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We believe the Holy Bible is the Word of
God. We
accept fully the writings of the entire Old and New Testament as the inspired, inerrant,
and objective Word of God. We believe the Bible is the final authority in all matters of
doctrine, duty, and decisions as individuals and as a New Testament Church.
See Psalm 119:89; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; I
Thessalonians 2:13. |
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We believe in the Godhead.
We believe in
the only true God, the Creator, Who is eternal, loving, just, merciful, holy and
unchanging, and that God exists in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, equal in
every divine attribute and executing distinct but complementary offices in the work of
redemption. See Colossians 2:9;
Matthew 28:19; Matthew 3:14-17. |
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We believe that Jesus Christ is God’s Only Begotten Son
…that He pre-existed with God the Father before His birth in Bethlehem …that He
was supernaturally conceived by the Holy Spirit in the body of the virgin Mary …that
He lived a totally sinless and perfect life …that He died on the Cross for the sins
of the whole world …that He was buried and supernaturally raised out of the grave and
declared the victorious Son of God over sin, death and hell …that He is presently
seated at the right hand of God in the place of authority in heaven …that He is
coming back to the earth soon to bodily resurrect the dead in Christ and to rapture every
living believer to be carried to heaven with Him.
See John
3:16; Colossians 1:17; Isaiah 7:14; Luke 2:26-38; I Peter 2:22, 24; Romans 1:1-4; Hebrews
7:25; I Thessalonians 4:13-18. |
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We believe in the Holy Spirit.
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person, equal with God the
Father and God the Son. We believe the Holy Spirit convicts the sinner,
regenerates the sinner, indwells and seals the believer at the point of
initial salvation and that He fills and empowers the believer in order
that he may live a holy and fruitful life. We believe every Christian
should live life under the control of the Holy Spirit of God. We believe
that the evidence of the fullness or control of the Holy Spirit is in
living a godly, holy, fruitful, and witnessing life. We believe
that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is an experience that takes place at the time of
salvation and is not separate from salvation. See John 14:16,
26; John 15:26-27; John 16:7-11; Romans 8:1-14; I Corinthians 12:13; 14:23; 32-33. |
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We believe that Man is a Sinner.
We believe that Adam, the first man, was created in the image of God and in innocence.
However, by his voluntary transgression against the will and law of God, he fell into sin
and incurred not only physical death, but spiritual death, which is separation from God.
Consequently, all human beings are born with a sinful nature and are in need of
redemption. See Psalm 51:5; Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:23;
Ephesians 2:1-4. |
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We believe in Salvation.
We
believe that salvation is by grace through faith, that it is the free gift of God. We
believe that man is saved by faith in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe
a person must repent of his sin and by faith receive and trust the Person and provision of
Jesus Christ as Lord in order to be saved. We believe that salvation is a present reality,
that one can be saved and can know that he is saved, and can enjoy his life of salvation.
We also believe that all who have been truly born again will be saved forever and cannot
lose their salvation. We believe that being saved is the most important experience in
every individual’s life. See Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans
5:1-19; 10:9,10,13; Hebrews 9:22; Matt. 16:26. |
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We believe in Heaven. We believe
that heaven is a real place. We believe it is a lovely place, a perfect place, a place
which will be populated by the saints of God from all ages. We believe the most important
thing about heaven is the presence of the Lord Himself. We believe a person must make
proper preparations to go to heaven, and that that preparation is to receive Jesus Christ
as one’s own Lord and Savior. See John 14:1-6; Hebrews
12:22-24; Revelation 21:10-17; 22:1-2. |
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We believe Hell exists. We believe
that hell is a real place, and it was prepared for the devil and his angels, and that all
of those who die outside of the Lord Jesus Christ will spend eternity in hell. We believe
that hell is a literal place of physical, mental, spiritual, and eternal suffering. We
believe that every person will spend eternity either in heaven or in hell.
See Luke 16:19-31; Revelation 20:11-15; Matthew 13:42; Matthew
25:41; Mark 9:43,46. |
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We believe Satan exists.
We believe that
Satan is a real person, that He was created, that he originally lived in heaven but was
cast out of heaven when he rebelled against God. He is totally sinful, he is deceptive, he
is powerful, and we believe that he is the leader of a vast host of evil spirits who seek
to keep unsaved people lost, who seek to divide and deceive New Testament Churches, and
who seek to devour and deceive individual Christians. We believe that Christ defeated the
devil at the Cross and that the Christian has authority and power over the devil now,
through the Lord Jesus Christ. We also believe that Satan will ultimately be cast into the
lake of fire at the end of the age. See Isaiah 14:12-17;
Ezekiel 28:11-19; Ephesians 6:12; Genesis 3:1; II Corinthians 11:14; Revelation 12:11; I
John 4:4. |
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We believe in the Christian life.
