The Scriptures
We believe that the Holy Bible as originally written was verbally inspired and is the product of Spirit‑controlled men, and therefore has truth without any admixture of error for its matter. We believe the Bible to be the true center of Christian union and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds and opinions shall be tried.
2 Tim 3:16-3:17; 2 Pet 1:19-1:21
The True God
FATHER. We believe that there is only one living and true God, infinite in every excellence; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three personal distinctions‑‑The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit‑‑yet one in substance and equal in every divine perfection.
Exod 20:2-20:3; 1 Cor 8:6; 1 John 5:7
SON. We believe in the absolute deity of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ; that He was divine as no other man can be, being very God of very God, existing from all eternity, co‑equal with the Father and the Spirit; that He never ceased to be God for one instant and that His humiliation did not consist in laying aside His deity; and that as man He was miraculously begotten of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
John 1:1-1:2; 1 John 5:20; Matt 1:20; Luke 1:26-1:38.
HOLY SPIRIT. We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, equal with the Father and the Son, and of the same substance and nature; that He convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment, bears witness to the truth, is the Agent of the new birth, and that He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses to, sanctifies, and helps the believer, indwelling every true child of God.
2 Cor 13:14; John 14:16-14:17; Rom 8:14-8:27; Eph 1:13-1:14; Acts 11:16
The Devil, or Satan
We believe in the distinct personality of Satan, that he is the unholy god of this age, author of all powers of darknessand sin, and is destined to the judgment of an eternal justice in the lake of fire.
Matt. 4:1-4:3; 2 Cor 4:4; Rev. 20:10.
The Creation
We believe that God created the heavens and the earth, including all life, each after its own kind, by direct act and not by the process of evolution.
Gen 1:1-2:50; Col 1:16-1:17; John 1:3
The Fall Of Man
We believe that man is the highest of earthly beings created by God and in His image. In the person of the first Adam, man was created in innocence, but by voluntary transgression fell into sin, thus plunging the whole race into condemnation and death, so that now all mankind is born in sin and shaped in iniquity and become willful sinners with the first expression of personal choice, and so are without excuse before God.
Gen 3; Rom 5:12, Rom 5:19; Rom. 1:18, Rom 1:32; Psa 51.
The Atonement For Sin
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 laws by His personal obedience, and by His death made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins; that His atonement consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was a voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner's place, the just dying for the unjust, Christ the Lord bearing our sins in His own body on the tree; that, having risen from the dead, He is now enthroned in heaven, uniting in His wonderful person the tenderest sympathies with divine perfection; that He is in every way qualified to be a suitable, compassionate, and all‑sufficient Saviour.
Eph 2:8; Acts 15:11; Rom 3:24; John 3:16; Matt 18:11; Phil 2:7; Heb 2:14; Isa 53:4-53:7; Rom. 3:25; 1 John 4:10; 1 Cor. 15:3; 2 Cor. 5:21.
The Resurrected Christ
We believe in the literal, physical, bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the tomb; that after three days He arose from the dead a mighty conqueror over sin and the grave; that Christ experienced a victorious resurrection.
Matt 28:6-28:7; Luke 24:39; John 20:27; 1 Cor 15:4; Mark 16:6; Luke 24:2-24:6.
The Ascended And Interceding Christ
We believe that after His post‑resurrection ministry Jesus Christ ascended into heaven; that He returned to the glory from which He came at the time of His incarnation; that this ascension to the Father was in a real, tangible, resurrected body; and that He is at the present time in a glorified human body at the right hand of the Father.
Acts 1:1-1:11; Luke 24:51; Mark 16:19; Rev 3:21; Heb 12:2; Heb 8:6; 1 Tim 2:5; 1 John 2:1; Heb. 2:17; Heb 5:9-5:10.
Faith And Salvation
We believe that man is totally unable to save himself, or in any way come up to God's standard of righteousness, and therefore must receive salvation from God Himself. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation. Acts 16:31.
We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be born again; that the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus, that it is instantaneous and not a process; that in the new birth the one dead in trespasses and sins is made a partaker of the divine nature and receives eternal life, the free gift of God, making him eternally secure in Christ; that the new creation is brought about in a manner above our comprehension, solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the gospel; that its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance and faith and newness of life.
