WE BELIEVE
The Scriptures
We believe the Holy Scriptures (the Bible) are the very Word of God: the product of God “breathing out” these words to Holy men of God who faithfully and carefully recorded them. They are, therefore, verbally inspired in all parts, equally and fully, and therefore wholly without error as given by God in the original manuscripts, complete in sixty-six books of the Bible, altogether infallible, and sufficient in themselves as our only rule of faith and practice, the only standard by which all human conduct, creeds and opinions should be tried. (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:19—21; John 17:17; Romans 15:4; Psalm 119:105, 130, 160)
The Trinity
We believe that God eternally exists in three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; and that these three are one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes and perfections, and are worthy of precisely the same worship, confidence and obedience. God is a personal spirit, and sovereign; perfect, infinite, and eternal in His Being, holiness, love, wisdom, and power; separate from and above the world as its Creator, yet present everywhere in the world as sustainer; self-existing and self-revealing. (Matthew 28:18, 20; Mark 12:29; Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalm 104; John 5:23, 26; Acts 5:3, 4; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Genesis 1:26)
God, the Father
We believe in God the Father, perfect in holiness, infinite in wisdom, measureless in power, that He loves the world and concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He saves from sin and the second death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ. It is our supreme purpose to glorify Him through worshipful obedience. (1 Corinthians 8:6, Matthew 6:26; 7:11; John 15:8; 20:17)
Jesus Christ
We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ: the Second Person of the Triune God; that, without any essential change in His divine person, He became man by the miracle of the virgin birth, thus to continue forever as both true God and man; that as man, He was tested 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 rose again from the dead and was glorified in the same body in which He suffered and died; that as our High Priest He ascended into heaven, there to appear before the face of God and to continue as our Advocate and Intercessor. (Matthew 1:23; John 1:1, 4, 18; 20:25—28; Romans 8:34; 9:5; Galatians 3:13; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:1,3; 4:15; 1 John 2:1)
The Holy Spirit
We believe in the Holy Spirit: Who is the Third Person of the Triune God, that divine agent in nature, revelation, and redemption; that He convicts the world of sin, restrains evil, regenerates those who believe, and indwells, seals, empowers, guides, teaches, and sanctifies all who become the children of God through Christ; that He is ever present to testify of Christ, seeking to occupy us with Him, and not with ourselves nor with our experiences, that He enables individual members of the body of Christ to be used in the church; that He never departs from individual believers, that His gifts of tongues and healing were given to some early Christians as a sign to unbelieving Israel, confirming God’s Word to that nation, but are not applicable today. (John 7:38—39; 14:16-17; 15:26; 16:8—11; 16:13—14; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:9; Acts. 5:3, 4; 1 Corinthians 2:10; 6:11—19; 14:21, 22)
Creation and the Fall of Man
We believe in the Creation and the Fall of Man: that man was the direct creation of God, not in any sense the product of evolution, but made in the divine image; that by personal disobedience to the revealed will of God man sinned and thus brought physical and spiritual death to the entire race, who are universally sinful both in nature and practice, alienated from the life and family of God, and have no possible means of recovery of salvation within themselves. (Genesis 1:2; 3:1-24; John 1:3; Romans 1:18; 5:12; Ephesians 4:18; Colossians 1:16-17; Hebrews 11:3)
Salvation
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, who by the appointment of the Father, freely took upon Himself our nature (yet without sin); honoured the divine law by His personal obedience, and by His death made a full and substitutionary atonement for our sins, the Just dying for the unjust. In Christ all believers have as present possessions the gift of eternal life, a perfect righteousness, sonship 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. (John 3:16; 10:27—29; Romans 3:24; Titus 3:5; 1John 5:13; 2 Peter 1:3)
The Means of the New Birth
