Our Statement of Faith

The Holy Scripture

We believe the Bible to be the absolute, eternal, spoken and inspired word of God. We believe that the Bible in the original writings are the complete inerrant, truthful and authoritative written revelation of God to man, and that the Bible is the Supreme and final authority in all areas of faith and life. (Matthew 5: 18; II Timothy 3: 16-17; II Peter 1: 21; John 17: 17)

The Trinity of the Godhead

We believe in one God, who eternally exist in 3 persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Matthew 3: 16-17; Matthew 28: 19; II Corinthians 13: 14)

The Lord Jesus Christ

We believe that from the beginning Jesus Christ is the eternal and the only begotten son of God, that he was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, being both man and God. We believe that he lived a sinless life and died sacrificial death to pay the complete eternal penalty for the sins of all mankind. We believe that Jesus was bodily resurrected, that he ascended into Heaven. As the son of God, Jesus is the believer’s advocate with the Father, and that he will personally and imminently return. (John1: 1-2; John 1: 14; John 3: 16; Luke 1: 34-35; I Peter 3: 18; Acts 1: 9-11: I John 2: 1-2; I Corinthians 15: 3-4)

The Creation and Fall of Man

We believe that man was created in the image of God, that he sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death, which is separation from God. We believe that all human beings are born with a sinful nature and are totally depraved, and that, by himself, man is totally unable to remedy his lost condition. (Genesis 1: 27; Genesis 2: 7; Jeremiah 17: 9; Romans 3: 10; Romans 5: 12; Romans 6: 23)  

The Provision of Salvation 

We believe that salvation is only received by grace through faith (trust) in the substitutionary death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in payment for the sins of all mankind. We believe salvation is a gift of God. We believe Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and man, that salvation delivers a person from the penalty and power of sin (although it does not eradicate the old sin nature), and that once saved, a person is eternally secure. (John 14: 6; Romans 6: 23; Ephesians 2: 8-9; Galatians 3: 11; I John 5: 13; I Timothy 2: 5; Philippians 1: 6)

The Christian Life

We believe that a Christian should practice righteous living and good works as evidence and fruit of salvation, not as a means of obtaining or keeping salvation. Positional sanctification occurs at the moment of salvation and that practical sanctification is progressive throughout the earthly life of the believer. Confession of sin, yielding to the Spirit of God, and obedience to the Word of God are necessary to maintain fellowship with God. We are not to be conformed to the world around us, but transformed by the will of God. We believe that God corrects disobedient Christians. (Ephesians 2: 10; I Peter 1: 15-16; Philippians 1: 6; I John 1: 9; Romans 12: 1-2; Galatians 5: 16; Hebrews 12: 5-11) 

The Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity of God. We believe that He convicts unbelievers, that He regenerates, baptizes, seals, and indwells all believers at the moment of salvation. We believe that He fills believers as they yield to His control, and that He equips believers for service by giving them at least one spiritual gift. (John 3: 3-8; John 16: 7-11; I Corinthians 3: 16; I Corinthians 3: 12-13; I Corinthians 12: 7-11; Romans 8: 9; Ephesians 4: 30)

Spiritual Gifts

We Believe that certain spiritual gifts were foundational to establish the church (apostles and prophets), and other gifts were sign gifts to authenticate the message of the gospel (languages “tongues”, the interpretation of languages, healings, and miracles), and that these foundational and sign gifts were temporary and are no longer in use as signs in the church today. (Acts 2: 1-4; I Corinthians 13: 8; I Corinthians 14: 12)

The Church

We believe that the Church began on the day of Pentecost with the descent of the Holy Spirit, that the Church is the body and bride of the Lord Jesus Christ of which Jesus is the Head. We believe that the universal Church is made up of every born-again person on earth and that the local Church is a visible manifestation of the universal Church. We believe the purpose of the Church is evangelization (go and tell) and edification (train and instruct) and that the practice of the Church is bible study, fellowship, observing the ordinances, prayer, giving, and service. We believe that Church attendance and Church membership are important to every believer. (Acts 2: 1-6; Acts 2: 41-47; Ephesians 1; 22-23; Ephesians 4; 11-16: I Corinthians 12: 12-13; Matthew 28: 18-12; Hebrews 10: 24-25)

