Articles of Faith

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Section 1 - The Holy Scriptures

We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally inspired Word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible and God breathed. (II Timothy 3:16,17; II Peter 1:20,21; Matthew 5:18; John 16:12,13)

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Section 2 - 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; II Corinthians 13:14)

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Section 3 - The Person and Work of Christ

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. (John 1:1, 2, 14; Luke 1:35)

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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. (Romans 3:24, 25; I Peter 2:24; Ephesians 1:7; I Peter 1:3-5)

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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: Hebrews 9:24; 7:25; Romans 8:34, I John 2:1,2)

 

Section 4 - The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgement; and that He is the supernatural agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption. (John 16:8-11; II Corinthians 3:6; I Corinthians 12:12-14; Romans 8:9; Ephesians 1:13,14)

 

We believe that He is the divine Teacher who guides believers into all truth; and, that it is the privelege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit. (John 16:13; I John 2:20,27; Ephesians 5:18)

 

Section 5 - 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 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. (Genesis 1:26,27; Romans 3:22,23; 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3,12)

 

Section 6 - 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. (Ephesians 2:8-10;  John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7; I Peter 1:18, 19)

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Section 7 - The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers

We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God's power and are thus secure in Christ forever. (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Romans 8:1, 38, 39; I Corinthians 1:4-8; I Peter 1:18, 19)

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We believe that it is the privelege 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; Galations 5:13; Titus 2:11-15)

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Section 8 - The Two Natures of the Believer

We believe that 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, that all claims to the eradication of the old nature in this life are unscriptural. (Romans 6:13; 8:12, 13; Galations 5:16-25; Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:10; I Peter 1:14-16; I John 3:5-9)

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Section 9 - Separation

We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord; and, that separation from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices, and associations is commanded of God. (II Timothy 3:1-5; Romans 12:1, 2; 14:13; I John 2:15-17; II John 9-11; II Corinthians 6:14-7:1)

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Section 10 - Missions

We believe that it is the obligation of the saved to witness by life and by word to the truths of Holy Scriptures and to seek to proclaim the Gospel to all mankind. (Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; II Corinthians 5:19, 20)

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Section 11 - The Ministry and Spiritual Gifts

We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowment of all His gifts; and, that the gifts of evangelists, pastors, and teachers are sufficient for the perfecting of the saints today; and, that speaking in tongues and the working of sign miracles gradually ceased as the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their authority became established. (I Corinthians 12:4-11; II Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 4:4-12)

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We believe that God does hear and answer the prayer of faith, in accord with His own will, for the sick and afflicted. (John 15:7; I John 5:14, 15)

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Section 12 - The Church

We believe that the Church, which is the body and espoused bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again persons of this present age. (Ephesians 1:22, 23; 5:25-27; I Corinthians 12:12-14; II Corinthians 11:2)

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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 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11)

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Section 13 - The Ordinances of the Church

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BAPTISM

We believe that water baptism is a Scriptural ordinance of the Church during this age, and that it is a public testimony of the recipient to indicate that he has personally trusted Jesus Christ as Savior, and we therefore reject infant baptism. Baptism is the outward symbol of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is the inward work whereby each believer, at the moment of his salvation , is inseparably joined to the body of Christ, which is His Church.

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We believe that immersion in water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is the only method which adequately typifies the relationship between baptism by the Spirit and by water. (Matthew 28:29; Acts 2:41; 8:36-39; 9:18; 18:8; Ephesians 4:5; I Peter 3:21)

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LORD'S SUPPER

We believe the Lord's Supper is a memorial testimony of the Church, instituted by our Lord just before His betrayal, and is to be observed until His return as a sacred, symbolic, and Scriptural means of remembering His death for our sins. (I Corinthians 11:23,24)

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Section 14 - Dispensationalism

We believe in the dispensational view of the Bible and interpret it accordingly. We reject the extreme teaching known as "hyper dispensationalism" such as that teaching which opposes either the Lord's Supper or water baptism as a Scriptural means of testimony for the Church in this age. (Matthew 28:19,20; Acts 2:41,42; 18:8; I Corinthians 11:23-26)

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Section 15 - The Personality of Satan

We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the cause of the fall; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and, that he shall be eternally punished in the lake of fire. (Job 1:6,7; Isaiah 14:12-17; Matthew 4:2-11; 25:41; Revelation 20:10)

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Section 17 - The Eternal State

We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgement and everlasting punishment. (Matthew 25:46; John 5:28,29; 11:25,26; Revelation 20:5,6,12,13)

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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 1 23:43; Revelation 20:4-6; II Corinthians 4:8; Philippians 1:23, 3:31; I Thessalonians 4:16, 17)

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We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain after death, in conscious misery until the second resurrection, when the soul and body reunited shall appear at the great white throne judgement, and shall be cast into the lake of fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment. (Luke 16:19-26; Matthew 25:4-46; II Thessalonians 1:7-9; Jude 6,7; Mark 9:43-48; Revelation 20:11-15)

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