I. What We Believe about the Scriptures:
The Bible (Old and New Testaments) is God’s special revelation to mankind (Gal. 1:11 -12; 1 Thes. 2:13 ) and comprises the sufficient and only infallible rule of faith and conduct (1 Tim. 3:15 -17; Mt. 4:4). The Scriptures are completely inerrant in their original documents and pose the final authority and absolute truth in faith and life (Psm. 19:7; Jn. 17:17 ). Although men composed the Bible, these writers were moved by the Holy Spirit to write God’s words (2 Tim. 3:16 -verbal and plenary inspiration) without error and without overriding their personalities and education (2 Pet. 1:21 ). The Scriptures are to be interpreted literally, unless specifically called to do otherwise by the authorial intent. Though there is only one meaning for each biblical passage (2 Pet. 1:20 -21), many applications may flow from that interpretation. Each believer has the responsibility to submit to the Word (Jn. 8:31 ) by personally ascertaining the true meaning of Scripture (Ac. 17:11 ) under the illumination of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 2:12 -14; 1 Jn. 2:20 ).
II. What We Believe about the Trinity:
There is only one true and living God (Dt. 6:4; 1 Cor. 8:4; Eph. 4:5-6; Jas. 2:19 ) existing as three Persons-Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Mt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14 ). Each Person is divine, distinct, eternal and equally deserving of our worship and obedience. Though each member of the Godhead is the same in essence; they execute different, yet harmonious roles. Examples of the roles are seen in the work of creation (Gen. 1:26) and salvation (Eph. 1:3-14).
III. What We Believe about God the Father:
God, the Father, is an infinite, personal spirit (Jn. 4:24 ), perfect in all attributes (Mt. 5:48 ). He sustains and rules His universe in a sovereign, wise and loving way (Ac. 14:15 –17; Rom. 11:36 ). He has decreed all things that come to pass, without approving sin (Hab. 1:13 ), with the intent of drawing glory to Himself (Isa. 6:3; 1 Chron. 29:11; Eph. 1:11 –12; Rev. 1:6). He both hears and answers prayer (Mt. 21:22 ; 1 Pet. 3:12 ), and saves all who come to Him through faith in Jesus Christ (Jn. 3:16 ; 1 Pet. 1:3). As Creator, He is the Father to all men (Acts 17:24 –29), but He is the spiritual Father only to believers (Rom. 8:14 –15; Gal. 3:26 ).
IV. What We Believe about Jesus Christ:
Jesus Christ is fully God (Jn. 1:1-3; 20:28 ; Col. 2:9) and fully man (1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 2:14 ); yet without sin (Heb. 4:15 ). His dual nature is unchangeable, indivisible, inseparable and without distinction. He was incarnated in the latter days (Jn. 1:14 ; Gal. 4:4) through the virgin birth (Isa. 7:14 ; Mt. 1:18 ; Lk. 1:35 ) for the purpose of revealing God (Jn. 14:9) and providing redemption (Heb. 2:17 ; 9:12 ). He honored the divine Law by perfect obedience and accomplished salvation for man by His atoning work on the cross (Heb. 10:12 ) that involved the shedding of His blood and sacrificial death (Rev. 5:9). His voluntary and substitutionary offering (2 Cor. 5:21 ; Rom. 5:8), predestined from eternity past (Ac. 2:23 ), is the only suitable means to propitiate God’s wrath (1 Jn. 4:10 ). After His death, Jesus rose bodily on the third day (1 Cor. 15:4), ascended into heaven (Lk. 24:51) and currently rules at the right hand of God as the believer’s Advocate (1 Jn. 2:1), High Priest (Heb. 7:26 ), Mediator (1 Tim. 2:5) and Head (Col. 1:18). He is the Lord (Lk. 6:46 ) and the only acceptable Savior of all mankind (Ac. 4:12 ; Jn. 14:6). The day will come in which He will personally and visibly return in power and glory for His bride, the church (Jn. 14:3; Ac. 1:11 ). He will judge all mankind (Ac. 17:31 ; Jn. 5:22 ) and consummate His redemptive mission (1 Cor. 15:23 -28).
V. What We Believe about the Holy Spirit:
The Holy Spirit is a divine Person, possessing all the attributes of personality and deity (Ac. 5:3-4). The Spirit indwells every believer of the New Covenant (Jn. 14:17 ; 1 Cor. 6:19 ) at the moment of salvation ( Rom. 8:9), baptizing them equally into the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13 ). He convicts the world of sin (Jn. 16:8), regenerates lives for salvation (Tit. 3:5), illuminates the Scripture (1 Cor. 2:14 -15) and continually transforms believers into the image of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18 ). The Holy Spirit fills believers that are in submission to God (Eph. 5:18 ) and seals them for the day of redemption (Eph. 1:13 ). He sovereignly administers spiritual gifts to every member of the church (1 Cor. 12:7, 11) with the intent of glorifying Jesus Christ (Jn. 16:14 ). We do not believe that the charismatic gifts are administered today as they were in the early church (2 Cor. 12:12 ; Heb. 2:3-4).
