Our Beliefs
We strive to base our thoughts, our beliefs, and our practices upon the unchanging, infallible, inerrant Word of God. Below you will find statements that represent our teaching. Obviously, they are not exhaustive.
The Holy Scriptures
God verbally breathed His Word upon His chosen writers. (2 Peter 1:20-21)
All Scripture is inerrant and infallible, therefore the final authority for our life. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are the complete and divine revelation of God to man.
The Scriptures are to be interpreted according to their normal, grammatical-historical meaning.
The Godhead
There is one triune God, eternally existing in three persons— Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each co-eternal in being,
co-identical in nature, coequal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections.
(Genesis 1:1; John 10:30; 4:24; Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; John 14:10, 26)
God the Father is an infinite, personal Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power, and love. He concerns Himself
mercifully in the affairs of humanity, hears and answers prayer, and He saves from sin all who come to Him through
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. (Matt. 6:9-13; 7:7-11; 5:48; Rom. 1:20; 8:15; John 3:16; 4:24; Gal. 4:6; Isaiah 6:3; I John 4:8-9)
God’s knowledge is limitless, independent of human decisions and actions, and He knows the past, present and future.
(Mark 14:12-16; Romans 16:27; James 1:5, 17)
We further believe that the Father does everything in accordance with His perfect will.
Through His sovereignty, He neither eliminates nor minimizes our personal responsibility.
(Genesis 1:1; Deuteronomy 32:4; Romans 8:28-29; 9:17-18; Galatians 1:6)
The Person and Work of Christ
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 man.
(Isaiah 7:14; 9:6; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-2, 14; Philippians 2:5-8; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; Galatians 4:4-5)
Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross, and our justification is made sure by His
literal, physical resurrection from the dead. (Acts 2:18-36; Romans 3:24-25; 1 Peter 1:3-5; 2:24; Ephesians 1:7)
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; 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.
He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing
them unto the day of redemption. By His indwelling Christians are enabled to live a godly life.
(John 16:8-11; Rom. 8:9; I Corinthians 12:12-14; I Corinthians 3:16; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Ephesians 1:13-14)
We believe that He is the divine Teacher who assists believers to understand and appropriate the Scriptures.
It is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit.
(Ephesians 1:17-18; 5:18; 1 John 2:20, 27)
We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowal of spiritual gifts to every believer.
God uniquely uses pastors to equip believers in the assembly in order that they can do the work of the ministry.
(Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Cor. 12:4-11, 28; Ephesians 4:7-12)
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, 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 prayers of believers for physical healing.
(I Corinthians 1:22; 13:8; 14:21-22)
Salvation
We believe salvation is the gift of God brought to man by 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 men are justified on the single ground of faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
(John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-10; I Peter 1:18-19; Matthew 12:31-32; I John 1:9; Acts 13:38-39)
The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers
We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever.
(John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Romans 8:1; 38-39; 1 Corinthians 1:4-8; 1 Peter 1:4-5)
We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of
God’s Word, which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh.
(Romans 13:13-14; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11-15)
The Church
We believe that a New Testament Church is solely made up of born-again persons; and is an organized body of
baptized believers practicing Scriptural ordinances and actively engaged in fulfilling the Great Commission.
(1 Corinthians 12:12-14; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 1:22-23; 5:25-27; Acts 2:41,42,47)
We believe the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament.
(Acts 14:27; 20:17, 28-32; 1 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; 1 Corinthians 3:9, 16; 5:4-7, 13; 1 Peter 5:1-4)
Water baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the Scriptural ordinances of obedience for the church in this age.
(Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; 8:38-39; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
We recognize that there are two offices in the local church – The office of the Pastor and the office of the Deacon.
The Second Advent of Christ
We believe in 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 promised to the nation of Israel.
(Daniel 2:31-45; Zechariah 14:4-11; I Thessalonians 1:10; 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; Revelation 3:10; 19:11-16; 20:1-6)
The 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 they
await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord.
(Luke 23:43; II Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; 3:21; I Thessalonians 4:16-17; Revelation 20:4-6)
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 torment and punishment.
(Matthew 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; Jude 6-7; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Revelation 20:11-15)
The Personality of Satan
We believe that Satan is a person, 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.
(Job 1:6-7; Isaiah 14:12-17; Matthew 4:2-11; 25:46; Revelation 20:10)
Creation
We believe that God created 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.
Civil Government
We believe 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 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 biblical assigned spheres of responsibility under God.
