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Our Statement Of Faith - What We
Believe Soundness in the faith in the following fundamental truths is required by all members of this Church.
Section 1: The Scriptures We believe that the sixty-six books of the
Old and New Testaments as originally written were God-breathed, both verbally
and in every part. We believe God, Who is Truth, communicated through
Spirit-controlled men so that the Scriptures are without error and therefore
authoritative in all they teach and in all matters they touch. We believe the
Bible is the supreme revelation of God’s will for man and constitutes the only
infallible guide for faith and life.
Psalm 19:7-11; Proverbs 30:5-6; Matthew 5:18; John 10:34-35; Romans 15:4; 2
Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21; Revelation 22:18-19
Section 2: The Trinity We believe there is one, and only one, true and
living God; while there is indivisible unity in the Godhead, He exists in three
separate persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—equal in
every divine attribute and executing distinct, but harmonious offices in the
work of creation and redemption.
Matthew 3:16-17; 28:19; John 6:27; Acts 5:3-4; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Hebrews 1:8
Section 3: God The Father We believe God the Father is an infinite,
eternal, wise, all-powerful, holy, just, good, loving and all knowing Spirit,
the Maker and Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth.
Genesis 1:1; Psalm 139:7-10; Isaiah 46:9; Romans 11:33; Ephesians 4:6; 1 Timothy
1:17; Revelation 19:6
Section 4: God The Son, The Lord Jesus Christ We believe that the Lord
Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born
of the virgin Mary as no other man was ever nor can be born of a woman. He is
“God manifest in the flesh.” He lived a life of absolute sinlessness and in His
death made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins, dying not as a martyr,
but as a voluntary substitute in the sinner’s place. He rose bodily on the
third day and ascended into heaven where He now sits at the right hand of the
Father as our High Priest, interceding and preparing a place for us. He shall
appear in the air to rapture His saints, and after seven years, shall come
again with the saints to set up the throne of David and establish His
millennial kingdom.
Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:18-25; 28:6; John 1:1; 14:3; 20:27-28; Acts 15:16; 1
Corinthians 15:4; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Hebrews 7:25; 8:6; 12:2; 1 Peter 2:22;
3:18; 1 John 2:1; Revelation 3:21
Section 5: God The Holy SpiritWe
believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person possessing all the attributes
of deity and is equal with God the Father and God the Son. We believe that He
was active in creation and is the restrainer of the evil one; that He convicts
of sin, of judgment, and of righteousness; that He bears witness to the truth
of the Gospel in preaching and testimony; that He is the agent in the new
birth; that He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies, helps,
and distributes spiritual gifts to all believers; that the Apostolic gifts,
such as tongues and healing, were unique to the first century and ceased as the
New Testament Scriptures were completed.
Genesis 1:1-3; Matthew 28:19; John 7:39; 14:16-17, 26; 16:8-11; Romans 12:3-8; 1
Corinthians 12:8-13; 28-31; 13:8-12; Ephesians 1:13-14; 2 Thessalonians 2:6-8;
13 Section 6: Angels, Good and Evil We believe in the
existence of angels who were created by God to bring honor and glory to His
name and to serve Him. Angels who have chosen to follow God are ministers for
Him on behalf of those who have trusted in Jesus Christ as their personal
Savior. There were among the hosts of angels those who fell with Satan. They
are presently functioning in Satan’s counterfeit system as rulers of darkness,
to be resisted by the believer through the armor provided by God. We believe
that Satan, the “god of this age” and “the prince of the power of the air,”
once knew heavenly honors. That because of pride and ambition to be above the
Almighty God, he fell and is currently the power of all darkness and evil and
is destined for final defeat at the hand of God’s Son, and for the judgment of
eternal hell, a place prepared for him and his angels.
Isaiah 6; 14:12-15; Matthew 17:18; Ephesians 2:2; 6:11-13; Colossians 1:16; 1
Timothy 4:1-2; 1 Peter 1:12; 5:8; Jude 6; Revelation 19:16-20; 20:10 Section
7: Creation We believe in the Genesis account of creation, and that
it is to be accepted literally, not allegorically or figuratively; that man was
created directly in God’s own image and after His own likeness; that man’s
creation was not a matter of evolution or evolutionary change of species, or
development through interminable periods of time from lower to higher forms;
that all animal and vegetable life was created directly, and God’s established
law was that they should bring forth only “after their kind.”
Genesis 1:1; John 13; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 11:3; Revelation 10:6 Section
8: Man We believe the Scriptures teach that man was created by a
direct act of God and not from any previously existing form of life; and that
all men are descended from the historical Adam and Eve, the first parents of
the entire human race. By voluntary transgression man fell from his sinless
state, in consequence of which all men are now sinners by nature and by choice,
and therefore under just condemnation to eternal judgment and separation from
God in a place called hell without defense or excuse.
Genesis 1:27, 3:6;, 24; Isaiah 53:6; Romans 1:32; 3:10-23; 5:12-19 Section
9: Salvation We believe the Scriptures teach that Christ died for the
whole world and that salvation of sinners is divinely initiated, wholly of
grace, and accomplished only through the mediatorial work of the Son of God. It
is wholly apart from works and is upon the sole condition of faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ and never without genuine repentance. In order to be saved the
sinner must be born again, personally receiving Christ as Savior, being
regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith in God’s Word and
becoming the recipient of a new nature. The great gospel blessing which Christ
secures to such as believe in Him is justification, that judicial act of God
accompanied by the pardon of sin and the imputation of divine righteousness,
not because of any work of righteousness on our part, but solely through faith
in the Redeemer’s blood. The believer who has exercised personal faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ is completely justified and in possession of eternal life
which is eternally secure.
