Statement of Faith
Article I. The Scriptures
We believe that the Bible in the original tongue was written by men controlled by the Holy Spirit, to be the inspired Word of God, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice (Nehemiah 8:8; John 17:17; II Timothy 3:14-17; 1 Peter 1:23-25; II Peter 1:3-4,21; Hebrews 4:12; Isaiah 28:13). By the Holy Bible, we mean that the collection of sixty-six books, from Genesis to Revelation, which, as originally written, does not merely contain and convey the Word of God, but is the very inspired Word of God. The Bible was written by Godly men of old, as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, in such a definite way that their writings were supernaturally directed and are free from error, as no other writings have ever been or will ever be. We believe that God has spoken through the Holy Scriptures and hence we reject the modern tongues movement and the Charismatic Movement. (Matthew 24:24)
Article II. The One True God
We believe that God is Triune and that there are three eternal and co-equal Divine persons in the Godhead, and these three are one God. (Matthew 28:19) We believe that there is only one true and living God, the Creator and Ruler of everything. He reveals Himself to us as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes working together as one entity. He is inexpressibly glorious in holiness, and worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love. He created the earth and everything in it in six, twenty-four-hour days and rested on the seventh day.
Article III. Angels, Fallen and Unfallen
We believe that God created an innumerable company of sinless, spiritual beings, known as angels; that one, “Lucifer, son of the morning”, the highest in rank, sinned through pride, thereby becoming Satan; that a great company of the angels followed him in his moral fall, some of whom became demons and are active as his agents and associates in the prosecution of his unholy purposes, while others who fell are “reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” (Isa. 14:12–17; Ezek. 28:11–19; I Tim. 3:6; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6) We believe that Satan is the originator of sin and that, under the permission of God, he, through subtlety, led our first parents into transgression, thereby accomplishing their moral fall and subjecting them and their posterity to his own power; that he is the enemy of God and the people of God, opposing and exalting himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped; and that he who in the beginning said, “I will be like the most High,” in his warfare appears as an angel of light, even counterfeiting the works of God by fostering religious movements and systems of doctrine, which are most often characterized by a denial of the efficacy of the blood of Christ and of salvation by grace through faith. (Gen. 3:1–19; Rom. 5:12–14; II Cor. 4:3–4; 11:13–15; Eph. 6:10–12; II Thess. 2:4; 1 Tim. 4:1–3) We believe that Satan was judged at the Cross, though not then executed, and that he, a usurper, now rules as the “god of this world”; that, at the second coming of Christ, Satan will be bound and cast into the abyss for a thousand years, and after the thousand years he will be loosed for a little season and then “cast into the lake of fire and brimstone,” where he “shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” (Col. 2:15; Rev. 20:1–3, 10) We believe that a great company of angels kept their holy estate and are before the throne of God, from whence they are sent forth as ministering spirits to minister for them
who shall be heirs of salvation. (Luke 15:10; Eph. 1:21; Heb. 1:14; Rev. 7:12) We believe that man was made lower than the angels; and that, in His incarnation, Christ took for a little time this lower place that He might lift the believer to His own sphere above the angels (Heb. 2:6–10).
