BELIEFS

Scripture

This church believes in the Holy Scriptures, the Old and New Testament, as the Word of God and the only perfect rule for faith, creed, and conduct (Isaiah 40:8; II Timothy 3:15-17).

 

The Godhead

We believe that God eternally subsists in three equal persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, equal in every divine attribute, and executing distinct though harmonious offices in the work of redemption (Matthew 3:16,17; 28:18,19; I Corinthians 12:3-6; II Corinthians 13:14; Galatians 4:6,7; Hebrews 9:14; I John 2:22,23).

 

The Person and Work of Christ

We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin (Luke 1:35; Matthew 1:20-23), that He is the true God and true man (Matthew 1:23; John 1:1,2,14), that He lived a sinless life (Hebrews 4:15), that He died as a perfect substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of all men (Isaiah 53:5,6; John 1:29; Hebrews 2:9; I Peter 3:18; I John 2:2), that He arose bodily from the grave (Matthew 28:6,7; Luke 24:6, 38-43; I Corinthians 15:4-8), that He ascended to the right hand of God where He is the High Priest and advocate for His people (Acts 1:9-11; Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25; 9:24; I John 2:1), that His return for His Church is imminent, personal and premillenial (John 14:3; Acts 1:9-11; I Corinthians 15:51,52; 4:13-18; Titus 2:18), and that after the Tribulation, He will set up His kingdom on the earth for His thousand year reign (Zechariah 14:4-21; Revelation 20:4-6).

 

The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit

We believe in the personality and deity of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; John 14:16; 15:26; Acts 5:3,4), that He inspired the writing of the Scriptures (II Peter 1:21; II Timothy 3:16), that He is sent by the Lord Jesus Christ from the Father to convict the world of sin (John 16:8-11), to be the Divine Agent in the new birth (John 3:5-8), to place believers in the body of Christ (I Corinthians 12:13), to indwell (John 14:16-17), guide (Romans 8:14), teach (John 16:13; I Corinthians 2:18), and empower them to live in victory over sin (Romans 8:3,4).

 

The Condition of Man

We believe that man was created by a definite act of Almighty god, created in His own image and likeness (Genesis 1:27), but that by sinning, he incurred upon himself physical death and spiritual death, which is separation from God (Genesis 3; Romans 5:12), that all human beings have subsequently been born with an inherent sinful nature (Psalm 51:5; Romans 5:21; 6:17) and that as they attain the age of moral responsibility, they universally become sinner in thought, word, and conduct (Romans 3:23).

 

Salvation

We believe that salvation is of divine grace alone (Ephesians 2:8,9), that men are justified only on the ground of the shed blood of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:24,25; 5:9), which is made effective to a person only upon his exercise of personal faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8,9; Romans 3:24-26; Titus 3:5; I Peter 1:18-21).

 

Security, Assurance and Responsibility

We believe that all true believers have eternal life as a present possession and can, therefore, have full assurance of salvation of time and eternity (John 3:16; 5:24; 10:28,29; I John 3:2; 5:12,13; Ephesians 1:13,14). Christians are called to a life of separation from worldly and carnal practices (Ephesians 4:17-32; I John 2:15-17; II Corinthians 6:14-17; I Corinthians 6:7,8: Matthew 19:9) and to walk worthy of their Lord and of their heavenly vocation (Colossians 1:10; Ephesians 4:1; I Thessalonians 2:12), and in a blameless manner toward their fellow men (I Thessalonians 4:12; Ephesians 5:1,2; I Peter 3:15,16).

 

Godly Love and Concern

We believe that God is a holy and righteous Father (I Peter 1:15,16) and cannot overlook the sins of His children (Habakkuk 1:13). He will, when His children persistently sin and fail to judge themselves (I Corinthians 11:31), chasten and scourge them in infinite love (Hebrews 12:6), in order that He may present them blameless before the presence of His glory (Ephesians 5:26,27; Jude 24).

 

The Person of the Devil

We believe in the personality of Satan (Job 1:6,7), that he was judged at the cross (John 16:11; Hebrews 2:14), and will ultimately be cast into the lake of fire, and remain there eternally (Revelation 20:10,15).

 

Eternal Death

We believe that all those who persistently reject Jesus Christ in this present life will appear before God to be finally judged and condemned to everlasting conscious punishment in hell (Revelation 20:11-15; Matthew 25:46; John 3:18,36).

 

The Eternal State

We believe that at death, the souls of those who have trusted Christ for salvation, pass immediately into His presence and remain there in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the body. This occurs at Christ's coming for the Church, when soul and body will be reunited. We then shall be with Him forever in glory. We believe that at death, the souls of unbelievers remain in conscious misery until the final judgment. This judgment takes place at the Great White Throne at the close of the millennium. At this time the soul and body will be reunited and shall be cast into the lake of fire, not be annihilated, but to be separated from God forever in conscious punishment (Luke 16:19-26; II Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; II Thessalonians 1:7-9; Revelation 20:11-15).