CONCERNING THE SCRIPTURES

We believe the Bible is the inspired and inerrant Word of God, the supreme and final authority in all matters of faith and Christian conduct.

John 17:17; 1 Thess 2:13; 2 Tim 3:15-17; Heb 4:12; 2 Pet 1:20-21

CONCERNING THE TRIUNE GOD

We believe in One God, eternally existing in three distinct persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.

Gen 1:2, 26; 11:7; Deut. 6:4; Ps. 139:7-10; Isa. 9:6; Matt. 28:19; Mark 2:8-12; Luke 3:21-22; John 1:1, 14; 20:28; Acts 5:3-4; 1 Cor. 2:10-11; 3:16; 2 Cor. 13:13-14; Rom 9:5; Phil. 2:6-11; Titus 2:13; Heb. 1:3; 1 Pet 1:2; 1 John 5:20; Rev. 1:8

CONCERNING MANKIND

We believe man (humankind) was created in the image of God, possessing righteousness, holiness, and a true knowledge of God. We believe that all human life is sacred, and is of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including pre-born babies, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death. We are therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life.

Gen. 1:26-27; 9:6; Ps. 8:3-5; 139; 1 Cor. 11:7; James 3:9

However, there is an exception to this call in the recognition of the biblical duty of the state, when acting in its proper God-ordained sphere, it seeks to defend and protect human life through the intervention of police enforcement and certain of its penal laws among its citizenry, as well as military service in the pursuit of “just wars.”

Acts 25:11; Rom; 13: 1-5; Gen. 9:6

We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female, and that these two distinct, complimentary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. Rejection of one’s God-ordained, God-created biological sex is a rejection of God’s Sovereign and all-wise Will in creating His image within that person.

Gen. 1:26-27; 2:18-23

CONCERNING MARRIAGE

We believe that God created marriage to be exclusively the union of one man and one woman in a “one-flesh” relationship. Marriage, as instituted by God, reflects Christ’s relationship with His church and serves as the foundational unit of a stable society. We believe that intimate sexual activity is to occur exclusively within that one man-one woman marital relationship. We believe that any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual or bisexual behavior, bestiality, incest, and use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God.

Gen. 2:18-25; Matt. 15:18-20; 1 Cor. 6:9-10, 18; 7:2-5; Eph. 5:21-33; Heb. 13:4

CONCERNING THE FALL OF MAN

We believe man fell from the original state in which he was created because of his disobedience to the direct command of God, and the consequences of which were transmitted to the entire human race; so that all mankind is guilty of that first transgression and now possess an inherent and corrupt nature. Apart from a relationship with Christ, all of mankind is dead in their sins.

Gen. 3:1-24; Jer. 17:9; Rom. 3:10-26; 5:12-19; 6:23; Eph. 2:1-3; 1 John 1:8-10

CONCERNING THE PERSON AND WORK OF JESUS CHRIST

We believe that Jesus Christ is God the Son incarnate, truly God and truly man, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of Mary while she was a young virgin.

Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23; 8:29; Mark 13:32; Luke 1:34-35; John 1:1-3, 14, 18; 20:28; Rom. 1:3-4; Gal. 4:4; Phil. 2:5-11; Col. 1:15-19; Heb. 1:5; 2:14-18

We believe Jesus Christ died as a punishment and substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of men, the just for the unjust, forever satisfying the demands of a holy God against sinful men.

John 3:16; Rom. 3:21-28; 5:17-19; Eph. 1:7; Phil. 3:8-9; 1 Thess. 1:9-10; Titus 3:4-7

We believe Jesus Christ has bodily risen from the dead, ascended into heaven, been enthroned at the Father’s right hand, and is personally coming again to consummate His kingdom and reign among His people.

Mark 13:26-27; Luke 24:36-51; Acts 1:9-11; 2:33-36; 7:55-56; Rom. 6:9; 8:34; 14:9; 1 Cor. 15; Eph. 1:20; 2:6; 1 Thess. 4:14-17; Heb. 1:3; Rev 1:7

CONCERNING THE PERSON AND WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a distinct person of the triune Godhead, with intellect, emotion, and will. He is active in the lives of believers and is the One who inspired the Prophets and the Apostles, the whole of Scripture. He proceeds from the Father and the Son, but is fully equal with them.

Gen. 1:1-2; Ps. 139:7-8; John 14:17; 15:26; 16:7; Acts 1:2; 8:39; Rom. 8:26-27; 1 Cor. 2:10-11; 6:19; 12:11; Eph. 1:13; 4:30; 2 Pet. 1:21

It is the conviction of the church that the Holy Spirit baptizes, seals, and forever indwells the Christian at the time of conversion, sanctifying us through the Word and prayer, sovereignly working in us to progressively conform us to the likeness of Christ. Therefore, everything necessary for living the Christian life is given to us at our conversion.

Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Cor. 12:12-13; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 3:18; Eph. 1:13-14; 4:22-24; Phil. 2:12-13; Col. 3:9-10; 2 Pet. 1:3-4

It is also our conviction that He gifts every believer with an ability (gift/ gifts) to edify the church, as well as His having gifted individuals during the Apostolic Era with miraculous abilities (gifts) to authenticate the apostolic witness and message. With that message (New Testament) now fully self-authenticating, we believe those miraculous gifts were relegated to that specific era of redemptive history and therefore have ceased, and are no longer routinely practiced as a necessity for the life and ministry of the church today.

Rom. 12:6-8; 1 Cor. 13: 8-12; 13-14:12; 2 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 4:7-12; Heb. 2:1-4

CONCERNING SALVATION

We believe that personal salvation from sin is not the result of man’s good works, but is wholly of God’s free grace, in which the Father elects, the Son redeems, and the Holy Spirit regenerates those who have been foreordained to eternal life and those alone.

John 6:44; 10:27-29; 17:9-12; Rom. 5:1-2, 17; 8:30; 9:10-16; Gal. 3:10-14; Eph. 1:3-14; 2:8-10; 2 Thess. 2:13-14; 2 Tim. 1:8-12

CONCERNING THE CHURCH

We believe that reception into the local church and participation in the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Table are the privileges and responsibilities of believers in Jesus Christ alone.

Matt. 26:26-29; Acts 2:38, 42; Rom. 6:3-4; 1 Cor. 11:23-26

CONCERNING THE LAST THINGS

We believe that after death there awaits a conscious and eternal blessedness in the Presence of God for the believer, but for the unbeliever, a conscious and eternal punishment.

Eccl. 12:14; Matt. 13:49-50; 16:27; 22:11-14; 25:31-46; Luke 16:19-31; John 5:28-29; 14:1-3; Rom. 2:6-11; 2 Cor. 5:10; Heb. 9:27; Jude 7, 13; Rev. 7:9; 14:9-11; 20:4, 10-15; 21:1-4, 8

This statement of faith does not exhaust the extent of our beliefs. The Bible itself, as the inspired and infallible Word of God that speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality, and proper conduct of mankind, is the sole and final source of all that we believe.