We believe the greatest privilege of the Christian is to live for Jesus in this present
age. We believe the Christian life is a supernatural life. It is Christ living His life in
us and through us. We believe it is a spiritual life. It is the Holy Spirit of God
empowering and enabling us to be what God wants us to be. It is a warfare life; it is a
constant struggle between the flesh and spirit. It is a life of separation. We believe the
Christian life is one of separation from the ways of the world. It is a life of faith,
which is total commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is living by the promises of God
and in obedience to the commands of God. It is a life of progress,
spiritual growth, and
maturity, where we become more and more like Jesus. It is a life of fruitfulness where the
fruit of the Spirit is exhibited in our lives in the way we live and in the witness of our
lives as we lead other people to saving faith in Jesus Christ. We believe that witnessing
is a necessary and normal part of the Christian life.
See
Galatians 2:20; Galatians 3:23; Galatians 5:17; Galatians 3:11; Galatians 4:19; Ephesians
5:18; Galatians 5:22-23; Acts 1:8; Titus 2:11-13. |
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We believe in the Local Church.
We believe that the local church is God’s instrument in this present age and that all
Christians should both belong to and be an active part of a local New Testament Church. We
believe the church is a body of baptized believers in whom Jesus Christ lives and over
whom He lords, and is to live under the direction and discipline of the Holy Word of God.
They are united together in the Holy Spirit for the purpose of evangelizing the lost,
building up the saved and glorifying the Lord. We believe the church belongs to the Lord
Jesus Christ, that He purchased it with His own blood, and we believe that the members of
His church should love Christ and all the members of the body …and that they should
be faithful to the church’s purposes. We believe in the separation of church and
state. We believe the church is a God-governed body with the pastor serving as the
spiritual leader of the body. See Matthew 16:18; Ephesians
3:21; Acts 2:41-47. |
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We believe in Baptism and the Lord’s Supper as Church
Ordinances. We believe that baptism by immersion is the only
Scriptural mode. We believe that baptism does not save, but it is an act of obedience to
the command of Christ and a testimony to the world of one’s faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. We believe that baptism identifies a believer with Jesus Christ and with the
people of God. See Romans 6:1-5; Matthew 28:19-20.
We further believe that the Lord’s Supper is a symbolic ordinance which pictures
Christ’s body broken for our sins and His blood shed for our redemption. We do not
believe it is a saving ordinance, but rather symbolical. We believe that every born-again,
baptized believer should take the Lord’s Supper as an act of worship, praise,
remembrance, and gratitude to Jesus Christ for what He has done for the sinner.
See I Corinthians 11:23-24. |
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We believe in Giving.
We believe
that every Christian should give at least ten percent of his income to the Lord through
the local church. We further believe that every Christian should go beyond the tithe in
his or her giving to Spirit-directed giving. We believe the Christian’s time,
spiritual ability, and money ought to be given back to God as an act of dedication and
love to Jesus Christ and in order to fulfill the Great Commission.
See
Matthew 28:18-20; Leviticus 27:30; Malachi 3:10; Luke 6:38. |
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We believe in World Evangelism.
We believe that it is the responsibility and privilege of every member of the local church
to do everything he or she can to make the gospel of Jesus Christ available to as many
people as possible. Hence, we believe that evangelism begins at home as we lead people to
saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then evangelism spreads to the community, the city,
the state, the nation, and to the world. We believe that the energies of our church ought
to be totally directed to getting the gospel to the masses of the world. We believe it is
our solemn responsibility as a church to do everything we can to fulfill the Great
Commission. See Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16; Luke
24:44-49; John 20:21-23; Acts 1:8. |
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We believe in the Second Coming of Christ.
We believe that Jesus Christ will come again, visibly and bodily, for those who have
trusted Him as Savior and Lord. Those who have died as believers in the Lord Jesus will be
resurrected and those who are living believers will be raptured to meet the Lord in the
air in glorified bodies. We will return with Christ to where we will spend eternity in
heaven. See Acts 1:9-11; Romans 6:4, 8-9; I Thessalonians
4:13-18; Titus 2:13-14. |
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