Statements of Faith

Statements of Faith

We accept the scriptures as our only authority in matters of faith and practice and our interpretation of Bible Doctrine leads us inexorably to believe:

 

The scriptures of the Old and New Testament as being verbally inspired by God and inerrant and infallible in the original writings, and that they are of supreme and final authority.

 

In one God eternally existing in one essence, yet co-equal persons, the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each of whom possesses equally all the attributes of Deity and the characteristics of personality.

 

Jesus Christ is God, the living Word, who became flesh through His miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit and His virgin birth. For that reason, He is perfect Deity and true humanity united in one person forever.

 

That Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Trinity, was both fully man and fully God. I believe in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His substitutionary and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father and His present life there as High priest and Advocate for us.

 

In the blessed hope, which is the personal, visible and imminent return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

 

That the Lord lived a sinless life and voluntarily atoned for sins of mankind by dying on the cross as their substitute, thus satisfying divine justice and accomplishing salvation for all who trust in Him alone.

 

In the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, Who convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. He is the life of the believer and He empowers the preaching and teaching of the Gospel.

 

That the Holy Spirit has come into the world to reveal and glorify Christ and to apply the saving work of Christ to men. He convicts and draws sinners to Christ, imparts new life in them, continually indwells them from the moment of spiritual birth and seals them until the day of redemption. His fullness, power and control are appropriated in the believer’s life by faith.

 

That salvation of man is wholly a work of God’s free grace and not the work, in whole or in part, of human works or goodness or religious ceremony. God imputes His righteousness to those who put their faith on Christ alone for their salvation, and thereby justified them in His sight.

 

It is the privilege of all who are born again of the Spirit to be assured of their salvation from the very moment in which they trust Christ as their Savior. This assurance is not based upon any kind of human merit or lifestyle, but is produced by the witness of the Holy Spirit, who confirms in the believer the testimony of God in His written word. That a person who sincerely has accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior cannot under any circumstance lose their salvation albeit carnal lifestyle or unconfessed sin.

 

Every believer is called to live so in the power of the indwelling Spirit that he will not fulfill the lust of the flesh but will bear fruit to the glory of God.

 

That mankind was created in the image of God, sinned, and thereby incurred not only physical death, but spiritual death, which is separation from God, and that all human beings are born with a sinful nature.

 

Man’s nature is corrupted, and he is thus totally unable to please God. Every man is in need of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

 

In the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost in hell and the fellowship of the saved in heaven.

 

In the existence of a personal devil, who is still working in the world to destroy the souls of men and that he and all his angels and all who do not receive Christ as their personal Savior will eternally perish in the lake of fire.

 

In the Church, whose mission it is to preach the Scriptures to the entire world, all of its endeavors being guided by multiple leadership and supported by the wise stewardship of God’s people.

 

That the ordinances of the Church, given by the Lord, are Baptism and the Lord’s Table (Communion).

 

Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, His Body, which is composed of all men and women, living and dead, who have been joined to Him through saving faith.

 

God admonishes His people to assemble together for worship, for participation in ordinances, for edification through the Scriptures and for mutual encouragement.