The Ordinances

We recognize two ordinances, which are commanded by our Lord to be observed by believers. The first is water baptism and the second is the Lord’s Supper. Water baptism is to be by immersion, and is to be practiced only by believers. Baptism is a step of obedience to the Lord and an outward sign of one’s inner trust in Jesus Christ as Savior. It only needs to be practiced once in each believer’s life. The Lord’s Supper is a memorial service remembering the broken body and shed blood of our Lord in payment for our sins until Jesus comes again, and that it is to be observed repeatedly and only by believers. ( Baptism – Matthew 28: 19; Acts 8: 31-38; The Lord’s Supper – Matthew 26: 26-29; I Corinthians 11: 23-33)

Feet washing. We recognize feet washing as a practice, which the Church may participate in, but we do not recognize it as an ordinance, that feet washing is to remind believers of the humility of Christ and His love to His followers, and the believers are to manifest the same type of love and humility to one another. (John 13: 1-17)

The Second Coming of Christ

We believe in the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, that the Lord will come in the air at the rapture to take all living believers and the bodies of all dead church age believers back to Heaven with Him, and will transform believers to conform to His glorious body. We believe that the rapture is imminent, and that the rapture will take place before the seven-year tribulation. At the end of the tribulation the Lord Jesus will return to the earth bodily in power and great glory with His saints to rule and reign in a one-thousand-year earthly kingdom, and that this part of His coming is known as the revelation of Jesus Christ (I Thessalonians 4: 13-18; Philippians 3: 20-21; Matthew 24: 29-30; Revelation 19: 11-20)

Dispensationalism

We Believe in the basic dispensational view of the Bible which includes a recognition of at least three major dispensations (Mosaic Law, Grace/Church, and Kingdom) and implies others. We believe the Bible should be interpreted in a normal literal way, that a distinction should be recognized between the Church and Israel, the future prophecy will be literally fulfilled as has the past prophecy, and that God will fulfill His promises to His covenanted people Israel which includes Israel’s future judgment, redemption, and regathering to the land of Palestine where she shall become the head of the nations and be personally ruled by the Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 1: 10; Ephesians 3: 1-11; Colossians 1: 24-27; John 1: 16-17; Romans 10: 4; Romans 11: 25-29; Matthew 24: 15; Luke 4: 16-21)

The Eternal State

We believe in the bodily resurrection of the Church saints at the rapture and of the rest of the saints at the revelation of Christ. We believe that the unsaved will be resurrected at the great white throne judgment. We believe that the saved are at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord where they, in conscious bliss, await the first resurrection when their spirit, soul, and body will be glorified and forever abide with the Lord. The unsaved at death, remain in conscious misery until the great throne judgment at which time they shall be cast into the lake of fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer eternal conscious punishment. We believe that Heaven and Hell are literal places. (I Thessalonians 4: 13-18; Revelation 20: 4-15; Daniel 12: 1-3; John 5: 25-29; Revelation 7: 9-17; Luke 16: 19-31) 

The Personality of Satan

We believe that Satan is a personal being, a fallen angel, and the author of sin, that he is the enemy of God and man, and that he will be eternally punished in the lake of fire. (Matthew 4: 1-11; I Peter 5: 8; Revelation 20: 10)

Moral Purity

We believe that God has designed and evidenced the Scriptural standards regarding moral sexual behavior; and He warns us that there will be dire consequences for violating the standards. We believe that the physical union is to be only between one man and one woman who have been united in the covenant of marriage. For a person to be involved or engaged in the practice of fornication (I Corinthians 5: 9-13; I Thessalonians 4: 3), adultery (Exodus 20: 14; Matthew 5: 32; Matthew 19: 9), homosexuality (Leviticus 18: 22; Romans 1: 27) lesbianism (Romans 1: 26-27), incest (Leviticus 18: 6-18), and bestiality (Leviticus 18: 23) is a violation of the moral standard of God and is forbidden to those who claim the Name of Christ