Statement of Belief

 The Scriptures  

We believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Bible, the sixty-six (66) books of the Old and New Testament canon which, being inerrant in the original manuscripts, is the final authority on all matters of faith and practice and any other subject on which it touches (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21).

We believe in a dispensational understanding of the Bible, an approach to Scripture based on the progressive unfolding of the divine mysteries or new revelation from God which results in various dispensations or distinguishable administrations of stewardship of God’s revealed truth (Romans 16:25; 1 Corinthians 4:1; Ephesians 3:2-4, 9; Colossians 1:25-27), such as Promise (Genesis 12:1-3), Law (John 1:17), Grace (Romans 6:14), Kingdom (Ephesians 1:10), among others. This approach recognizes a fundamental distinction between Israel and the Church in origin, purposes, and destiny.

The Godhead

We believe in the one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections (Genesis 1:1; Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; John 10:30; Acts 5:3-4; 2 Corinthians 13:14).

Jesus 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 (Isaiah 7:14, 9:6; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-2, 14; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; Galatians 4:4-5; Philippians 2:5-8).

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 was made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Acts 2:18-36; Romans 3:24-25; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:3-5, 1 Peter 2:24).

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; Romans 8:34; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 20-25; Hebrews 9:24; 1 John 2:1-2).

We believe in the “blessed hope”: the personal, bodily, pretribulational, premillennial, and imminent return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Matthew 24:44; John 14:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; Titus 2:11-13).

Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment (John 16:8-11), and that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration (Romans 8:9), baptizing all believers into the body of Christ
(1 Corinthians 12:12-14), indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 1:13-14).

We believe that He is the Divine Teacher who assists believers to understand and appropriate the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 2:9-16), and that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).

We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowal of spiritual gifts to every believer (Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11). God uniquely uses Pastors and teachers to equip believers in the assembly in order that they can do the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:7-12).

We believe that the sign gifts (1 Corinthians 1:22) of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues and the gift of healing, were temporary (1 Corinthians 13:8, 14:21-22). We believe that speaking in tongues has never been a common or necessary sign of the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit and that ultimate deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection, though God may choose to answer the prayers of believers for physical healing.

Creation

We believe in the direct creation by God of the physical universe, all spirit beings, man, and lower forms of life, without the process of evolution (Genesis 1&2; Colossians 1:15-17; John 1:3), and also that the early chapters of Genesis are literal and accurate history. God sustains all creation but exists in no necessary relationship to it.

Mankind

We believe that man was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27), that he sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death but also the spiritual death which is separation from God (Genesis 3), and that all human beings are born with a sinful nature (Psalm 58:3) and are sinners by birth and by choice, positively inclined to evil, and therefore, under just condemnation to eternal ruin without defense or excuse (Romans 1:20, 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 2:14).

Salvation

We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in Jesus Christ, whose blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins (John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7, 2:8-10; 1 Peter 1:18-19).

We believe that all the redeemed 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 1:4-5).

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 (Romans 13:13-14; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11-15).


Spirit Beings

We believe that God created an innumerable company of sinless spirit beings (Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 12:22). One of these, though created holy by God, sinned through pride, thereby becoming Satan, the Devil, the enemy of his Creator, leading a host of angels in rebellion against God (Ezekiel 28:12-17). He became the god of this age (2 Corinthians 4:3-4) and the ruler of all powers of darkness and is destined to the judgment of an eternal punishment in the lake of fire (Matthew 25:41;
Revelation 20:10).

Sanctification

We believe in positional sanctification. This is the believer’s position or standing before God, based on the death of Christ. In positional sanctification the believer is accounted holy before God; he is declared a saint (1 Corinthians 6:11).

We believe in progressive sanctification. Although the believer’s positional sanctification is secure, his progressive sanctification may fluctuate because it relates to his daily life and experience (1 Thessalonians 4:3). This progressive sanctification grows as the believer dedicates his life to God (Romans 6:13; 12:1-2) and is nourished by the Word of God (Psalm 119:9-16; John 17:17).

We believe in ultimate sanctification. This aspect of sanctification is future and anticipates the final transformation of the believer into the likeness of Christ. At that time all believers will be presented to the Lord without any blemish (1 Thessalonians 3:13).

