Articles of Faith

The Holy Scriptures

We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the verbally and plenary inspired Word of God. The scriptures are inerrant, infallible, God-breathed, and therefore the final authority for faith and life. The 66 books of the Old and New Testaments are the complete and divine revelation of God to man. The scriptures shall be interpreted according to their normal grammatical and historical meaning. The King James Version of the Bible shall be the official and only translation used by the church. (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21)

The Godhead

We believe in one triune God that eternally exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They each are eternal in being, identical in nature, equal in power and glory, and have the same attributes and perfections. (Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; John 14:10, 26)

The Person and Work of Christ

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God and that He became man without ceasing to be God. We also believe that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary in order that He might reveal God to the world and redeem sinful men. (Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-2, 14; 2 Cor. 5:19-21; Gal. 4:4-5; Phil. 2:5-8)

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our salvation and redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, and substitutionary sacrifice. We also believe that our justification is made secure by His literal and physical resurrection from the dead. (Acts 2:18-36; Rom. 3:24-25; 1 Pet. 2:24; Eph. 1:7; 1 Peter 1:3-5)

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He, as our High Priest, fulfills the ministry of representative, intercessor, and advocate. (Acts 1:9-10; Heb. 7:25; 9:24; Rom. 8:34; 1 John 2:1-2)

The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit

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, indwelling, and sealing of believers until the day of redemption. (John 16:8-11; Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:12-14; 2 Cor. 3:6; Eph. 1:13-14)

We believe that He is the divine teacher who helps believers to understand and appropriate the Scriptures and that it is the privilege and duty of all saved people to be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 1:17-18; 5:18; 1 John 2:20, 27)

We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowal of spiritual gifts to every believer. God uniquely uses evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip believers in the church in order that they can do the work of the ministry. (Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Cor. 12:4-11, 28; Eph. 4:7-12)

We believe that the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues and the gift of healing, were temporary. Speaking in tongues was never the common or necessary sign of the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit. The ultimate deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection, though God frequently chooses to answer the prayers of believers for physical healing. (1 Cor. 1:22; 13:8; 14:21-22)

The Church

We believe that the local church is the body and the espoused bride of Christ. It is solely made up of born-again persons that have been baptized. (1 Cor. 12:12-14; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 1:22-23; 5:25-27)

We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures. (Acts 14:27; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11)

We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority or control. (Acts 13:1-4; 15:19-31; 20:28; Rom. 16:1, 4; 1 Cor. 3:9, 16; 5:4-7, 13; 1 Pet. 5:1-4)

We recognize water baptism of saved persons and the Lord’s Supper by the church’s members as the scriptural ordinances of obedience for the church in this age. (Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; 1 Cor. 11:23-26)

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 human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God. Man is totally depraved and of himself is utterly unable to remedy his lost condition. (Gen. 1:26-27; Rom. 3:22-23; 5:12; 6:23; Eph. 2:1-3; 4:17-19)
Salvation

We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Whose precious blood was shed on a cross at Calvary for thefo rgiveness of our sins. A person must realize that he is a sinner, that sin carries the punishment of Hell, believe that Jesus Christ died for his sins, and ask Christ to save him. We believe that all sins, except blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (not receiving salvation) are forgivable. (John 1:12; Eph. 1:7; 2:8-10; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; Matt. 12:31-32; 1 John 1:9)

The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers

We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept saved by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever. (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Rom. 8:1; 38-39; 1 Cor. 1:4-8; 1 Pet. 1:4-5)

We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh. (Rom. 13:13-14; Gal. 5:13; Titus 2:11-15)

The Second Advent of Christ

We believe in that blessed hope, the personal, imminent return of Christ who will rapture His church prior to the seven-year tribulation period. At the end of the Great Tribulation, Christ will personally and visibly return with His saints, to establish His earthly Messianic Kingdom which was promised to the nation of Israel. (Ps. 89:3-4; Dan. 2:31-45; Zech. 14:4-11; I Thess. 1:10; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; Rev. 3:10; 19:11-16; 20:1-6)

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. (Matt. 25:46; John 5:28, 29; 11:25-26; Rev. 20:5-6, 12-13)

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 first resurrection, when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord. (Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; 3:21; I Thess. 4:16-17; Rev. 20:4-6)


We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious punishment and torment 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 and torment. (Matt. 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; 2 Thess. 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Rev. 20:11-15)

The Personality of Satan

We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin, and the cause of the fall of man; 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; Isa. 14:12-17; Matt. 4:2-11; 25:41; Rev. 20:10)

Creation

We believe that God created the universe in six literal, 24-hour periods. We reject evolution, the Gap Theory, the Day-Age Theory, and Theistic Evolution as unscriptural theories of origin. (Gen. 1-2; Ex. 20:11)

Civil Government

We believe that God has ordained and created all authority consisting of three basic institutions: 1. the home, 2. the church, and 3. the state. Every person is subject to these authorities, but all (including the authorities themselves) are answerable to God and governed by His Word. God has given each institution specific biblical responsibilities and balanced those responsibilities with the understanding that no institution has the right to infringe upon the other. The home, the church, and the state are equal and sovereign in their respective biblically assigned spheres of responsibility under God. (Rom. 13:1-7; Eph. 5:22-24; Heb. 13:17; 1 Pet. 2:13-14)