What We Believe

1. That the Bible, consisting of the sixty - six books of the Old and New Testaments, is the inerrant and complete Word of God, the final, infallible, and authoritative rule of faith and practice(Psalm 119: 160; II Timothy 3: 16 - 17; II Peter 1: 19 - 21).

2. That there is one God, eternally existing in three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but without division of nature, essence, or being, and each having a distinct ministry in God’ s relation to His creation and people(Genesis 1: 1; Deuteronomy 6: 4; Isaiah 48: 16; Matthew 28: 19; John 10: 30, 15: 26).

3. That man was created in the image of God;
that he sinned by personal disobedience to the revealed will of God, and incurred not only physical death, but also Spiritual death, which is separation from God, and that as a consequence, all mankind is declared by God to be totally depraved, having inherited a sinful nature and having become sinners in thought, word, and deed, with absolutely no possible means of salvation within himself(Genesis 1: 26 - 27, 3: 6 - 19; Romans 3: 10 - 23, 6: 23, 7: 18, 11: 32; Galatians 3: 11, 22).

4. In the Lord Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and is true God and true man.As man, He was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin;
that He died as a substitutionary and complete sacrifice
for the sins of the whole world;
that He arose from the grave in the same body, though glorified, in which He was crucified;
and that as our Great High Priest, He ascended into Heaven, there to appear before the Father as the Head of the Church, our Advocate and Intercessor(John 1: 1, 14; 3: 16; Matthew 1: 18 - 25; Galatians 4: 4, 5; Philippians 2: 5 - 11; I Corinthians 15: 3 - 7; Hebrews 4: 14 - 16; I John 2: 1 - 2).

5. That the Holy Spirit, who is the third Person of the Trinity, convicts the world concerning sin and righteousness, and that He regenerates, indwells, baptizes, seals, and anoints all believers on the sole condition of personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.He also further empowers, guides, teaches, sanctifies, and fills those believers who surrender to Him daily(John 3: 5, 14: 16, 16: 7 - 14; Romans 3: 24 - 28, 8: 9 - 11; I Corinthians 12: 13; Ephesians 1: 13, 4: 30).

6. In salvation by grace through faith.That salvation is a free gift of God which can never be secured through any work or virtue, but received only by a personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His redeeming work on the cross at Calvary;
and that we have received the evidence of the acceptance by the Father of the propitiation of Christ in the resurrection of the body of Christ;
and this is the divine guarantee that believers shall never perish but have a present possession of everlasting, eternal life and that every born again believer shall be eternally secure.(Ephesians 2: 8, 9; Titus 3: 5; John 1: 12, 3: 14, 10: 28, 29, 17: 11; Romans 8: 1; Philippians 1: 6).


7. That sanctification(separation unto God) is threefold: positionally, the believer was sanctified at conversion by his union with Christ;
progressively, he is continually being sanctified through the Word as he walks in the Spirit, thereby overcoming the lusts of the flesh and producing the fruit of the Spirit;
and ultimately, he will be completely conformed to the image of Christ when he sees his Savior face to face(John 17: 17; Ephesians 5: 26; Colossians 3: 1 - 4; Hebrews 10: 14; I John 3: 1 - 3).

8. The existence of Satan, who originally was created a holy and perfect being, but through pride rebelled against God and became utterly depraved.He is the great adversary of God and His people and the leader of all evil angels and demons, the deceiver and god of this present world, and that although his powers are vast, they are strictly limited by God.He was defeated and judged at the cross, and we are able to resist and overcome him by the blood of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit and in the armor of God(Isaiah 14: 12 - 15; Job 1 - 2; Ephesians 6: 12; I Peter 5: 8; I John 3: 8; Revelation 12: 9 - 11, 20: 10).

9. On the literal second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.This
return will be personal and bodily;
first in the air prior to the seven - year tribulation(thus it is always imminent) to receive the Church, His Body, unto Himself in Heaven, and that following the literal fulfillment of the Great Tribulation spoken of by the Prophets, He will
return visibly to the earth with His saints to set up His Millennial Kingdom of universal peace and righteousness which will end after 1, 000 years with a final rebellion by Satan and his followers, at which time he will be cast into the lake of fire
for everlasting torment, and God will usher in the New Heaven and the new earth
for eternity(Acts 1: 11; I Thessalonians 4: 13 - 18; I Corinthians 15: 51 - 58; II Peter 3: 1 - 13; Revelation 19: 11 - 16, 20: 1 - 15).

10. That the Church is the Body of Christ, composed of all who are born again during this age of grace, which began at Pentecost and will be terminated at the rapture;
that this church universal is to gather as local churches after the pattern of New Testament doctrine and practice, including the observance of the ordinances of water baptism by immersion and the Lord’ s Supper;
and that God performs the Ministry of the Church through its members to whom He has given gifts
for the purpose of edifying the Body of Christ(Acts 2: 1 - 47; Romans 12: 1 - 8; I Corinthians 11: 23 - 34, 12: 1 - 3; Ephesians 1: 22 - 23).