What We Believe

We believe in the Holy Trinity, the one living and true God eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; that these three Persons are identical in essence and equal in power and glory; they are sovereign and active in creation, providence, and redemption; they possess the same nature, attributes, and perfections, and are worthy of the same worship, confidence, and obedience. (Genesis 1:26-27; Psalm 103:19; Isaiah 45:5-7; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Matthew 3:16-17, 28:19-20; John 1:1-4)

Christ
We believe in the essential deity and perfect humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, born of the virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit; that He came to reveal God to mankind, lived a perfect life, and shed His blood for the sin of the world as the only acceptable, substitutionary sacrifice, satisfying God’s righteous judgments against sin; that He rose from the grave in the very body, though glorified, in which He had been crucified; that He ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father; and that He now appears in the presence of God as the only mediator between God and man until He comes again. (Matthew 1:18-23; Romans 1:3-4; John 1:14, 18, 20:19-21; Colossians 2:9; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Corinthians 15:20; Acts 1:9-11; Hebrews 1:3; 7:25)

Holy Spirit
We believe the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person; that He enabled men to write the Scriptures; that He convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; that He regenerates those who believe, places them into the Body of Christ, and indwells them permanently, sealing them unto the day of redemption; that as Christ’s representative on earth, He calls out a people for God’s service, empowering and directing them in that service. We teach in this respect, that God the Holy Spirit is sovereign in the bestowing of all His gifts for the perfecting of the saints today; and that speaking in tongues (unlearned languages) and the working of sign miracles gradually ceased as the New Testament Scriptures were completed, their authority became established, and the apostolic era passed. (Acts 5:3-4, 15:14; 1 Corinthians 6:19, 12:4-11, 13:8-13; 2 Corinthians 3:17; 2 Pet 1:21; John 16:7-11; Titus 3:5; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 2:1-4)

We believe the universe and all that is in it, including man, was created by God in six literal days; that man, originally created in the image of God, fell into sin by Adam’s voluntary act of disobedience; that as a consequence of his sin, he lost his spiritual life, becoming dead in trespasses and sin, and that he became subject to the power of the devil and physical death. We also believe that this spiritual death, or total depravity of human nature, has been transmitted to the entire human race, the Man Christ Jesus alone being the only exception; and as a result, every child of Adam is born into the world with a nature that is void of divine life, and is essentially and unchangeably evil, of 9 64 under God’s judgment apart from divine grace. (Genesis 1:26, 2:17, 6:5; Psalm 14:1-3, 51:5; Jeremiah 17:9; John 3:6, 36, 5:40, 6:53; Romans 3:10-19, 8:6-7; Ephesians 2:1-3; 1 Tim 5:6; 1 John 3:8)

God's exclusive model for marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime of godliness and fidelity; marriage provides the framework for intimate companionship, sexual expression according to Biblical standards, the means for procreation, and is God's foundation for the family; all other sexual thoughts and practices are sin and outside of God's revealed will (Genesis 1:27-28, 2:18-25, Leviticus 18:22-24, Proverbs 5:15-23, Matthew 5:27-28, Romans 1: 24-32, 1Corinthians 5:9-13, 6:9-11, Ephesians 5:22-33). 

We believe through faith alone in the crucified, risen Christ, man is justified, regenerated, and made a child of God. It is a sovereign and gracious act of God, totally apart from the works of man. Man cannot gain salvation by his good works, and he cannot lose it by his sinful works. There is but one way of salvation, namely, through the Person and work of Christ. All who so trust the Savior pass from death to life, are forgiven of their sins, accepted by the Father, and adopted into His family by means of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. (Romans 5:1; Titus 3:5; John 1:12, 10:27-29, 14:6; Ephesians. 2:8-9; Acts 4:12) 

We believe, as a result of justification, we are set apart to grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ; to walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. The flesh, in its fallen, Adamic nature, which in this life is never fully eradicated, needs to be kept by the Spirit, constantly in subjection to Christ, or it will surely manifest its presence in our lives to the dishonor of our Lord. Although sin is present, Christ promises spiritual growth by the work of the Holy Spirit in connection with the study of and compliance to the Word of God, self-examination, self-denial, fellowship, discipline, and prayer. (Romans 6:11-13, 8:2, 4, 12-13; Galatians 5:16-23; Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 2:1-10; 1 Peter 1:14-16; 1 John 1:4-7, 3:5-9) 

We believe that all who put their faith in Jesus Christ are immediately placed by the Holy Spirit into one united spiritual Body, the church, of which Christ is the head.  The purpose of the church is to glorify God by building its members up in faith, by instruction of the word, by fellowship, by keeping the ordinances, and by advancing and communicating the gospel to the entire world.  The formation of the church, the body of Christ, began on the day of Pentecost and will be completed at the coming of Christ for His own at the rapture.  (1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Colossians 1:18); 1 Corinthians 1:2, 11:23-29; Matthew 28:19-20; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Hebrews 10:24-25, 13:7)

We believe in the imminent, pre-tribulational return of Jesus to rapture His church, both dead and living believers, and to reward each individual believer according to his works. We believe that at the end of the Tribulation, the Lord Jesus Christ will bodily return with His saints and they will reign together over the nations for a literal thousand years; after which Satan will be loosed. After the millennial reign, the unbelieving dead will be raised and judged and, together with Satan and his emissaries, cast into the lake of fire to pay for the consequences of their disobedience to God; this is for all eternity, apart from God. Believers, however, will share eternal joy with the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven. (Revelation 20:1; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, 5:9; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53; Acts 1:11)