What We Believe
Statement of Faith
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally and plenary inspired Word of God, preserved for the English speaking people of the world in the authorized King James Version (1611.) The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible and God-breathed, and therefore are the final authority for faith and life. The sixty-six 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-historical meaning, and all issues of interpretation and meaning shall be determined by the pastor. Because the authorized King James Version (1611) of the Bible is the preserved Word of God, we reject all other English versions of the Bible.
(II Tim. 3:16-17; II Pet. 1:20-21)
We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense reveal divinely determined dispensations or rules of life which define man’s responsibilities in successive ages. These dispensations are not ways of salvation, but rather are divinely ordered stewardships by which God directs man according to His purpose. Three of these dispensations – the law, the church, and the kingdom – are subjects of detailed revelation in Scripture. (Gen. 1:28; I Cor. 9:17; II Cor. 3:9-18; Gal. 3:13-25; Eph.1:10; 3:2-10; Col.1:24-25,27; Rev. 20:2-6)
We believe that there is one, and only one true and living God, eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections. (Deut. 6:4; Matt.28:19; II Cor. 13:14; John 14:10, 26; I John 5:7)
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 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 redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and, that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead. (Acts 2:18-36; Rom. 1:4, 3:24-25; I Pet. 2:24; Eph. 1:7; I 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. 9:24; 7:25; Rom. 8:34; I John 2:1-2)
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, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption. (John 16:8-11; Rom. 8:9; I Cor. 12:12-14; II Cor. 3:6; Eph. 1:13-14)
We believe that He is the Divine Teacher who assists believers to understand and appropriate the Scriptures and that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit.
(Eph. 1:17-18; I John 2:20,27)
We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowal of spiritual gifts to every believer (Rom. 12:3-8). God uniquely uses evangelists, pastors, and teachers, to equip believers in the local church in order that they can do the work of the ministry. (Eph 4:7-12)
We believe 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. Ultimate deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection, although God frequently chooses to answer the prayers of believers for physical healing. (I Cor. 1:22; 13:8-10; 14:21-22)
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, 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)
The Fall of Man. We believe that man was created in innocence under the law of his Maker, but by voluntary transgression, he fell from his sinless and happy state of perfection (Genesis 3), in consequence of which, all mankind are now sinners and therefore under just condemnation without defense or excuse and are guilty before God. (Romans 5:12; Psalm 51:5; Romans 3)
The Atonement for Sin. We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace through the mediatorial offices of the Son of God who by the appointment of the Father freely took upon Him our nature, yet without sin and honored the divine law by His personal obedience and by His death made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins; that His atonement was not merely an example but was the voluntary substitution enthroned in Heaven and is uniting in His wonderful Person the tenderest sympathies with divine perfection. He is in every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate, and an all-sufficient Saviour. (Hebrews 2:9; II Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 10:4-14)
The New Birth. We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be born again; that the new birth is the new creation in Jesus Christ (John 3:3,5); that it is instantaneous and not a process; that in the new birth the one dead in trespasses and in sins is made a partaker of the divine nature and receives eternal life, the free gift of God (Ephesians 2:8,9); that the new creation is brought about in a manner above our comprehension, not by culture, not by character, nor by the will of man, but wholly and solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the Gospel (John 1:13; Titus 3:5); that its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance and faith in newness of life. (Galatians 5:22-25)
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; I Cor. 1:4-8; I 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; Rom. 6:1-2; Rom. 6:14-15)
We believe that the New Testament church is a congregation of baptized believers associated by a covenant of faith and fellowship of the gospel observing the ordinances of Christ, governed by his laws, and exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His word; that its officers of ordination are pastors and deacons, whose qualifications, claims, and duties are clearly defined in Scriptures (I Tim 3:1-13; Titus 1:6-9). We believe the true mission of the church is found in the “Great Commission”, which instructs us first, to make individual disciples (Matt 28:19-20); second, to baptize the converts; and third, to teach and instruct as He commanded. We do not believe in the reversal of this order.
