What We Believe

The Holy Scriptures: We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the true, immutable, steadfast, authoritative, written Word of God; that they were written by men of old as they were moved upon and inspired by the Holy Spirit. These scriptures are inerrant, infallible and God-breathed, and therefore are the final authority for faith and life. [2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:20-21]

The Eternal Godhead: We believe there is one true and living God eternally existent in three persons in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; equal in every divine perfection, co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, and possessing the same glorious attributes; all executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption. [Deuteronomy 6:4, Matthew 28:19, 2 Corinthians 13:14, John 14:10 and 26]

The Deity of Christ: We believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, in His personal future return to this earth in power and glory. [Isaiah 7:14 and 9:6, Luke 1:35, John 1:1-2, Acts 1:9-10, Ephesians 1:7, Philippians 2:5-8, Hebrews 9:24]

The Personality of Satan: We believe that Satan is a literal being, the author of sin, and the ultimate cause of the Fall of Man; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and, that he along with the angels from heaven that rebelled, shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire which was prepared for them. [Job 1:6-7, Isaiah 14:12-17, Matthew 4:2-11 and 25:41, Revelation 20:10]

The Fall of Man: We believe man was created in the image of God, before Whom he walked in holiness and purity; then, by voluntary disobedience and transgression, he fell to the depths of sin and iniquity. As a consequence, all mankind became sinners sold unto Satan; sinners by choice not coercion, alienated from God, shaped in iniquity and utterly void by nature of the holiness required by the law of God, inclined to evil, guilty without excuse, earning the condemnation of a just and Holy God, and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition. [Genesis 1:26-27, Romans 3:22-23 and 5:12 and 6:23, Ephesians 2:1-3 and 4:17-19]

The Plan of Redemption: We believe Christ, perfect and just, died for the unjust; freely and by divine appointment of the Father, vicariously taking the sinner's place, bearing his sins, receiving his condemnation, dying his death, fully paying his penalty, and signing with His life's blood the pardon of everyone that should believe upon Him; moreover, that our justification is made sure by his literal, physical resurrection from the dead. [Acts 2:18-36, Romans 3:24-25, Ephesians 1:7, 1 Peter 1:3-5 and 2:24]

Salvation by Grace: We believe the salvation of sinners is wholly by grace through repentance of sin and faith in the precious blood of Jesus; that we have no righteousness or goodness of our own wherewith to seek divine favor, and must come, throwing ourselves upon the unfailing mercy of God, pleading the merits and righteousness of Christ the Savior as a free gift of His love. [John 1:12, Ephesians 1:7 and 2:8-10, 1 Peter 1:18-19]

Sanctification by the Holy Spirit: We believe in the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, who convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment; that, by His indwelling, the Christian is enabled to live a holy life; and that, He enters the life of a believer at the point of salvation to regenerate, renew, edify, exhort, and bring comfort to Him. [John 16:8-11, Romans 8:9, 2 Corinthians 3:6, Ephesians 1:13-14]

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit: We believe that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is the in-filling of the promised Comforter, poured out to endue the believer with power from on high and thus enabling him for these purposes: to glorify and exalt the Lord Jesus, to give inspired utterance in known and unknown languages, to access supernatural gifts, to foster a life of prayer and holiness, and to be equipped for practical, effective, soul-winning. We believe that we live presently in the dispensation of the Holy Spirit and, therefore, all believers who ask may receive His Baptism after the same manner recorded in the Word.

Healing Power: We believe the redemptive work of Christ provides power for both spiritual and natural healing; that through the blood of the Lord Jesus, believers can obtain complete healing for their human body and mind as an answer to believing, faith-filled prayer.