Article IV. Man and His Fall
Mankind was created by God and in the image of God. Adam, the first human, sinned by free choice against God and brought sin to humanity. Since then, all of mankind is born into sin. All of mankind chooses to disobey and rebel against God and His ways. Since the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, all people are sinners both by nature and by choice. (Genesis 1:27; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23;). Sin is doing things that God commands us not to do or not doing things that God commands us to do. God has rules for us to live by, and if we choose to break even one, we are guilty of sin. (James 4:17, James 2:10-11)
We believe that Satan is a personal being, a fallen angel, the prince of demons, the god of this age, the great enticer and deceiver, the adversary of Jesus Christ and His people, the accuser of the brethren, whose end is the Lake of Fire. ( Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:12-19; II Corinthians 4:4; I Peter 5:8; Rev. 12:9-10; Matthew 25:41; Rev. 20:10) We further believe that Satan has a host of helpers, fallen angels, in his task of causing destruction on this earth. (Ephesians 6:11-12; Mark 5:1-15)
Article V. Jesus Christ
We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, God taking on the form of a man, that He was, conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. (I John 1:1-3; Matthew 1:1-25; I Timothy 3:16) We believe that He was sent to become the Savior of all men by living a pure, holy, sinless life, becoming sin for us, dying on the cross, and rising from the dead three days later. We believe that our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven and is now seated at the right hand of the Father; that He ever liveth to make intercession for all that come to God by Him. (Acts 1:9-11; Hebrews 4:14; Ephesians 1:20-22)
Article VI. Salvation
Salvation is only through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. On the cross, Jesus took the sins of the world on Himself. He died and rose again providing salvation for all of mankind who believe on Him as Savior, confess Him as Lord, and obey His commands. God’s punishment for sin is death, but His love allowed Him to send His Son Jesus to die in the place of all who accept Christ’s death as payment for their sins. (Romans 3:24; Romans 5:12-19; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 10:8-10; I Timothy 1:15; John 14:6; II Corinthians 5:21; I Corinthians 15:20-22; Hebrews 9:22) Those who become His sheep He says, “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish.” (John 3:15-17) “Neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand, or My Father’s hand” (John 10:28-29; Ephesians 1:13-14,20-21). Jesus Christ’s atonement was not limited. He came to this world to die for everyone not just for a chosen group, His elect. He died on the cross for all the sins of all people, and anyone who wants to can accept Him as Lord and Savior and be born again. We also reject the belief that man cannot, even if he wants to, resist the wooing and call of God to salvation. We believe that man has a free will and he can indeed resist the call of God if he chooses to do so. We do believe that God in His infinite wisdom knows who will accept Him and who will ultimately reject His free-gift of salvation. (John 3:15-17; Ephesians 2:8-9) The inward evidence to the believer of his salvation is the direct witness of the Spirit. (Romans 8:16) The outward evidence to all men is a life of righteousness and true holiness. Salvation through a relationship with
Christ is evident by a transformed life and the fruit of the spirit. (I John 3:23; Galatians 5:22-25; II Corinthians 5:17) Salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ and not by works. You cannot earn or pay your way to heaven by being or doing certain things or by not doing certain thing, however, our faith will produce in us the desire to do good works. Those good works will determine our rewards in heaven not our place in heaven. (Romans 10:9-10; James 2:17-20; II Corinthians 5:10)
Article VII. The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature; that He was active in creation, that in His relation to the unbelieving world He restrains the Evil One until God’s purpose is fulfilled, that He convicts of sin, of judgment and of righteousness; that He bears witness to the truth of the Gospel in preaching and testimony, that He is the agent in the New Birth; that He seals, baptizes, endures, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies, helps believers, and calls the unsaved to salvation. (John 16:7-15; John 3:5-7; I Peter 1:23; Ephesians 4:30; John 14:16-17,26)
We believe that divine, enabling gifts for service are bestowed by the Spirit upon all who are saved. While there is a diversity of gifts, each believer is energized by the same Spirit, and each is called to his own divinely appointed service as the Spirit may will. In the apostolic church there were certain gifted men—apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers—who were appointed by God for the perfecting of the saints unto their work of the ministry. We believe also that today some men are especially called of God to be evangelists, pastors and teachers, and that it is to the fulfilling of His will and to His eternal glory that these shall be sustained and encouraged in their service for God (Rom. 12:6-9; 1 Cor. 12:4–11; Eph. 4:11-12).