VI. What We Believe about Man:
On the sixth literal day of creation (Gen. 1:31), God created man and woman in His own image (Gen 1:27 ). The chief purpose for their creation was to bring glory to God (Isa. 43:7; Col. 1:16). In rejecting God’s benevolence and revealed will (Gen. 3:6), man disobeyed God and incurred the penalty of physical and spiritual death (Gen. 2:17). Adam’s sin is imputed to all humans and this original sin causes separation from God beginning at the point of conception (Psm. 51:5; Rom. 5:12 ). Humans are sinners by nature, by choice and by divine declaration (Mt. 15:18-20; Jn. 3:19; Rom. 3:9-18, 23). Every unredeemed human is at enmity with God (Eph. 2:16 ). They are subject to His wrath (Rom. 1:18 ; Eph. 2:3), utterly incapable of choosing God (Jer. 13:23 ; Mt. 19:25 -26; Jn. 6:44 ) and remain totally at the mercy of God’s grace to obtain salvation ( Rom. 11:5-6; Eph. 2:8-9; Tit. 3:5).
VII. What We Believe about Salvation:
Since sinful man stands before a holy God condemned (Rom. 3:19 , 23; Gal. 3:22 ), God from eternity past decreed to redeem some humans through Christ (Eph. 1:5). The shed blood and death of the Messiah purchased the salvation for God’s elect from every generation (Rev. 5:9). The moment of salvation begins as the Holy Spirit regenerates a sinner’s heart (Jn. 3:3-7) through the instrument of the Word of God (Jn. 5:24; Jas. 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:23). These individuals have a responsibility through God’s grace to freely accept Jesus by faith (Mt. 11:28 -30; Jn. 3:36 ) and repent of their sins (Mt. 4:17 ; Ac. 2:38 ). Christ’s righteousness is imputed (Rom. 5:19 ; 2 Cor. 5:21 ) to the surrendering believer, and he or she is "set apart" (sanctified), declared "not guilty" (justified) before God (Rom. 3:26 ; 5:1; 1 Cor. 1:30 ) and delivered from condemnation to eternal life (Rom. 5:18 ; Tit. 3:7). Salvation is a gift solely of God’s grace and not on the basis of any human merit or works (Ac. 15:11; Eph. 2:8-9; 1 Pet. 1:18-19). Though "good deeds" in no way achieve human salvation (Isa. 64:6), they give evidence of a redeemed heart and new purpose in life (Eph. 2:10 ; Tit. 3:8; Jas. 2:14 ). True believers will be kept by God’s power to persevere and thus can be assured of their eternal salvation (Jn. 10:27 -30; Rom. 8:30 , 38-39; Phil. 1:6; 2 Pet. 1:10 ; 1 Jn. 5:13 ; Rev. 14:12).
VIII. What We Believe about Christian Conduct:
Christians are to make it their priority to be found pleasing to the Lord (2 Cor. 5:9; Col. 1:10). They are to love God with all of their heart and love their neighbor as themselves (Mt. 22:37 –40). They are to be a faithful steward of God’s resources (Mt. 25:14–30). They have been delivered from sin to be a slave to righteousness (Rom. 6:11 -13). In understanding their new freedom (Gal. 5:13), believers are to obediently serve only the Lord (Psm. 100:2), grow in His grace and knowledge (2 Pet. 3:18), overcome sin in the pursuit of holiness (Gen. 4:7; 2 Cor. 7:1; 1 Jn. 3:5–9), separate from worldliness (Jas. 4:4), live blamelessly (Phil. 2:14–15), mature in Christlikeness (Rom. 8:29) and faithfully persevere to the end (Mk. 13:13), all through the abiding presence and empowerment of the Holy Spirit (Jn. 14:15–17; Gal. 3:3).
IX. What We Believe about the Church:
Jesus Christ is the Head (Col. 1:18), Builder (Mt. 16:18 ) and Chief Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:4) of the church. His flock is composed of all born-again believers; members of one unified, loving and living spiritual body (Jn. 13:34-35; Eph. 2:11-22; 4:3). Under the supreme authority of Christ, the church has the mandate to encourage and instruct believers through the Word (Eph. 4:11-13; 2 Tim. 4:2), discipline the unruly (Mt. 18:15-17), exercise spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12:4-11), pray (Ac. 2:42), fellowship (Heb. 10:24-25), appoint qualified men for the office of elder and deacon (1 Tim. 3:1-13; Tit. 1:5-9) and advance the gospel (Mt. 28:18-20)-all under the corporate banner of worship in the name of Christ (Col. 3:17) for the glory of God (Eph. 3:21). The church is also responsible to keep the Lord’s ordinances of believer’s baptism by immersion (Ac. 2:38 ; 8:36 -39) and the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:20 ), wherein the elements commemorate Christ death and anticipate His return (1 Cor. 11:23 -32).
X. What We Believe about the Last Things:
Every human being is destined to die physically (Heb. 9:27 ). Upon death, believers will immediately be ushered into the presence of God where they will enjoy heavenly rest and joyful fellowship with Christ (2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23 ) for eternity (1 Jn. 5:11 –12). They will eagerly await final glorification when they receive their resurrected bodies (1 Cor. 15:42 –54; 1 Thes. 4:16 ). After the Great Tribulation (Mk. 13:19 ) Jesus will return to judge the world in a personal, visible and bodily form (Mt. 24:30–31; Ac. 1:11; 2 Pet. 3:7). Unbelievers’ souls will be kept under punishment until the second resurrection (Lk. 16:19 -26), when they too will be united with their bodies (Dan. 12:2). The lost will appear before the Great White Throne for judgment (Jn. 5:28 -29; Rev. 20:11), and then will be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:13–15). In a literal hell, the reprobate will be separated from the benevolence of God and subject to eternal, conscious suffering (Mt. 25:41, 46; 2 Thes. 1:9). God will then establish a new heavens and a new earth that will exist for all eternity in righteousness (Isa. 65:17-18; 66:22; 2 Pet. 3:13 ; Rev. 21:1-7) whereby He may be all in all (1 Cor. 15:28 ).
