STATEMENT OF FAITH
The Holy Scriptures. We believe the Old and New Testament Scriptures are the verbally
and plenarily inspired Word of God. The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible and Godbreathed
and are, therefore, the final authority for faith and life. The sixty-six books of the
Old and New Testaments are the complete and divine revelation of God to Man. The
Scriptures shall be interpreted according to their normal grammatical-historical meaning,
and all issues of interpretation and meaning shall be determined by the pastor and the Board
of Elders. (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21)
Dispensationalism. We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense
reveal divinely determined dispensations or rules of life that define man's responsibilities
in successive ages. These dispensations are not ways of salvation, but rather are divinely
ordered stewardships by which God directs man according to His purpose. (Gen. 1:28; 1
Cor. 9:17; 2 Cor. 3:9-18; Gal. 3:13-25; Eph. 1:10; 3:2-10; Col. 1:24-25, 27; Rev. 20:2-6)
The Trinity. We believe in one triune God, eternally existing in three persons—Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit-each co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power
and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections. (Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor.
13:14)
The Person and Work 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. (Isa. 7:14; 9:6;
John 1:1-2, 14)
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His
death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice, and that
our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead.
(Rom. 4:24-25; Eph. 1:7; 1 Peter 1:3-5; 2:24)
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. (Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25; 9:24; 1 John
2:1-2)
The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit.
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of
righteousness, and of judgment; and, that He is the Supernatural Agent in
regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing
them unto the day of redemption. (John 16:8-11; 1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 1:13-14)
We believe that He is the divine Teacher who assists believers to understand and
appropriate the Scriptures and that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be
filled with the Spirit. (I Cor. 2:10-14; Eph. 5:18)
We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowal of spiritual gifts to every believer.
God uniquely uses evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip believers in the
church to do the work of the ministry. (1 Cor. 12:4-11)
We believe that the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues and
the gift of healing, were temporary. Speaking in tongues was never the common
or necessary sign of the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit. Tongues were a sign
to the early church and the non-believers. It was not inaudible sounds but known
languages. We do not support the modern day tongues movement. Ultimate
deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our
salvation in the resurrection, although God frequently chooses to answer the prayers
of believers for physical healing. (Mark 16:17-20; Hebrews 2:1-4))
The Total Depravity of Man. We believe that man was created in the image and likeness
of God; but that in Adam's sin the human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became
alienated from God. Man is totally depraved and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his
lost condition. (Eccl. 7:20; Isa, 64:6; Rom. 3:23; Eph. 2:1-3)
Salvation. We believe that salvation is the gift of God offered to all mankind by His grace
and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Whose precious blood was shed on
Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins. We believe that all sins, except blasphemy of the
Holy Spirit, are forgivable. (John 1:12-13; 3:16-18; 6:47; Eph. 1:7; 2:8-9; 1 Pet. 1:18-19)
The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers.
We believe that once a person is saved, he is kept by God's power and remains
secure in Christ forever. (John 5:4; John 6:37-40; 10:28-30; Rom. 8:38-39; 1 Pet.
1:3-5)
We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the complete assurance
of their salvation through the testimony of God's Word. (I John 5:10-13; Rom.
13:13-14; Gal. 5:13; Titus 2:11-15)
The Church
We believe that the local church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ,
is solely made up of born-again believers. (1 Cor. 12:12-14; Eph. 1:22-23; 5:25-
27)
We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly
taught and defined in the New Testament. (Matt. 16:15-18; Acts 15:41; 20:17,
28; Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11)
We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority or
controls, and any affiliations, societies, organizations, associations, or agencies this
church affiliates with to further the objectives stated in the Purpose Statement are
not authoritative in matters of church practice or belief. (Acts 15: 1-31; 20:20; 1
Cor. 3:9, 5:1-13; 16; 5:4-7, 13; 1 Pet. 5:1-4)
We believe there are two Christian ordinances, water baptism by immersion and
the Lord's Supper. Baptism signifies that the believer has died with Christ, has been
buried with Him, and has risen to walk in newness of life with Him. The Lord's
Supper is a memorial feast at which believers worship the Lord and remember and
proclaim His death until He returns. (Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 2:41; 8:36-38; 1 Cor.
11:17-34)
Separation. We believe that believers should maintain a godly testimony and live in such
a way that that their lives do not bring reproach upon their Savior. God commands His
people to separate from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices,
and associations, and to refrain from all immodest and immoderate appearances. We stand
against any and all worldly philosophies that seek to destroy or undermine the truth of
Biblical Christianity. (Rom. 12:1-2; 1 Cor. 5:58, 6:19-20; 2 Cor. 6:14, 7:1 1 John 2:15-17)
The Second Coming of Christ – Rapture & 1000 Year Millennium. We believe in that
blessed hope, the personal, imminent return of Christ, Who will rapture His church prior
to the seven-year tribulation period. At the end of the Tribulation, Christ will personally
and visibly return with His saints, to establish His earthly Messianic Kingdom, for a period
of 1,000 years, which was promised to the nation of Israel. (Dan. 2:31-45; Zech. 14:1-11;
1 Thess. 1:10; 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; Rev. 19:11-16; 20:1-6)
The Eternal State.
We believe in the bodily resurrection of all mankind, the saved to eternal life, and
the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment. (Matt. 25:46; John 11:25-26;
Rev. 20:5-6, 12-13)
We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and
present with the Lord, where they await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul, and
body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord. (2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23;
3:21; 1 Thess. 4:16-17)
We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious
punishment and torment 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 and torment. (Luke 16:19-26; 2 Thess. 1:7-9; Rev. 20:11-15)
The Personality of Satan. We believe that Satan is a fallen angel, the author of sin and
the cause of the Fall of Man; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and
that he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire. (Isa. 14:12-15; I Peter 5:8-9; Rev.
20:10)
Creation. We believe that the Genesis account of creation is neither allegory nor myth,
but a literal, historical account of God's creation of the universe in six literal, 24-hour
periods. We reject evolution, the Gap Theory, the Day-Age Theory, and Theistic Evolution
as unscriptural theories of origin. (Gen. 1-2; Job 38 – 41; Col. 1:15-17)
Civil Government. We believe that God has ordained and created all authority consisting
of three basic institutions: 1) the home, 2) the church, and 3) the state. Every person is
subject to these authorities, but all (including the authorities themselves) are answerable to
God and governed by His Word. God has given each institution specific Biblical
responsibilities and balanced those responsibilities with the understanding that no
institution has the right to infringe upon the other. The home, the church, and the state are
equal and sovereign in their respective Biblically assigned spheres of responsibility under
God. We believe that we must obey the state unless it requires us to act contrary to our
faith at which time we must obey God rather than the state. (Deut, 6:5-9; Mark 12:17; Acts
4:18-10, 5:28-29, 40-42; Rom. 13:1-7)
AUTHORITY OF STATEMENT OF FAITH
The Statement of Faith does not exhaust the extent of our faith. The Bible itself is the sole and
final source of all that we believe. We do believe, however, that the foregoing Statement of Faith
accurately represents the teachings of the Bible and, therefore, is binding upon all members. All
literature, whether print or electronic, used in the church shall be in complete agreement with the
Statement of Faith.