We believe that God has spoken through the Holy Scriptures and hence we reject the modern tongues movement and the Charismatic Movement. (Matthew 24:24) We believe that some gifts of the Holy Spirit such as speaking in tongues and miraculous healings were temporary. We believe that speaking in tongues was never the common or necessary sign of the baptism nor of the filling of the Spirit, and that the deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection. (Acts 4:8, 31; Rom. 8:23; 1 Cor. 13:8)
Article VIII. The Church
We believe that the Church, which is one holy body of Christ, began on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came down from heaven. Each person that receives the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior is a member of the body of Christ and is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. (I Corinthians 12:12-28; 6:19-20) Each believer is an integral part of the Church. Jesus commanded the Church to carry out the work of God until the day He returns to take His bride, the Church, to heaven. The Church exists to worship God, spread the gospel, to disciple new believers, to hold each other accountable, to love each other, and to care for the people in their community. (Matthew 15:18; Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:18; I Corinthians 12: 12-28; Acts 2:41-47; James 1:27)
We believe that it is our duty as a Child of God, Christian, to love one another and to tell the “Good News” to everyone that we can. (I Corinthians 13:1-13; I John 4:7-21; Matthew 28:19-20)
The Church is to be governed by His laws; exercising gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word; its officers of ordination are pastors, elders, and deacons, whose qualifications, claims, and duties
are clearly defined in the Scriptures. We believe that the local Church has the absolute right of self- government, free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations; and that the one and only superintendent is Christ through the Holy Spirit; that it is scriptural for the people to work together with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the Gospel; that every church is the sole and only judge of the measure and method of its cooperation; on all matters of membership, of policy, of government, of discipline, of benevolence, the will of the local church is final. (Acts 2:41; Acts 2:42; I Cor. 11:2; Eph. 1:22-23; Eph. 4:11; I Cor. 12:4, 8-11; Acts 14:23; Acts 6:5-6; Acts 15:23; Acts 20:17-18; I Tim. 3:1-7; I Tim. 3:8-13; Col. 1:18; Eph. 5:23-24; I Pet. 5:1-4; Acts 15:22; Jude 1:3- 4; II Cor. 8:23-24; 1 Cor. 16:1; Mal. 3:10; Lev. 27:32; I Cor. 16:2; I Cor. 6:1-3; I Cor. 5:11-13)
Article IX. Baptism and The Lord’s Supper
We believe that the Gospel commission is for the Church. The Lord’s Supper and Water Baptism are divine institutions and Christ desires us to practice them in this age. (Matthew 28:18-20; I Corinthians 11:23-34; Romans 6:4)
We believe that Christian baptism is by a believer that has accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. Baptism is by the immersion in water by a believer: in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, with the authority of the local church, to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, with its effect on our death to sin and resurrection to a new life. Water baptism is not necessary for salvation and cannot remove sins but is a picture of the salvation already received by the believer.
The Lord's Supper is a memorial service in which the elements of bread and fruit of the vine are partaken. Just before Christ went to the cross at the Last Supper, He established an ordinance that He commanded His followers to carry on after His ascension into Heaven. It was during the Passover meal that He first introduced His disciples to this new ordinance of sharing bread and drink as a symbol of Christ’s broken body and shed blood, which is observed to remember the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us. (Acts 8:36-39; Matt. 3:6; John 3:23; Rom. 6:4-5; Matt. 3:16; Rom. 6:3-5; Col. 2:12; Acts 2:41- 42; Matt. 28:19-20; I Cor. 11:23-28; Luke 22:14-20)
Article X. Future Events
We believe that Christ may return at any moment in the air to rapture His saints, the Children of God, before the seven years of Great Tribulation and after that He will again return to rule for a thousand years. After this the wicked will be judged and cast into the Lake of Fire. (I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Corinthians 15:51-57; Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15, 21, 24, 27, 25:46; Revelations 19:11, 20:10-15)
We believe that Satan is a personal being, the author of the fall, and that he shall be eternally punished. (Job 1:7, Genesis 3:1-9, Revelation 20:10)
We believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead, both just and unjust; and in the eternal conscious punishment of the Lost and the eternal joy of the Saved (Revelations 20:11-15, 22:12-14; I Corinthians 15:58). Those who have not accepted the redemptive work of Jesus Christ will suffer eternal separation from God. The devil, his angels, and anyone whose name is not found written in the Book of Life will be condemned to everlasting punishment in Hell, the Lake of Fire. (Matthew 25:31-46; Rev. 19:20; Rev. 20:10-15; John 14:1-6; Psalms 16:11; Phil. 1:21, 23; Psalms 9:17; John 8:24; II Thessalonians 1:7-9)
Article XI. Separation and Sanctification
We believe that scripture clearly teaches nonconformity to the world for every believer; that born again people should be separated from the world unto Christ; that it is clearly commanded of God to all believers to live lives of separation from all worldly and sinful practices and to be holy as He is holy. We believe that positional sanctification occurs at the moment of regeneration, and that practical sanctification is to be progressive throughout the entire lifespan of a believer here on earth. God’s provision for Holy living is in the believer’s identification with Christ in His death, resurrection, and ascension; the indwelling person of the Holy Spirit and the believer’s willingness to yield to Him; and by the power of the Word of God. The desired results are to more closely resemble and accurately reflect Jesus Christ. (Col. 3:13; II Corinthians 6:14-17; Titus 2:14; I Peter 1:14-16; Col. 1:13; Hebrews 10:1; 10:14; II Corinthians 7:1; II Corinthians 3:18; II Peter 3:18; Romans 6:1-14; Ephesians 1:15-2:6; I Corinthians 6:19-20; Gal. 5:16-23; John 17:17; Hebrews 4:12; Ephesians 5:25-27)
Article XII. Marriage
We believe that scripture defines marriage as an exclusive covenant between one man and one woman for life, and that any sexual activity outside of this definition of marriage is a violation of God’s laws. Scripture teaches that all forms of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, beastiality, incest, fornication, adultery, pedophilia, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s plan for sexual intimacy. Since God is the Creator of one’s gender, He disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one’s gender by surgery or appearance. (Genesis 1:26-28; 2:21-25; 19:5, 13; Leviticus 18; Romans 1:26-27; I Corinthians 5:1; 6:9-11; I Thessalonians 4:3; I Timothy 1:10; Hebrews 13:4)
In Summary, Salvation and the Christian Walk
1) All have sinned and deserve eternal separation from God. (Romans 3:23; 6:23) 2) Christ (the Son of God) died on the cross after living a sinless life on earth, was buried, and rose again. His shed blood provided the atonement needed for sin. (I Cor 15:1-4; Gal 1:3-4) 3) All may receive the provided salvation from the penalty of sin based on what Christ has done simply by faith. (Rom 3:22-28; Rom 5:1-2; Rom 5:18; Eph 1:10-15; Phil 3:9; Rom 4:3-5) 4) Those who then believe in Christ based on the gospel for salvation are indeed saved and know so right from that point on into eternity. Everlasting life means forever. (Rom 5:21; John 3:15-16; Eph 2:8-9; Eph 3:6; Col 1:4-5) 5) We are preserved by God as His children. (John 10:25-30; Gal 3:26-29; Gal 4:7) 6) The blood of Christ covers our sin. (Eph 1:7; Eph 2:13; Col 1:14) 7) We are sealed with the Holy Spirit. (Eph 1:13) 8) No saved person is ever subjected to eternal condemnation. (Rom 8:1, 15-17, 29-30; John 3:18) 9) Believers ought to walk in obedience. The motivation should be our love for Christ, His love for us, and our thankfulness for what He has done. The motivation should not be based on fear of losing our salvation. (Eph 2:10; Rom 6:4, 11-1; II Cor 5:14; John 14:21; Rom 12:1-2; Tit 2:11-12; I Pet 2:1-3) 10) God is glorified by our obedience and choices to grow in sanctification and will one day reward those who are faithful. (I Cor 3:9-14) 11) God still saves those who have little to show for themselves, because they did not walk as a believer for long before their death or they did not live according to God’s word. They are saved, “yet so as by fire”. (I Cor 3:15)
12) A Child of God has both a fallen nature, “the old man”, and a new nature, “the new man”. Walking in either does not prove or disprove salvation. (Eph 4:21-32; Gal 5:17; I John 1:8) As children of God, we should choose daily to feed the new man and allow what we do, our actions, to be Spirit filled. We should strive to starve the fleshly old man. Above all, let us, as believers, live freely and joyfully in the Spirit, being able to do what pleases God without the fear of eternal condemnation. Shame to those who would seek to twist the Word of God to lead Christians back to the bondage of the law. (Rom 4:4; Gal, 1:8; Gal 3:3, 23-26; Gal 2:21; Gal 5:4)