Faith

The Holy Scriptures

We believe the Holy Scriptures of both the Old and the New Testaments to be the verbally inspired, completed Word of God, and the final authority for faith and life, inerrant and infallible in the original writings. (2 Timothy 3:16,17; 2 Peter 1:20,21; Isaiah 8:20; Psalm 119:105; Revelation 22:19)

The Godhead

We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – co-equal in power and glory. (Deuteronomy 6:4; 2 Corinthians 13:14)

The Person and Work of 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 man. (John 1:1,2; John 1:14; Luke 1:35)

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)

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; Hebrews 9:24; Romans 8:34; 1 John 1:1,2)

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ shall return to the earth at an hour known only to the Heavenly Father, and that because the time of His coming is hidden, believers should live in a state and attitude of constant readiness for His return. We believe that in God’s proper time there shall be a Tribulation period, and that the Lord Jesus Christ shall set up His Millennial Kingdom on the earth. (Titus 2:15; John 14:3; Revelation 19:11-16; 20:1-6; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

The Work of the Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, and that He indwells the souls of all believers, sealing them unto the day of redemption. (John 16:8-11; 2 Corinthians 3:6; 1 Corinthians 12:12,13; Romans 8:9; Ephesians 1:13,14)

We believe that He is the divine Teacher who guides believers into all truth, speaking in the Scriptures, and that it is the privilege as well as the duty of all the saved to be filled with and controlled by the Spirit. (John 16:13; Ephesians 5:18)

We believe sanctification in the Holy Spirit to be the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled, step by step, to live unto righteousness and true holiness. (Ephesians 4:23,24; Romans 6:6; 6:14; 8:4; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Hebrews 12:14)

We believe that the spiritual gift of tongues as an evidence of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit ceased with the close of the Apostolic period of church history, and that any so-called charismatic utterances in this present age are not ordained of God. (1 Corinthians 14:20-22; 13:8-11)

Creation

We believe that God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in the beginning, by the word of His power, made from nothing the heavens and the earth and all things therein within the space of six days, and all very good. (Genesis 1; Exodus 20:11; Jeremiah 10:12; John 1:3)

The Personality of Satan

We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin, and the cause of the fall; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; 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)

The Total Depravity of Man

We believe that man was created in the image of God, but that in Adam’s sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God. We believe that man is, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition. (Genesis 1:26,27; Romans 3:22,23; Ephesians 2:1-3; Romans 5:12)

Salvation

We believe that salvation is the gift of God, apart from works, brought to man by grace and received by repentance from sin and by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His shed blood. (Ephesians 2:8,9; John 1:12; 1 Peter 1:18,19; Hebrews 10:19; 12:24; 9:25, 26; Revelation 1:5)

The Assurance of Believers

We believe 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 and clearly warns believers to avoid unbelief and licentiousness. (Romans 13:13,14; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11-15; Hebrews 3:12,13; 6:9)

The Two Natures of Believers

We believe that throughout this earthly life 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. We believe that final and complete victory shall be accomplished at our glorification after this life is spent. (Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:10; Romans 6:13; 1 John 3:5-10)

Obligations of Believers

We believe that it is the obligation of the redeemed to witness by life and by word to the truths of the Holy Scriptures and to seek to proclaim the Gospel to all mankind. All believers are under obligation, therefore, to sustain established witnesses and to contribute by prayers, gifts, and personal effort to the extension of the Gospel throughout the whole earth. (Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:19,20)