The Bible was written by men as they were inspired and carried along by the Holy Spirit. This means that every word of Scripture as it was originally recorded was directed by God and expresses His very thoughts. Therefore the Bible is our final authority on what to believe and how to live. The following Statement of Faith is a summary of what we believe based upon God’s Word:
The Holy Scriptures
We believe in the supernatural, inerrant, verbal, plenary, inspired, and infallible authority of the Scriptures, including the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament, which we accept as the Word of God and the supreme rule of faith and practice for all believers. Our understanding of the term “infallible” is as follows: literally, “not fallible or breakable.” It refers to the Divine character of Scripture which necessitates its truthfulness (Isaiah 40:8; Matthew 5:18; John 10:35; 17:17; II Timothy 3:15-17).
God
We believe in one God: infinite, eternal, and unchangeable; existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These three persons of the Godhead are equal in every Divine perfection and execute distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption and in God’s total program for eternity. We recognize God to be the sovereign Creator, Sustainer, Judge, and Ruler of the universe (Deuteronomy 6:4; Psalm 83:18; 115:3; Isaiah 46:10; Daniel 4:35; Matthew 3:16-17; 28:19-20; John 14:26; Colossians 1:16-17; Revelation 10:12-13).
Creation
We believe the Genesis account of creation is a literal, historical account of the direct, immediate creative acts of God without any evolutionary process; that man (spirit, soul, and body) was created by a direct work of God and not from previously existing forms of life that evolved; and that all men are descended from the historical Adam and Eve, first parents of the entire human race (Genesis 1 and 2; Psalm 33:6, 9; Luke 3:23-38; John 1:3; I Thessalonians 5:23; Colossians 1:16-17).
Jesus Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ always existed as God from eternity past and that in the fullness of time He was born of the Virgin Mary, being conceived by the Holy Spirit. Having become a man, He retained His deity. We believe in the sinless perfection of Jesus Christ which rendered His substitutionary death acceptable to the Father. We also believe Jesus Christ arose physically from the grave and that He ascended physically, bodily, and visibly to the Father in heaven where He is now interceding for all born-again believers and He will be their Judge at the Judgment Seat of Christ following the Rapture. We believe that Christ will physically return to earth after the seven years Tribulation, and He will reign on this earth for one thousand years, after which time He will judge the unrighteous sinners at the Great White Throne Judgment (Isaiah 7:14; Zechariah 14:4; John 1:1, 14; 5:22; Acts 1:10-12; Romans 14:10: I Corinthians 2:5-11; 15:3-4; II Corinthians 5:10; Galatians 4:4; Philippians 2:5-11; I Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 7:25-26; Revelation 20:6, 11-15).
Holy Spirit
We believe the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, co-equal and co-eternal with God the Father and God the Son. We believe He was active in creation and that He is active today in that He convicts and regenerates sinners and restrains the sinful forces of the world. He indwells each believer upon salvation and seals, comforts, teaches, sanctifies, empowers, and directs him. We believe the baptism of the Spirit to be the placing of each believer into the Body of Christ, the Universal Church, at salvation. We believe the filling of the Spirit to be the Spirit’s control of individual believers as they yield themselves to God through prayer, Bible study and fellowship. We believe the Holy Spirit has given to each and every believer, as He wills, gifts to be used for the perfecting of the saints and for the work of His ministry. We believe the gifts of apostleship and prophesy were temporary and ceased with the completion of God’s Word (Genesis 1:2; 6:3; Matthew 28:19; John 3:5; 14:17, 26; 16:8, 13; Acts 1:8; I Corinthians 12, 13, 14; Ephesians 2:20; 4:7-11, 30; 5:18-20; II Thessalonians 2:13; 3:1; Hebrews 2:3-4).
Satan (The Devil)
We believe that Satan, in his unfallen state as Lucifer, was holy and enjoyed heavenly honors, but through pride and ambition to be as the Almighty, fell and drew after him a host of angels; that he is now the malignant prince of the power of the air and the unholy god of this world. We hold him to be man’s tempter, the enemy of God, the accuser of the saints, the author of all false religions, the chief power behind the present apostasy, the lord of the anti-Christ to come, and the author of all powers of darkness, destined, however, to final defeat at the hands of God’s Son and to the judgment of an eternal justice in the lake of fire, a place prepared for him and his followers (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:13-17; Matthew 4:1-11; II Corinthians 4:4; 11:13-15; Ephesians 2:2; Revelation 12:9-10; 20:2, 10, 15).
The Depravity of Man
We believethat God created man in His own image. We believe the image of God consists of morality and holiness which governs the activities of man’s intellect, will, emotion, and personality. Adam and Eve were created sinless, but by voluntary transgression of God’s command fell from their sinless state. Because Adam represents the whole human race as its federal head, the following is true about unregenerate man:
- His body is subject to disease and death (Romans 8:21, 23).
- His soul is corrupted and totally wicked (Jeremiah 17:9)
- His spirit is dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1).
