What We Believe

What is our Statement of Faith? {What will we believe?}

Section 1. The Bible

We believe the Holy Scriptures to be plenary-verbally inspired, the very Word of God, authoritative, infallible and inerrant in the original writings (autographs). Matthew 5:18; John 16:12-13; II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:20-21

Section 2. The Godhead

We believe in one God, eternally existing in three Persons, identical in nature, equal in power and glory and having the same attributes and perfection. Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19-20; II Corinthians 13:14

Section 3. The Person and Work of Jesus Christ

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful man. We believe that He accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a voluntary, substitutionary sacrifice. We believe that our redemption is made sure by His literal, bodily resurrection from the dead. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is now in heaven exalted at the right hand of God, where as the High Priest for His people, He fulfills the ministries of Representative, Intercessor and Advocate. Luke 1:35; John 1:1-2; Romans 3:24-25, 4:25, 8:34; Hebrews 7:25, 9:24; I Peter 1:3-5; I John 2:1-2

Section 4. The Person of the Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a Person who convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment, indwells all believers of this present age, baptizes them into the Body of Christ, the Church, gifts all believers with an ability for the mutual growth of the Body, seals all believers unto the day of redemption and that it is the duty of all believers to be filled with the Spirit in order to live submissively to Scripture. John 16:8-11; Romans 8:4; I Corinthians 12; Ephesians 1:13-14, 4:5; Colossians 3:16

Section 5. Man

We believe that man, male and female, was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s rebellion the human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, became alienated from God and is totally incapable of remedying his lost condition. We believe in the literal historicity of Genesis 1-3; Genesis 1:26-27; Matthew 19; Romans 3:22-23, 5:12

Section 6. Salvation

We believe that salvation is a free gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ whose precious blood was shed for the forgiveness of our sins. We believe that all true believers, once saved, are kept secure forever by the power of God, as God Himself promised. However, a believer by disobedience can mar his fellowship with God, lose his joy and testimony and incur the Father’s loving discipline. While we do not believe good works are meritorious in obtaining salvation, we do believe that good works are an evidence of salvation. John 1:12, 3:16, 10:27-30; Romans 8:38-39; I Corinthians 1:4-8; Ephesians 1:7, 13-14, 2:8-10; Hebrews 12:9-11; I John 1

Section 7. The Church

We believe that the Church of Jesus Christ began at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the believers baptizing them into the Body of Christ. We believe in the spiritual, universal organism (Body) of Christ of which He is the Head and all true believers are a part. We believe that the universal Body is manifest in the local churches which are to fulfill the Lord’s commands to announce the Gospel to everyone and to be a witness, support and pillar of God’s Truth. Acts 2; I Corinthians 12; Ephesians 2:21; Colossians 1:24; I Timothy 3:15

Section 8. The Ordinances

We believe the Lord Jesus left for the obedience of His people two ordinances, memorial in character, which are to be observed during this present age: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism, by immersion in water in the name of the Triune God, is to identify the believer publicly with Jesus Christ and His people. The Lord’s Supper, consisting of bread as a symbol of Christ’s body and grape juice as a symbol of Christ’s shed blood, is a memorial of His sacrifice in securing our redemption to be observed until He returns. We believe that only believers should partake of the elements of the Lord’s Supper after careful, prayerful evaluation of their walk with God. Matthew 26:26-29, 28:19; Acts 2:1, 8:36-38, 10:47-48; I Corinthians 11:27-3l

Section 9. Marriage and Sexuality

We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. We believe that the term “marriage” has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other. We believe that God has commanded that no person engage in intimate sexual activity outside of a marriage. Gen 1:26-27; Gen 2:18-25; 1 Cor 6:18, 7:2-5; Heb 13:4

Section 10. The Gifts of the Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit sovereignly bestows gifts upon the church (all genuine believers) and that the New Testament recognizes “greater” and “lesser” gifts. We do not deny that God can bestow any gift, including tongues, but because the present day tongues movement does not clearly correspond with the Biblical gift of known languages, both in purpose and in practice, we choose to exclude this practice from our fellowship and worship. Acts 2; I Corinthians 12-14; Ephesians 4; I Peter 4

Section 11. Satan

We believe in the personality of Satan, who is the open and declared enemy of God and God’s people, the destroyer of human lives and whose destiny is eternal punishment. Job 1:6-7; John 10:10; Ephesians 6:10-20; Revelation 20:10

Section 12. The Second Advent of Jesus Christ

We believe in the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ before the promised Millennial Kingdom to execute His righteous rule over this earth. Zechariah 14:4-11; I Corinthians 15:51-53; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 20:6

Section 13. The Eternal State

We believe that the spirits of those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation do at death immediately pass into His presence, and there remain in conscious joy until the resurrection of their glorified body at His coming, when spirit and body will be reunited to be with the Lord forever in glory; but the unbeliever’s spirit remains after death in continual torment until the final judgment of the Great White Throne, when spirit and body will be reunited and cast into the lake of fire forever, not to be annihilated, but to be punished away from the presence of the Lord forever. Luke 16:19-26, 23:43; II Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; II Thessalonians 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Revelation 20:11-15