The Holy Scriptures
We believe in the Holy Scriptures (The Bible) as the revealed will of God given to us by the Holy Spirit, the only infallible rule of faith and practice (1 Corinthians 2:7-14, 2 Peter 1:20-21, Hebrews 4:12, Matthew 5:18, John 17:17). We believe the Old and New Testament (the 66 books) is the inspired Word of God, a revelation from God to Man (2 Timothy 3:16), concerning the will of God in all things necessary for our faith, conduct and salvation, so that whatever is not contained therein is not to be enjoined as an article of faith (1 Thessalonians 2:13, Deuteronomy 4:2).
God
We believe that there is but only one true and living God (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5-7; 1 Corinthians 8:4). He is an infinite, immutable, all knowing spirit (Colossians 1:17, Malachi 3:6, Isaiah 46:9-10, John 4:24), perfect in all His attributes (Matthew 5:48, Deuteronomy 32:4, Psalm 18:30), eternally existing in three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14, Colossians 2:9) co-equal and co-eternal, equally worthy of worship, confidence and obedience.
- God the Father
We believe that God the Father, the first Person of the Trinity, orders and disposes all things according to His own purpose and grace (Psalm 145:8-9; 1 Corinthians 8:6). He is the Creator of all things (Genesis 1:1-31; Ephesians 3:9). Being the only Absolute and Omnipotent ruler in the universe, He is sovereign in creation, providence, and redemption (Psalm 103:19; Romans 11:36). As Creator He is Father to all men (Ephesians 4:6), but He is spiritual Father only to believers (Romans 8:14; 2 Corinthians 6:18). He has decreed for His own glory all things that come to pass (Ephesians 1:11). He continually upholds, directs, and governs all creatures and events (1 Chronicles 29:11). In His sovereignty He is neither author nor approver of sin (Habakkuk 1:13; John 8:38-47). He alone saves from sin all who come to Him through Jesus Christ; He adopts as His own all those who come to Him; and He becomes, upon adoption, Father to His own (John 1:12; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:5; Hebrews 12:5-9).
- God the Son
We believe that Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Trinity, possesses all the divine excellencies, and in these He is coequal, consubstantial, and coeternal with the Father (John 10:30; 14:9). In incarnation (God becoming man), Jesus came to this earth, took on flesh, walked among us and surrendered only the prerogatives of deity but nothing of the divine essence, either in degree or kind (Philippians 2:5-8). Our Lord Jesus Christ was virgin born (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23, 25; Luke 1:26 35); He was God incarnate (John 1:1, 14); and the purpose of the incarnation was to reveal God, redeem men, and rule over God’s kingdom (Psalm 2:7-9; Isaiah 9:6; John 1:29; Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 7:25-26; 1 Peter 1:18-19). Through living the perfect life on our behalf, our Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through the shedding of His blood and sacrificial death on the cross (1 Peter 2:24, 1 Peter 3:18). Following His atoning death, Jesus rose from the grave.
In His resurrection, He defeated sin, Satan, and death, and He offers the forgiveness of sin and eternal life to all who will trust in Him as Lord (John 5:26-29, Acts 4:12, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Jesus Christ will return to receive the church, which is His Body, unto Himself at the rapture, and returning with His church in glory, will establish His millennial kingdom on earth (Acts 1:9-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 20).
- God the Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a distinct person (Luke 11:13, John 14:26) and He is coequal and consubstantial with the Father and the Son (Matthew 28:19; Acts 5:3-4; 28:25-26; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6; 2 Corinthians 13:14; and Jeremiah 31:31-34 with Hebrews 10:15-17). His sovereign presence is recognized in creation (Genesis 1:2), the incarnation (Matthew 1:18), the written revelation (2 Peter 1:20-21), and the work of salvation (John 3:5-7). The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. He intercedes with the Father on our behalf, and the Father knows the mind of the Spirit and knows how to answer our prayers because the Spirit intercedes according to God’s will (Romans 8:26-27).
Mankind
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God. (Genesis 2:7, 15-25). God’s intention in the creation of man was that man should glorify God, enjoy God’s fellowship, live his life in the will of God, and by this accomplish God’s purpose for man in the world (Isaiah 43:7; Colossians 1:16; Revelation 4:11).
Man was created pure and upright but fell by voluntary transgression, lost his innocence, incurred the penalty of spiritual and physical death, and became subject to the wrath of God. Man’s salvation is thereby wholly of God’s grace through the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:1-19; John 3:36; Romans 3:23; 6:23; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Ephesians 2:1-3; 1 Timothy 2:13-14; 1 John 1:8).
Salvation
We believe that salvation is God’s gift to man, and it is not something one can achieve of their own doing. Salvation is God’s grace offered to man by redemption of Jesus Christ through the shedding of His blood and sacrificial death on the cross and not based on human merits or works (John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-10; 1 Peter 1:18-19).
The Church
We believe all those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ, are placed by the Holy Spirit into one united spiritual body, the church (1 Corinthians 12:12-13) who is also the bride of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:23-32; Revelation 19:7-8), of which Christ is the Head (Ephesians 1:22; 4:15; Colossians 1:18). The purpose of the church is to glorify God (Ephesians 3:21) by building itself up in the faith
(Ephesians 4:13-16), by instruction of the Word (2 Timothy 2:2, 15; 3:16-17), by fellowship (Acts 2:47; 1 John 1:3), by keeping the ordinances (Luke 22:19; Acts 2:38-42) and by advancing and communicating the gospel to the entire world (Matthew 28:19; Acts 1:8; 2:42).
The Ordinances
We believe the local church is committed with the two ordinances – water baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Acts 2:38-42). We believe that baptism is an ordinance of the Lord by which those who have repented and come to faith express their union with Christ in his death and resurrection, by being immersed in water in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit to a new life (Romans 6:1-11). Baptism is an expression of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and is only for believers.
We believe the Lord’s Supper is ordained by the Lord Jesus, and it’s very meaning celebrates the memory of the Lord’s death. The Lord’s Supper is the commemoration and proclamation of His death until He comes and should be always preceded by solemn self-examination (1 Corinthians 11:28-32).
Death and the Second Coming of Christ
We believe that physical death involves no loss of our immaterial consciousness (Revelation 6:9-11), that believers will be taken into the presence of Christ in heaven. Christ is in heaven now (Acts 1:2; 3:21; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 4:16; 2 Thessalonians 1:7), and believers will go to be with Him. We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life (John 6:39; Romans 8:10-11, 19-23; 2 Corinthians 4:14), and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (Daniel 12:2; John 5:29; Revelation 20:13-15).
We believe Jesus Christ will return to receive the church, which is His Body, unto Himself at the rapture, and returning with His church in glory, will establish His millennial kingdom on earth (Acts 1:9-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 20).