What We Believe
The Holy Scriptures
We believe in the verbal and plenary inspiration of the Scriptures, consisting of 66 books which constitute the Old and New Testaments, the Word of God, inerrant in the original writings, the complete and unalterable special revelation of God, and our final authority. We believe in the normal, literal, and consistent interpretation of the Scriptures; and a dispensational understanding of God's progressive revelation (Matthew 5:18; John 16:12, 13; 2 Timothy 3:16, 17; 2 Peter 1:20, 21).
The Godhead
We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections (Deuteronomy 6:4; 2 Corinthians 13:14).
The Person and Work of Christ
We believe 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, and lived a sinless life. He came that He might reveal God and redeem sinful man (Luke 1:35; John 1:1, 2, 14).
We believe the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice in providing an unlimited atonement for the sins of the whole world and our justification is verified by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Romans 3:24, 25; Ephesians 1:7; Hebrews 2:9; 1 Peter 1:3-5; 2:24; 1 John 2:2).
We believe 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; Romans 8:34; Hebrews 9:24; 7:25; 1 John 2:1,2).
The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
We believe the Holy Spirit is the person of the Godhead who in this present age convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment; who regenerates and baptizes into the body of Christ those who believe; and who indwells and seals them unto the day of redemption (John 16:8-11; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Ephesians 1:13,14).
We believe the Holy Spirit is the Divine Teacher who guides believers into all truth and it is the privilege of believers to be filled with and their duty to walk in, the Holy Spirit (John 16:13; Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 5:18; 1 John 2:20, 27).
The Total Depravity of Man
We believe man was created in the image and likeness of God; in Adam's sins the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and man is totally depraved and unable to remedy his lost condition (Genesis 1:26,27; Romans 3:22, 23; 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3, 12).
Salvation and Security
We believe the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice for all people. All who trust Him are saved by grace through faith on the basis of His shed blood, accepted in the beloved, kept by God's power, and thus secure in Christ forever (John 1:12; 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Romans 8:1, 38, 39; 1 Corinthians 1:4-8; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-10; 1 Peter 1:5, 18, 19).
We believe every saved person possesses two natures, with provision made for victory of the new nature over the old nature through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and all claims to the eradication of the old nature in this life are unscriptural (Romans 6:13; 8:12,13; Galatians 5:16-25; Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:10; 1 Peter 1:14-16; 1 John 3:5-9)
We believe 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 (Romans 13:13,14; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11-15; 1 Peter 2:13-20).
The Church
We believe the Church, which began with the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, is the body and bride of Christ. It is the spiritual organism made up of all born-again persons of the present age (Acts 2:1-13; Ephesians 1:22,23; 5:25-27; 1 Corinthians 12:13-14; 2 Corinthians 11:2).
We believe 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 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11).
Ordinances
We believe the Lord Jesus Christ established two ordinances for the Church in this present age. These are believer's water baptism, practiced by immersion, and the Lord's supper, observed as a memorial of His death (1 Corinthians 11:23-34; Acts 8:12, 35-39; 10:47, 48; 1 Corinthians 1:14).
Missions
We believe that Christ commissioned individuals in the church to make disciples from among all nations, to baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and to teach them to observe all things whatsoever He has commanded (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:19, 20).
The Ministry and Spiritual Gifts
We believe the Lord Jesus Christ gives the Church evangelists and pastor-teachers. These gifted men are to equip the saints for the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:7-14).
We believe the Holy Spirit bestows spiritual gifts upon all believers for Christian service and the edification of the Church (Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 1 Peter 4:10, 11).
We believe the church age was initiated through the ministry of the apostles and prophets accompanied by sign gifts to confirm their message. These sign gifts gradually ceased by the time of the completion of the New Testament (1 Corinthians 12:28-31; 13:8-10; 14:1-28; 2 Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 2:19-22; Hebrews 2:3,4).
We believe God hears and answers prayer in accord with His own will for healing of the sick and afflicted (John 14:13,14; 15:7; 1 John 5:14,15).
Dispensationalism
We believe the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense reveal divinely determined dispensations which define man's responsibility in successive ages. A dispensation is not a way of salvation, but a divinely ordered stewardship by which God directs man according to His purpose (John 1:17; 1 Corinthians 9:17; 2 Corinthians 3:9-18; Galatians 3:13-25; Ephesians 1:10; 3:2-10; Colossians 1:24,25; Hebrews 7:19; Revelations 20:2-6).
We believe salvation is always by grace through faith regardless of the dispensation in which the believer may have lived. God's purpose of salvation by grace through faith alone has always been based upon the substitutionary atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross (Ephesians 2:8-10; Hebrews 11:6; 1 Peter 1:10-12).
The Personality of Satan
We believe Satan is a created being, the author of sin, the tempter in the fall, the declared enemy of God and man, and the god of this age. He will be eternally punished in the lake of fire (Job 1:6,7; Isaiah 14:12-17; Matthew 4:2-11; 25:41; Revelations 20:10).
The Second Advent of Christ
We believe in the personal, imminent, pretribulational and premillennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones. We believe that at the end of the seven year tribulation He will return to earth with the saints in power and glory to reign for a thousand years (Zechariah 14:4-11; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 4:13-18; 5:9; Titus 2:13; Revelations 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 (Matthew 25:46; John 5:28, 29; 11:25,26; Revelations 20:5,6,12,13).
We believe 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 and glorified to be forever with the Lord (Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; 3:21; 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17; Revelations 20:4-6).
We believe the souls of unbelievers are, at death, absent from the body and in conscious misery 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 (Matthew 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Jude 6, 7; Revelation 20:11-15).
Creation
We believe the triune God, by a free act and for His own glory, without the use of existing materials or secondary causes, brought into being -- immediately and instantaneously in six literal days by the word of His mouth -- the whole visible and invisible universe (Genesis 1:1-27; Exodus 20:8-11; Nehemiah 9:6; Psalm 104:25, 26; Isaiah 40:21-31; John 1:1-5; Colossians 1:16,17).
Biblical Separation and Unity
We believe the saved should be separated unto the Lord Jesus Christ, necessitating holy living in all personal and ecclesiastical associations and relationships (Romans 12:1, 2; 14:13; 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20; Titus 2:14; James 4:4,5; 1 Peter 2:9; 1 John 2:15-17).
Sexual Morality
We believe that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24; Romans 7:2).
We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, pedophilia, fornication, adultery, pornography, etc. are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. We believe that God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one’s gender by surgery or appearance (Leviticus 18:1-30; Romans 1:26-29; I Corinthians 6:9; Hebrews 13:4).