The Word of God

 We believe the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, to be the verbally inspired Word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant, infallible, and God-breathed. (2 Tim. 3:16-17 | 2 Peter 1:20-21 | Matt. 5:18 | John 16:12-13)  

 We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections (Deut. 6:4 | 2 Cor. 13:14|Matt. 3:16-17).  

 We believe that the Father is the one and living God; the infinite and intelligent Spirit, that He is Omnipotent, Omniscient, Holy, Righteous, Loving, and Good (John 4:24 | Matt. 19:26 | Matt. 10:29 | John 17:11 | John 17:25 | John 3:16/ 17:23 | Matt. 6:26, 28-30/ 10:29, 30).   

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful man (John 1:1-2/14-17 | Luke 1:35) (Gen.3:3:15|Matt.1:1|Gal. 4:4). 

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice (physical resurrection from the dead) (Romans 3:24-45 | 1 Peter 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, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate (Acts 1:9-10 | Heb. 7:25 / 9:24 | Romans 8:34 | 1 John 2:1-2). 

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. We believe that He is the supernatural agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the Body of Christ, in-dwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption (John 16:8-11 | 2 Cor. 3:6 | 1 Cor. 12:12-14 | Romans 8:9 | Eph. 1:13-14).
 

We believe that He is the guide to all believers into all Truth and that it is the privilege and duty of all the redeemed to be controlled by the Spirit (John 16:13 | Eph. 5:18). 

We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God and that man is totally depraved and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition (Gen. 1:26-27 | Rom. 3:22-24 / 5: 12 | Eph. 2:1-6). 

 We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to many by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins (Romans 6:23| Eph. 2:8-10 | Romans 10:9-10 | John 1:12 | 1 Peter 1:18-19).  

We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept 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 Peter 1:5). 

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 (Gal. 5:13-16 | Titus 2:11-15 | 1 Peter 1:8). 

 We believe that all the old nature can do nothing but sin. The new nature cannot sin. Victory of the new nature over the flesh is through the power of the in-dwelling Holy Spirit and that all claims to the eradication of sin or the possibility not to sin in this life are unscriptural (Rom. 6:6, 13 / 8:12-13 | Gal. 5:16-25 | Eph. 4:22-24 | Col. 3:10 | 1 Peter 1:14-16 | 1 John 3:5-9).  

 We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord and that separation from all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices, and associations is commanded of God (2 Tim. 3:1-5 | Rom. 12:1-2 / 14:13 | 1 John 2:15-17 | 2 John 9-11 | 2 Cor. 6:14 / 7:1/ 2 Cor. 6:17).  

 We believe that it is the obligation of the saved to witness by life and by word and to seek to proclaim the Gospel to every creature.  (Mark 16:15 | Acts 1:8 | 2 Cor. 5:19-20).  

 We believe that the church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again persons. (Eph. 1:22-23 / 5:15-27 | 1 Cor. 12:12-14).  

 We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the cause of the fall. We believe 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).  

 We believe in that ‘Blessed Hope’, the personal, imminent, pre-tribulation and pre-millennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for the church and in His subsequent return to earth with His church to establish His Millennial Kingdom (1 Thess. 1:10 / 4:13-28 / 5:9 | Zech. 14:4-11 | Rev. 3:10 / 19:11-16 / 20:1-6).  

We believe in the bodily resurrection of all who profess Christ as Savor, to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (Matt. 25:46 / John 5:28-29 | 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 | Rev. 20:4-6 | 2 Cor. 5:8 | Phil. 1:23 / 3:21 | 1 Thess. 4:16-17). 

We believe that the souls of the unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious misery until the second resurrection, when the soul, spirit, 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 (Luke 16:19-26 | Matt. 25:41-46 | 2 Thess. 1:7-9 | Jude 6-7 | Mark 9:43-48 | Rev. 20:11-15). 

We believe that baptism by immersion is an ordinance of the New Testament. It is the outward sign and profession of identification with the Lord Jesus Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. It is the outward sign and confession of that which has potentially taken place with the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ when He dies, was buried, quickened, raised up, exalted, and seated at the right hand of God in Heaven. It is commanded by our Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:18-20 | Rom. 6:3-6/11-13 | Col. 2:12 | Eph. 2:4-6). 

We believe that the Lord’s Supper is another ordinance of the New Testament. It is a memorial because it is kept in memory of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and His death. The bread and the fruit of the vine are symbols of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus which was given on our behalf (Luke 22:14-20 | Matt. 26:26-29 | 1 Cor. 11:23-31).