We Believe
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1.
We
believe in the Holy Scriptures: Accepting fully the
writing of the Old/New testaments as the inerrant Word of God, verbally
inspired in all parts and therefore altogether sufficient as our only
infallible and authoritative rule of faith and practice.
Psalm
119:160; Proverbs 30:5a; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21
2.
We
believe in The One True God: Who is an intelligent, sovereign,
spiritual and personal Being; perfect, infinite, and eternal in His Being,
holiness and love, wisdom and power; absolutely separate from and above the
world as its Creator, yet everywhere present in the world as the Upholder of
all things. He is revealed to us as
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three distinct persons but without divisions of
nature, essence or Being, and each having a distinct ministry in God’s relation
to His creation and people.
Genesis
1:1; Exodus 15:11; Psalm 83:18; 139:7-9; Matthew 28:19; John
3.
We
believe in The Lord Jesus Christ: Who is the second person
of the Triune God, the eternal Word and Only Begotten Son, that without any
change in His divine Person, He became man by the miracle of the virgin birth,
thus to continue forever as both true God and true man, one person with two
natures, that as Man, He was tempted as we are, yet without sin; that as the
perfect Lamb of God He gave Himself in death upon the cross, bearing there the
sin of the world, and suffering its full penalty of divine wrath in our stead;
that He arose from the grave in a glorified body; that as our great high priest
He ascended into Heaven, there to appear before the
face of God as our Advocate and Intercessor.
John
1:1; 14; 3:16; Matthew 1:18-25; Galatians 4:4-5; Philippians 2:6-10; 1
Corinthians 15:3-7; Hebrews 4:14-16; 1 John 2:1-2
1.
We
believe in the Holy Spirit: Who is the third person of the
Trinity, and the divine agent in nature, revelation and redemption; that He
convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment; that He
regenerates, indwells, baptizes, seals and anoints all who become children of
God through Christ; that He further empowers, guides, teaches, sanctifies and
fills believers who daily surrender to Him.
John
3:5; 14:16-17; 26; 16:7-14; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:13; 2 Corinthians
3:18; Ephesians 1:13; 5:18
2.
We
believe all men are by nature and choice sinful and lost:
That man was the direct creation of God, made in His image and likeness; that
by personal disobedience to the revealed will of God, man became a sinful
creature, the father of a fallen race, which is universally sinful in both
nature and practice, thus alienated from the life and family of God, under the
righteous judgment and wrath of God, and has within himself no possible means
of salvation.
Genesis
1:27; 3:6; Psalm 51:5; Romans
3.
We
believe in Salvation by grace through faith: That salvation is
the free gift of God, neither merited nor secured in part or in whole by any
virtue or work of man, but received only by personal faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ, in whom all true believers have as a present possession the gift of
eternal life, a perfect righteousness, son-ship in the family of God,
deliverance and security from all condemnation, every spiritual resource needed
for life and godliness, and the divine guarantee that they shall never perish;
that this salvation affects the whole man; that apart from Christ there is no
possible salvation.
Ephesians
2:8-9; Titus 3:5; John 1:12; 3:14; 10:28-29; Romans 8:1; Philippians 1:6
4.
We
believe in righteous living and godly works: Not as to salvation
in any sense, but as it is proper evidence and fruits; and therefore as
Christians we should obey the Word of our Lord, seek the things that are above,
walk as He walked, accept as our solemn responsibility the duty and privileges
of bearing the gospel to a lost world; remembering that a victorious and
fruitful Christian life is possible only for those who, in gratitude for the
infinite and undeserving mercies of God, have presented themselves wholly to
Christ.
Ephesians
2:10; Romans 12:1-2; Philippians 2:16
5.
We
believe in the existence of Satan: Who originally was created
a holy and perfect being; but through pride and wicked ambition rebelled
against God, thus becoming utterly depraved in character, the great adversary of
God and His people, leader of all other evil angels and wicked spirits, the
deceiver and god of this present world, that his powers are vast, but strictly
limited by the permissive will of God who overrules all his wicked devices for
good, that he was defeated and judged at the cross, and therefore his final
doom is certain; that we are able to resist and overcome him only in the armor
of God, by the blood of the Lamb and through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Isaiah
14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:12-19; Ephesians 6:12; 1 Peter 5:8; 1 John 3:8; Revelation
12:9-11; 20:10
6.
