What We Believe

The Scriptures

We believe in the Scriptures, consisting of the Old and New Testaments only, as the verbal-plenary inspired Word of God, inerrant in the original writings, and that they are the supreme and ultimate authority for faith and practice.  II Timothy 3:16-17; Isaiah 8:20; II Peter 1:21; I Thessalonians 5:21.

The True God

We believe that there is one and only one, living and true God, an infinite, intelligent Spirit whose name is JEHOVAH, the Creator and Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth; that He is inexpressibly glorious in holiness and worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three Persons–the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit–equal in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.  John 4:24, 14:7-12, 16:7; Matthew 28:19; Psalm 83:18; Exodus 15:11, Mark 12:30; John 10:30; Ephesians 2:18.

Jesus Christ

We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, begotten by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, whose humiliation in the days of His flesh did not include laying aside His deity.  Matthew 1:18-20; John 1:1, 2, 14.

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, as a substitutionary sacrifice, and that all who receive Him are justified on the ground of His shed blood.  I Corinthians 15:3-4; II Corinthians 5:21; Romans 3:21-26.

We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord Jesus Christ; in His bodily ascension into heaven, and in His present life there for us as High Priest and Intercessor.  Matthew 28:5-6; Acts 1:9; Hebrews 7:25-26.

We believe in “that blessed hope”–the personal, visible, pre-tribulational, pre-millennial, and imminent return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  I John 3:2-3; I Thessalonians 4:14-17; I Corinthians 15:51-53; Titus 2:13.

The Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person, equal with the Father and the Son and of the same substance.  We believe that the Holy Spirit convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment; bears witness to the truth; is the agent of the new birth; and that He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses to, sanctifies, and helps the believer; that He takes up His abode within the individual at the time of regeneration, and thus indwells every born-again believer; that He infills the believer for service upon each experience of surrender and dedication.  We believe that the Holy Spirit testifies concerning Jesus Christ and never leads any person at any time contrary to the teaching of the Bible.  Acts 5:1-4; John 16:7-11.

The Fall of Man

We believe that man was created in the image of God; that he sinned and thereby incurred physical and spiritual death, which is separation from God; and that all human beings are born with a depraved sinful nature, and in the case of these who reach moral responsibility, become sinners in thought, word, and deed.  Romans 5:12, 19; Ephesians 2:1-6; Genesis 1:27; Isaiah 53:6; Romans 1:20; Genesis 1:31; 3:6-24

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 blood was shed onCalvary for the forgiveness of sins.  Salvation is solely through faith in that shed blood and is not earned by any good works whatsoever.  All those who receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are regenerated and become sons of God.  Ephesians 2:8-9; John 1:12; 3:5-7.

We believe that all the elect of God, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are secure in Christ forever.  John 10:27-30; Romans 8:31-39.

Sanctification

Sanctify means separate or set apart.  We believe sanctification is in three tenses:  every saved person has been sanctified through the death of Christ, is being sanctified by the Holy Spirit, and will be sanctified completely when he goes to be with Christ.  Every believer has two natures, an old and a new; and the old cannot be eradicated during this life.  Hebrews 10:10; John 17:17; Ephesians 5:25-27.

We believe in the Biblical doctrine of separation which encompasses three things:  the separation of the local church from all affiliation and fellowship with those who deny the verities of the “faith once delivered to the saints”; the separation of the believer from all worldly practices that may dishonor the Savior; and the separation of the church and the state.  II Timothy 3:1-5; Romans 12:1-2; 14:13.

The Church

We believe in the church, the Bride of Christ now being prepared; and in the local church as a company of believers in the Lord, immersed as believers, and associated for worship, evangelism, indoctrination, the observance of the ordinances, and fellowship.  We believe that to the local church are committed for perpetual observance the two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  We believe that the task of reaching the world for Christ is the responsibility of the local church.

The Ordinances

We believe that there are two church ordinances: baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water and is the only mode of baptism revealed and commanded in the Scriptures and is properly called “Believer’s Baptism.”  This baptism sets forth in a beautiful and solemn way our faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior.  The believer’s immersion in water symbolizes death, burial, and resurrection to a new life in Christ (II Corinthians 5:17) and is the visible credential for membership in the local church which corresponds to Holy Spirit baptism, the credential of membership in Christ’s body.  Believer’s baptism is a Scriptural prerequisite to church membership (Acts 2:38-41). The Lord’s Supper is a church ordinance in commemoration of the Lord’s death until He comes, and signifies the continual fellowship of baptized believers with Him and each other in Him.  Each believer should exercise careful self-examination before participation in this ordinance (Acts 8:36-39; Romans 6:3-5; I Corinthians 11:23-32).  We believe that obligation for proper and Scriptural administration of the ordinances is the responsibility of the church, and that authority and prerogative of administration does not rest in the minister as an expiatory priest.  John 3:22-23; Matthew 28:19; Romans 6:4.

The Great Commission

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has commissioned the church to take the Gospel to the world, and that evangelism at home and abroad should be primary in the program of the local church.  Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8.

Last Things