What We Believe

THE BIBLE

We believe the Bible to be the complete Word of God (Rom. 16:25, 26); that the sixty-six books, as originally written, comprising the Old and New Testaments were verbally inspired by the Spirit of God (2 Pet. 1:20, 21) and are free from error (Psa. 119:160); that the Bible is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice and the true basis of Christian union (2 Tim. 3:15-17);  It is Living, Powerful, and Eternal (Heb. 4:12;  1 Pet. 1:23-25).  The Scriptures shall be interpreted according to their normal historical-grammatical meaning. (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21)

THE GODHEAD

We believe in one triune God, eternally existing in three persons­—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—each co-eternal in being, and having the same attributes and perfections.  (Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; John 14:10, 26)

GOD, THE FATHER

We believe in one God (Deut. 6:4; Eph. 4:4-6; 1 Cor. 8:6) the Creator of all (Psa. 19:1; Rom. 1:20), Holy (1 Pet. 1:15-16), Sovereign (Psa. 135:6), Self Existent and Eternal (Exo. 3:13, 14; Psa. 90:2). God the Father reigns with providential care over His universe (Heb. 1:3); He is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient (Psalm 119), and unchanging (Heb. 1:10-12). 

GOD, THE SON

We believe in the absolute deity of Jesus Christ (John 1:1; 10:30; Titus 2:13; Heb. 1:8), in His Eternal Existence with the Father in pre-incarnate glory (John 17:5), in His virgin conception and birth (Matt. 1:21-25), sinless life (Heb. 4:15), substitutionary death (John 19:30; 1 Pet. 2:24), bodily Resurrection (John 20:1-9; 1 Cor. 15:3, 4), triumphant bodily Ascension (Luke 24:51;  Acts 1:9), mediatorial ministry (1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 7:25), and personal return (Matt. 24:29-31; John 14:3).

GOD, THE HOLY SPIRIT

We believe in the absolute deity (Matt. 28:19) and personhood (Rom. 8:26, 27) of the Holy Spirit who, convicts of sin, of righteousness and judgment (John 16:8-11); who regenerates (John 3:6), sanctifies (2 Thess. 2:13), illuminates (Rom. 8:14), and comforts (Rom. 8:16) those who believe in Jesus Christ.

MAN

We believe that man & woman were divinely created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26, 27); that they sinned (Gen. 3:1-6), becoming guilty before God, resulting in total depravity (Rom. 3:19), thereby incurring physical (Rom. 5:12) and spiritual death (Eph. 2:1-5), and bringing this curse upon all mankind (Gen. 3:16-19; Rom. 5:12); thus requiring the substitutionary death of the sinless One, Christ Jesus, for restoration with God (Heb. 10:10). All people, in order to be saved, must believe in the Gospel, which is comprised of an admission of their sin and of belief in Christ’s atoning death (Matt. 27:32-56), burial (Matt. 27: 57-66), and resurrection (Matt. 28: 1-10). They must “confess with their mouths the Lord Jesus and believe in their hearts that God has raised Him from the dead”(Rom. 10: 9, 10). Thus, mankind’s salvation is through faith alone, not by any works, “lest anyone should boast” (Eph. 2: 8, 9).

SALVATION

We believe that salvation is by the sovereign (John 14:6) grace of God (Rom. 9:15); that by the appointment of the Father, Christ voluntarily suffered a vicarious and propitiatory death (Mark 10:45; Rom. 3:25; 1 John 4:10); that justification is by faith alone in the sufficient, atoning death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 4:23-25; 5:1,2) and that those who’ve placed their faith in Christ are guaranteed a place in Heaven with Christ (Rom. 8:28-39; Eph. 1:12-14).

THE LOCAL CHURCH

We believe that all true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are baptized by faith into one Universal Church (1 Cor. 12:12-13); yet this eternal body is expressed through the formation of smaller bodies known as “Local Churches” (Acts, Paul’s Epistles, & Rev. 2 & 3).  We believe that a church is a body of baptized believers (Acts 2:41), called out from the world (1 Cor. 1:2), separated unto the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:22, 23; 1 Corinthians 1:2), the Great Head of the church (Col. 1:18); voluntarily associated for the ministry of the Word (Acts 2:42), for the mutual edification of its members (Eph. 4:12, 13), for the propagation of the faith (Matt. 28:19), the observance of the ordinances (1 Cor. 11:23, 24; Matt. 28:19), and for the exercise of divinely given gifts (Eph. 4:11; 1 Cor. 12:4-6). The local Church is to have a servant-filled congregation (Acts 2; Phil. 2:3-5) who are led by servant-leaders called to exemplify spiritual conformity to the likeness of Christ (Acts 6:1; 1 Tim. 3:1-7; 1 Tim. 3:8-12).

We believe in the separation of church and state (Mark 12:17; Acts 5:29) and yet agree to encourage conformity and cooperation with government authorities where there is no conflict with our highest authority – the Word of God (Titus 1:3; 1 Pet. 2:13-17). We believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the interest and the good order of society; and, that leaders are to be prayed for, honored, and obeyed (Rom. 13:1-7).