We
believe in the second coming of Christ: That His coming in the air
to rapture His Church, which is our blessed hope, is always imminent; that when
He has first by resurrection of the dead and translation of the living removed
from the earth His waiting Church, He will then pour out the righteous
judgments of god upon the unbelieving world and afterward descend with His
Church and establish His glorious and literal kingdom over all the nations for
a thousand years.
1
Thessalonians 4:13-18; James 5:8; Hebrews 10:37; Jude 14-15; Revelation
19:11-16; 20:4-7
7.
We
believe in future life, bodily resurrection and eternal judgment:
That the spirits of the saved at death go immediately to be with Christ in Heaven,
that their works shall be brought before the Judgment Seat of Christ for the
determination of reward, which will take place at the time when Christ comes
for His own: that the spirits of the unsaved at death descend immediately into
Hades where they are kept under punishment until the final day of judgment, at
which time their bodies shall be raised from the grave, that they shall be
judged and cast into Hell, the place of final and everlasting punishment.
1
Corinthians 15; 2 Corinthians 5:8-10; Luke 16:19-23; Revelation 20:11-15
8.
We
believe in the separation of Church and State: With each having
definite and distinct spheres of responsibility.
Matthew
22:21; Romans 13:1-7
9.
We
believe in the priesthood of all believers: That Christ is our
great high priest and through Him every born again person has direct access
into Gods presence without the need of a human priest; that the believer has
the right and responsibility to personally study and interpret the Scriptures,
guided by the Holy Spirit.
John 14:6;
Hebrews 4:16; 2 Timothy 2:15; 1 Peter 2:1; 5; 9
10.
We
believe in the Lordship of Jesus Christ: That He alone is Head of
the body of Christ, into which all true believers are immediately baptized by
the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation; that all members of this one
spiritual body should assemble and identify themselves in local churches.
1
Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians
11.
We
believe in the importance of the local Church: That a New
Testament Church is a local assembly of born again baptized believers united in
organization to practice New Testament ordinances, to meet together for
worship, prayer, fellowship, teaching, and a united testimony, and to engage
actively in carrying out the Great Commission.
Acts
2:41-47; 1 Corinthians 11:2; Matthew 28:18-20
12.
We
believe in the independence and autonomy of the local Church:
That each New Testament Church is free to govern itself without ecclesiastical
interference and should cooperate with other New Testament Churches as the Holy
Spirit leads; that it is responsible to follow the pattern of the
Matthew
18:17; Acts 6:1-5;
13.
We
believe the two ordinances given to the local Church are Baptism and the Lords
Supper: That baptism is by immersion of believers in water, thus
portraying the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ; that the Lords
Supper is the partaking of the bread and cup by the believer as a continuing
memorial of the broken body and shed blood of Christ.
Matthew
28:19-20; Acts
14.
We
believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in
outside of a marriage between a man and a woman: That
any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest,
fornication, adultery and pornography are sinful perversions of Gods gift of
sex.
Genesis
2:24; 19:5; 13; 26:8-9; Leviticus 18:1-30; Romans 1:26-29; 1 Corinthians 5:1;
6:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4
15.
We
believe that the only legitimate marriage: Is the joining of one man and one woman.
Genesis
2:24; Romans 7:2-3; 1 Corinthians 7:10-16; Ephesians 5:22-33
16.
We
believe that men and women are spiritually equal in position before God:
But that God has ordained distinct and separate spiritual functions for men and
women in the home and men are to be leaders (Pastors and Deacons) of the
Church.
Galatians
3:28; Colossians 3:18; 1 Timothy 2:8-15; 3:4-5; 12
This Statement of Faith does not exhaust the extent of our
faith. The bible itself is the sole and
final source of all that we believe. We
do believe, however, that the foregoing Statement of Faith accurately
represents the teaching of the Bible, and therefore, is binding upon all
members. All literature used in the
Church shall be in complete agreement with the Statement of Faith.