BELIEFS

Scripture

We believe that the Bible was written by human authors under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and is God’s revelation of Himself and His will to man. The Bible in its entirety is the Word of God, and as such is wholly true in everything it affirms. The Scriptures are the unique, full and final authority on all matters of faith and practice (Ex. 24:4; Deut. 4:1-2, 17:19; Josh 8:34; Ps. 19:7-10, 119:11, 89, 105, 140; Is. 34:16; 40:8; Jer. 15:16; 36:1-32; Matt 5:17-18, 22:29; Lk. 21:33; 24:44-46; Jn. 5:39; 16:13-15; 17:17; Acts 2:16; 17:11; Rom. 15:4; 16:25-26; 2 Tim. 3:15-17; Heb. 1:1-2; 4:12; 1 Pet. 1:25; 2 Pet. 1:19-21)

We believe the one true and living God is the Creator, Sustainer, and Ruler of all things. This sovereign and all-glorious God, having in and of Himself all perfections and being infinite in them all, exists eternally in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience (Deut. 6:4; Ps. 115:3; 138:5; 145:3; Jer. 10:10; Dan. 4:34-35; Matt. 16:16; 28:18-19; Mk. 12:29; Jn. 1:3, 1:14; 16:7-11; Acts 5:3-4; Rom. 11:36; 1 Cor. 8:4-6; 10:31; Eph. 4:30; Col. 1:16-17; 2:9; 1 Tim. 1:17).

God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His will. He is all-powerful, all- knowing, all-loving, and all-wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ, yet He remains fatherly in His attitude toward all men (Gen. 1:1, 2:7; Ex. 3:14; 6:2-3; 15:11; 20:1; Lev. 22:2; Deut. 6:4; 32:6; 1 Chron. 29:10; Ps. 19:1-3; 33:10-11; Is. 40:26; Matt. 6:9; 7:11; 23:9; 28:19; Mark 1:9-11; Jn. 3:16; 4:24; 5:26; 14:6-13; 17:1-8; Acts 1:7; Rom. 8:14-15; 1 Cor. 8:6; Gal. 4:6; Eph. 4:6; Col 1:15; 1 Tim. 1:17; Heb. 11:6; 12:9; 1 Pet. 1:17; 1 John 5:7).

Jesus

Jesus Christ is God’s one and only son (i.e. begotten), born of a virgin. He lived a sinless life in His existence as fully God and fully man incarnate.  During his life, he taught and worked many wonders and signs of God’s kingdom on this earth, as recorded in the four Gospels.  He was crucified and buried as a substitutionary, atoning sacrifice for the sins of humankind and was raised from the dead bodily on the third day.  Following his resurrection, He ascended to the Father’s right hand where He is the head of the Church and intercedes on behalf of the saints.  He eternally exists as the divinely appointed mediator between God and Humanity, and perfectly fulfills and upholds the office of Prophet, Priest, and King of the Church.  At the end of the age, he will return to this earth personally, bodily, and visibly to judge the world (Gen. 18:1; Psalm 2:7; 110:1; Is. 7:14; 53:1-12; Matt. 1:18-23; 3:17; 8:29; 11:27; 14:33; 16:16-27; 17:5; 27; 28:1-6, 19; Mark 1:1; 3:11; Lk. 1:35; 4:41; 22:70; 24:46; Jn. 1:1-18; 10:30, 38; 11:25-27; 12:44-50; 14:7-11; 16:15-16, 28; 17:1-5, 21-22; 20:1-20, 28; Acts 1:9; 2:22-24; 7:55-56; 9:4-5, 20; Rom. 1:3-4; 3:23-26; 5:6-21; 8:1-3, 34; 10:4; 1 Cor. 1:30; 2:2; 8:6;15:1-8, 24-28; 2 Cor. 5:19-21; 8:9; Gal. 4:4-5; Eph. 1:20; 3:11; 4:7-10; Phil. 2:5-11; Col. 1:13-22; 2:9; 1 Thess. 4:14-18; 1 Tim. 2:5-6; 3:16; Titus 2:13-14; Heb. 1:1-3, 4:14-15, 7:14-28; 9:12-15, 24-28; 12:2; 13:8; 1 Pet. 2:21-25; 3:22; 1 John 1:7-9; 3:2; 4:14-15; 5:9; 2 John 7-9; Rev. 1:13-16; 5:9-14; 12:10-11; 13:8; 19:16).

