Statement of Faith
The Triune God
a. We believe that the one and only true God is Spirit: self-existent, infinite, personal, unchangeable, and eternal in His being; perfect in holiness, love, justice, goodness, wisdom and truth; omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent; Creator and Sustainer of all things, visible and invisible; both immanent and transcendent to creation; eternally existent in three persons, one in substance and coequal in power and glory – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
b. We believe that the Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; the Author of salvation; the Father of all who are begotten into newness of life through faith in Christ.
c. We believe in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ; in His eternal generation from the Father; in His incarnation by which He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, thus uniting the divine and human natures in their completeness into the one unique person of Jesus Christ; in His sinless life and miraculous works; in His vicarious death to make atonement for the sins of the world; in His bodily resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Father; in His present mediatorial ministry as the believer’s Advocate; in His imminent coming in power and glory.
d. We believe that the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Triune God, proceeding from the Father and sent by the Son, is of one substance, majesty and glory with the Father and the Son, very and eternally God. His office and work is to reprove or convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; to regenerate the soul; to sanctify, endue with power, teach, guide, witness to and comfort the believer.
The scriptures reveal the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church to be that of uniting believers into the body of Christ at Pentecost; possessing it as the temple of God; equipping it with gifts and graces for service; giving it the body of inspired truth; imparting to it the spirit of illumination and guidance into all truth, to the end that we all may come in the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; presiding over and building the Church into all the will of God; completing the body of the Church by calling out a people for the name of Christ.
The Bible
a. We believe that the Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, was given by Divine inspiration and is the authoritative Word of God.
b. The Bible is a revelation of God, to man – his origin, state and destiny – and of the only means of his salvation. It constitutes the rule of authority in all matters pertaining to faith and practice, and sets forth the principles by which all men will be judged.
Man
a. His Creation. We believe that man was created by an immediate act of God and not by a process of evolution. He was created in the image and likeness of God, possessing personality and holiness; in his original state man enjoyed sweet fellowship with God, the purpose of his creation being that he might glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Man having been created in the likeness of God is a self-conscious personality capable of free and rational choice.
b. His Fall. We believe that our first parents did not remain in the happy state of their original creation but, being deluded through the subtlety of Satan, voluntarily disobeyed the positive command of God, and thus were alienated from God and incurred upon themselves and their posterity the sentence of death both physical and spiritual. Even the earth was cursed because of man’s sin. In consequence of this act of disobedience, the entire human race has become so corrupted that in every heart there is, by nature, that evil disposition which eventually leads to responsible acts of sin and to just condemnation. Also through the fall of Adam, man has become so completely ruined that he has neither will nor power to turn to God and, if left to himself, would remain in sin forever.
c. His Redemption. We believe that God has provided redemption for all men through the mediatorial work of Christ, who voluntarily offered Himself on Calvary as a Perfect Sacrifice for sin, the Just suffering for the unjust, bearing sin’s curse and tasting death for every man.
Salvation
Since all men are sinners and guilty before God and are dead in trespasses and sins, and therefore unable to save themselves, God has out of His infinite love given His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to become man’s Savior.
a. Repentance. We believe that genuine repentance is a necessary attitude and act of man that makes it possible for a holy and Just God to forgive man’s sins. As an attitude it involves knowledge of, a change of mind toward, and a godly sorrow for sin; a proper reverence for God’s holiness; and a surrender to God. As an act, it means confessing and forsaking sin. Repentance is man’s appropriate response to the grace of God in conviction. As a fruit of repentance, insofar as possible where sin has been committed against man, restitution should be made.
b. Faith. Faith must follow repentance and is the act of the will whereby man embraces the promises of God and appropriates to himself personally the provisions of God’s grace. It is resting in the completeness and adequacy of the atoning merit of Christ’s sacrifice as the sole ground and hope of salvation. Faith must be active throughout the life of the believer and must manifest itself in obedience and good works.
c. Salvation. We believe that when the requirements of repentance and faith have been met, God justifies and regenerates the sinner. Justification is a judicial act absolving from guilt and punishment and restoring to divine favor. Justification has to do with the change of the sinner’s standing before God. Regeneration has to do with the changing of the sinner’s nature through the impartation of divine life. Regeneration is a spiritual quickening, a new birth. This experience is witnessed to by the Holy Spirit and produces in the heart a desire to do the will of God.
d. Sanctification and Reception of the Holy Spirit. We believe that sanctification is the work of God in making men holy. It is the will of God. It is provided in the atonement, and is experienced through faith by the operation of the Holy Spirit through the Word and the blood. Sanctification can and often does come as a subsequent crisis experience, where the believer enters into a continuing, deeper cleansing experience, remaking him in the image of God. Also called Baptism of the Holy Spirit, Infilling of the Holy Spirit, Second Work of Grace, and Second Blessing.
e. Divine Healing. Since all sickness is fundamentally the result of the fall of man, we believe that healing for the body is provided in the atonement of Christ. God’s children may realize this benefit as they express faith and desire and meet the conditions set forth in God’s Word. We believe that God does not necessarily limit His healing to believers but may apply His healing stripes where ever He may choose.
The Church
a. We believe that the individual and universal church is an organism composed of all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ who have been called out from the world, separated from sin, and vitally united by faith to Christ, its believing head and sovereign Lord.
b. We believe that the visible and local church is a body of believers in Christ who are voluntarily joined together, and who meet at regular times for teaching in the Word, fellowship of the saints, observance of the ordinances, administration of discipline, exercise in prayer, and participation in public worship and evangelism.
c. The characteristic marks of true believers are faith in Jesus as the Son of God; love for God and for all men, obedience to God’s Word and the leadership of the Holy Spirit, and victory over sin.
d. The primary duties of the church consist of glorifying God and exalting the Lord Jesus Christ, coming to one accord, denying self, of building itself up in the most holy faith, and of preaching the gospel in the entire world as a witness to all men.
e. We believe that the Lord of the church has equipped the church with apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers for the perfecting of saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. We believe that these offices represent a regular and permanent ministry and are in no way extraordinary or transitional in nature. Therefore, the church is to submit to the spiritual authority of these offices in the spirit of lowliness, meekness, long-suffering, love and unity.
Second Coming of Christ
a. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ will literally and physically come again; that we who are alive at His coming shall not precede them that are asleep in Christ Jesus; but that if we are abiding in Him, we shall be caught up with the risen saints to meet the Lord in the air, so that we shall ever be with the Lord.
Resurrection, Judgment, and Destiny
a. We believe in the resurrection that the bodies of the just and of the unjust shall be raised to life and united with their spirit – “they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:29).
b. We believe in future judgment in which every man shall appear before God to be judged according to his deeds in this life.
c. We believe that a glorious and everlasting life is assured to all who faithfully believe in and follow Jesus Christ our Lord, and that the finally impenitent shall suffer eternally in hell.
The Leadership of the Holy Spirit
We believe that God is “the same, yesterday, and today, and forever,” (Hebrews 13:8). Since God has sought communion with man from the beginning, we believe He still desires to reveal His mind (will) to man (I Cor. 2:16). Jesus said, “…the Comforter (Holy Spirit) …shall teach you all things…” (John 14:26). Therefore, we believe this same God of the Old and New Testaments still desires to lead men today. We believe in the witness of the Holy Spirit, and the direct leadership of God in the lives of the individual Christian as to assurance and guidance. This is accompanied by gifts of the spirit along with fruits of the spirit used as tools to do the work of the ministry.