What We Believe

Trinity

We believe there is but one true and living God whose essence is spirit and who exists in a Trinity of equal persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and that they are each equal and infinite in their being, power, glory, and attributes.

The Father

We believe that God the Father is the First Person of the divine Trinity who is absolute in His deity possessing all the attributes of deity and equal with the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ

We believe in the absolute deity of Jesus Christ our Lord and that He shares equally in all the attributes of deity with the Father and the Holy Spirit. We believe in His virgin birth, in His perfect and sinless humanity, in His miracles and in their literalness, in His substitutionary, satisfactory, propitiatory, atoning death on Calvary, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, in His present intercessory ministry, and in His personal return for the Church.

Holy Spirit

We believe in the absolute and full deity of the Holy Spirit, the Third Member of the blessed Trinity, who is equal with the Father and the Son. It was the Father who gave His Son, the Son who gave His life, and it is the Holy Spirit who today gives spiritual life to those who believe in Christ. He indwells the believer and empowers him and Christ’s Church for service giving the various gifts to the members of the body of Christ to edify and equip the Church in its endeavor to fulfill the Great Commission.

Scriptures

We believe that holy men of old wrote the Bible as they were moved (lit. “Being borne along”) by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21), which harmonizes with 2 Timothy 3:15, which teaches that all Scripture is inspired (lit. “God breathed” or “breathed out by God”). This means that the Holy Spirit so superintended the writers of the Holy Scripture that, although they utilized their own vocabularies and experiences, they wrote the very exact message God intended without any omission, addition, or error which means that the Bible is theologically, historically, scientifically, and geographically correct since the Holy Spirit is incapable of erring. Being plenary verbally inspired by the Holy Spirit guarantees the infallibility and inerrancy of the Bible in every area in which it speaks and makes it the highest authority and guide for the believer.

Salvation

We believe in salvation by grace totally apart from any human merit. It is bestowed by a gracious God upon unworthy man conditioned solely upon his faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work on Calvary (Ephesians 2:8-10; John 3:16).

Security of the Believer

We believe that the Word of God teaches the security of the believer, that God will keep securely in His hand (John 10:25-30) those who are trusting in Jesus, but offers absolutely no hope for that person who is not trusting in Christ (1 Peter 1:5). The link that unites God and man is faith (John 3:16). The security of the believer is based upon a continuous faith in Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:21-23; Hebrews 3:12-13). We hold to the position that Holy Scripture does present the possibility of an authentic believer ceasing to believe (1 John 2:24; Hebrews 3:12-13) but not in the probability (Hebrews 6:9). Simply stated, we believe that God has given to the believer Scriptural grounds for knowing positively that he is saved; that God has promised and provided to keep His children even in times of failure, when they fall out of fellowship with Him; that God has assured His followers that as believers they are secure in Christ and shall never perish; but that God has, also, clearly warned the Christian against the possibility of making shipwreck (1Tim 1:19-20) his personal faith in Christ, and thereby, becoming an apostate (2 Peter 2:20-22; Heb 6:4-8)

New Birth

We believe that all men are born with a depraved nature and are sinful by nature and by choice and as such are alienated from God, born dead in trespasses and sin. We believe that this condition can only be reconciled by the new birth, which is a work of regeneration wrought by the Holy Spirit (John 3:5-6) Titus 3:5), conditioned upon a man’s personal faith in the atoning work of Jesus on Calvary as sufficient payment for his sin (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Resurrection

We believe in future bodily resurrection of the believer, at which time he will receive a resurrected glorified body, and that the new body will be joined with the soul so that the child of God will spend eternity to come as a body/soul being. We likewise believe that the unbeliever will be resurrected with a body and soul, which will forever suffer in the torments of hell.

