1. The Word of God:
We believe that the Bible, consisting of 39 Old Testament books and 27 New Testament books, is the verbally and plenarily (extending equally and fully to all parts of the writings) inspired or God-breathed Word of God, His written revelation to man, recorded by selected men without error in the original writings, and that it is, therefore, the supreme and final authority in all matters of doctrine, faith, and life, and that there are no other writings similarly inspired by God. (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21; 1 Cor. 2:13)
2. The Godhead:
We believe in one Triune God, existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, eternal in being having precisely the same nature, attributes and perfections and worthy of precisely the same homage, confidence, and obedience. (Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13-14)
A. Father:
We believe that the Father, the first person of the Trinity, eternally God, is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ and of all those who believe in the Lord as their Savior. (Matt. 3:17; Eph. 1:3-4; 1 John 3:1)
B. Son:
We believe that the second person of the Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ, eternally 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; and that as the impeccable God-man, He accomplished redemption for humanity and propitiation before God through His death by the shedding of His blood on the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice; that our redemption is made sure to us by His literal physical resurrection from the dead (John 1:12, 14-18, 20:25; Lk. 1:35, 1 John 2:2); that the Lord Jesus Christ is now in heaven, exalted at the right hand of God, whereas High Priest for His people, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate.
(Heb. 4:14; Rom. 8:34; 1 John 2:1)
C. Holy Spirit:
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, eternally God, who convicts the unsaved of sin, righteousness, and judgment; who regenerates, indwells, baptizes and seals each believer at the moment of salvation, and desires to control his life to empower him for service and to bring about the changed life. (Eph. 1:13; John 16:8-11; Gal. 5:16-24; Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:13)
3. The Nature and Depravity of Man:
We believe that mankind was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, became alienated from God, and is totally unable, by his own efforts, to please God or reverse his lost condition. (Gen. 1:26-27; Rom. 3:23-24; 5:12; Eph. 2:12)
4. Salvation:
We believe that because of universal death through sin, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless born again. This spiritual regeneration is wholly a work of God and is not induced nor aided by any attempts at moral reform or by participation in any ordinance or sacrament whatever. Salvation is a gracious gift of God, which is received by personally trusting in the death of Jesus Christ as the only substitute for the penalty of sin. (Eph. 1:7; 2:8-9; John 1:12, 3:5-18; Rom. 5: 6-9; Titus 3:5; Acts 4:12)
5. Plan of God:
We believe that in the beginning, God created out of nothing the world and all the things in it, thereby manifesting the glory of His power, wisdom, and goodness. By this sovereign power, He continues to sustain His creation and by His providence, He orders the affairs of men and nations according to His own wise eternal plan. (Gen. 1:1; Eph. 1:10, 20-22)
6. The Eternal Security of Believers:
We believe that all who have received Christ as Savior are kept secure forever. (Rom. 8:1, 38-39; John 6:35-58, 10:27-30, 17:9, 12; 1 Cor. 1:4-8)
7. The Church:
We believe that the Church, which began at Pentecost, is the body and bride of Christ, a spiritual organism made up of all born-again persons of this present age irrespective of their affiliation with Christian organizations. We also believe that it is God’s basic organizational plan to utilize the Church on the local level for the training, worship, and ministry of believers as well as a mechanism of outreach to those who do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. (Eph. 1:22-23, 5:25-27; 1 Cor. 12:12-14)
8. Ordinances:
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ instituted the ordinances of water baptism and the Lord’s Supper to be observed by His Church until His return. (Matt. 28:18-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-26)
9. The Normal Christian Life:
A. The Walk:
1. It is the privilege and duty of every believer to be habitually controlled by the indwelling Holy Spirit and to manifest a changed life consistent with his profession. (Gal. 5:16; Rom. 8:1-11)
2. We believe that the basic conditions for the Spirit-controlled life are:
2. We believe that the basic conditions for the Spirit-controlled life are:
