9. Resurrection and Priesthood
16. The Security of the Saints
18. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
22. The Rapture and Subsequent Events
23. The Righteous and the Wicked
1. The Scriptures:
We believe that the Holy Bible as originally written was verbally and plenarily inspired and the product of Spirit-controlled men, and therefore is truth without any admixture of error for its entire matter. We believe the Bible to be the center of true Christian unity and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds and opinion shall be tried (II Timothy 3:16, 17; II Peter 1:19-21). We recognize that the King James Version is trustworthy, accurate and reliable, and require it to be used in the pulpit and the Sunday School classroom.
2. God the Father:
We believe there is one and only one living and true God, as infinite, sovereign Spirit, the Maker and Supreme Ruler of Heaven and earth; inexpressibly glorious in holiness and worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love: that in unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, equal in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption (Exodus 20:2,3: Duet. 6:4,5: I Cor. 8:6: Rev. 4:11).
3. God the Son:
We believe that God the Son was self-existent and pre-existent Jesus Christ, that he took upon Himself the form of man in that Jesus was begotten of the Holy Ghost in a miraculous manner, born of Mary, a virgin, as no other man was ever born or ever can be born of woman, and that He is born the Son of God and God the Son (Gen. 3:15; Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:18-25; John 1:1-3,14; 10:30; Col. 1:16,17; Titus 2:13; Heb. 1:8).
4. God the Holy Spirit:
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature; that he was active in creation; that in his relation to the unbelieving world He restrains the evil one until God’s purpose is fulfilled; that He convicts of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; that He bears witness of the truth of the gospel in preaching and testimony; that He is the agent in the new birth; that He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies and helps the believer. (The gifts of tongues and healing were “sign-gifts” until the Scriptures were completed. These gifts ceased at that time). (Gen. 1:1-3; Matt. 28:19; Mark 1:8; Luke 1:35; 24:49; John 1:33; 3:5,6; 14:16,17,26; 16:8-11; Acts 5:3,4, 30-32; 11:16; Rom. 8:14,16,26,27; 15:19; I Cor. 13:8; Eph. 1:13; Heb. 2:4; 9:14).
5. The Devil or Satan:
We believe in the personality of Satan, that he is the unholy god of this age, the ruler of all powers of darkness, and is destined to the judgment of an eternal justice in the Lake of Fire (Matt. 4:11; II Cor. 4:4; Rev. 20:10).
6. Creation:
We believe the Genesis account of Creations as being neither allegory nor myth, but a literal, historical account of the direct, immediate creative acts of God without any (organic or theistic) evolutionary process; that man, spirit, soul and body was created by a direct work of God and not from previously existing forms of life; and that all men are descended from the historical Adam and Eve, first parents of the entire human race. (Gen. 1,1; John 1:3; Col. 1:16,17).
7. The Fall of Man:
We believe that man was created in innocence under the law of his Maker; but by voluntary transgression Adam fell from his sinless and happy state, and all men sinned in him, in consequence of which all men are totally depraved, are partakers of Adam’s fallen nature and by conduct; and therefore are under just condemnation without defense or excuse (Gen 1:26, 27; 3:1-6; Rom. 1:18,32; 3:10-19; 5:12,19).
8. The Atonement:
We believe that salvation of sinners is divinely initiated and wholly of grace through the mediatorial office of the Son of God who, by the appointment of the Father, freely took upon Him our nature, yet without sin, honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and by His death made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins; that His atonement consisted not in setting us as example by His death as a martyr, but the voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner’s place the Just dying for the unjust, Christ the Lord, bearing sin in his own body on the tree (Isa. 53:4-7; Jonah 2:9; Matt. 18:11; John 3:16; Acts 15:11; Rom. 3:24,25; I Cor. 15:3; II Cor. 5:21; Eph. 2:8; Phil 2:7,8; I Tim. 2:4-6; Heb. 2:14; I John 4:10).
9. Resurrection and Priesthood:
We believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ, in His bodily ascension to Heaven, where he now sits at the right hand of the Father as our High Priest (Matt. 28:6,7; Luke 24:39; John 24:27; Acts 1:9-11; I Cor. 15:3,4; Heb. 2:17; 5:9,10; I John 2:1).
10. Grace in the New Creation:
We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be born again; that the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus; that it is instantaneous and not a process; that in the new birth, the one dead in trespasses and sins is made partaker of the divine nature and receives eternal life, the free gift of God; that the new creation is brought about by our sovereign God in a manner above our comprehension, solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection, solely with divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the gospel; that its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance, faith and newness of life (John 3:3, 6-8; Acts 16:30-33; Rom. 6:23; II Cor. 5:17, 19; Eph. 2:1,5; Col .2:13; II Peter 1:4; I John 5:1).
11. Justification:
We believe that justification is the judicial act of God whereby he declares us to be righteous through faith in Christ Jesus; that justification includes the pardon of sin and the imputation of God’s righteousness; that it is bestowed, not in consideration of any works of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in the Redeemer’s blood (Isa. 53:11; Zech. 13:1; Acts 13:39; Rom. 5:1,9; 8:1; II Cor. 5:18-21; Titus 3:5)
12. Repentance:
We believe that repentance is a change of mind and purpose toward God by the Holy Spirit; that it is characterized by godly sorrow for sin as offensive to God and ruinous to the soul; and that true repentance is inseparably related to true faith (Mark 1:5; Luke 13:1-3; 15:7; Acts 8:22; 17:30; 20:21; 26:18; Rom. 2:4; II Cor. 7:10).