The Holy Spirit is God, possesses all the divine attributes, and proceeds from the Father and the Son in order to bring glory to the Father and the Son.  The Holy Spirit convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment.  He indwells all believers, baptizes and seals them at the moment of salvation, and regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and empowers all who believe in Jesus. He empowers believers to live a Christ-like life through giving each believer gifts for the building up of the body, through guiding believers in understanding and applying the Scriptures, and through abiding in believers as a Helper, Teacher, and Guide (Gen. 1:2; Judg. 14:6; Job 26:13; Ps. 51:11; 139:7; Is. 61:1-3; Joel 2:28-32; Matt. 1:18; 3:16; 4:1; 12:28-32; 28:19; Mark 1:10, 12; Lk. 1:35; 4:1, 18-19; 11:13; 12:12; 24:49; Jn. 4:24; 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16:7-14; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4, 38; 4:31; 5:3; 6:3; 7:55; 8:17, 39; 10:44; 13:2; 15:28; 16:6; 19:1-6; Romans 8:9-11, 14-16, 26-27; 1 Cor. 2:10-14; 3:16; 12:3-11, 13; Gal. 4:6; Eph. 1:13-14; 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thess. 5:19; 1 Tim. 3:16; 4:1; 2 Tim. 1:14; 3:16; Heb. 9:8, 14; 2 Pet. 1:21; 1 Jn. 4:13; 5:6-7; Rev. 1:10; 22:17).

We believe God created the universe out of nothing by the power of His spoken Word for the purpose of displaying His eternal power and glory in order to bring glory to Him.  The eternal God decrees or permits all things to come to pass and perpetually upholds, directs, and governs all creatures and events so as to maximize the glory due His name. His providential control of the world does not in any way make Him the author or approver of sin, nor does it destroy the responsibility of moral beings who were created for the eternal joy of his possession (Gen. 1; Prov. 16:33; Is. 46:9-11; Jn. 1:1-4, 10-13; Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3; Jas. 1:13-15). 

We believe that humanity is the special creation of God, made in His own image to bring Him glory. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. The reality that all of humanity is created in the image of God means that every person, regardless of race or social status possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love (Gen. 1:26-30; 2:1-7, 18-22; 3; 6:5,12; 9:6; Ps. 1; 8:3-6; 32:1-5; 51:5; Is. 6:5; Jer. 17:5; Matt. 16:26; Acts 17:26-31; Rom. 1:19-23, 3:9-23, 5:6, 12-19, 6:6; 7:14-25; 8:14-18, 29; 1 Cor. 1:21-31; 15:19, 21-22; Eph. 2:1-22; Col. 1:21-22; 3:9-11).

We believe both men and women were originally created without sin for relationship with God; however, through the deception of Satan, they chose to believe lies and willfully rebelled against God and His Word by choosing to take what was forbidden and thus declared their independence from, distrust for, and disobedience towards God.  

Through this willful act of sin, humanity fell from his sinless state.  As a result, the human creation was forever marred by physical, spiritual, and eternal death, and the entire creation was likewise subject to futility, including sickness, decay, calamity, and loss. Adam’s fall became the fall of all his posterity in such a way that the shame, corruption, guilt, death, and condemnation belong rightly to every person in the human race and they now inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin and evil.  Humanity is born corrupt by nature, marred by an attitude and posture of disobedience to God known as sin, enslaved by choice to this sin, and morally unable to worship God rightly, and, therefore, under his just condemnation (Gen. 3:1-7; Rom. 1:19-32; 3:10-23, 5:6-19; 6:6; Eph. 2:1-3). 

We believe that salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God’s grace whereby believers become new creations in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace.

Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the belief in Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire person to Him as Lord and Savior.

• Justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. Justification brings the believer unto a relationship of peace and favor with God.

• Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God’s purposes, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate person’s life.

• Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed.

(Mk. 1:15; Jn 1:11-14; 3:3-16, 5:24 6:37-40; Rom. 3:23-25; 5:8-10; 8:28-39; 2 Cor. 5:17-21; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 2:8-9; Phil. 1:6; Heb. 12:5-6; 1 Jn 5:12-13)

We believe the Church is one universal body comprised of all those who place their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. The local church is a family of Christ-followers who have repented from sin, believed in Jesus, and been baptized as a profession of faith. The church is led by Jesus Christ through obedience to his Word and submission to the Holy Spirit. The local church is led by elders and is congregationally ruled. It is served by the gifts of each member and by appointed deacons. It brings glory to God by equipping disciples who enjoy Christ and evangelize the lost among all nations. As the church gathers, it celebrates Christ’s death and resurrection through the Lord’s Supper and believer’s baptism. The church glorifies God by loving one another, bearing one another’s burdens, and worshipping together until Christ returns(Matt. 16:15-19; 18:15-20; 10:16; Acts 1:8; 2:42-47; 6:1-6; 20:28; Rom. 6:3-5; Eph. 1:22-23; 2:19-22; 3:8-11; 4:11-16; 5:22-32; Col. 1:18; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; 5:17-18; Titus 1:5-9; Heb. 3:13, 10:24-25; 1 Pet. 5:1-3; Rev. 21:2-3).

The Lord instituted two specific ordinances to the Church: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The act of baptism is commanded by Christ for every believer, and is an act by which those who have repented display their union with Christ in his death and resurrection and their forgiveness of sins by being immersed in water in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This symbol of fellowship with Christ and with his Church is a prerequisite for membership in this church. In a similar fashion, the Lord's Supper is an ordinance of Jesus Christ, to be administered with the elements of bread and the fruit of the vine, and to be observed by His churches until the end of the world. It is designed to commemorate His death and to be a pledge of a believer’s communion with Him, and of their church membership, preceded always by self-examination(Matt. 26:26-29, 28:18-20; Lk. 22:19-20; Jn. 3:23, 6:53-57; Acts 2:38, 8:35-39; Rom. 6:3-5; 1 Cor. 10:16-17; 11:23-34; 12:13; Gal. 3:26-27; Col. 2:11-12; 1 Pet. 3:21).

We believe the gift of gender as male and female is part of the goodness of God’s created order, is the fundamental and universal biological distinction of the human race, and is not determined by one’s self-perception. As embodied spirits, gender is a part of the very core of the body-soul unity that determines the very essence of human nature. It is therefore not possible to sever the connection between one’s gender and one’s biological sex.

Marriage is the joining of one man and one woman in an exclusive, lifelong, public covenant. Sexual intimacy is a good gift from God to be enjoyed only within the confines of marriage. Any form of sexual intimacy outside the marriage covenant constitutes immorality. Sexual immorality includes lust, pornography, adultery, polygamy, fornication, homosexuality, same-sex marriage, bestiality, incest, and disagreement with and attempts to change one’s biological gender (Gen. 2:18-25; Matt. 15:18-20; Mark 7:21-22; Rom. 1:21-32; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; 6:18; 7:2-5; Eph. 5:21-33; 1 Tim. 1:9-10; Heb. 13:4; Jude 7).

We believe that God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in the New Heaven and New Earth with the Lord (Is. 11:1-10; Dan. 12:2-3; Matt. 16:27; 25:31-46; Mk. 9:43-48, 13:26-27, 14:61-62; Jn. 5:22-29, 14:1-3; Acts 1:9-11; 17:31; Rom. 2:6-11; 1 Cor. 4:5; 15:12-28, 51-57; 2 Cor. 5:1-10; Phil. 3:20-21; 1 Thes. 4:14-18; 5:2-3; 2 Thes. 1:7-10; 2 Tim. 4:8; Titus 2:13; Jude 14-16; Rev. 5:11-14; 20-21).