The Eternal State of Man: We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the saved and the lost, the one to everlasting life in the presence of the Lord and the other to everlasting damnation in an eternal hell. [Matthew 25:46, John 5:28-29 and 11:25-26, Revelation 20:5-13]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 will be reunited and glorified forever with the Lord. [Luke 23:43, 2 Corinthians 5:8, Philippians 1:23 and 3:21, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, Revelation 20:4-6]

We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, at death, in conscious punishment and torment 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 and torment. [Matthew 25:41-46, Mark 9:43-48, Luke 16:19-26, 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9, Revelation 20:11-15]

The Return of Christ: We believe in the personal and imminent return of Christ, our blessed hope; that He will descend from Heaven in clouds of glory with the voice of the Archangel and with the trump of God; and that at this time, which no man knows beforehand, the dead in Christ shall arise; then the redeemed which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to forever be with the Lord. [Matthew 24:30-31, 1 Corinthians 15:23 and 51-53, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 5:1-11]

The Local Church: We believe that the local church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is solely made up of born again persons; that its establishment and continuance is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures. Local churches are designed by God to be autonomous and self-governing, built and structured with order and legislature, but free of any external authority or control. [Acts 13:1-4 and 15:19-31, Romans 16:1, I Corinthians 3:9, 2 Corinthians 11:2, Ephesians 1:22-2 and 5:25-27, Titus 1:5-11, 1 Peter 5:1-4]

World Missions: We believe that God has given the church a Great Commission to proclaim the Gospel to all people so that every nation, tribe, ethnic group, and language group can have the opportunity to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As ambassadors of Christ, we must use any available means to carry the good news of salvation and the church to the world. [Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:46-48, John 20:21, Acts 1:8, 2 Corinthians 5:20]

Civil Government: We believe that God has authored and ordained all authority existent in three basic institutions: 1) The Home, 2) The Church, and 3) The State. Every person is subject to all of these authorities, but all (including the authorities themselves) are answerable to God and ultimately governed by His Word. God has given each of these institutions 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. [Romans 13:1-7, Ephesians 5:22-24, Hebrews 13:17, 1 Peter 2:13-14]

Human Sexuality: We believe God has commanded that no individual should engage in intimate sexual activity outside of marriage between a man and woman. We further believe that fornication, adultery, pornography, homosexual activity, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, and incest are all sinful perversions of God's precious gift of sex, and that such practices directly sabotage the family, God's first institution for man. [Genesis 2:24 and 19:5, Leviticus 18:1-30, Romans 1:26-29, 1 Corinthians 5:1 and 6:9, Hebrews 13:4]

Divorce and Remarriage: We believe that God hates divorce and intends marriage to last until one spouse is deceased. We hold that marriage is a covenant made before God and the breaking of that covenant is sin; and, that remarriage after divorce is regarded as adultery except for reasons of fornication, adultery, or sexual misconduct by one of the partners. (Malachi 2:14-17, Matthew 19:3-12, Romans 7:1-3, I Timothy 3:2, Titus 1:6)

Abortion: We believe that human life begins at conception and that an unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused, and unnatural disposal of human life and must be regarded as murder. We reject any teaching or counsel that sanctions abortions in the event of rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, birth or population control, or mental instability of the mother. The advice of a medical doctor should be considered in the event that birth endangers a mother's life. [Job 3:16, Psalm 51:5 and 139:14-16, Isaiah 44:24 and 49:1-5, Jeremiah 1:5 and 20:15-18, Luke 1:44]

Lawsuits Between Believers: We believe that Scripture prohibits Christians from bringing civil lawsuits against other Christians or against the church to resolve personal disputes. We believe the church possesses all the resources necessary to resolve personal disputes between its members. We do believe, however, that a Christian may seek compensation for injuries from another Christian's insurance company as long as the claim is pursued without malice or slander. [1 Corinthians 6:1-8, Ephesians 4:31-32]

Giving: We believe that every Christian, as a steward of the portion of God's wealth entrusted to him, is obligated by Scripture to support his local church financially. We believe that God has established the tithe 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. [Genesis 14:20, Proverbs 3:9-10, Malachi 3:8-12, Acts 4:34-37, I Corinthians 16:2, Galatians 6:6, Ephesians 4:28, I Timothy 5:17-18, I John 3:17]

This Doctrinal Statement does not exhaust the extent of our faith. The Holy Bible itself is the sole and final source of all that we believe. We do believe, however, that the foregoing Statement of Faith accurately represents the teaching of the Bible, and therefore, is binding upon all members.