John 1:12; John 3:3, John 6-8; John 10:28-10:29; Acts 16:30-16:33; Rom 6:23; Rom 8:35-8:39; 2 Cor. 5:17, 2 Cor 5:19; Eph 2:1, Eph 8-9; Phil 1:6; Col 2:13; 2 Pet. 1:4; 1 John 5:1
Justification
We believe that the great gospel blessing which Christ secures to those who believe in Him is justification.
a. The justification includes the pardon of sin and the gift of eternal life, on principles of righteousness.
b. That it is bestowed not in consideration of any works of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in the Redeemer's blood, His righteousness is imputed unto us. Isa 53:11; Zech 13:1; Acts 13:39; Rom 5:1, Rom 5:9; Rom 8:1
The Church
a. We believe that the Church Universal is a New Testament institution unknown to the Old Testament prophets, established by Jesus Christ, Who is its sole Head, revealed through the holy apostles, empowered and perpetuated by the Holy Spirit; that in His "body" for service and His "bride" for glory; that it began with the New Testament saints and will be consummated at the coming of Christ in the Rapture.
Matt. 16:18; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:1-13:13, Acts 41-47; Acts 15:15; Rom 16:26; 1 Cor 12:12-12:28; Eph 1:22-1:23; Eph 3:21; Eph 5:28-5:33; 1 Thes 4:13-4:18.
b. We believe that the Church Universal is manifest through the local church, which is a congregation of immersed believers associated by covenant of faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, and exercising the gifts, rights and privileges invested in it by His Word; that its officers are bishops (or pastors) and deacons; that it has the absolute right of self‑government, free from the interference of an hierarchy of individuals or organizations; and that its one and only superintendent is Christ, through the Holy Spirit; that it is scriptural for true churches to cooperate with one another in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the gospel; that each local church is the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation; that in all matters of membership, polity, government, discipline and benevolence, the will of the local church is final.
Acts 2:41-2:42; Acts 30:17-30:28; 1 Cor 11:2, Eph 1:22-1:23; Eph 4:11; Eph 5:23-5:24; Col 1:18; 1 Tim. 3:17.
The Ordinances
a. We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of the believer in water to show forth in solemn and beautiful emblem our faith in the crucified, buried and risen Saviour, with its effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life; that it is prerequisite to the privileges of a church relation.
b. We believe that the Lord's Supper is the commemoration of His death "until He come", and should be preceded always by solemn self‑examination.
Matt. 3:16; John 3:23; Acts 8:36-8:39; Rom. 6:3-6:6; 1 Cor. 11:23-11:28; Col 2:12
The Security Of The Saints
We believe that all who are truly born again are kept by God the Father for Jesus Christ.
John 10:28-10:29; Phil 1:6; Jude 1.
The Righteous And The Wicked
We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that only those who through faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and sanctified by the Spirit of God are truly righteous in His esteem; while all those who continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked and under the curse; and that this distinction obtains among men both in and after death, in the everlasting felicity of the saved and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost.
Gen 18:23; Prov 14:32; Mal 3:18; Matt 25:34-25:41; Luke 16:19-16:21; John 8:21; Rom 6:17-6:18, Rom 23, Rom 7:6; 1 John 5:19
The Return Of Christ
a. We believe in the bodily, personal, imminent, pre‑millennial return of the Lord Jesus Christ; that He will come in the air before the tribulation period to catch away His church, and that He will come with His church at the close of the tribulation period to judge the living nations and to set us His kingdom on the earth.
b. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the believer; that those who sleep in Jesus will be raised at the coming of Christ for His church, and will be caught up with transformed living saints to meet the Lord in the air; that the wicked dead will be raised at the close of the Millennial Kingdom and stand at the Great White Throne Judgment to receive their final doom.
John 5:21-5:30; Acts 1:11; 1 Thes 4:13-4:18; 1 Thes 5:9; Heb. 9:28; James 5:8; Rev 7:9-7:17; Rev 20:11-20:15.
Heaven
We believe in a real, literal heaven ‑ a place of bliss and blessedness to which the righteous (saved) go and in which they will forever consciously enjoy God and His presence.
John 14:2-14:3; 2 Cor 12:2; Col 1:5; Heb 11:16; Heb 12:22-12:23; 1 Peter 1:3-1:5; Rev 21:2.
Hell
We believe in a real, literal hell ‑ a place of torment to which the wicked (unsaved) go and in which they will forever consciously experience punishment and banishment from the presence of the Lord.
Matt 5:22; Matt 10:28; Matt 23:15, Matt 23:33; Mark 9:43, Mark 9:45, Mark 9:47; Luke 12:5; James 3:6; Rev. 19:20; Rev 20:10, Rev 20:14, Rev 20:15; Rev 21:8.
Separation
a. We believe every Christian should be experientially separated from the world unto God; that believers are in the world but not of it; that the Christian is not to love the world nor to be conformed thereto; that he is a pilgrim and a stranger here and should walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.
Col 3:1-3:10; 1 John 2:5-2:17.
b. We believe that this church should neither aid nor abet apostasy.
