The Holy Scriptures

We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally inspired Word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible and God ­breathed (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Matthew 5:18; John 16:12-13).

The Godhead

We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons -Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - co-­eternal in being, co-­identical in nature, co­-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections (Deuteronomy 6:4; 2 Corinthians 13:14).

The Person and Work of Christ

a. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men (John 1:1-2,14; Luke 1:35).

b. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead. (Romans 3:24-25; 1 Peter 2:24; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:3-5).

c. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as our high priest, he fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate. (Acts 1:9; Hebrews 9:24; 7:25; Romans 8:34; 1 John 2:1-2).

The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit

a. We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and, that He is the Supernatural agent in Regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption (John 16:8-11; 2 Corinthians 3:6; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; Romans 8:9; Ephesians 1:13-14).

b. We believe that He is the Divine Teacher who guides believers into all truth; and, that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit (John 16:13; 1 John 2:20,27; Ephesians 5:18).

The Total Depravity of Man

We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam's sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and, that man is totally depraved, and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition (Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 3:23; Romans 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3,12).

Salvation

We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by God's grace and received by personal faith alone in the atoning sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins. There is no work or sacrament that leads to salvation, or applies the grace of God to our lives (Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18-19; Isaiah 53:4-12; Romans 3:24, 28).

The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers

a. We believe that all true believers are saved with an eternal salvation, are kept by God's power and are thus secure in Christ forever (John 6:37-39; John 10:28; Romans 8:38-39; 1 Corinthians 1:4-8; Philippians 1:6).

b. We believe that true believer is responsible to live a godly, consistent Christian life; and that the evidence of saving faith is manifested in a true desire to live in a manner that is pleasing to God (Romans 8:5-9; Galatians 5:16-25).

The Two Natures of the Believer

We believe that every saved person possesses two natures, with provision made for victory of the new nature over the old nature through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit; and that all claims to the eradication of the old nature in this life are unscriptural (Romans 6:13; Romans 8:12-13; Galatians 5:16-25; Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:9-10; 1 Peter 1:14-16; 1 John 3:5-9; II Peter 1:3-4).

Separation

We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord; and that separation from all worldly and sinful pleasures and practices is commanded of God. We further believe that the Scripture plainly teaches that Christians should not marry or have other entangling alliances with unbelievers.  (Romans 12:1-2; Romans 14:13; I John 2:15-17; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1; 2 Timothy 3:1-5).

Movements Contrary to Faith

a. Ecumenicism

Ecumenicism is that movement which seeks the organizational unity of all Christianity and ultimately of all religions. Its' principal advocates are the World Council of Churches and the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.

b. Ecumenical Evangelism

Ecumenical Evangelism is that effort to promote the gospel by bringing fundamentalists into an unequal yoke with theological liberals and/or Roman Catholics and other divergent groups.

c. Neo ­Orthodoxy

Neo ­Orthodoxy is that theological movement which affirms: the transcendence of God, the finiteness and sinfulness of man, and the necessity of supernatural divine revelation of truth; but, while using evangelical terminology, seriously departs from orthodoxy; in accepting the views of destructive higher criticism, in denying the inerrancy of the Bible as historic revelation, in accepting religious experience as the criterion of truth, and in abandoning important fundamentals of the Christian faith.

d. New Evangelicalism  (Neo ­Evangelicalism, New Conservatism)

These terms refer to that movement within evangelicalism characterized by a toleration of and a dialogue with theological liberalism. Its essence is seen in an emphasis upon the social application of the Gospel and weak or unclear doctrines of: the inspiration of Scripture, Biblical creationism, eschatology, dispensationalism, and separation. It is further characterized by an attempt to accommodate biblical Christianity and make it acceptable to the modern mind.

The Ministry and Spiritual Gifts 

a. We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowment of all His gifts; and, that the gifts of evangelists, pastors, and teachers are sufficient for the perfecting of the saints today; and, that speaking in tongues and the working of sign miracles gradually ceased as the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their authority became established (1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 2 Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 4:7-12).

b. We believe that God does hear and answer the prayer of faith, in accord with his own will, for the sick and afflicted (John 15:7; 1 John 5:14-15).

The Church

a. We believe that the Church, which is the body and the espoused Bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born ­again persons of this present age of grace (Ephesians 1:22-23; Ephesians 5:25-27; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; 2 Corinthians 11:2).

b. The Lord's Supper shall be observed according to 1 Corinthians 11:23-31 in which the members of the Church, the Body of Christ, made up of all born-again believers, by the sacred use of bread and wine are to commemorate together the death of Christ, preceded always by solemn self-examination. Partaking of the Lord's Supper does not in any way impart grace to the recipient, nor it is required to maintain salvation.

Dispensationalism

We believe in the dispenational view of Bible interpretation but reject the extreme teachings know as "Progressive Dispensationalism" or "Hyper-Dispensationalism," such as that teaching which opposes either the Lord’s Table or Water Baptism as a Scriptural means of testimony for the church in this age. (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; Acts 18:8; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

The Personality of Satan 

We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the cause of the fall; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and, that he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire (Job 1:6-7; Isaiah 14:12-17; Matthew 4:2-11; Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10).

The Second Advent of Christ

We believe in that "Blessed Hope," the personal, imminent, pre-­tribulational and pre-millennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for his redeemed ones; and in his subsequent return to earth, with His Saints, to establish his Millennial Kingdom (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Zechariah 14:4-11; Revelation 19:11-16; Revelation 20:1-6; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:9; Revelation 3:10).

The Eternal State

a. We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46; John 5:28-29; John 11:25-26; Revelation 20:5-6,12-13).

b. We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the return of the Lord, when spirit, soul and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord (Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; Philippians 3:21; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

c. We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death in conscious misery until the second resurrection, when with soul and body reunited they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment (Luke 16:19-26; Matthew 25:41-46; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Jude 1:6-7; Mark 9:43-48; Revelation 20:11-15).