Statement of Beliefs

I. GOD—We believe that there is one, and only one ,true and living God, and that He is revealed in the unity of the Godhead.  We believe that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are the three personalities of the one God. (Deut. 4:35; Matt. 28:19; II Cor. 13:14; 1 John 5:7).



II. THE SCRIPTURES—We believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Scriptures; that the whole Bible from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 was written by men supernaturally and verbally inspired, that it is inerrant and infallible, and that it is a perfect treasure of Holy instruction.  We believe that the Bible is our sole rule for faith and practice (II Tim. 3:16, 17; 1 Cor. 2:13; II Peter 1:21).



III. CREATION—We believe in the Genesis account of creation: that God created the heaven and the earth in six literal days; that He created all things for His own pleasure and glory, as revealed in the biblical account of creation, and that man was created in the image of God, distinct from, and eminently higher than all forms of lower life (Gen. 1:1-2:7; John 1:2, 3; Col. 1:16, 17; Rev. 4:11).



IV. SATAN AND ANGELS—We believe that God created an innumerable host of spirit beings called angels.   Holy angels worship God and execute His will; while fallen angels serve Satan who led these angels in rebellion against God, and with them was cast out of heaven.  Satan is an actual angelic person and operates today as the “god of this world” and the “prince of the power of the air,” seeking to blind sinners to the good news of the gospel and to frustrate the saints in their endeavors to grow in grace and be used of God in the carrying out of His purposes on earth (Ps. 103:19,20; Job 1:6; 2:1-7; 2 Cor. 4:4;; Eph. 2:2; 1 Pet. 5:8; Rev. 20:10).



V. THE FALL OF MAN—We believe that man was created in a state of holiness, under the law of his Maker; but by voluntary transgression fell from that holy and happy state; in consequence of which all mankind are now sinners, not by constraint but choice; that man is by nature utterly void of that holiness required by the law of God, wholly given to the gratification of the world, of Satan, and of his own sinful passions, and is therefore under just condemnation to eternal ruin, without defense or excuse (Gen. 3:6-24; Ps. 51:5; Isa. 53:6; Rom. 3:10-23; 5:12; Eph. 2:1-3).



VI. SALVATION—We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace; through the Mediatorial Offices of the Son of God, who [by the appointment of the Father, freely] took upon Him our nature, yet without sin; honored the [divine] law by His personal obedience, and made atonement for our sins by His death; being risen from the dead He is now enthroned in heaven, where He now makes intercession for the saved.  Anyone who will exercise repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved, and this salvation is based wholly on the grace of God apart from works (Isa. 53:1-12; 2 Cor. 5:21; Eph. 2:8, 9; Phil. 2:5-11; Titus 3:5; 1 Pet. 1:18, 19; Acts 20:20, 21; Rom. 10:17).



VII. POSITIONAL AND PROGRESSIVE SANCTIFICATION AND THE SECURITY OF THE BELIEVER—We believe that when one exercises repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, they are positionally sanctified; made holy by God and set apart to Him immediately and once and for all.  At this time a progressive and practical sanctification is made possible, whereby the believer is responsible for the manifestation of practical holiness of life.   Positional sanctification has to do with our becoming holy, effects our standing in a permanent way, and is therefore constant.  Practical sanctification has to do with our behaving in a holy way, determines our spiritual state on a day to day basis and is therefore progressive and subject to change.  (Acts 26:15-18; 1 Cor. 6:9-11; 1 Pet. 1:1, 2; Heb. 10:10, 14; 1 Thess. 1:9; 4:3-5; 1 Pet. 1:15, 16; Heb. 12:14).



VIII. THE SECURITY OF THE BELIEVER—We believe that all those who have experienced the new birth are kept by the power of God, are eternally secure in Jesus Christ, and will bring forth good works and other such things that accompany salvation as evidence of the indwelling and the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives (John 5:24; 10:27-30; Rom. 8:28-39; 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 1:12-14; Phil. 1:6; 1 Pet. 1:3-5; 2 Pet. 1:4;Heb. 7:24, 25; 13:5; Eph. 2:8-10; 2 Cor. 5:17; Heb. 6:9).