13. Faith and Salvation:
We believe that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation (Acts 16:31; Eph. 2:8,9).
14. Sanctification:
We believe that sanctification is the divine setting apart of the believer unto God accomplished in the threefold manner: first an eternal act of God, based upon the redemption in Christ, establishing the believer in a position of holiness at the moment he trusts the Savior; second a continuing process in the saint as the Holy Spirit applies the Word of God to the life; third, the final accomplishment of this process at the Lord’s return (John 17:17; I Cor. 1:30; II Cor. 3:18; Eph. 5:26,27; I Thess. 4:3,4; 5:23; Heb. 10:10-14; I John 3:2; Jude 24, 25; Rev. 22:11).
15. Adoption:
We believe that adoption is the gracious act whereby the Father, for the sake of Christ, places new believers into the honored position of mature sons in contrast with regeneration whereby the believer receives the nature of God and becomes a child of God. The full benefit of the position accorded by adoption as the sons of God awaits the glorification of the believer at the coming of the Lord (rom. 8:15, 23; II Cor. 1:22; Gal. 4:1-7; Eph. 1:5,13,14; I John 3:1,2).
16. The Security of the Saints:
We believe that all who are truly born again are kept eternally by God the Father for Jesus Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the day fo redemption (John 10:28,29; Rom. 8:35-39; I Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:14; 4:30; Phil. 1:6; I John 5:13).
17. The Church:
We believe in the unity of all true believers in the Church, which is the Body of Christ, which was established on the Day of Pentecost, and that all believers from Pentecost to the Rapture, both Jews and Gentiles, are added to the Church by baptism of the Holy Spirit at salvation.
We believe that this Church is manifested through the local church, which is a congregation of immersed believers associated by covenant of faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws; exercising the gifts (see #4 above) rights and privileges invested in the local church by His work; and that its officers are pastors and deacons, whose qualifications, claims and duties are clearly defined in the Scripture.
We believe the true mission of the church is the faithful witnessing of Christ to all men as we have opportunity. We hold that the local church has the absolute right of self-government free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations; that the one and only superintendent is Christ through the Holy Spirit; and that on all matters of membership, of government, of discipline, of benevolence, the will of the local church is final (Matt. 16:18; Acts 2:41,42; 15:13-18; 20:17-28; II Cor. 11:2, 12:12,13; Eph. 1:22,23; 4:11; 5:23,24; Col. 1:18; I Tim. 3:1-7).
18. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper:
We believe that the Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water, under the authority of the local church, to show forth in solemn and beautiful emblem our faith in the crucified , buried and risen Savior, through whom we died to sin, and rose to a new life; that baptism is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership.
We believe that the Lord’s Supper is always by solemn self-examination. We believe that the Biblical order of the ordinances is baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and that participants should be immersed believers (Matt. 3:16; 28:19,20; John 3:23; Acts 2:41,42; 8:36,38,39; Rom. 6:3-5; I Cor. 11:23-28; Col. 2:12).
19. Separation:
We believe that it is not a prerogative of Christians, but an explicit command to all believers to separate from all forms of godlessness, apostasy, compromise, and worldliness. Included among the philosophies to be separated from are Liberalism (Modernism), Neo-Orthodoxy, Ecumenism, New Evangelicalism, Ecumenical Evangelism, and the modern-day Charismatic movement. In addition, the policy of Neutralism is just as Scriptually untenable (II Chron. 19:2; Amos 3:3; Rom. 16:17; II Cor. 6:14; II Thess. 3:16; II John 7-11).
20. Civil Government:
This church seeks to honor those who are in authority and recognize government as being ordained of God. However, we firmly believe that the church and government can best work to achieve their purpose if each is separate form the other and, therefore, we favor a complete separation of church and state as set forth in the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. References based on Matthew 22:21.
21. Israel:
We believe in the sovereign selection of Israel as God’s eternal covenant people, that she is now set aside because of her disobedience and rejection of Christ, and that she will be saved as a nation at the second advent of Christ (Gen. 13:14-17; Ezek. 37; Zech. 14:1-21; Rom. 11:1-32).
22. The Rapture and Subsequent Events:
We believe in the imminent, pre-tribulational, pre-millenial, return of Christ for His Church, and that at that moment the dead in Christ shall be raised in glorified bodies, and the living in Christ shall be changed and caught up to meet the Lord in the air before the tribulation (I Cor. 15:15, 42-44, 51-54; Phil. 3:20,21; I Thess.4:13-18; Rev. 3:10).
We believe that the Tribulation, which follows the Rapture of the Church, will be culminated by the Revelation of Christ in power and great glory to sit upon the throne of David and to establish the Millennial reign (Isa. 9:6,7; 11:1-9; Dan. 20:25-27; Matt. 24:29-31; Luke 1:30-33; Acts 2:29,30; Rev. 20:1-4,6).
23. The Righteous and the Wicked
We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that only those who are justified by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and sanctified by the Spirit of our God are truly righteous in His esteem; while all who continue in unbelief are in His sight wicked and under the curse; and this distinction holds among men both in and after death, in the everlasting contentment of the saved and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost in the Lake of Fire (Gen. 18:23; Prov. 14:32; Mal. 3:18; Matt. 25:34-41; Luke 16:25; John 8:21; Rom. 6:17,18; 6:23; 7:6; I John 5:19; Rev. 20:14,15)