A. the attitude of dependence on the Spirit to control every area of the believer’s life and,
B. obedience to the Word of God known by the believer at that time. (1John 1:7-9)
B. obedience to the Word of God known by the believer at that time. (1John 1:7-9)
B. Service:
1. We believe that each believer possesses at least one spiritual gift for service and should exercise that gift with spiritual power. (1 Cor. 12:4-11)
2. We believe that every believer is to witness for the Lord Jesus Christ as directed by the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:8; 1 Pet. 3:15)
3. We believe that, apart from salvation, rewards are promised according to the faithfulness of each believer in his service for his Lord, and that these rewards will be bestowed at the judgment seat of Christ after He comes to receive His own to Himself. (1 Cor. 3:9-15; 9:18-27; 2 Cor. 5:10)
2. We believe that every believer is to witness for the Lord Jesus Christ as directed by the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:8; 1 Pet. 3:15)
3. We believe that, apart from salvation, rewards are promised according to the faithfulness of each believer in his service for his Lord, and that these rewards will be bestowed at the judgment seat of Christ after He comes to receive His own to Himself. (1 Cor. 3:9-15; 9:18-27; 2 Cor. 5:10)
10. The Christian Home:
We believe that God has instituted the home as the primary means of rearing children and instructing them in the faith and that the quality of the home is instrumental in developing spiritual character. We are firmly committed to assisting people to fulfill their responsibilities as husband and wife, or as parents, but we believe that the primary responsibility for instructing children in the things of God rests in the home. (Eph. 6:4)
We believe that God has ordained the husband to be the head of the home, that wives are to be submissive to their husbands whether saved or unsaved and that children are to obey their parents. Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the Church. (Eph. 5:21-33; 1 Pet. 3:1-7)
11. Angels, Fallen and Unfallen and Satan:
We believe that God created an innumerable company of sinless, spiritual beings, known as angels; that one, “Lucifer, son of the morning” – the highest in rank-sinned through pride, thereby becoming Satan; that a great company of the angels followed him in his moral fall, some of whom became demons and are active as his agents and associates in the prosecution of his unholy purposes, while others who fell are “reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day”. (Isa. 14:12-17; Ezek. 28:11-19; Jude 6)
12. The Rapture:
We affirm the translation of the Church (the rapture) to be accomplished in the twinkling of an eye when the Lord Jesus Christ returns in the clouds to call His bride (the Church) to be with Him. This event will trigger the tribulation period and will be 7 years prior to His second coming. Its purpose will be to gather the Church to Himself and to protect it from the great and terrible day of the Lord. (Acts 1:11; 1 Cor. 15:51-57; 1 Thess. 4:16-18; Rev. 3:10)
13. The Second Coming:
We believe that following the 7 year tribulation, the Lord will return again to this earth to set up His millennial kingdom and fulfill all the promises made both to His Church and to the nation of Israel. (Zech.12:10-14; 14:1-21; Acts 1:6-11; Rom. 11:25-32; Rev. 20:1-6)
14. The Eternal State of Man After Death:
We believe that following the 7-year tribulation, the Lord will return again to this earth to set up His millennial kingdom and fulfill all the promises made both to His Church and to the nation of Israel. (Zech.12:10-14; 14:1-21; Acts 1:6-11; Rom. 11:25-32; Rev. 20:1-6)
A. Believers:
We believe that the souls of those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation at death immediately pass into His presence and there remain in conscious blessing until the resurrection of the body at His coming, when soul and body reunited, shall be with Him forever in glory. (Lk. 23:43; 1 Cor. 5:8)
B. Non-Believers:
We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain after death in conscious misery until the final judgment when soul and body reunited shall be cast into the lake of fire, not to be annihilated, but to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. (Lk. 16:19-26; Rev. 20:11-15)
15. Sign Gifts:
We believe that some gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as the gift of speaking in tongues, interpretation, faith healers, prophecy and Apostleship were temporary. We believe that speaking in tongues was never the common or necessary sign of the baptism nor of the control of the Holy Spirit and that the ultimate deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection.