Doctrine
Statement of
(adopted July 2004)
THE BIBLE: We believe all 66 books making up the Old and New
Testaments are inspired by God and are without error in the original writings.
Through the divine intervention of God, the Word of God has been preserved, and
is the only perfect and authoritative rule of faith and practice.
(Exodus 24:4; Deuteronomy 4:1-2; 17:19; Joshua 8:34;
Psalms 19:7-10; 119:11,89,105,140; Isaiah 34:16; 40:8; Jeremiah 15:16; 36:1-32;
Matthew 5:17-18; 22:29; Luke 21:33; 24:44-46; John 5:39; 16:13-15; 17:17; Acts
2:16ff.; 17:11; Romans 15:4; 16:25-26; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-2; 4:12;
1 Peter 1:25; 2 Peter 1:19-21).
GOD: We believe there is only one true God. He is an
intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver,
and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other
perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge
extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future
decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and
obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature,
essence, or being.
(Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Genesis
1:31)
GOD THE FATHER: We believe in God as Father who reigns with
providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream
of human history according to the purposes of His grace. 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. He is fatherly in His attitude
toward all men.
(Genesis 1:1; 2:7; Exodus 3:14; 6:2-3; 15:11ff.; 20:1ff.;
Leviticus 22:2; Deuteronomy 6:4; 32:6; 1 Chronicles 29:10; Psalm 19:1-3; Isaiah
43:3,15; 64:8; Jeremiah 10:10; 17:13; Matthew 6:9ff.; 7:11; 23:9; 28:19; Mark
1:9-11; John 4:24; 5:26; 14:6-13; 17:1-8; Acts 1:7; Romans 8:14-15; 1
Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 4:6; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17;
Hebrews 11:6; 12:9; 1 Peter 1:17; 1 John 5:7).
JESUS CHRIST: We believe that Jesus Christ is God. He was
conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin
Mary. He lived a sinless life and performed many miracles. Shedding His blood
on the cross as a substitute for mankind, he was buried and arose in bodily
form the third day. He ascended into Heaven and is now exalted at the right
hand of God where He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person
is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and
glory to judge the world and to complete His redemptive mission. He now dwells
in all believers as the living and ever-present Lord.
(Genesis 18:1ff.; Psalms 2:7ff.; 110:1ff.; Isaiah 7:14;
53; Matthew 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; Luke 1:35; 4:41; 22:70; 24:46; John 1:1-18,29; 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; Romans 1:3-4; 3:23-26; 5:6-21; 8:1-3,34; 10:4; 1
Corinthians 1:30; 2:2; 8:6; 15:1-8,24-28; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; 8:9; Galatians
4:4-5; Ephesians 1:20; 3:11; 4:7-10; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:13-22;
2:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 3:16; Titus 2:13-14; Hebrews
1:1-3; 4:14-15; 7:14-28; 9:12-15,24-28; 12:2; 13:8; 1 Peter 2:21-25; 3:22; 1
John 1:7-9; 3:2; 4:14-15; 5:9; 2 John 7-9; Revelation 1:13-16; 5:9-14;
12:10-11; 13:8; 19:16).
THE HOLY SPIRIT: We believe that the Holy Spirit is God, co-equal
and co-existent with the Father and Son. Some of is His role is convict mankind
of their sin, teaching the believer and restoring the unbeliever by calling
them to salvation through Jesus; the Son of God. The Holy Spirit indwells every
believer from the moment of salvation and empowers every believer to live a Godly
life. He seals the believer unto the day we are called to our eternal home.
(Genesis 1:2; Judges 14:6; Job 26:13; Psalms 51:11;
139:7ff.; Isaiah 61:1-3; Joel 2:28-32; Matthew 1:18; 3:16; 4:1; 12:28-32;
28:19; Mark 1:10,12; Luke 1:35; 4:1,18-19; 11:13; 12:12; 24:49; John 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 Corinthians 2:10-14;
3:16; 12:3-11,13; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thessalonians
5:19; 1 Timothy 3:16; 4:1; 2 Timothy 1:14; 3:16; Hebrews 9:8,14; 2 Peter 1:21;
1 John 4:13; 5:6-7; Revelation 1:10; 22:17)
MANKIND: We believe that man is the special creation of
God, made in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning
work of His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God's
creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was gifted by His
Creator with freedom of choice. By His free choice man sinned against God and
brought sin into the human race. Only the grace of God can bring man into His
holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God.
(Genesis 1:26-30; 2:5,7,18-22; 3; 9:6; Psalms 1; 8:3-6;
32:1-5; 51:5; Isaiah 6:5; Jeremiah 17:5; Matthew 16:26; Acts 17:26-31; Romans
1:19-32; 3:10-18,23; 5:6,12,19; 6:6; 7:14-25; 8:14-18,29; 1 Corinthians
1:21-31; 15:19,21-22; Ephesians 2:1-22; Colossians 1:21-22; 3:9-11)
SIN: We believe that Adam, the first man, sinned by
disobedience. This act resulted in the fall of mankind; therefore, all people
have sinned and lost their ability to live for the glory of God. Mankind's fall
has incurred both physical and spiritual death on all until there is forgiveness
and salvation by the grace of God.
(Genesis 3:1-24; Romans
3:10-23; 5:12-21; 6:23)
SALVATION: We believe Salvation involves the redemption of
the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept 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 creatures 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 acceptance of Jesus
Christ and commitment of the entire personality 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 believer’s life.