Salvation is accomplished solely through the merits of Jesus’ righteous life and sufficient death, who was made to be sin, made a curse for us, dying in our room and stead. We believe that, owing to the universal depravity and death in sin, no one can obtain eternal life unless he is born again, and that no degree of reformation, or good works, or moral uprightness, or religious activity (such as baptism or the Lord’s Supper) can help the sinner to take one step toward heaven. The belief that such good works can help an individual in his own salvation evidences the belief that the work Christ accomplished in His righteous life and substitutionary death were not sufficient in purchasing eternal redemption for mankind. A new life implanted by the Holy Ghost through the Word, are absolutely essential to salvation. (Isaiah 64:6; John 1:12, 13; 3:3, 5, 18; Acts 2:41; 16:30—33; Romans 6:23; Galatians 5:22; 6:16; Ephesians 2:1; 5:9; Philippians 5:4—9; Colossians 2:13; Titus 3:5; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23; 2 Peter 1:4)
Salvation is received when one receives Christ by faith. We believe that the moment we trust in Him as our Savior, we pass out of death into everlasting life, being justified from all things, accepted before the Father according to the measure of His acceptance, loved as He is loved, and having His place and portion, as linked to Him, and one with Him forever. (John 5:24; 17:23; Acts 13:39; Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:4—6; 1 John 4:17; 5:11-12)
Results of New Birth
Justification:
We believe that the gospel blessing of justification: (a) includes the pardon of sin, and the gift of eternal life on principles of righteousness; (b) that it is bestowed not in consideration of any works of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross. His righteousness is imputed to us, not earned by us. (Isaiah 53:11; Acts 13:39; Romans 1:17; 4:1—8; 5:1, 9; 8:1; Galatians 3:11; Titus 3:5—7; Hebrews 1:4; 10:38)
Security of Believers:
We believe: (a) that real believers are those who endure to the end because they are kept by the power of God; (b) that their persevering attachment to Christ is that which distinguishes them from superficial professors; (c) that a special Providence watches over their welfare; (d) and that they are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. [(a) John 3:31; Philippians 1:6; 2:12—13; Hebrews 1:14; 13:5; 1 John 2:27—28; 3:9; 4:4; 5:18; Jude 24:25; (b) John 13:18; 1 John 2:19; Matthew 13:20—21; John 6:66—69; (c) Psalm 91:11—12; 121:2; Jeremiah 32:40; Matthew 6:30—33; Romans 8:28]
Walk of Believers:
We believe that we are called with a holy calling to walk, not after our sin, but after the Spirit, and therefore we should not fulfill the lusts of our sinful nature. The sin principle being in us to the end of our earthly pilgrimage needs to be kept constantly in subjection to Christ, or it will surely manifest its presence to the dishonor of His dear name. We believe in righteous living and good works: not as obtaining salvation in any sense, but as evidence of salvation; and therefore as Christians we should keep the Word of God, seek the things which are above, walk as He walked, be careful to maintain good works, and especially accept as our solemn responsibility and privilege the taking of the Gospel to a lost world. (John 14:23; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:13; 13:13—14; Galatians 5:16—25; Ephesians 2:8—10; 4:22—24; Colossians 3:1-10; 1 Peter 1:14, 16; 1 John 2:6; 3:5—9)
Satan
We believe in the personality of Satan: who originally was created a perfect and holy being, but through pride and unlawful ambition rebelled against God, thus becoming completely corrupt in character, the adversary of God and His people, leader of all evil angels and spirits, the deceiver and god of this world; that his powers are supernaturally great, but limited by the purposes of God who overrules all his wicked devices for good; that he was defeated at the cross, making certain his final doom to the judgment of an eternal justice in the lake of fire. (Ezekiel. 28:13—17; Isaiah 14:12—15; Matthew 12:24—26; John 8:44; 16:11; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 6:12—18; 2 Thessalonians 2:8—11; Revelation 12:9—11; 13:13—14; 19:11, 16, 20; 20:1-3)
The Church
We believe in the One True Church: the body and bride of the Lord Jesus Christ, which He began to build on the day of Pentecost, and will complete at His second coming, and into which all true believers of the present age are placed; that the members of this spiritual body (universal church) should assemble themselves together in local churches for the purpose of fulfilling God’s purposes in this age. (Matthew 16:16—18; 28:19; Acts 2:32—47; 8:26—39; Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 11:23—28, 12:12-13; Ephesians 1:20—23; 4:4; Colossians 3:14—15; Hebrews 1:25)
