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THE BIBLE
The Bible is the word of God, fully inspired and without error in the
original manuscripts, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and
that it has supreme and only authority in all matters of faith and conduct
(1 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1;20-21).
THE TRINITY
There is one living and true God, eternally existing in three persons, that
these are equal in every divine perfection and that they execute providence
and redemption (Psalm 90:2; Matthew 28:19; Mark 1:10,11; 1 Peter 1:2; 1
Corinthians 12:4-6).
GOD THE FATHER
God the Father is an infinite, personal spirit, perfect in Holiness, wisdom,
power and love. We believe that He concerns Himself mercifully in the
affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayer and that He saves from sin
and death to all who come to Him through Jesus Christ (Matthew 7:11, 6:9,
5:45, 11:25, 1 Peter 1:17; John 3:16; Ephesians 2:10).
JESUS CHRIST
Jesus Christ is God’s only begotten Son conceived by the Holy Spirit. We
believe in His virgin birth, sinless life, miracles and teaching. We believe
in His substitutionary atoning death, bodily resurrection, ascension into
heaven, perpetual intercession for His people and personal visible return to
earth (Matthew 1:18-25, 3:17; 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 1:3, 5:5-10; 1 John
4:3; Revelation 1:5).
HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity who came forth from the
Father and Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment and
to regenerate, sanctify and empower all who believe in Jesus Christ. We
believe that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Christ and that He
is an abiding helper, teacher and guide (John 14 16, Romans 8:13, 26).
SALVATION
All of mankind are sinners by imputation, nature and by choice and are
therefore under condemnation. Those who repent of their sins and trust only
in Jesus Christ as Savior are regenerated by the Holy Spirit. We believe
that salvation with its forgiveness of sins, its impartation of the new
nature and its hope of eternal life, is only God’s grace and that we cannot
earn it or contribute to it by moral living, acts of self-sacrifice, church
membership, communion, baptism or any other good work (John 1:12-13; 3:3-8;
Ephesians 2:3-10).
THE CHURCH
We believe in the universal church, a living spiritual body of which Christ
is the head and all regenerated persons are its members. We firmly believe
in the local church, consisting of a company of believers in Jesus Christ
baptized on a credible profession of faith and associated from worship,
service and fellowship. We believe that God has laid upon the members of the
local church the primary task of building up the body of Christ through the
dual activities of evangelism and the edifying of those evangelized toward
maturity in Christ. We believe that each local church has the right under
Christ to decide and govern its own affairs (1 Corinthians 12:13; Hebrews
12:23; 1 Timothy 3:15; Acts 2:41-47; Ephesians 4:11-16; Matthew 28:19-20).
THE ORDINANCES
The Lord Jesus Christ has committed two ordinances to the local church:
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These ordinances are to be observed by the
Church during the present age. They are, however, not to be regarded as
means of salvation (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:37-39, 41; Mark 16:15-16;
Romans 6:3, 4; Galatians 3:17) The Lord’s supper; 1 Corinthians 11:22-26;
Luke 22:14-23; Mark 14:22-25).
LAST THINGS
We believe in the personal, premillennial, and imminent coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ and that this "Blessed Hope" has a vital bearing on the
personal life and service of the believer. We believe in the bodily
resurrection of the dead; of the believer to everlasting blessedness and joy
with the Lord, of the unbeliever to judgment and everlasting conscious
punishment (Acts 1:11; John 14:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; James 5:8;
Hebrews 9:28; 1 Corinthians 15:42-44.51-53). |