Habakkuk 2:4; John 1:11-12; 3:3-17; 10:28-29; Acts 13:39; Romans 2:4; 2
Corinthians 7:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-10; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; Hebrews 4:2; 1 Peter
1:18-23; 2 Peter 1:4; 2:1; 1 John 5:11-13 Section 10: The Church We believe the Scriptures teach that the local church is a congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the Gospel, observing the ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, and exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His word. Its Scriptural officers are pastors, sometimes called bishops or elders, and deacons, whose qualifications, claims, and duties are defined in the epistles to Timothy and Titus.
a. The Distinctives: This definition of the local church leads to these Scriptural distinctives:
B. . . . .Biblical authority of the Scriptures. . . . .2 Timothy 3:16-17
A. . . . .Autonomy of the local church. . . . .Timothy 3:15
P. . . . .Priesthood of the believers. . . . .Revelation 1:5-6
T. . . . .Two officers, Pastor (elder, bishop) and Deacon. . . . .Philippians 1:1
I. . . . .Individual soul liberty (personal responsibility). . . . .1 John 2:27
S. . . . .Saved, church membership. . . . .Acts 2:41, 47
T. . . . .Two ordinances (Baptism & the Lord’s Supper) . . . . .Acts 2:41-42
S. . . . .Separation of church and state. . . . .Matthew 22:21
b. The Mission: We believe the true mission of the church is found in
the Great Commission: first, to make individual disciples; second, to build up
the church; third, to reach and instruct as He has commanded.
Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8 c. The Ordinances: We believe that
Christian baptism is the immersion in water of a believer, performed in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Baptism is done
under the authority of the local church to show forth our faith in the
crucified, buried, and risen Savior. Baptism pictures our death to sin and
resurrection to a new life. It is a prerequisite to the privileges of church
membership.
The Lord’s Supper, or communion, commemorates the death of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ, the bread representing His body that was broken for us, and the
fruit of the vine representing His blood that was shed for us. Before partaking
of these elements each person should examine himself, “For he that eateth and
drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning
the Lord’s body.”
We believe the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are to be observed
under the authority of the local church.
Matthew 3:16; Matthew 28:19-20; John 3:23; Romans 6:3-5; Colossians 2:12; 1
Corinthians 11:23-28
d. The Support: We believe God’s method of financing His earthly work of
spreading the Gospel to all nations, the care of the churches and the support
of the ministry, is by the tithes and offerings of His people. We believe that
everyone is accountable to the Lord for one-tenth of his income; that tithing
was instituted long before the Law was ever given and was practiced by the
early church. We believe that God is pleased by the believer who is obedient in
tithing, and that tithing is a reminder to the believer that God is the true
owner of all that we have.
Malachi 3:10; 1 Corinthians 16:2; 2 Corinthians 9:7 e. The Body of
Christ: We believe the Scriptures teach that the “church which is His
body” is the entire company of believers in Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:13, 27; Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:12; Hebrews 12:23
Section 11: Coming Eventsa. The Rapture of the Church: We believe
in the “Blessed Hope,” the personal, imminent, pretribulational, and
premillennial appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ to rapture His redeemed ones
of the church.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2; Titus
2:13; 1 John 3:2
b. The Judgment Seat of Christ: We believe that every saved person of the
Church Age will appear before the “Judgment Seat” to be judged by the Lord in
regard to his service and receive rewards according to his works.
Matthew 6:2; Romans 14:10; 1 Corinthians 3:11-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10
c. The Millennial Kingdom: We believe that Christ will return to earth
after the seven year tribulation period with His saints to establish the
Millennial Kingdom which will literally be on the earth and ruled by Christ
from the throne of David.
Isaiah 9:6-7; Luke 1:32; Acts 2:29-30; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-12; Revelation
20:1-6, 12-14
d. The Eternal State: We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men,
the saved to eternal life and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting
punishment in the Lake of Fire. The souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent
from the body and present with the Lord where they consciously await the first
resurrection, when spirit, soul, and new body are reunited to be forever
glorified with the Lord. The souls of the unbelievers after death remain in
conscious misery until the second resurrection, when with spirit, soul, and
body reunited they shall appear before the Great White Throne Judgment and
shall be cast in the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer
everlasting conscious punishment.
Matthew 25:46; Luke 16:19-26; John 5:28-29; 2 Corinthians 5:8-10; Philippians
1:23
Section 12: Civil Government
We believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the interests and
good order of human society; that governing officials are to be prayed for,
conscientiously honored and obeyed, with the exception only of things opposed
to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only Lord of the conscience
and the coming Prince of the kings of the earth.
Matthew 10:28; 23:10; Acts 5:29; 23:5; Romans 13:7; Philippians 2:10-11; Titus
3:1
Section 13: Sanctity of Human Life
We believe that all human life is sacred from fertilization throughout the
entire natural human life; that human beings are created in His image and, as
such, are to be protected; that the weak, vulnerable, infirm, handicapped,
preborn and needy deserve our respect and our care.
Genesis 1:26; 9:6; Psalm 51:5; 82:3-4; 139:13-16; Jeremiah 1:5 Luke 1:41
Section 14: Marriage and the Home
We believe that the home was the first institution God provided for man; that
marriage is a sacred relationship between one man and one woman for life; and
that homosexuality is a perversion of God’s natural order of one man for one
woman.
Genesis 2:18-24; Deuteronomy 23:17-18; Mark 10:9; Romans 1:18-27; 1 Corinthians
6:9-11; 7:2; Ephesians 5:22-33; Jude 7
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