We believe that a local church is a congregation of immersed believers, associated by covenant in faith for worship, evangelism, prayer, fellowship, teaching, united testimony, and the observance of the two New Testament ordinances, namely baptism by immersion which is a public testimony of faith and a prerequisite of the privileges associated with local church membership, and the Lord’s Supper which is a commemoration of the death of Christ. This body is to be governed by His laws; and to exercise the spiritual gifts for the purpose of the building up of the entire body. Its officers consist of two: that of Pastor (bishop, elder), and Deacon. The first office is that of designated leadership (by the church as a whole), administration and of feeding the flock through preaching/teaching. The latter office is designed as a servant role to alleviate the pastor from tasks which might otherwise distract him from his primary duties (prayer, teaching, preaching and administration). The qualifications of these offices are clearly defined in Scripture. We believe that the true mission of the Church is the faithful witnessing of Christ to all men as we have the opportunity. We hold that the local church has the absolute right of self-government, free from the domination of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations; and 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; that each local church is the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation. (Acts 2:41—42; 6:1—7; 20:17-18; 15:13—18; 1 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 1:22—23; 4:11; 5:23—24; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 3:17)
The Second Coming of Christ
We believe in the Second Coming of Christ: that His return will be personal, visible, premillennial, and glorious
a blessed hope, the time being unrevealed, yet always imminent; that when He comes, He will first remove His church from the earth by resurrection and translation, then pour out God’s righteous judgments on the unbelieving world, afterward descend with His church and establish His glorious Kingdom over all nations for a thousand years, at the close of which He will raise the unrighteous dead for their final judgment. (Titus 2:11—13; 1 Thessalonians 4:16—18; Revelation 20:11—15)
Future Life
We believe in Future Life, Bodily Resurrection, and Eternal Judgment; that the spirit of believers at death go to be with Christ in heaven where they abide in joyful fellowship with Him until their bodies are raised from the grave to be reunited with their soul, changed into the likeness of His glorious body, at which time their works shall be brought before the Judgment Seat of Christ for determination of reward; that the spirits of the unrighteous at death go into Hades where they are kept under punishment until the final day of judgment, at which time their bodies shall be resurrected to be reunited with their soul and they shall be judged and condemned at the Great White Throne following the Millennium, and they shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, the place of final and everlasting punishment. (Luke 16:19—31; 23:43; Romans 1:17; 7:6; 6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:35—58; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:21-23; 2 Thessalonians 1:7—9; 2 Peter 2:9; 4:18; Jude 6-7; Revelation 20:11-15)
Separation
- We believe in separation from the world: that since we are citizens of Heaven, as the children of God we should walk in separation from this present world, having no fellowship with its evil ways, abstaining from worldly amusements and unclean habits which defile mind and body, or any other practice that would violate the Christian conscience of this church. (2 Corinthians 6:14—16; 1 Thessalonians 5:22; Ephesians 5:3—11; Colossians 3:11)
- We believe in separation from apostasy: that since many organizations and ministries carry the name “Christian,” but in reality contradict the clear Word of God, we purpose to remain separated from all forms of ecclesiastical activity that contradict or compromise the Word of God. (Romans 16:17; 2 Corinthians 6:14—16; 1 Timothy 6:3—5; 2 Thessalonians 3:6)
- We believe in the separation of church and state: that governmental authorities are the divine appointment of the establishment of peace and order in society, and the punishment of evil doers; that they are to be prayed for, honoured, and obeyed except in things contrary to God’s Word. (Matthew 22:21; Romans 13:17; Acts 5:20, 29)