What We Believe
THE BIBLE
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Bible, “as it is in truth, the Word of God…. We believe in verbal, plenary, (full, complete, absolute), inspiration in the original writings, and God’s preservation of His pure words to every generation. The Bible is our sole authority for faith and practice.
ONE GOD
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.
THE PERSON OF CHRIST
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.
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His finished work on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead.
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.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the Person who reproves the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, indwelling all believers and sealing them unto the day of redemption.
We believe that the Holy Spirit will provide the ultimate deliverance of the body from sickness or death at the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection, though God frequently chooses to answer the prayer of believers for physical healing.
HUMANITY
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.
The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image and is mindful of him, and in that Christ died for man; therefore every individual possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.
SALVATION
We believe that the clear message of salvation is “repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ”.
We believe that salvation is “by grace” plus nothing minus nothing. We believe that men are justified by faith alone and are accounted righteous before God only through the merit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We believe that all the redeemed receive the promise of eternal life and this gift is the truth for every believer.
THE CHURCH
We believe that the New Testament church is a local assembly of baptized believers who have voluntarily joined themselves together to carry out the Great Commission. The Lord is doing His work in this world through local churches. The establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures.
We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority. Christ is the only head of the church.
ORDINANCES OF THE CHURCH
We recognize the ordinances of baptism by immersion in water and the Lord’s Supper as a Scriptural means of testimony for local churches in this age and by Christ’s example, the washing of the saints feet.
BIBLICAL SEPARATION
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 religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices and associations is commanded of God.
CHRIST’S RETURN
We believe the “Blessed Hope” of our Lord’s return is literal, personal, visible, imminent, pre-millennial, and will occur before the tribulation period. Believers will be caught up to be with the Lord prior to the seven years of tribulation, and at the end of the tribulation Christ will return with His saints to establish His thousand-year reign on the earth.
ETERNITY
We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment.
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.
We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious misery 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.