We believe that the Bible is the Word of God consisting of the sixty-six (66) books of the Old and New Testaments. We believe that the Scriptures were written by chosen men of God under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in all parts and therefore wholly without error as originally given of God. We believe the Bible, therefore, as sole and final authority in regard to Christian life and doctrine (Matt. 5:18; John 10:35, 16:13, 17:17; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21).
We believe in one sovereign eternal God existing in three co-eternal and co-equal Persons, identified for us in Scripture as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These three share in one essential Being and in all attributes and perfections of the Godhead (Matt. 28:19-20; 2 Cor. 13:14; Acts 5:3-4; John 1:1-4).
We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ: who is the Second Person of the Trinity, the Eternal Word and Only Begotten Son, our great God and Savior (John 1:1, 3:16; Titus 2:13; Rom. 9:5). We believe that He took upon Himself a complete and perfect humanity in the incarnation; that He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, was crucified as a sacrifice for sins and a substitute for sinners; that He was raised personally and bodily from the dead, and that He ascended to heaven where He is now seated at the right hand of God in intercession for believers. We accept Jesus Christ as King of Kings, Head of the Church and Lord of all.
We believe in the Holy Spirit who is the third person of the Trinity, that He is living, personal and divine, having no personal inferiority to the Father and the Son (Matt. 28:19; Acts 5:3-4). We believe that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin (John 16:8-11), indwells and gives spiritual life to every true believer; that He fills those who are submitted to His will, baptizes, seals, empowers, guides, teaches and sanctifies all who become children of God through Christ (1 Cor. 6:19, 12:13; Eph. 4:30, 3:16; Rom. 8:14; John 14:26; 1 Cor. 6:11).
We believe in the creation and fall of man: that he was the direct creation of God, spirit and soul and body, not in any sense the product of an animal ancestry, but made in the divine image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:26-28). We believe that by personal disobedience to the revealed will of God, man became a sinful creature and so came under the condemnation of God (Gen. 3:1-24; Rom. 3:23, 5:12). We believe that man is depraved in that every part of his personality has been affected by sin, he is born a sinner by nature, he has innate enmity toward God and he cannot in any way free himself from sin and its condemnation and therefore needs to be saved by action other than his own.
We believe that salvation is by grace through faith and that all who receive by faith the Lord Jesus Christ are born again of the Holy Spirit and thereby become children of God and that the Holy Spirit indwells all believers. We believe that salvation is the free gift of God (Rom. 3:24, 6:23), neither merited nor secured in part or in whole by any virtue or work of man (Eph. 2:8,9).
We believe that every Christian should live a separated life by the adoption of Scriptural principles of thought and conduct different from those of the world. We believe that the Scriptures and the indwelling Spirit of God work progressively in the heart and the life of the believer effecting purity and true holiness of deed, word and thought as the individual submits himself to the working of God (Rom. 12:1-2).
We believe that the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ is composed of all who have through faith been justified and born again, who have been baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ and who are therefore indwelt by the Spirit (Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:12-27; Eph. 4:3-10). We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ began to build His Church on the Day of Pentecost (Matt. 16:18; Acts 2:47) and will complete it as His appearing (1 Thess. 4:16,17). We believe that various members of this one spiritual Body should assemble themselves together in local churches for worship, prayer, fellowship, teaching and the observance of the ordinances of our Lord: (a) The Baptism of believers by water immersion in the Name of the Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:20); (b) The Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:17-22). These ordinances are without merit in themselves. They provide an expression of faith regarding the believer’s identification and fellowship with Christ. We believe that the Christian Church and every individual Christian has an obligation to bear witness to the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ and to make this Gospel known to the inhabitants of the whole world.
We believe in the existence of Satan who was originally created as a perfect being, but through pride and unlawful ambition rebelled against God (Ezek. 28:13-17; Isa. 14:12-14). We believe that Satan is the leader of all other evil angels and spirits (Matt. 12:24-26, 25:41), the deceiver and god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4) and his powers are supernaturally great but strictly limited by the permissive will of God. We believe that Satan was defeated and judged at the Cross and therefore will be sentenced into the Lake of Fire (John 12:31-32; 16:11; Rev. 20:10). We believe that we as children of God can overcome him in the Armour of God and by the Blood of the Lamb (Eph. 6:10-18; Rev. 12:11).
We believe in the return of our Lord Jesus Christ; that His return from heaven will be personal, visible and glorious – Blessed Hope for which believers constantly watch and pray, the time being unrevealed but that Christ could come at any moment (Mark 13:33-37; Rev. 22:20). We believe this present age will end with the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, first to receive His Church unto Himself and then to establish the Throne of David upon the earth and to reign in righteousness over it for a thousand years (2 Sam. 7:16; Luke 1:32-33; John 14:1-3; Acts 1:10-11).
We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men: that of the saved at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and that of the unsaved in the day of the Great White Throne Judgment. We believe that the spirits of the saved at death go immediately to be with Christ in heaven (Phil. 1:21-23; 2 Cor. 5:8). We believe that the spirits of the unsaved at death descend immediately into Hades (Ps. 9:17, 55:15; Hell, KJV) where they are kept under punishment until the final Day of Judgment (Luke 16:19-31, NASV), (2 Peter 2:4; Rev. 20: 13,14). We believe that all those who are saved will enjoy a life of everlasting blessedness in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that all those who are unsaved are condemned to a conscious existence in everlasting death and torment.
