Statement of Faith
What We Believe
The following is our Statement of Faith. It may seem a bit long and have some big theological words, but we would like you to know the details of what we believe. That’s because we want to assure you that we follow the fundamental beliefs of the orthodox Christian faith.
I. The Bible
We believe that the Bible, consisting of 66 books, is the inspired (God-breathed), inerrant and infallible word of God. This inspiration extends to the individual words of Scripture. It also extends equally and fully to all parts of the writing – historical, poetical, doctrinal and prophetical – as appeared in the original manuscripts. We believe that the Bible is the supreme and final authority that God has given us for what we are to believe and for the way we are to live.
II. The Godhead
The eternal Godhead is one in essence, but existent in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – each having precisely the same nature, attributes and perfections.
A. God the Father
God the Father, the first Person of the Trinity, orders and disposes all things according to His own purpose and grace. As the absolute and highest ruler in the universe, He is sovereign in creation, providence and redemption. He has decreed for His own glory all things that come to pass, and he continually upholds, directs and governs all creatures and events. He saves from sin all who come to Him through Jesus Christ, and He relates Himself to His own as their Father.
B. God the Son
Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. He was born of the virgin Mary and received a human body and nature. He is thus fully God and fully man. He lived a sinless life and willingly died on the cross to pay the penalty for man’s sin. He rose from the dead in bodily form and ascended to the Father’s right hand, where He now functions as head of the Church. He will return to the earth in bodily form.
C. God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, convicts people of their need of Christ before they can be saved, and He regenerates them, giving them eternal life. He permanently indwells every believer at the moment of salvation, sealing him unto the day of redemption. He baptizes into the body of Christ all who are saved, and He fills believers who are yielded to Him and subject to His will. The Holy Spirit is the authority and distributor of spiritual gifts. We believe that speaking in tongues, which was a supernatural ability to speak in known human languages, was never the common or necessary sign of the baptism nor of the filling of the Spirit.
III. The Angels (good angels, demons and Satan)
The angels are spirit beings who were created by God to worship Him and serve His purposes. One of the angels, Lucifer, fell through the sin of pride, thereby becoming Satan, and influenced a large company of angels to follow him, who thus became demons. Their work is the attempted subversion of the work of God. Satan was judged at the cross, though the sentence was not then executed, and he will finally be consigned to the lake of fire at the end of the millennium.
IV. Man
Man was created male and female in the image of God, free from sin. Adam was an historical individual whose decision to disobey God resulted in humanity becoming subject to the power of sin and the rulership of Satan. Thus man has become inherently corrupt and incapable of choosing or doing that which is acceptable to God apart from divine grace. All men, except Jesus Christ, are thus sinners by nature, deed and divine pronouncement. Humanity still bears the image of God, corrupted though by sin. Man’s ultimate destiny, apart from God’s grace, is the lake of fire.
V. Salvation
In spite of mankind’s sin and rebellion against God, God has continued to love mankind. Because of His love and desire to glorify Himself, He has established a plan of salvation. The salvation of man consists in the satisfaction of divine justice, the forgiveness of sins, reconciliation with God, the imputation of the righteousness of Christ, the gift of eternal life, every spiritual resource needed for life and godliness, and the guarantee that those once saved shall never be subject to God’s wrath. This salvation is based upon the elective grace of God, was purchased by Christ on the cross and is received by grace through faith, apart from any virtue or work of man, through the instrumentality of the word of God as applied by the Holy Spirit. This salvation is evidenced before men in righteous living and good works. It will be experienced to the extent that the believer submits to the control of the Holy Spirit in his life through submission to the word of God. