Statement of Faith

We Believe and Teach:

I. Bible

  • the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Bible in the original manuscripts.
  • in the original manuscripts, the Bible is infallible and inerrant.
  • the Bible as the final source of authority in all matters, and establishes the final and conclusive standard for all human conduct.
  • that God has providentially preserved His sacred writings so that today we have an accurate copy of the Word of God.

II Tim.3:16; II Peter 1:21

II. God

  • there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
  • God created all things by the work of His Power, in the space of six days, and all very good. We reject the theories of evolution and theistic evolution.

Gen.1:1,2; Ps.90:2

III. Father

  • the Father is God, the first person of the Godhead.
  • He is the Father of creation; of the Lord Jesus Christ; and of any who believe in Christ.
  • He is responsible for the raising of the dead.
  • He disciplines His sons.

(We reject the theory that all men are brothers, under the Fatherhood of God, by virtue of His creation work. It is true that all mankind are of the same race, but the only way to become a “son of God”, in the Biblical sense, is through faith in Jesus Christ.)

I Cor. 8:6; Eph. 2:18,19; Ex. 4:22; II Cor. 1:3; Gal. 3:26; I Cor. 15:15; Heb. 12:7-9

IV. Son

  • Jesus is God, the second person of the Godhead.
  • He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, and performed many miracles.
  • His was a vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood.
  • He rose bodily from the grave and ascended to the right hand of the Father in heaven.
  • His return is imminent and will be personal.

Col. 1:17; Isa. 7:14; II Cor. 5:21; Heb. 10:10-12; Col. 3:1; Acts 1:9-11

V. Holy Spirit

  • the Holy Spirit is God, the third person of the Godhead.
  • when a person receives Christ, through faith, he is baptized, by the Holy Spirit, into the body of Christ.
  • there is one baptism but there is the expectation of many fillings of the Spirit during the Christian experience.
  • His ministry includes convicting, regenerating, indwelling, sealing, and teaching of the believer.
  • in His sovereign will, He bestows spiritual gifts on each believer. The purpose of these gifts is the building up of the Body of Christ. They are to produce unity, not discord. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit produces in the life of the believer fruit, which are the characteristics of growth and maturity.

I Cor. 12:13; I Cor. 13:8-10; I Cor. 14:20-22; Matt. 28:19; I Cor. 12:13; Eph. 5:1 8; Jn. 16:8-15; Eph. 1:13; Eph. 4:11-13; 1 Cor. 12:7; Gal. 5:22-23

VI. Nature of Humanity

  • Man was created in the image of God.
  • Male and female were created by God, sexually different, but with equal personal dignity. We affirm our God given biological sex, and refrain from any and all attempts to physically change, alter, or disagree with our created predominant biological sex.
  • God has established marriage as a lifelong, exclusive relationship between one man and one woman and that all intimate sexual activity outside the marriage relationship, whether heterosexual, homosexual, or otherwise, is immoral and therefore sin.

Gen 1:26-28; 2:15-25; Ex. 20:14, 17, 22:19; Lev 18:22-23, 20:13a, 15-16; Deut. 22:5; Matt 19:46; Rom 1:18-31; 1 Cor. 6:9-11, 7:14; I Tim. 1:8-11; Jude 1:7)

VII. Sin and Salvation

  • by willful rebellion man fell from that holy and happy estate, the consequence of which remains to this present day: “all have sinned.”
  • the power of Christ’s blood to save and to cleanse from sin is the remedy.
  • salvation is by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and not of any works of man’s righteousness. Consequently, there is no possibility of losing this salvation.
  • there will be a resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that reject Jesus Christ unto the resurrection of damnation.

Gen. 1:27; 3:1-6; Jn. 19:34; (cp Heb. 10:4-10); Eph. 2:8,9; Titus 3:5; Jn. 10:28,29; I Cor. 12: 13; Jn. 5:28,29; 2 Cor. 5:6-9; Rev. 20: 11-15

VIII. Church

  • the Church is the body of Christ, consisting of all believers everywhere, regardless of color, race, or standing.
  • it is the believer’s responsibility upon profession of faith in Christ to give public testimony of that fact through baptism and to unite with a local assembly of born-again believers.
  • “works”, after salvation, are necessary to prove “what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
  • the Spiritual unity of believers in Christ.

Co1. 1:18; I Cor. 12:13; Matt 28:19; Acts 2:41; Rom. 6:1-10; Rom. 12:2; James 2:26

IX. Final Things

  • the Lord Jesus could return at any moment to take His Bride, the Church, unto Himself prior to the Great Tribulation.
  • after the Great Tribulation, Jesus will return in power to set up His kingdom on earth.

Rev. 3:10; II Thess. 2:1-7; Rev. 6:17 (cp I Thess. 1:10; 5:9); I Thess. 5:6; 4:13-18; I Cor. 15:51-57; Rev. 19

This Doctrinal Statement does not exhaust the extent of our beliefs. The Bible itself, as the inspired and infallible Word of God that speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality, and the proper conduct of mankind, is the sole and final source of all that we believe. For purposes of our faith, doctrine, practice, policy, and discipline, our Board of Trustees shall be the final interpretive authority on the Bible’s meaning and application.

 

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