As a summary of our beliefs we teach the following fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith.
Section 1 The Holy Scriptures
The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the verbally inspired and divinely preserved Word of God, inerrant in the original languages, the complete authority for faith and life, infallible and God-breathed. (2 Tim. 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:20-21, Mt. 5:18, John 16: 12-13)
Section 2 The Godhead
A. There is 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, Mt. 28:19-20, 2 Cor. 13:14)
B. This Triune God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth; and He is creator of all things. (John 4:24, Luke 24:39, Ps. 90:2, Gal. 3:6, James 1:17, Is. 44:24, Rev. 9:6, 1 John 3:20, Ps. 147:5, Ps. 139:7-10, Jer. 23:24)
Section 3 The Person and Work of the Father
A. The Father, who is spirit, with the Son and the Holy Spirit, was active in creation and, along with the Son sustains the creation. He is the first cause and source of all things. (John 6:46, 1 Tim. 6:16, Gen. 1:1-2, 1 Cor. 8:6)
B. The Father willed and decreed the plan of salvation. He elects, calls, justifies, forgives, reconciles, adopts and glorifies the redeemed. (Matt 26:39, Rom. 8:28-33, Eph 1:3-6)
Section 4 The Person and Work of the Son
A. 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 1:3 5)
B. The Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His life of perfect obedience to the Law, His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice, and our justification is made sure by His literal, physical, resurrection from the dead. (Rom. 3:24-25, 1 Peter 2:24, Eph. 1:7, 1 Pet. 1:3-5)
C. 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)
Section 5 The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
A. The Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, and 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 Cor. 3:6, 1 Cor. 12:12-14, Rom. 8:9, Eph. 1:13-14)
B. He is the Divine Teacher who guides believers into all truth; and it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit. (John 16:13, 1 John 2:20, 27, Eph. 5:18)
Section 6 Creation, the Fall and the Depravity of Man
God created the heavens and the earth from nothing, by His Word, in seven days. Man was created in the image and likeness of God, but in Adam’s sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God. Man is totally depraved, and, of himself, totally unable to remedy his lost condition. The created order, declared good by God when He created it, was subjected to the effects of the fall of Man and sin. It awaits redemption in its current imperfect state. (Gen. 1:26-27, Rom. 3:22-23, 5:12, Eph. 2:1-3, 12)
Section 7 Salvation
Salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace alone and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins. (Eph. 2:8-10, John 1:12, Eph. 1:7, 1 Peter 1:18-19)
Section 8 The Assurance of Believers
A. All the redeemed, once saved, are preserved by God’s power and are in Christ forever. (John 6:37-40, 10:27-30, Rom. 8:1, 38-39, 1 Cor. 1:4-8, 1 Peter 1:5)
B. 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. This privilege is contingent upon a continuing walk in the Spirit, without which such assurance is presumptuous. (Rom. 13:13- 14, Gal. 5:13, Titus 2:11-15, Rom. 8:5-14, Heb. 11:14-4:1, Heb. 10:22-29)
Section 9 The Nature of the Believer
Every saved person possesses power to lead a life of Christ-like character and to bear fruit to the glory of the Father through the indwelling Holy Spirit; but claims to perfection in this life are unscriptural. (Rom. 6:13, 8:12-13, 1 Cor. 6:19-20, Gal. 5:16-25, Eph. 4:22-24, Col. 3:10, Titus 2:14, 1 Peter 1:14-16, 1 John 2:15-17, 1 John 3:5-9, 1:8-10)
Section 10 The Church
A. The Church, which is the body and espoused Bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all the saved. (Eph. 1:22-23, 5:25-27, 1 Cor. 12: 12-14, 1 Cor. 11:12)
B. 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 Tim. 3:1-13, Titus 1: .5-11)
Section 11 Ordinances
There are two church ordinances: water baptism for believers and the Lord’s Supper. These are acts of obedience and are of great benefit to individual believers and to the body as a whole. However, they are not to be regarded as a means of salvation or as inherently containing grace. (1 Cor. 11:23-24, Acts 8:35-37, 10:47-48, 1 Cor. 1:14, Acts 8:12)
Section 12 Missions
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, 2, Cor. 5:19-20)
Section 13 Satan
Satan is a person, the author of sin and the cause of The Fall; he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and he, the fallen angels and unsaved mankind 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)
Section 14 The Second Advent of Christ
We teach the personal, imminent, coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones and His eternal reign with them in the new heavens and new earth. (1 Thes. 4:13-18, Rev. 19:11-16, 21:1—4, 1 Thes. 1:10)
Section 15 The Eternal State
Ail people will be bodily resurrected, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment. (Mt. 25:46, John 5:28-29, 11:25-26, Rev. 20:5-6, 12-13)