THE SCRIPTURES
We believe that the Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is the record of God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure for divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and its contents are without error. It reveals the principles by which God judges us; and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. The standard by which the Bible is to be interpreted is Jesus Christ. (Exodus 24:4, Deut. 4:1-2; Joshua 1:8; Psalm 19:7-10, 89, Matthew 5:17-18; Luke 24:44-46; Romans 15:4; II Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 4:12; I Peter 1:25; II Peter:9-2)
GOD
We believe that there is only one living and 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 eternally perfect. To Him, we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without divisions of nature, essence or being.
GOD THE FATHER
God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purpose of His grace. He is all-powerful, all-loving, and all-wise. God is the Father of truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all. (Gen. 1:1; Exodus 3:14; Deut. 6:4; Isaiah 42:5-8; 64:8; Jer. 10:10; Matt. 23:9; 28:19; Mark 1:10-11; John 4:24; 14:6-13; Romans 8:14-15; I Cor. 8:6; Eph. 4:6; I Tim. 1:17)
GOD THE SON
God the Son: Christ is the eternal son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ, He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself the demands and necessities of human nature and identifying Himself completely with mankind, yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience; and in His death on the cross, He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever-present Lord. (Psalm 2:7; Isaiah 53:1-12; Matt. 1:18; 3:17; 16:16; Luke 1:35; 22:70; John 1:1-18; 11:25-27; 14; Acts 22:22-24; Rom. 1:3-4; 5:6-21; Phil. 2:5-11; Col. 1:13-22; I Thess. 4:14-l8; Heb. 1:3; 7:25; 13:8; Rev. 19:16)
GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT
God the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. He inspired men of old to write the Scriptures. He enables us to understand the truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. He calls us to the Savior, and affects regeneration. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His Church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the assurance of God to bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the Church in worship, evangelism, and service. (Gen. 1:2; Psalm 51:11; Ezek. 37:14; Joel 2:28-32; Matt 3:16; 12:28-32; Luke 4:18-19; John 4:24; 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16:7-14; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4; Rom. 8:9-16; I Cor. 3:16; 12:3-11; Eph. 1:13-14)
MANKIND
We believe that man was created by the special act of God, in His own image, and is the crowning work of His creation. In the beginning, man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan, man transgressed the command of God and fell from his original innocence; whereby his descendants inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin; and as soon as they are capable of moral choice, become transgressors and are under condemnation. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God. The sacredness of human life is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore, EVERY MAN POSSESSES DIGNITY AND IS WORTHY OF RESPECT AND CHRISTIAN LOVE. (Gen. 1:28-30; 2:7; Psalm 8:3-6; 51:5; Jer. 17:5; Matt. 16:26; Rom. 3:10-18, 23; 5:6; 8:6; 7:14-25; I Co. 1:21-31; Eph. 2:10)
SALVATION
We believe that salvation is a free gift of God available to all who repent and receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. (I Cor. 1:30; Eph. 5:25-27; Phil. 1:6; I Thess. 1:9-l0; Titus 2:11-13) The believer was saved when he, by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, was spiritually born again as a child of God. (Luke 7:50; Acts 28:30-31; John 1:12; I Cor. 1:28; Eph. 2:8; II Tim. 1:9) The believer is being saved from the dominion of sin, divinely preserved and sanctified. (Rom.6:1-14; 8:2; II Cor. 3:18; Gal. 2:20; 4:l9; Phil. 1:19; 2:12; II Thess. 2:13) The believer will be saved from the presence of sin when he is presented faultless in glory. (Rom. 13:11; I Thess. 5:8; Heb. 1:14; 9:28; I Pet. 1:3-5; I John 3:1-3) Thus a person once saved is eternally secure. (I John 5:13; John 10:27-28)
THE CHURCH
We believe that the true Church is composed of all persons who have been saved by faith in Jesus Christ. We believe that a local, visible New Testament Church is a congregation of baptized believers associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the Gospel; meeting together for worship, teaching and preaching of God’s Word; and the observance of the ordinances of Christ; governed by the teachings of His Word. We believe that Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the only ordinances of Christ given to the local Church. Christian Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s 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 newness of life in Christ Jesus. The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby we memorialize the death of our Lord and anticipate His coming again. We believe that participation in this ordinance is open to all who have received Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, and that solemn self-examination must always precede the taking of this Supper. (Matt. 3:13-17; 26:26-30; Rom. 6:3-5; I Cor. 11:23-29; 12:13; Col. 2:12)
LAST THINGS
LAST THINGS: We believe in the personal, imminent, return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The time of His coming is nowhere revealed; therefore, it is the duty of all believers to live in readiness since His coming will be sudden. When He comes, he will claim His Body, the one true Church. (Matt. 24:27-31, 36; 25:31-46; 26:64; John 14:3; Acts 1:11; I Thess. 4:13-17; 5:2; II Tim 4:1; Heb. 9:28; I John 2:28). We believe in the bodily resurrection of all mankind; those who have been saved by faith in Christ out of every age in time will dwell forever with Christ; those who have rejected Christ will spend eternity in the lake of fire, along with the devil and his angels. (Dan. 12:2; Matt. 25:46; John 5:28-29; 6:40; Acts 24:15; I Cor. 15:12-28; 35-54; I Pet. 5:4; Rev. 20:1-15)
PRIESTHOOD OF BELIEVERS
We believe that every believer in Christ is a priest (Rev. 1:6; 5:10; 20:6) with Jesus being our High Priest (John 17; Rom.8:34; Heb.2:17; 3:1; 4:14-16; 5; 6; I John 1:2). This involves both privilege and responsibility. The privilege of priesthood means that every Christian may come face to face with God boldly with no mediator other than Christ (I Tim. 2:5; Heb. 4:16).He can pray directly to God, confess his sin and interpret the Scriptures as he is guided by the Holy Spirit (John l6:l2-l5). The responsibility is that of seeking to be continually yielded to the Lord (Matt. 6:33; Rom. 12:1-2) in all things. It involves walking in a personal relationship with a living Lord.
MARRIAGE
We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, incest, fornication, adultery and pornography are sinful perversions of God's gift of sex (Gen. 2:24; Gen. 19:5, 13; Gen. 26:8-9; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom 1:26-29; I Cor. 5:1; 6:9; I Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4). We believe that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman. (Gen. 2:18-25; I Cor. 7:10)
