The Scriptures
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Bible, as it is in truth, the Word of God (I Thessalonians 2:13). We believe it to be the plenarily inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God as originally given by God. We further believe that these Scriptures have been preserved for us in the Bible and that they are completely reliable (trustworthy) and sufficient for all matters of faith and practice, both in preparing us for this life and the life to come. (II Timothy 3:16, Psalms 12:6-8). They are the church's supreme authority.
The Godhead
We believe that there is only one true and living God (the Creator of all things) Who is infinite, perfect, and eternal. We further believe that the Bible teaches that this God is a triune being Who subsists in three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each of these persons is presented in the Bible as being coequal, coeternal, and consubstantial. Each possesses perfect and exhaustive knowledge of the past, present, and future. Each is involved in the preservation and regulation of all that transpires in our world. At the very least nothing in the world happens without divine permission. God is the author of good but not of evil. Where evil exists, it is limited and governed by God in such a way that it will ultimately be brought to a fitting end with His overall plan and purpose. (Deuteronomy 6:4; II Corinthians 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 so that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men (John 1:1-2, 14; Luke 1:35; Isaiah 9:6; 7:14; Philippians 2:5-8; Galatians 4:4-5). 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 (Romans 3:24-25; I Peter 2:24; Ephesians 1:7; I Peter 1:3-5). 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 (Acts 1:9-10; Hebrews 9:24, 7:25; Romans 8:34; I John 2:1-2). We are to anticipate that He will return personally and visibly to this earth at the end of the age to fully establish the Kingdom.
The Person and Work of 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, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption (John 16:8-11; II Corinthians 3:6; I Corinthians 12:12-14; Romans 8:9; Ephesians 1:13-14). We believe that His ministry to the believer while on this earth is to indwell, guide, instruct, and empower him for godly living and service. We believe that the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues and the gift of healing, were temporary. We believe that speaking in tongues was never the common or necessary sign of the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit and that ultimate deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection, though God frequently chooses to answer the prayer of believers for physical healing (II Corinthians 12:12; I Corinthians 13:8; Hebrews 2:3-4; Mark 16:17-20; I Corinthians 1:22, 14:21-22).
Man
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam's sin, the race fell, inherited a depraved sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition (Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 3:22-23; Ephesians 2:1-3, 12). The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His 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. (Psalm 8:4-9; Colossians 3:9-11).
Salvation
We believe in salvation by grace apart from any human merit. Salvation is bestowed by a gracious God upon unworthy man conditioned solely upon his faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work on Calvary (Ephesians 2:8-10; John 3:16). We believe that the shed blood of Jesus Christ is sufficient for the salvation of all mankind, but that it is efficient only for those who believe. Christ's penal death provides the only grounds for justification for the sinner, thus for man's salvation. It is only those who believe in Jesus Christ (His death, burial, and resurrection) who are born again of the Holy Spirit and have become children of God.
Security of the Believer
We believe that the Word of God teaches the security of the believer, that God will keep securely in His hand (John 10:25-30) those who are trusting in Jesus, but offers absolutely no hope for that person who is not trusting in Christ (1 Peter 1:5). The link that unites God and man is faith (John 3:16). The security of the believer is based upon a continuous faith in Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:21-23; John 3:16; Hebrews 3:12-13). Simply stated, we believe that God has given to the believer Scriptural grounds for knowing positively that he is saved; that God has promised and provided to keep His children even in times of failure when they fall out of fellowship with Him; and that God has assured His followers that as believers they are secure in Christ and shall never perish. This assurance is based upon the promise of God and the continual (persevering) faith of the believer. (John 3:16, 1 Peter 1:5).
The Church
We believe that the Church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again persons of this present age which began with Christ and the Apostles, was empowered at Pentecost, and will be caught up to be with Christ at the Rapture (Ephesians 1:22-23, 5:25-27; I Corinthians 12:12-14; II Corinthians 11:2). We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches are taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:27; 20:17, 28-32; I Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11). We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority or control (Acts 13:1-4, 15:19-31, 20:28; Romans 16:1, 4; I Corinthians 3:9, 16, 5:4-7, 13; I Peter 5:1-4).
Ordinances of the Church
We believe that God has given His Church the ordinance of Baptism, which is to be administered only to believers, by immersion and in the name of Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and the Lord's Supper, which is to be open to all born again believers present; and the washing of the Saint's feet” Matthew 28:19,20; Romans 6:3,4; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13: 1-17.
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 (II Timothy 3:1-5; Romans 12:1, 2, 14:13; I John 2:15-17; II John 9-11; II Corinthians 6:14-7:1).
Creation
We believe in the literal historicity of the Genesis account of God's creating this earth and man in seven literal twenty-four hour days, of man's early home in the Garden paradise, of his fall by eating the forbidden fruit, of his spiritual death and depraved nature resulting from this rebellion, and of his expulsion from the Garden. We reject evolution as being merely an alternate theory of origins. It dictates one's total worldview including his foundation for truth and morals. Evolution is the creation of the depraved mind of a fallen man in his vain attempt to avoid God. If God did not create then He has no right to control. Evolution turns this universe into a giant machine operated by the laws of nature, ruling God out and denying the supernatural origin of the Bible and all biblical miracles. Evolution ultimately deifies man and makes God irrelevant and unnecessary. Evolution and biblical Christianity are incompatible.
The Return of Christ
We believe the "Blessed Hope" of our Lord's return is literal, personal, visible, imminent, premillennial, and pretribulational. He will rapture His Church before 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. (I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; I Thessalonians 1:10; Revelation 3:10; Zechariah 14:4-11; Revelation 19:11-16, 20:1-6; Psalm 89:3-4)
Our Eternal State
We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46; John 5:28, 29, 11:25-26; Revelation 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 in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord (Luke 23:43; Revelation 20:4-6; II Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23, 3:21; I Thessalonians 4:16-17). 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 (Luke 16:19-26; Matthew 25:41-46; II Thessalonians 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Mark 9:43-48; Revelation 20:11-15).