Doctrinal Statement
There is one God, who is infinitely perfect, existing eternally in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, equal in substance, power and glory, Creator of the universe.
[Genesis 1:1; Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 5:48; Matthew 28:19; John 1:1,3]
God the Father is infinite, personal and perfect in holiness, wisdom, power and love. He is sovereign and knows all that will come to pass. He is merciful and is directly involved in the affairs of men. He hears and answers prayer and saves from Satan, sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.
[Luke 10:21,22; Matthew 23:9; John 3:16; John 6:27; Romans 1:7, 1 Timothy 1:1,2; 1 Timothy 2:5,6; 1 Peter 1:3; Rev 1:6]
Jesus Christ is the true God and true man, the second Person of the Trinity. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He died upon the cross, the Just for the unjust, as a substitutional sacrifice, and all who believe in Him are justified by His shed blood. He arose from the dead according to the Scriptures. He is now at the right hand of Majesty on high as our great High Priest. He will come again to establish His kingdom, righteousness and peace.
[Philippians 2:6-11; Luke 1:34-38; 1 Peter 3:18; Hebrews 2:9; Romans 5:9, Acts 2:23-24; Hebrews 8:1; Matthew 26:64; John 1:1; John 20:28]
The Holy Spirit is a divine person of the Godhead, sent to indwell, guide, teach and empower the believer; convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. We believe the Holy Spirit indwells every believer and gives gifts to every believer to edify the church and to reach the lost. We do not believe there are any particular sign gifts associated with the baptism or indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
[John 14:15-18; John 16:13; Acts 1:8; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:9, Ephesians 1:13-14; Titus 3:5-7]
The Old and New Testaments, inerrant as originally given, were verbally inspired by God, and are a complete revelation of His will for the salvation of men. They constitute the divine and only rule of Christian faith and practice.
[2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Timothy 3:15-16; Mark 13:31; John 8:31,32; John 20:31; Acts 20:32]
Man was originally created in the image and likeness of God. He fell through disobedience, incurring thereby both physical and spiritual death. All men are born with a sinful nature, are separated from the life of God, and can be saved only through the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The portion of the unrepentant and unbelieving is existence forever in conscious torment; and that of the believer, in everlasting joy and bliss
[Genesis 1:27; Romans 3:23; 1 Corinthians 15:20-23; Revelation 21:8; Revelation 21:1-4]
Salvation has been provided through Jesus Christ for all men; and all who repent and believe in Him are born again of the Holy Spirit, receive the gift of eternal life, and become the children of God. We also believe God elects and that God must call those who are saved.
[Titus 3:4-7; John 3:16; John 15:16; 2 Corinthians 5:20,21; Romans 9:16; 2 Peter 3:9]
We believe every believer can and should live a life that is continually becoming more Christ-like, as they submit their will to the Holy Spirit and abide in Christ. We believe that true believers have a new nature, but can sin because of the lingering flesh or old nature. We believe, however, that evidence of believing is a fruitful life — separated from sin, and obedient to Jesus.
[John 15:5; John 17:17; Romans 6:1 – 11; Romans 6:19-22; Romans 12:1-2, 2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 2:20; Galatians 5:22-25; Ephesians 4:22-24,30; Ephesians 5:1, Colossians 1:28-29; 1 John 1:8-9; 1 John 2:3-6]
The Church consists of all those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, are redeemed through His blood, and are born again of the Holy Spirit. Christ is the Head of the body—the church, which has been commissioned by Him to go into all the world as a witness, preaching the gospel to all nations. The local church is a body of believers in Christ, who are joined together for the worship of God, for edification through the Word of God, for prayer, fellowship, the proclamation of the gospel, and observance of the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
[Ephesians 1:22-23; Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-47]
We believe there is a distinction between the Church and Israel. These distinctions are clearly seen in the OT age of the law and NT age of the Church. These distinctions are seen most clearly in the many references to the nation of Israel in the book of Revelation, especially the coming Millennial Kingdom when Christ fulfills the promises made to Israel.
[Genesis 12,15,17; Daniel 2,7,9; Revelation]
A note on eschatology (end times): While we consider it of vital importance to share what we believe concerning end times, the very nature of prophesy can make the details difficult to discern. The Word of God is always true and, when prophesy is fulfilled, even the minute details will come to pass, and bring glory to God. For this reason, while we will teach regularly on these things, we do not wish to divide and bring undue pressure to be in perfect agreement.
We believe in the imminent rapture of the Church when Jesus returns for His bride.
[1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 ; 2 Thessalonians 2; 1 Corinthians 15:51-57, Revelation 3:10]
We believe there shall be a bodily resurrection of the just and of the unjust; for the former, a resurrection unto life; for the latter, a resurrection unto judgment.
[1 Corinthians 15:20-23; John 5:28-29]
We believe in the Second Coming of Christ when He returns in person to fulfill His promise of His millennial reign, for a literal thousand years, at which time He will bring all things under His rule and subjection
[Zechariah 14:4-11; Matthew 24:29-31; Revelation 19:11-16; Revelation 20:1-6]
We believe in the Great White Throne of judgment of God, and anyone’s name not found written in the Book of Life will be thrown into the Lake of Fire—into eternal judgment. And anyone whose names are written in the Book of Life will live eternally with God, enjoying His presence forever and ever.
[Revelation 20:11-15; Revelation 21:3]