- He is born with a sinful human nature and is depraved, with no inherent ability to do good as it pertains to the purpose of gaining eternal salvation (Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:10-23).
- He is the object of God’s wrath. This makes regeneration, being made spiritually alive by the Holy Spirit of God through faith in Jesus Christ, an absolute necessity to escape God’s condemnation to eternal punishment in a literal hell (Genesis 1:26-27; 3:1-11; Psalms 51:5; Luke 16:19-31; John 3:36; Romans 1:18-20; 3:10-23; 5:12; Ephesians 2:3; 5:6; Revelation 20:11-15).
Salvation
We believe salvation is a gift from God which He imparts by grace to all who repent of their sin and by faith receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. One’s salvation can never be lost. We are not only saved by God’s grace through faith, but we are also kept by the power of God through faith until we either go home to be with Him or He returns from heaven for us. (John 3:16; 10:28-29; Acts 2:23; 3:18-19; 17:30; Romans 8:35-39; 9:11-24; 10:9-10; Ephesians 1:4; 2:8-9; Philippians 1:6; II Thessalonians 2:13-14; I Peter 1:3-5; I John 5:11-13).
Bodily Resurrection of All Men
We believe all men shall be resurrected. The just shall be raised to everlasting life and fellowship with God; the unjust to the Great White Throne Judgment of God, at which time they will be cast into the lake of fire to receive conscious and endless punishment, which is the second death (Daniel 12:1-2; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:22-26; John 3:18; 5:28-29; Revelation 20:11-15; 21:1-8).
The Universal Church
We believe the Universal Church is comprised of all believers, living and dead, who have been baptized by the Spirit of God into His body from Pentecost until the Rapture, when the Lord Jesus Christ, its Head, shall return for His Church. (Acts1:15; chapter 2; I Corinthians 12:12-14; Ephesians 1:20-23; Colossians 1:18).
The Local Church
We believe the local church is a saved, baptized body of believers, organized and self-governing, who voluntarily associate together to worship God in a specific earthly locale, to observe the ordinances and to carry out Christ’s purposes for His church: evangelism, edification, fellowship, discipleship, and worship ((Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-47; 9:31; 16:5; I Corinthians 1:2; Philippians 4:15; Hebrews 10:25).
- Church Offices: We believe there are two Biblical church offices: pastor and deacon. The local church is to be guided by pastors, who are also known as shepherds, bishops, elders and overseers. They are responsible for the spiritual life of church members, and for providing leadership and recommending discipline to the local assembly. We believe deacons are responsible for ministering to those in need, for the temporal needs of the church, and for assisting the pastor in the spiritual life, leadership, and discipline of the local assembly (Acts 6:1-6; 20:28; I Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:1-13; I Peter 5:1-4).
- Church Ordinances: We believe there are two Biblical church ordinances: baptism and the Lord’s Supper, or Communion. We believe that baptism is the immersion of a believer in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Its purpose is to be a public confession of one’s faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, and it signifies our death to the old man/nature and our resurrection to newness of life in Jesus Christ; it is a prerequisite for church membership. We believe that the Lord’s Supper is a memorial given to the local church for the commemoration of Christ’s death by partaking of bread and the cup. It is the privilege of those who are believers in Christ and it is to be preceded by a solemn time of self-examination (Matthew 26:26-30; 28:18-20; Mark 14:22-26; Luke 22:14-20; Acts 2:41-42; 8:36-39; 10:47-48; Romans 6:1-11; I Corinthians 10:16; 11:23-32; Colossians 2:12).
The Great Commission
We believe the Great Commission was given by our Lord Jesus Christ to His Church, to empower them by His Spirit to go into all the world with the gospel message and make disciples of those who would be saved, baptizing them and discipling them in the Word of God (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; 8:1-4).
Second Coming of Christ
- We are Pre-Tribulationists: We believe that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will come again before the Tribulation, 70th Week of Daniel, to rapture out of this world His church. At that moment the dead in Christ shall be raised in glorified bodies. The living in Christ shall be given glorified bodies without tasting death and shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air (John 14:1-6; I Corinthians 15:51-58; I Thessalonians 4:1-18).
- We are Pre-Millenialists: We believe that the Great Tribulation, which immediately follows the rapture of the church, will be culminated by the revelation of Christ in power and great glory to sit upon the Throne of David and establish the millennial reign. At the end of the Millennium, Satan will be loosed and he will raise up a great army which shall be defeated by Christ and he (Satan) will then be cast into the lake of fire for eternity. All unbelievers will then appear before the Great White Throne and be judged by God and, since their names are not written in the Book of Life, they shall be cast into the lake of fire forever. Christ will then deliver His Kingdom up to the Father (Daniel 9:24-29; Luke 1:30-33; Acts 1:10-11; I Corinthians 15:51-54; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; II Thessalonians 1:7-10; Revelation 3:10; 19:11-16; 20:11-15).