Glorification is the conclusion of salvation
and is the final blessed and permanent state of the redeemed.
(Genesis 3:15; Exodus 3:14-17; 6:2-8; Matthew 1:21;
4:17; 16:21-26; 27:22-28:6; Luke 1:68-69; 2:28-32; John 1:11-14,29; 3:3-21,36;
5:24; 10:9,28-29; 15:1-16; 17:17; Acts 2:21; 4:12; 15:11; 16:30-31; 17:30-31;
20:32; Romans 1:16-18; 2:4; 3:23-25; 4:3ff.; 5:8-10; 6:1-23; 8:1-18,29-39;
10:9-10,13; 13:11-14; 1 Corinthians 1:18,30; 6:19-20; 15:10; 2 Corinthians
5:17-20; Galatians 2:20; 3:13; 5:22-25; 6:15; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-22; 4:11-16;
Philippians 2:12-13; Colossians 1:9-22; 3:1ff.; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 2
Timothy 1:12; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 2:1-3; 5:8-9; 9:24-28; 11:1-12:8,14; James
2:14-26; 1 Peter 1:2-23; 1 John 1:6-2:11; Revelation 3:20; 21:1-22:5)
ETERNAL SECURITY: We believe that since God gives us eternal life
through Christ, the believer is secure in that salvation forever. Our salvation
is maintained by the grace and power of God, not by the efforts of the believer.
(John 10:29-30; II Timothy
1:12; Hebrews 7:25; I John 5:11-13)
THE CHURCH: We believe that the church is the body of Christ
and the family of God. It is made up of saved and baptized believers, who
regularly join together on the Lord's Day for worship, fellowship, and
ministry.
(Matthew 16:18; I Corinthians.
12:12-14; Hebrews 10:25)
EVANGELISM: We believe that it is the responsibility and
privilege of every Christian to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ and to
seek to make growing disciples. The Lord Jesus Christ has commanded the
preaching of the gospel to all nations. It is the duty of every child of God to
seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness under girded by a
Christian lifestyle, and by other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ.
(Genesis 12:1-3; Exodus 19:5-6; Isaiah 6:1-8;
Matthew 9:37-38; 10:5-15; 13:18-30, 37-43; 16:19; 22:9-10; 24:14; 28:18-20;
Luke 10:1-18; 24:46-53; John 14:11-12; 15:7-8,16; 17:15; 20:21; Acts 1:8; 2;
8:26-40; 10:42-48; 13:2-3; Romans 10:13-15; Ephesians 3:1-11; 1 Thessalonians
1:8; 2 Timothy 4:5; Hebrews 2:1-3; 11:39-12:2; 1 Peter 2:4-10; Revelation 22:17)
ETERNITY: We believe man was created to exist forever. He
will either exist eternally separated from God by sin or in union with God
through salvation. To be eternally separated from God is Hell. To be eternally
with God is Heaven. Heaven and Hell both exist where people will live
eternally. (John 3:16; 2:25; Romans 6:23;
Revelation 20:15)
BAPTISM AND COMMUNION: We believe Jesus instructed His followers to
remember His death and resurrection. He gave the church 2 visible symbols
(called ordinances) as reminders. These two symbols are baptism and the Lord's
Supper. Baptism by immersion is a one time act of obedience symbolizing the believer's
understanding and acceptance of faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior,
the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection
to walk in a new way of life. Communion (called the Lord's Supper) is an
ongoing symbol remembering our Lord's death, burial, resurrection and promised return.
(Matthew
3:13-17; 26:26-30; 28:19-20,26; Mark 1:9-11; 14:22-26; Luke 3:21-22; 22:19-20;
John 3:23; Acts 2:41-42; 8:35-39; 16:30-33; 20:7; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians
10:16,21; 11:23-29; Colossians 2:12)
LAST THINGS: 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 Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous
in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will
dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.
(Isaiah 2:4; 11:9; Matthew 16:27; 18:8-9; 19:28; 24:27,30,36,44;
25:31-46; 26:64; Mark 8:38; 9:43-48; Luke 12:40,48; 16:19-26; 17:22-37;
21:27-28; John 14:1-3; Acts 1:11; 17:31; Romans 14:10; 1 Corinthians 4:5;
15:24-28,35-58; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Philippians 3:20-21; Colossians 1:5; 3:4; 1
Thessalonians 4:14-18; 5:1ff.; 2 Thessalonians 1:7ff.; 2; 1 Timothy 6:14; 2
Timothy 4:1,8; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 9:27-28; James 5:8; 2 Peter 3:7ff.; 1 John
2:28; 3:2; Jude 14; Revelation 1:18; 3:11; 20:1-22:13)
THE KINGDOM: We believe the
(Genesis 1:1; Isaiah 9:6-7; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Matthew 3:2;
4:8-10,23; 12:25-28; 13:1-52; 25:31-46; 26:29; Mark 1:14-15; 9:1; Luke 4:43;
8:1; 9:2; 12:31-32; 17:20-21; 23:42; John 3:3; 18:36; Acts 1:6-7; 17:22-31;
Romans 5:17; 8:19; 1 Corinthians 15:24-28; Colossians 1:13; Hebrews 11:10,16;
12:28; 1 Peter 2:4-10; 4:13; Revelation 1:6,9; 5:10; 11:15; 21-22)