We recognize water baptism (by immersion only) and the Lord’s Supper as the only two scriptural ordinances of obedience for the church in this age. We believe that the New Testament baptism is the immersion in water of a born-again believer in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, with the authority and approval of the local church to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, as it pictures our death to sin and resurrection to a new life (Matthew 28:19-20); that it is pre-requisite to the privileges of church membership and to the observing of the LORD’s Supper. (Acts 8:36-38)
We hold the local church has the absolute right of submission to government by Christ only, free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organization; and that Christ is the head of the church and superintends over the work of the local church through the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:19-23); that it is scriptural for the true churches to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the gospel (Jude 3); that every church is the sole and only judge of the measure and method of its cooperation on all matters of membership, of policy, of government, of discipline, of benevolence, and that the will of the local church is final (Matthew 18:15-20; Acts 5:29; I Cor. 6:1-8). We are opposed to the ecumenical movement, neo-orthodoxy, new evangelicalism, liberalism, and modernism that emphasizes an unequal yoke with unbelievers, experience over Biblical truth, higher criticism that weakens inerrancy of the Scriptures, social application of the gospel, and any other beliefs which abandon the historic foundational tenets of the Christian faith in an attempt to accommodate biblical Christianity and make it more acceptable to the modern mind.
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 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; 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; Rev. 3:10; 19:11-16; 20:1-6)
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 they consciously await their bodily resurrection, when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the LORD. (Luke 23:43; II 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)
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)
We believe that the Genesis account of creation is neither allegory nor myth, but a literal, historical account of God’s creation of the universe in six literal, 24-hour periods. We reject evolution, the Gap-Theory, the Day-Age Theory, the Big-Bang Theory, and Theistic Evolution as unscriptural theories of origin. (Gen. 1-2; Ex. 20:11)
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; I Pet. 2:13-14)
We believe that men and women are spiritually equal in position before God but that God has ordained distinct and separate spiritual functions for men and women in the home and the church. The husband is to be the leader of the home and men are to be the leaders (pastors and deacons) of the church. Accordingly, only men are eligible for licensure and ordination by the church. (Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:18, I Tim. 2:8-15; 3:4-5, 12)
We believe that God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. The husband is to love his wife as Christ loves the church. The wife is to submit herself to the Scriptural leadership of her husband as the church submits to the headship of Christ. Children are an heritage from the LORD. Parents are responsible for teaching their children spiritual and moral values and leading them, through consistent lifestyle example and appropriate discipline, including scriptural corporal correction. (Gen. 1:26-28; Ex. 20:12; Deut. 6:4-9; Ps. 127:3-5; Prov. 19:18; 22:15; 23:13-14; Mk. 10:6-12; I Cor. 7:1-16; Eph. 5:21-33; 6:1-4, Col. 3:18-21; Heb. 13:4; I Pet. 3:1-7)
We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion is murder. We reject any teaching that abortions of pregnancies due to rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, birth or population control, or the physical or mental well being of the mother are acceptable.
(Job 3:16; Ps. 51:5; 139:14-16; Isa. 44:24; 49:1, 5; Jer.1:5; 20:15-18; Luke 1:44)
We believe that we should demonstrate love for others, not only toward fellow believers, but also toward both those who are not believers and those who oppose us. We are to deal with those who oppose us graciously, gently, patiently, and humbly. God forbids the stirring up of strife, the taking of revenge, or the threat or the use of violence as a means of resolving personal conflict or obtaining personal justice, Although God commands us to abhor sinful actions we are to love and pray for any person who engages in such sinful actions. (Lev. 19:18; Matt. 5:44-48; Luke 6:31; John 13:34-35; Rom. 12:19-10; 17-21; 13:8-10; Phil. 2:2-4; II Tim. 2:24-26; Titus 3:2; I John 3:17-18)
We believe that Christians are prohibited from bringing civil lawsuits against other Christians or the church to resolve personal disputes. We believe the church possesses all the resources necessary to resolve personal disputes between members. We do believe, however, that a Christian may seek compensation for injuries from another Christian’s insurance company as long as the claim is pursued without malice or slander. (I Cor. 6:1-8; Eph. 4:31-32)
We believe that all men everywhere are lost and condemned and that the command to go and preach the Gospel to the world is clear and unmistakable and that this commission was given to the churches. Following New Testament precedent and example, we exercise the principle of grace giving to missions; we believe that all missionary endeavors should be under the ultimate sponsorship of the local congregation and that no mission board shall ever misconstrue its purpose to attempt to hold, or to assign authority to itself. (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 13; II Cor. 9:6-8, II Cor. 8:1-5)