Doctrinal Statement

Scriptures 
We believe in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as verbally inspired by God and without error in the original writings; that the Bible is reliable in science, history, and every other matter it discusses; and that the Bible is of supreme and final authority in faith and life. II Timothy 3:16, 17; II Peter 1:19-21.

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. Exodus 20:2,3; I Corinthians 8:6; I John 5:7; Matthew 28:19,20; II Corinthians 13:14.

God the Son
We believe in the absolute Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ; His eternal existence as God, co-equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit; His incarnation by means of the virgin birth; His sinlessness; His vicarious death through the shedding of His blood as an atonement for the remission of sins; His literal bodily resurrection from the dead; His ascension; His present, high-priestly ministry in heaven for believers; and His personal return to earth.  I John 5:20; John 1:18; John 14:9; Hebrews 1:8; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-35; I Peter 2:22; Romans 3:25; Hebrews 9:14; Luke 24:36-43; Acts 10:40, 41; Acts 1:9; Luke 24:51; Hebrews 8:1, 2; I John 2:1; Acts 1:11; I Thessalonians 4:16.

God 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 and nature; that He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment; that He bears witness to the truth; that He is the agent of the new birth; that he baptizes all true believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sanctifying all of them, sealing and thus securing them unto the day of redemption; that He endues, guides, teaches, and helps believers; and that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit, which is evidenced by soul-winning power and not speaking in tongues.  Matthew 28:19; II Corinthians 13:14; Acts 5: 3, 4.


Creation
We believe that God created the heavens and the earth including all life, each after its own species, by direct act and not by the process of evolution.  Genesis 1 and 2; Colossians 1:16, 17; John 1:3.

Man
We believe that man, in the person of the first Adam, was created in the image of God, in innocence under the law of his Maker but by reason of his voluntary sin, fell from  his high and holy state; that as a result the whole race plunged into condemnation and death; that as a result the whole race plunged into condemnation and death, so that now all human beings are born with a sinful nature; and that all who reach the age of moral responsibility become willful sinners in thought, word, and deed, and so are without excuse before God.  Genesis 1:26, 27; Genesis 3; Romans 5:10-19; Psalm 51:5; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 3:10-23.


Salvation
We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace through faith in the blood sacrifice, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ; that all who receive Him are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and become children of God; that no rite, ceremony, or work can avail one whit for the sinner’s salvation or make the believer’s salvation more secure, that Christ is the only and all-sufficient Savior; and that all who are truly saved are kept by God forever. Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7; John 5:24; John 1:12; Romans 10:9-13; Acts 16:31; Acts 4:12; II Timothy 1:12; John 10:28-29; Romans 8:35-39; Philippians 1:6.

We believe that the blessings of salvation are made free to all by the Gospel; that it is the immediate duty of all to accept them by a cordial, penitent, and obedient faith; and that nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth but his own inherent depravity and voluntary rejection of the Gospel, and this rejection involves him in an aggravated condemnation. John 3:16-21; I Timothy 1:15; Hebrews 7:25; Revelation 22:17; Ezekiel 33:11; John 5:40; II Peter 3:9; I Timothy 2:3-4.

We believe that every saved person possesses two natures: that he has the old nature, inherited from Adam, for the duration of his earthly life; but that provision is made for the victory of the new nature of Christ over the old nature through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Romans 7:15-25; 6:11-14; Philippians 3:7-14; 4:7-14; II Corinthians 12:7-10.

Sanctification
We believe that sanctification for the believer is immediate upon the acceptance of Christ as Savior, and the progressive phase of sanctification is carried on in the hearts of believers by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in the continual use of the appointed means, especially study of God’s Word, self-examination, self-denial, faithfulness in and through a fundamental local church, prayer and soul-winning I Corinthians 6:11; Hebrews 10:10, 14; I Thessalonians 3:12, 13; 4:1-12; II Peter 3:18; Ephesians 4:11-16; Hebrews 10:25.

Separation
We believe that the saved are called into a life of separation from religious apostasy, and from all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices, and associations. Romans 12:1-2; I Thessalonians 5:22; I John 2:15-17; II Corinthians 6:14-18; Romans 16:17; II John 7-11; Ephesians 5:11.

Church
We believe that the church exists in two aspects:

• In an organism and is composed of all true believers in Jesus Christ as Savior from Pentecost to the Rapture. Ephesians 5:25-33; Colossians 1:14-18; I Corinthians 12:12-31.

