STATEMENT OF FAITH
Concerning the Scriptures
We believe that the Scriptures comprising 66 books of the Old and New Testaments as originally written were verbally inspired by the Spirit of God and therefore are wholly without error. We believe the Bible is the supreme revelation of God's will for man and is the only authority of faith and practice and the true basis of Christian union.
(2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20,21)
Concerning the True God
We believe in one God, the creator of heaven and earth, manifesting Himself in three persons, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, equal in power and glory and executing distinct and harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.
(Ex. 20:2,3; 1 Cor. 8:6; 1 John 5:7)
Concerning the Lord Jesus Christ
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was conceived (in a supernatural manner) by the Holy Spirit and bom of the Virgin Mary; He is very God of very God, being "God manifest in the flesh". He lived a life of absolute sinlessness, and in His death He made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins, dying not a martyr's death, but as a voluntary substitute in the sinner's place. He rose again bodily from the dead on the third day and ascended bodily to the right hand of God in Heaven where He now sits as our great High Priest "ever living to make intercession for us"; we believe in His second coming and that His coming will be personal, visible, bodily, imminent and premillenial.
(John 14:3; Acts 1:11; Jude 14; Rev. 1:7 & 22:20)
Concerning the Holy Spirit
We believe in the absolute essential deity and personality of the Holy Spirit who convinces the unbeliever of sin, of righteousness and of judgment, who regenerates, sanctifies, illuminates, guides, comforts and indwells those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
(John 14:16,17,26 & 16:8-11; Rom. 8:15,16; Eph. 1:13,14; 2 Cor. 13:14; 2 Thes. 2:13)
Concerning Man
We believe that man was divinely created in the image of God; that he sinned, becoming guilty before God, resulting in his total depravity, thereby incurring physical and spiritual death.
(Gen. 1:27; Rom. 3:10-18,23 & 5:12-19; Isa. 53:6)
Concerning Salvation
We believe the Scriptures teach that the salvation of sinners is wholly of God's grace through the mediatorial work of the Lord Jesus Christ; it is wholly apart from man's work, and is upon the sole condition of repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; that in order to be saved the sinner must be bom again, being regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit and thus becoming a recipient of a new nature called the Divine nature. We believe that the great Gospel blessing which Christ secures to such as believe on Him is justification which includes pardon of sin and the imputing of divine righteousness and sanctification solely through faith in the Redeemer's shed blood; that having exercised personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ the believer is completely justified and is in possession of salvation which is eternally secure.
(John 3:3-6 & 10:28,29; Acts 13:38,39; Eph. 2:8,9; Titus 3:5-7; 2 Peter 1:4)
Concerning the Eternal State
We believe the Scriptures teach that all who through faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ will spend eternity in full enjoyment of God's presence in a place called Heaven, and that those who through impenitence and rejection of Jesus Christ as Savior refuse to accept God's offer of mercy and salvation will spend eternity in everlasting punishment in a place the Bible calls Hell, the lake of fire.
(Matt. 25:41,46; John 14:2; 2 Cor.5:6-8; Rev. 20:12-15 & 21:8)
Concerning Satan
We believe the Scriptures teach that there is a personal devil who is "the god of this age; the prince of the power of the air", who is full of all subtlety and mischief, who seeks continually to frustrate the purposes of God and to ensnare the sons of men.
(2 Cor. 4:4 & 11:13-15; Eph. 2:2; Rev. 12:9)
Concerning the Local Church
We believe that a church is a company of bom again, immersed believers called out from the world, separated unto the Lord Jesus Christ, voluntarily associated for the ministry of the Word, the mutual edification of its members, the propagation of the faith and the observance of the ordinances. We believe the local church is a sovereign independent body, exercising divinely awarded gifts, precepts and privileges under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the Great Head of the Church. We believe that its officers are pastors and deacons.
(Acts 2:41,42,47; 1 Cor. 11:2)
Concerning the Ordinances
We believe that there are only two ordinances for the Church observed in the New Testament in the following order:
1) Baptism - which is the immersion of the believer in water in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, whereby he obeys Christ's command and sets forth his identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.
(Matt. 28:19,20; John 3:23; Acts 8:36-39; Rom. 6:3-5)
2) The Lord's Supper - which is the memorial wherein the believer partakes of the two elements, bread and wine, which symbolize the Lord's body and shed blood, proclaiming His death until He comes.
(Matt. 26:26-29; 1 Cor. 11:23-28)
Concerning Separation
We believe in Ecclesiastical separation of the Church from combined meetings with any and all organizations or groups who deny the Inspiration of the Scriptures or the Deity of Jesus Christ. (Rom. 16:17,18; 2 Cor. 6:14-17; Eph. 5:11; 2 Thes. 3:6; Titus 3:11; 2 John 9-11)
We believe the Scriptures clearly teach non-conformity to the world for every believer, that it is clearly commanded of God to all believers to live lives of separation from worldly, sinful and doubtful practices and associations, unto Christ.
(Rom. 12:1,2; 1 Cor. 10:31; Col. 3:1-3,17; 1 John 2:15-17)
Concerning Church and State
We believe in the entire separation of Church and State.
(Matt. 22:21)
Concerning Religious Liberty
We believe in religious liberty, that every man has the right to practice and propagate his beliefs.
Concerning the Lord's Day
We believe that the first day of the week is the Lord's Day and that, in a special sense, it is the divinely appointed day for worship and spiritual exercise.
(Mark 16:9; John 20:7; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2; Rev. 1:10)
Concerning Christian Stewardship
We believe that the stewardship of the believer consists of time, talent and tithe. We believe in personal, voluntary, regular, systematic and proportionate giving to the support of the local church and the spread of the gospel to the regions beyond. This is best accomplished as the Scriptures teach by the tithing of our income and the presenting of an offering unto the Lord.
(Gen. 14:20; Num. 18:25-29; Prov. 3:9; Mal. 3:8,10; Matt. 6:3 & 23:23; 1 Cor. 16:2; 2 Cor. 9:6-15; Heb. 7:1,2,6,9)
Concerning Civil Government
We believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the interest and good order of society, that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed, except only in the things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only Lord of the conscience and Prince of the kings of the earth.
(Matt. 22:21; Acts 5:29; Rom. 13:1-5; Titus 3:1; 1 Peter 2:13-17)