IX. THE CHURCH—We believe that the New Testament church was founded by Jesus Christ during His personal ministry on earth.  We believe in the perpetuity of the church; that there have been New Testament churches on the earth since His personal, earthly ministry and that they will continue to be here until He returns. The New Testament church is a local, visible body of baptized believers covenanted together to carry out the Great Commission; observe the ordinances Christ has placed in the church and maintain discipline within the body. Its only proper officers are Pastors, and Deacons, whose qualifications, claims, and duties are defined in the Epistles to Timothy and Titus. Each local church is autonomous, recognizing Jesus only as her Head, and the Bible only as her rule for faith and practice.  The church is the pillar and the ground of truth (Matt. 16:18; 18:165-19; 28:19,20; Acts 2:41-47; Eph. 5:23; Col. 1:18; 1 Tim. 3:15).



X. BAPTISM AND THE LORD’S SUPPER—We believe that Christ has set two ordinances in the church: baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  New Testament churches only have been given divine authority to administer these ordinances, and both of them are to be observed under the auspices of local visible New Testament churches. Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, is symbolic of ones faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, and is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership.  The Lord’s Supper is the commemoration, through the sacred use of bread and the fruit of the vine, of our Lord’s sacrifice of His body and His blood for our salvation.  It also commemorates His promise to return and receive us unto Himself.  It should always be preceded by solemn self-examination.  It is to be administered only by the authority of a local New Testament church and is to be partaken of only by those who are members of that church (Matt. 28:18-20;Luke 22:19, 20; I Cor. 11:23-26).



XI. HEAVEN AND HELL—We believe in a literal hell, originally prepared for the devil and his angels where immediately after their death, the unsaved will suffer irreversible separation from God and fiery punishment until the resurrection of the lost, at which time their spirits will be reunited with their bodies, and they will be judged by at the Great White Throne Judgment by Jesus Christ whom they refused to receive as Lord and Savior and must then face as their Judge.  After this they will be cast in a state of consciousness into the lake of fire where they will remain forever.  We also believe in a literal heaven, where the saved go immediately upon death into the presence of the Lord to enjoy the comforts that He has prepared for all of the redeemed (2 Cor. 5:6-8; Matt. 25:41; Mark 9:44-49; Luke 16:19-31; John 14:1-3; 1 Pet. 1:3, 4; Heb. 12:22-24; Rev. 14:13).



XII. LAST THINGS—We believe in the imminent, premillenial return of Jesus Christ.  He will first come in the air to rapture or catch up His saints to be with Him, at which time the dead in Christ shall rise first and the bodies of departed saints shall be glorified and reunited with their spirits from heaven.  Then, in the twinkling of an eye those saints who are alive on earth at His coming shall also be caught up with Him in the air.  This constitutes the resurrection of the just who shall then face judgment for their faithfulness and stewardship at the Judgment Seat of Christ where they will be rewarded or suffer loss of reward and chastisement.  Meanwhile, the earth will experience a time of Great Tribulation while its inhabitants exhibit a global and unprecedented defiance of God.  Seven years after the rapture and the resurrection and judgment of the just, the Lord will return all the way to earth and execute the defeat of all those who have opposed Him.  Satan will be bound for a thousand years during which time Christ will rule and reign personally with His saints over the earth.  After which there will be a second resurrection; all of the unsaved since the beginning of time will be judged at the Great White Throne Judgment and cast into the lake of fire.  The eternal age will then commence with a new heaven and a new earth which shall be the final and everlasting abode of God’s people (I Thess. 4:13-17; Phil. 3:20; John 5:24-29; I Cor. 15:20-28; 51-57; Matt. 25:31-46; 1 Cor. 3:11-15; II Cor. 5:10;1 John 3:1-3 Rev. 20:11-15).