• It is an organization composed of regenerated, baptized believers, voluntarily united together for the purpose of worship, edification, observing the ordinances, fellowship and service; that the scriptural officers of the local church are pastors and deacons, whose qualifications, claims, and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures; that the true mission of the church is the faithful witnessing of Christ to all men as we have opportunity in the local community and unto the uttermost part of the earth; that the local church ash absolute right of self-government, free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations, religious or political that the one and only superintendent is Christ, through the Holy Spirit; that it is scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the Gospel, with each local church as the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation; that on all matters of membership, policy of government, discipline benevolence, the will of the church is final. Acts 2:41-47; Romans 1:7; Colossians 1:2; I Corinthians 1:2; Acts 4:4; Hebrews 10:25; Acts 20:7; 11:26; Philippians 1:1; I Timothy 3:1-16; Titus 1:5-8; Hebrews 13:7, 17; I Peter 1:1-5; Acts 6:1-8; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 5:23-26; Acts 15:1-27; 11:29; 13:1-4; Philippians 4:14-16; Acts 20:28, 31; I Corinthians 5:1-6, 11.

Baptism
We believe that Bible baptism is the burial of a believer in water, thus setting forth in symbol His union with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection; that every believer should be baptized because of the example of our Lord and because of the command given by our Lord; and that while there is no saving power in water baptism, it is an act of obedience by those who are already saved to picture that they are dead, buried, and raised spiritually with Jesus Christ by faith in Him. We reject infant baptism as unscriptural. Romans 6:3-5; Matthew 3:13-17; Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 8:36-39; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; John 5:24.

Lord’s Supper
We believe that the Lord’s Supper is a commemoration of the Lord’s death until He comes again; and that, in this ordinance, the Lord’s Table should be opened to all regenerated persons living in fellowship with and obedience to Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 11:23-32; Luke 22:14-20.

Second Coming of Christ
We believe in the literal, bodily, personal, pre-millenial, and imminent coming of our Lord into the air to catch away all believers unto Himself before the tribulation period; also in the personal, visible, and glorious return of Christ to the earth with believers at the close of the tribulation period to judge the living nations and to set up His millennial kingdom on earth.  Acts 1:11; John 14:3; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 4:1; Matthew 24:29-31; 24: 42-44; 25:31-46; II Thessalonians 2:7, 8; Revelation 19:11-21; 20:1-6; Hebrews 12:22-24.

Resurrection
• We believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead, the saved to everlasting blessedness at the coming of Christ, and, one thousand years later, the lost to the judgment at the Great White Throne and then to everlasting, conscious punishment in the Lake of Fire. John 5:21; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Corinthians 15:42-52; Philippians 3: 20, 21; Revelation 20: 5, 6; 11-15.

• 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; and that the souls of the lost remain after death, in conscious misery in Hell until the second resurrection.  II Corinthians 5:6-11; Philippians 1:23, 24; Luke 17:20-31.

Government
We believe that civil government is of divine appointment, for the interests and good order of human society; and that those in authority are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored, and obeyed, except only in those things opposed to the direct and revealed will of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Romans 13:1-7; Genesis 9:5-6; Exodus 18:21; I Timothy 2:2, 3; Acts 4:19; 20; 5:27-29.

Lord’s Day
We believe that in this Age of Grace, the Lord’s Day, which is the first day of the week, the day of our Lord’s resurrection, is the proper day for Christian worship and service; and that it ought to be kept sacred for spiritual purposes, by abstinence from all unnecessary secular labor and other activities unbecoming to such a day. Acts 20:7; I Corinthians 16:1, 2; Colossians 2:13-17; Hebrews 10:25; John 20:1, 19, 26.

Israel
We believe that God’s covenant people Israel shall be gathered in Palestine from their world-wide Dispersion, redeemed, placed under the personal and millennial reign of Christ upon David’s throne in Jerusalem, and made the head of nations.  Genesis 12:2, 3; 13:14, 15; Jeremiah 7:7; Deuteronomy 28:63-66; Deuteronomy 30:16; Ezekiel 36:22-28; 37:11-28; Romans 11:25-27; Luke 1:30-33; Jeremiah 23:3-6; 33:14-17; Acts 3:19-21; Revelation 20:4-6.

Satan
We believe that Satan, a fallen angel, is a distinct and real personality, the god of this age, the adversary of Christ and all believers, and that his destiny is eternal punishment in the lake of fire.  Ezekiel 28: 1-19; Job 1:6-9; I Peter 5:8; Matthew 4:1-11; I Timothy 3:7; James 4:7; II Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 20:10.