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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,
co-equal 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).
(C) The Person and
Work of Christ
(1) 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).
(2) 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
Peter 2:24; Eph. 1:7; 1
Peter 1:3-5).
(3) 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).
(4) We believe that
Christ while on earth
was impeccable, that he
lived a sinless life
without any inward
temptation or ability to
sin, and that he
vicariously became sin
for us (Heb 4:15).
(D) The Person and
Work of the Holy
Spirit
(1) 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
at salvation, 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).
(2) 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; I John 2:20,
27).
(3) We believe that God
is sovereign in the
bestowal of spiritual
gifts to every believer.
God uniquely uses
evangelists, pastors,
and teachers to equip
the 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).
(4) We believe that the
sign gifts of the Holy
Spirit, such as speaking
in tongues and the gift
of healing, were
temporary. We believe
that speaking in tongues
was never the common or
necessary sign of the
baptism or filling 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. Though God
frequently chooses to
answer the prayers of
believers for physical
healing, we do not
believe that in this
present age, any
particular individual
has the power to heal (1
Cor. 1:22; 13:8;
14:21-22).
(E) 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; and
that man is totally
depraved, and of
himself, utterly unable
to remedy his lost
condition but possesses
the free will to accept
or reject God's call to
salvation (Gen. 1:26-27;
Rom. 3:22-23; 5:12;
6:23; Eph. 2:1-3;
4:17-19).
(F) 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
and that it is God's
will that no one should
perish, but that all
should come to
repentance (John 1:12;
Eph. 1:7, 2:8-10; 1 Pet.
1:18-19).
(G) The Eternal
Security and Assurance
of Believers
(1) We believe that all
the redeemed, once
saved, are kept by God's
power and not their
works, (good or bad) 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).
(2) 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).
(H) The
Church
(1) 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; II
Cor. 11:2; Eph. 1:22-23;
5:25-27).
(2) 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; I Tim.
3:1-13; Titus 1:
5-11).
(3) 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; I Cor. 3:9, 16;
5:4-7, 13; I Pet.
5:1-4).
(4) We recognize only
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; I Cor.
11:23-26).
(I)
Separation
We believe that all the
saved should live in
such a manner as not to
bring reproach upon
their Saviour and Lord;
that our conduct, dress,
and speech should be of
the highest standards to
avoid offending others
around us, and, that
separation from all
religious apostasy, all
worldly and sinful
pleasures, practices and
associations is
commanded of God (Rom.
12:1-2; 14:13; II Cor.
6:14-17; II Tim. 3:1-5;
I John 2:15-17; II John
9-11).
(J) 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; Daniel 2:31-41;
Zech. 14:4-11; I Thess.
1:10; 4:13-18; Titus
2:13; Rev. 3:10;
19:11-16; 20:1-6).
(K) The Eternal
State
(1) 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).
(2) 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; II
Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23;
3:21; I Thess. 4:16-17;
Rev. 20:4-6).
(3) We believe that the
souls of unbelievers
remain, after death in
conscious punishment and
torment until the second
resurrection, when with
the 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; II Thess.
1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Rev.
20:11-15).
(L) 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
eternally be punished in
the Lake of Fire (Job
1:6-7; Isa. 14:12-17;
Matt. 4:2-11; 25:41;
Rev. 20:10).
(M) Creation
We believe that God
created the universe in
six literal, 24 hour
periods. We reject
evolution, the Day-Age
Theory, and Theistic
Evolution as
unscriptural theories of
origin (Gen. 1-2; Exodus
20:11).
(N) Civil
Government
We believe that God has
ordained and created all
authority consisting of
three basic
institutions: 1) the
home; 2) the Church; 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; I
Pet. 2:13-14).
(O) Human
Sexuality
We believe that God has
commanded that no sexual
activity including
verbal, visual, or
physical stimulus should
be engaged in outside of
a marriage between a man
(born and remaining
male) and woman (born
and remaining female).
We believe that any form
of homosexuality,
lesbianism, bisexuality,
bestiality, incest,
fornication, pedophilia,
adultery, pornography,
transvestitism, deviant
gender or transgender
identity, or any other
deviant sexual behavior
are sinful perversions
of God's gift of sex
(Gen. 2:24; 19:5, 13;
26:8-9; Leviticus
18:1-30; Rom. 1:26-29; I
Cor. 5:1; 6:9; I Thess.
4:1-8; Heb. 13:4).
(P) Divorce and
Remarriage
We believe that God
hates divorce and
intends marriage between
a man biologically born
and remaining a male and
a woman biologically
born and remaining a
female to last until one
of the spouses dies.
Divorce and remarriage
is regarded in scripture
as adultery. Although
previously divorced and
remarried persons, or
previously divorced
persons, may join the
Church after repenting
of same and hold
positions of service in
the Church and be
greatly used of God for
Christian service, they
may not be considered
for the offices of
pastor or deacon. The
Church property shall
not be used for a
marriage ceremony that
will constitute
adultery, the Pastor,
nor any minister
ordained by this Church,
shall not conduct a
marriage ceremony that
will constitute
adultery, nor will the
Church allow the
marriage or remarriage
of a member that will
constitute adultery
(Mal. 2:14-17; Matt.
19:3-12; Rom. 7:1-3; I
Tim. 3:2, 12; Titus
1:6).
(Q) Abortion
We believe that human
life begins at
conception and that the
unborn child is a
living, human being.
Abortion (the elective
manmade death, ejection
or removal of the unborn
child from the womb)
constitutes the
unjustified, unexcused
taking of unborn human
life. Abortion is murder
by any means whether
surgical, chemical,
physical injury, or
deliberate conduct for
the purpose terminating
a pregnancy. We reject
any teaching that
abortions of pregnancy
due to rape, incest,
birth defects, gender
selections, birth or
population control, or
the mental well-being of
the mother are
acceptable (Exo. 21:22 -
25; Job 3:16; Psalms
51:5; 139:14-16; Isa.
44:24; 49:1, 5; Jer.
1:5; 20:15-18; Luke
1:44).
(R) Missions
We believe that God has
given the Church a Great
Commission to proclaim
the Gospel to all
nations so that there
might be a great
multitude from every
nation, tribe, ethnic
group, and language
group who believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. As
Ambassadors of Christ,
we must use all
available means to go to
the foreign nations and
not wait for them to
come to us (Matt.
28:19-20; Mark 16:15;
Luke 24:46-48; John
20:21; Acts 1:8; II Cor.
5:20).
(S) Lawsuits Between
Believers
We believe that
Christians are
prohibited from bringing
civil lawsuits against
other Christians or the
Church to resolve
personal disputes. We
believe the Church
possesses all the
resources necessary to
resolve disputes between
members. We do believe,
however, a Christian may
seek compensation for
physical injuries from
another Christian's
insurance company as
long as the claim is
pursued without malice
or slander (I Cor.
6:1-8; Eph.
4:31-32).
(T) Giving
We believe that every
Christian, as a steward
of that portion of God's
wealth entrusted to him,
is obligated to support
his local Church
financially. We believe
that God has established
the tithe (10% of gross
income) as a basis for
giving but that every
Christian should also
give other offerings
sacrificially and
cheerfully to the
support of the Church,
the relief of those in
need, and the spread of
the Gospel. We believe
that a Christian
relinquishes all rights
to direct the use of the
tithe or offering once
the gift has been made
(Gen. 14:20; Proverbs
3:9-10; Acts 4:34-37; I
Cor. 16:2; II Cor.
9:6-7; Gal. 6:6; Eph.
4:28; I Tim. 5:17-18; I
John 3:17).
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