. [1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Zechariah 14:4-11; Revelation 19:11-16; 20:1-6; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9; Revelation 3:10]
SECTION 16 – THE ETERNAL STATE
(a) We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment. [Matthew 25:46; John 5:28-29; 11:25-26;
Revelation 20:5-6, 12-13]
(b) 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; Revelation 20:4-6; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; 3:21; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17]