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The Holy Scriptures.
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and
New Testament to be the verbally and plenary inspired
Word of God. The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible
and God-breathed and, therefore, are the final
authority for faith and life. The sixty-six books
of the Old and New Testament are the complete
and divine revelation of God to Man. The Scriptures
shall be interpreted according to their normal
grammatical-historical meaning, and all issues
of interpretation and meaning shall be determined
by the pastor. The King James Version of the Bible
shall be the official and only translation used
by the church. (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21)
Dispensationalism.
We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in
their natural, literal sense reveal divinely determined
dispensations or rules of life which define man’s
responsibilities in successive ages. These dispensations
are not ways of salvation, but rather are divinely
ordered stewardships by which God directs man
according to His purpose. Three of these dispensations—the
law, the church, and the kingdom—are the
subjects of detailed revelation in Scripture.
(Gen. 1:28; 1 Cor. 9:17; 2 Cor. 3:9-18; Gal. 3:13-25;
Eph. 1:10; 3:2-10; Col. 1:24-25, 27; Rev. 20:2-6)
The Godhead.
We believe in one triune God, eternally existing
in three persons¬—Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit—each co-eternal in being, co-identical
in nature, coequal in power and glory, and having
the same attributes and perfections. (Deut. 6:4;
Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; John 14:10, 26)
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 men.
(Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-2, 14;
2 Cor. 5:19-21; Gal. 4:4-5; Phil. 2:5-8)
- 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. (Acts 2:18-36; Rom. 3:24-25; 1 Pet.
2:24; Eph. 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 1:9-10; Heb. 9:24; 7:25;
Rom. 8:34; 1 John 2:1-2)
The Person and
Work of the Holy Spirit.
- We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person
who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness,
and of judgment; and, that He is the Supernatural
Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers
into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing
them unto the day of redemption. (John 16:8-11;
Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:12-14; 2 Cor. 3:6; Eph.
1:13-14)
- We believe that He is the divine Teacher who
assists believers to understand and appropriate
the Scriptures and that it is the privilege
and duty of all the saved to be filled with
the Spirit (Eph. 1:17-18; 5:18; 1 John 2:20,
27)
- We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowal
of spiritual gifts to every believer. God uniquely
uses evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip
believers in the assembly in order that they
can do the work of the ministry. (Rom. 12:3-8;
1 Cor. 12:4-11, 28; Eph. 4:7-12)
- We believe that the sign gifts of the Holy
Spirit, such as speaking in tongues and the
gift of healing, were temporary. Speaking in
tongues was never the common or necessary sign
of the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit,
and that ultimate deliverance of the body from
sickness or death awaits the consummation of
our salvation in the resurrection, though God
frequently chooses to answer the prayers of
believers for physical healing. (1 Cor. 1:22;
13:8; 14:21-22)
The Total Depravity
of Man. We believe that man was
created in the image and likeness of God; but
that in Adam’s sin the human race fell,
inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated
from God. Man is totally depraved and, of himself,
utterly unable to remedy his lost condition. (Gen.
1:26-27; Rom. 3:22-23; 5:12; 6:23; Eph. 2:1-3;
4:17-19)
Salvation. We believe that salvation is the gift
of God brought to man by grace and received by
personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Whose
precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness
of our sins. We believe that all sins, except
blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, are forgivable.
(John 1:12; Eph. 1:7; 2:8-10; 1 Pet. 1:18-19;
Matt. 12:31-32; 1 John 1:9)
The Eternal Security
and Assurance of Believers
- We believe that all the redeemed, once saved,
are kept by God’s power and are thus secure
in Christ forever. (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30;
Rom. 8:1; 38-39; 1 Cor. 1:4-8; 1 Pet. 1:4-5)
- We believe that 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. (Rom. 13:13-14;
Gal. 5:13; Titus 2:11-15)
The Church
- We believe that the local church, which is
the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is
solely made up of born-again persons. (1 Cor.
12:12-14; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 1:22-23; 5:25-27)
- We believe that the establishment and continuance
of local churches is clearly taught and defined
in the New Testament Scriptures. (Acts 14:27;
20:17, 28-32; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11)
- We believe in the autonomy of the local church
free of any external authority or control. (Acts
13:1-4; 15:19-31; 20:28; Rom. 16:1, 4; 1 Cor.
3:9, 16; 5:4-7, 13; 1 Pet. 5:1-4)
- We recognize water baptism and the Lord’s
Supper as the Scriptural ordinances of obedience
for the church in this age. (Matt. 28:19-20;
Acts 2:41-42; 18:18; 1 Cor. 11:23-26)
Separation.
We believe that all the saved should live in such
a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior
and Lord. God commands His people to separate
from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful
pleasures, practices, and associations, and to
refrain from all immodest and immoderate appearances,
piercings, and bodily markings. (Rom. 12:1-2;
14:13; 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; 1 John 2:15-17;
2 John 9-11; Lev. 19:28; 1 Cor. 6:19-20)
The Second Advent
of Christ. We believe in that
blessed hope, the personal, imminent return of
Christ Who will rapture His church prior to the
seven-year tribulation period. At the end of the
Tribulation, Christ will personally and visibly
return with His saints, to establish His earthly
Messianic Kingdom which was promised to the nation
of Israel. (Ps. 89:3-4; Dan. 2:31-45; Zech. 14:4-11;
I Thess. 1:10; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; Rev.
3:10; 19:11-16; 20:1-6)
The Eternal State.
- We believe in the bodily resurrection of all
men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved
to judgment and everlasting punishment. (Matt.
25:46; John 5:28, 29; 11:25-26; Rev. 20:5-6,
12-13)
- We believe that the souls of the redeemed
are, at death, absent from the body and present
with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they
await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul,
and body are reunited to be glorified forever
with the Lord. (Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil.
1:23; 3:21; I Thess. 4:16-17; Rev. 20:4-6)
- We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain,
after death, in conscious punishment and torment
until the second resurrection, when with soul
and body reunited, they shall appear at the
Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be cast
into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated,
but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment
and torment. (Matt. 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48;
Luke 16:19-26; 2 Thess. 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Rev.
20:11-15)
The Personality
of Satan. We believe that Satan
is a person, the author of sin and the cause of
the Fall of Man; 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; Isa.
14:12-17; Matt. 4:2-11; 25:41; Rev. 20:10)
Creation.
We believe that God created the universe in six
literal, 24-hour periods. We reject evolution,
the Gap Theory, the Day-Age Theory, and Theistic
Evolution as unscriptural theories of origin.
(Gen. 1-2; Ex. 20:11)
Civil Government.
We believe that God has ordained and created all
authority consisting of three basic institutions:
1) the home, 2) the church, and 3) the state.
Every person is subject to these authorities,
but all (including the authorities themselves)
are answerable to God and governed by His Word.
God has given each institution specific Biblical
responsibilities and balanced those responsibilities
with the understanding that no institution has
the right to infringe upon the other. The home,
the church, and the state are equal and sovereign
in their respective Biblically assigned spheres
of responsibility under God. (Rom. 13:1-7; Eph.
5:22-24; Heb. 13:17; 1 Pet. 2:13-14)
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