STATEMENT OF FAITH
Article I - The Scriptures
We believe in the plenary, verbal inspiration of the
Scriptures, both of the Old and New Testaments.
By this we understand that the Holy Spirit not only inspired the
thoughts of the writers, but also formulated the very word structure into which
the thoughts were cast with the result that the original documents were
inerrant as to fact and infallible as to truth.
(I Cor. 2:13; II Tim. 3:16-17;
II Pet. 1:20-21).
Article II - The Godhead
We believe in one Triune God, Father, Son and Holy
Spirit, eternal in being, identical in nature, equal in power and glory, and
having precisely the same attributes and perfections.
(Deut. 6:4; II Cor. 13:14;
Matt. 3:16, 17; Matt 28:19).
Article III - Man's Creation and Fall
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness
of God but through Adam's sin became alienated from God, acquired a sin nature,
and came under the judicial sentence of death.
(Gen. 1:25-27;
Article IV - The Person and Work of Jesus Christ
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of
God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived of the Holy
Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and
redeem sinful man. We believe that the
Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as
a propitiatory and substitutionary sacrifice, and
that our redemption is made sure to us by His resurrection from the dead in the
identical, though glorified body
in which He was crucified.
(John 1:1-2; Luke
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is now in Heaven
exalted at the right hand of God where, as High Priest for His people, He
fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate.
(Heb. 9:24;
We believe in the return of our Lord Jesus Christ and in
His kingdom reign upon the earth.
(I Thess. 4:13-18; Zech.
14:4-11; Rev. 20:6).
Article V - The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit, the third person of the
Godhead, in the present age indwells all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ,
baptizes them into the Body of Christ and seals them unto the day of
redemption, and we believe that every believer is to be filled with the Holy
Spirit.
(Rom. 8:9; I Cor. 12:12-14;
Eph. 1:13-14:
Article VI - Salvation
We believe that salvation is the gift of God offered to
man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that
this faith is manifested in works pleasing to God.
(Eph. 2:8,9; Tit. 2:11-14)
We believe that all true believers once saved shall be
kept saved forever.
(
Article VII - The Church
A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a
local body of baptized believers who are associated by covenant in the faith
and fellowship of the gospel, observing the two ordinances of Christ. We believe these two ordinances to be:
1) Baptism - which is the immersion of a believer in
water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This is an act of
obedience symbolizing the believers death to self, the
burial of his old life and resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ
Jesus. This is a prerequisite to church
membership.
2) The Lord's Supper which is also a symbolic act
of obedience whereby members of the church through partaking of the bread and
drink memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.
These believers are committed to His teachings and exercise
the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seek to
extend the gospel to the ends of the earth.
This church is an autonomous body, operating through
democratic processes under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In such a congregation members are equally
responsible.
(Matt. 16:15-19; Acts 2; ICor.
1:2;
Article VIII - The
We believe that the condition and retribution of the lost
and the salvation and blessedness of the saved are conscious and everlasting.
(Mark 9:43-48; Rev. 20:15, 22:3-5, 11).