(Romans 13:1-7; Ephesians 5:22-24; Hebrews 13:17; I Peter 2:13-14)
The Holy Scriptures
God verbally breathed His Word upon His chosen writers. (2 Peter 1:20-21)
All Scripture is inerrant and infallible, therefore the final authority for our life. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are the complete and divine revelation of God to man.
The Scriptures are to be interpreted according to their normal, grammatical-historical meaning.
The Godhead
There is one triune God, eternally existing in three persons— Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each co-eternal in being,
co-identical in nature, coequal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections.
(Genesis 1:1; John 10:30; 4:24; Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; John 14:10, 26)
God the Father is an infinite, personal Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power, and love. He concerns Himself
mercifully in the affairs of humanity, hears and answers prayer, and He saves from sin all who come to Him through
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. (Matt. 6:9-13; 7:7-11; 5:48; Rom. 1:20; 8:15; John 3:16; 4:24; Gal. 4:6; Isaiah 6:3; I John 4:8-9)
God’s knowledge is limitless, independent of human decisions and actions, and He knows the past, present and future.
(Mark 14:12-16; Romans 16:27; James 1:5, 17)
We further believe that the Father does everything in accordance with His perfect will.
Through His sovereignty, He neither eliminates nor minimizes our personal responsibility.
(Genesis 1:1; Deuteronomy 32:4; Romans 8:28-29; 9:17-18; Galatians 1:6)
The Person and Work of Christ
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 man.
(Isaiah 7:14; 9:6; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-2, 14; Philippians 2:5-8; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; Galatians 4:4-5)
Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross, and our justification is made sure by His
literal, physical resurrection from the dead. (Acts 2:18-36; Romans 3:24-25; 1 Peter 1:3-5; 2:24; Ephesians 1:7)
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; 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.
He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing
them unto the day of redemption. By His indwelling Christians are enabled to live a godly life.
(John 16:8-11; Rom. 8:9; I Corinthians 12:12-14; I Corinthians 3:16; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Ephesians 1:13-14)
We believe that He is the divine Teacher who assists believers to understand and appropriate the Scriptures.
It is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit.
(Ephesians 1:17-18; 5:18; 1 John 2:20, 27)
We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowal of spiritual gifts to every believer.
God uniquely uses pastors to equip believers in the assembly in order that they can do the work of the ministry.
(Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Cor. 12:4-11, 28; Ephesians 4:7-12)
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, 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 prayers of believers for physical healing.
(I Corinthians 1:22; 13:8; 14:21-22)
Salvation
We believe salvation is the gift of God brought to man by 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 men are justified on the single ground of faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
(John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-10; I Peter 1:18-19; Matthew 12:31-32; I John 1:9; Acts 13:38-39)
The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers
We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever.
(John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Romans 8:1; 38-39; 1 Corinthians 1:4-8; 1 Peter 1:4-5)
We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of
God’s Word, which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh.
(Romans 13:13-14; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11-15)
The Church
We believe that a New Testament Church is solely made up of born-again persons; and is an organized body of
baptized believers practicing Scriptural ordinances and actively engaged in fulfilling the Great Commission.
(1 Corinthians 12:12-14; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 1:22-23; 5:25-27; Acts 2:41,42,47)
We believe the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament.
(Acts 14:27; 20:17, 28-32; 1 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; 1 Corinthians 3:9, 16; 5:4-7, 13; 1 Peter 5:1-4)
Water baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the Scriptural ordinances of obedience for the church in this age.
(Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; 8:38-39; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
We recognize that there are two offices in the local church – The office of the Pastor and the office of the Deacon.
The Second Advent of Christ
We believe in 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 promised to the nation of Israel.
(Daniel 2:31-45; Zechariah 14:4-11; I Thessalonians 1:10; 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; Revelation 3:10; 19:11-16; 20:1-6)
The 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 they
await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord.
(Luke 23:43; II Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; 3:21; I Thessalonians 4:16-17; Revelation 20:4-6)
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 torment and punishment.
(Matthew 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; Jude 6-7; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Revelation 20:11-15)
The Personality of Satan
We believe that Satan is a person, 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.
(Job 1:6-7; Isaiah 14:12-17; Matthew 4:2-11; 25:46; Revelation 20:10)
Creation
We believe that God created 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.
Civil Government
We believe 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 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 biblical assigned spheres of responsibility under God.
(Romans 13:1-7; Ephesians 5:22-24; Hebrews 13:17; I Peter 2:13-14)