1. The Bible:
We believe that the Bible, consisting of both Old and New Testaments, is verbally, plenarily inspired as a result of the superintendence of the Holy Spirit, that it is inerrant in the original manuscripts, and that it is the final authority for faith and practice. We believe that these Holy Scriptures are complete and include only the 66 books in the traditional Protestant canon. We believe that God has blessed his people with a number of good translations which accurately present his message in understandable language. We further believe that no new revelation is being given by God in the present dispensation in any form.
2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21
2. God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit
We believe that there is one God, the Creator of all things–holy and eternally existent in three persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. This is the historic, orthodox doctrine referred to as the Trinity.
Deuteronomy 6:4; Luke 3:21-22; 2 Corinthians 13:14
We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal second person of the godhead, God the Son, fully and equally divine as the Father and Spirit. He was begotten of the Father. In time He add to Himself a human nature and was born of Mary who was a virgin. He is fully human yet at the same time undiminished deity in one person forever. He is the only sufficient mediator between God and humanity. We believe in the vicarious death of the Lord Jesus Christ for our sins, in his physical, bodily resurrection from the dead, his ascension into heaven, and his future return to establish his kingdom.
Matthew 1:18-25; John 1:1-18; John 20; Acts 1:1-11; 1 Corinthians 15; Philippians 2:5-11; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; Revelation 19-21
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the eternal, third person of the Godhead, fully and equally divine as the Father and the Son. He was actively involved in the creation of the universe and is active in both the salvation and the sanctification of the believer today.
Genesis 1:1-2; John 16:8-11; Acts 5:1-4; 1 Corinthians 3:16; Titus 3:5-7
3. Humanity and Sin
We believe that human beings were created in the image of God. The first man, Adam, as a representative of the entire human race, sinned and thereby incurred spiritual death. All people born sinners in their first father Adam. Being sinful in nature people are sinful and totally depraved. We believe that everyone rightly bears the guilt and responsibility for his sinfulness, alienation from God, and righteous condemnation.
Genesis 1:26-27; Genesis 3; John 5:24; Romans 3:9-20; Romans 5:12-21; Romans 8:6-7; Ephesians 2:1-10; Colossians 3:9-10; James 3:9
4. Salvation:
We believe that all who believe in the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ are justified on the single ground of faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ for salvation. Those who believe and are saved are those who are the elect of God, unconditionally chosen in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world. Although it is beyond our complete comprehension, God’s sovereignty does not violate the individual’s responsibility to believe, so that all are genuinely invited to believe and be saved.
We believe in the eternal security of the believer since our salvation is based on God’s character and works, not on our own effort. God loves to the uttermost, intends to keep the believer in spite of everything and to present us faultless before himself. Christ makes intercession for the believer and the Spirit seals the believer until the day of redemption. God promises in his Word that nothing will be able to separate us from Christ.
John 3:16; John 10:11-18, 27-30; Romans 4:1-5, 16-25; Romans 5:6-11; Romans 8:28-39; Galatians 2:15-16; Ephesians 1:4-14; Ephesians 4:30; Hebrews 7:23-28; Jude 24
5. The Church:
We believe that the Church which is Christ’s body (also known as the universal or invisible church) consists of all true Christians from the Day of Pentecost until the Rapture. This church is manifested temporally in local assemblies of believers around the world.
We believe that a local New Testament church is an organized, self-governing body of baptized believers practicing the scriptural ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Table, engaging in corporate worship and the edification of its members, and active in fulfilling the Great Commission.
We believe that God has equipped every believer with the ability to minister in a unique way in the body of Christ. These spiritual gifts (which include such abilities as teaching, exhorting, giving, and showing mercy) are given at the time of salvation. We believe that some unique gifts which God used during the infancy of the church are no longer given to believers. These temporarily-given gifts include tongues, the interpretation of tongues, prophecy, and the gift of miraculous healing.
Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:41; Acts 6:1-6; Acts 8:36-39; Acts 20:17, 28; Romans 12:4-8; 1 Corinthians 11:23-28; 1 Corinthians 12-14; Ephesians 1:22-23; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:18; Colossians 2:12; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:6-9; 1 Peter 3:21; 1 Peter 5:1-4
We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the saved and the lost, the saved to the resurrection of life and the lost to the resurrection of damnation. We believe in the premillennial return of Jesus Christ, an event which can occur at any moment. At that time both Christians who have died and living Christians will receive glorified bodies and will be caught up (raptured) to meet the Lord in the air before the beginning of the tribulation (the 70th week of Daniel). We believe that this 7 year period of tribulation will be culminated by the revelation of Jesus Christ in power and great glory to sit upon the throne of David and to establish an earthly reign of 1,000 years, followed by the eternal kingdom. We believe that hell is a place of real, conscious, eternal punishment prepared for the devil and his angels, but which will also be the eternal destiny of the unsaved.
Isaiah 9:6; Isaiah 11:1-9; Jeremiah 31; Daniel 9:25-27; Matthew 13:40-43; Matthew 24:27-31; Mark 9:42-48; Luke 1:30-33; Luke 16:19-31; John 5:24-30; Acts 2:29-36; 1 Corinthians 15; Philippians 1:20-24; Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 20:1-6
6. The Future:
When the time is right Jesus will return to Earth to bring all believers to Heaven. If we die before then we don’t miss out. Instead Jesus will bring us back to life and give us a new body and then take us to Heaven.
People who are not Christians and haven’t had their sins forgiven will be brought back to life too, but they don’t get to go to Heaven. Instead they go to Hell – an awful place that God made for the Devil and his demons. Nobody has to go there, but people who don’t believe in Jesus will go there.
After Jesus comes back to Earth He will start His own kingdom and will rule as king. The first part of His kingdom will be His rule of our world for one thousand years, but His kingdom is eternal and will never end. See Isaiah 11:1-9; Jeremiah 31; Daniel 9:25-27; Mark 9:42-48; Luke 16:19-31; John 5:24-30; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; and Revelation 20:1-6.