Judgment

We believe in the future Judgment Seat of Christ at which time the believer will stand before Christ and be judged and rewarded for the deeds done in the body whether they be good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10). We also believe in the Great White Throne of Judgment for the unsaved, where their lives will be reviewed and judged according to their works, which will determine the degree of their punishment in the eternal flames of hell (Revelation 20:11-15).
Devil—We believe in the existence of a literal personal evil and malicious being called Satan or the Devil who led a rebellion against God at some point before creation and was cast out of heaven along with the angels (demons) who followed him. He and his demonic hordes seek to tempt men to sin and thereby doom them to eternity in the fires of hell. His doom and that of mankind who follow him has been pronounced as the lake of fire where he will one day be banished and shut up forever.

Church

We believe in the local church as God’s autonomous, self-governing, divinely ordained institution for this age, whose head is Christ (Ephesians 5:22-23; Colossians 1:18) and whole life and vitality are produced by the regenerating indwelling presence and power of the Holy Spirit. We believe that the Great Commission is still the great task of the Church today (Matthew 28:18-20). We believe that the individual local church is the highest spiritual authority on earth.

Pastor

We believe that the pastor, as the under-shepherd, is to lead his flock as he is led by Christ through His Word (Acts 20:28). He is not to lord over God’s heritage but to lead by example (1 Peter 5:2-3) and as a servant (Matthew 23:11). We believe that the pastor is to work in cooperation with his church deacons, to be held accountable by them, but is never to be subservient to the them. The bible clearly recognizing that in the multitude of counselors there is safety (Proverbs 11:14). In addition, we hold that the official offices of Pastor and Deacon are to be occupied my men only according to the traditional interpretation of Scripture.

Ordinances

We believe that God has given His Church the ordinance of Baptism, which is to be administered only to believers, by immersion and in the name of Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; and the Lord’s Supper, which is to be open to all born again believers present; and the washing of the Saint’s feet—Matthew 28:19,20; Romans 6:3,4; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13: 1-17.
Separated Living—We believe that all Christians should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord; and separation from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices and associations is commanded of God. (Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 6:14-17)

Human Sexuality

We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of marriage between a man and woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. (Gen. 2:22-24; Gen. 19:5-13; Gen. 26:8-9; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom. 1:26-29, 1 Cor. 5:1,6-9; 1 Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4).

Marriage

We believe that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman (Gen. 2:24; Rom.7:2; 1 Cor. 7-10; Eph. 5:22-23). We believe that both men and women are spiritually equal in position before God, but that God has ordained distinct and separate functions for men and women in the home and the church. We believe in the complementary nature of both men and woman in their natural form and as God intended. 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; 1 Tim. 2:8-15; 3:4-5, 12).

Divorce and Remarriage

We believe that God hates divorce and intends marriage to last until one of the spouses dies. Divorce and remarriage are regarded as adultery except on the grounds of fornication. Although divorced, Christians (even if they are remarried) may hold positions of service in the church and be greatly used of God for Christian service, they may not be considered for the office of pastor or deacon (Mal. 2:14-17; Matt. 19:3-12; Rom. 7:1-3; 1 Tim. 2:2,12; Titus 1:6).

Creation

We believe in the literal historicity of the Genesis account of God’s creating this earth and man in seven literal twenty-four hour days, of man’s early home in the Garden paradise, of his fall by eating the forbidden fruit, of his spiritual death and depraved nature resulting from this rebellion, and of his expulsion from the Garden.

Evolution

We reject evolution as being merely an alternate theory of origins. It dictates one’s total worldview including his foundation for truth and morals. Evolution is the creation of the depraved mind of fallen man in his vain attempt to avoid God and the supernatural origin of the Bible, God’s Holy Word. It deifies man by placing absolute moral authority in the hands of the individual and subjects all creation to the laws of nature only which is amoral, neither good nor bad. Since there is no higher authority all men everywhere are able to choose their own destiny free of moral or spiritual consequences. This worldview is therefore not only incompatible to the bible, but antithetical to its purpose of ascribing all truth and glory to God.

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