Final Destinies

We believe in the personal, bodily, pretribulational, premillennial, and imminent return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Matthew 24:44; John 14:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:4-18; Titus 2:11-13).

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).

We believe that the souls of believers in Christ do at death immediately pass into His presence (2 Corinthians 5:8-10), and there remain until the resurrection of the body at the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) when soul and body reunited shall stand before Christ to be judged of their Christian works for the giving of rewards (1 Corinthians 3:11-15); and they shall then be associated with Him forever in glory.

We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain after death in conscious misery until the final resurrection at the end of the millennium for judgment (Luke 16:19-26; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9); the result of this judgment will be that all will be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15), not to be annihilated, but to be punished with everlasting separation from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.

The Local Church

We believe that the Church as set forth in the New Testament has both a universal and a local aspect. The church as the Body of Christ, of which Christ is the Head (Ephesians 1:22-23), is an organism composed of genuine believers in Jesus Christ, the total number of Spirit baptized believers of this age regardless of location or circumstances (1 Corinthians 12:13).

We believe that a local church is the visible expression of the body of Christ in a particular time and place (Acts 13:1), being an organized body of immersed believers (Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:41, 47), sharing a common faith or body of truth
(Acts 2:42; 2 Thessalonians 3:6; Jude 3), observing the ordinances of baptism (Matthew 28:19), and communion (1 Corinthians 11:23-32), meeting for worship, preaching and teaching, fellowship, and prayer (Acts 2:42, 47), carrying out the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20), and whose biblical offices are Pastor (1 Timothy 3:1-7) and Deacon (1 Timothy 3:8-13).

We believe that the local church is an autonomous body solely responsible to preserve its internal unity (Romans 12:16; 1 Corinthians 1:10; 2 Corinthians 13:11; Philippians 4:2), maintain pure doctrine and practice (1 Timothy 3:15; Jude 3; Revelation 2-3), elect its own officers, leaders, and messengers (Acts 6:1-6, 11:22, 13:2; 2 Corinthians 8:19), and determine the extent of its cooperation with other churches (Acts 15:2-32;
2 Corinthians 8:19).

We believe that the institution of the local church is God’s ordained instrument for His work and witness in this age (1 Timothy 3:15).

Ordinances

We believe in water baptism by immersion (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:38, 10:47-48; Romans 6:3-5) and the Lord’s Supper (Acts 2:41-42; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32) as the Scriptural ordinances of obedience for the church in this age.

Separation

We believe that separation is a doctrine as well as a practice and that the separation principle runs through the entire Bible. We believe that true spiritual fellowship is the result of common faith and practice. We believe there are several aspects of Biblical separation.

I. Personal Separation
The separation of the believer from the world and sin in order to serve God (Joshua 24:14; Romans 12:1-2;Ephesians 1:4; 5:11; James 4:4; 1 Peter 1:15; 1 John 2:15).

II. Ecclesiastical Separation
The separation of the church from apostasy (Matthew 7:15; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; 1 Timothy 6:3-5; Titus 3:10-11; Revelation 2:14).

III. Familial Separation
The separation of the believer from the erring brother, when doctrinal or ethical compromise creeps into his life or ministry (Romans 16:17; 1 Corinthians 5:11;
2 Thessalonians 3:6, 14-15).

IV. Political Separation
Church and state present two distinct and separate responsibilities to the Christian (Matthew 22:21).

A. Duties the Christian owes to his government(Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-17).

B. Duties a Christian owes to God, and these are supreme. When there is a conflict between the laws of man and the laws of God, the Christian must obey God (Acts 5:29).

 Human Sexuality

 We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity should be engaged in outside of marriage between a man and a woman.  Furthermore, we believe that from the time of creation, God intended that the marriage relationship would be made up of one man and one woman as taught throughout scripture. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. (Gen. 2:24; 19:5,13; 26:8-9; Lev. 18:11-30; Rom. 1:26-29; I Cor. 5:1; 6:9; I Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4).

Abortion

We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being.  Abortion is murder.  We reject any teaching that abortions of pregnancies due to rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, birth or population control, or the mental well-being of the mother are acceptable (Job 3:16; Ps. 51:5; 139:14-16; Isa. 44:24; 49:1,5; Jer. 1:5; 20:15-18; Lk. 1:44)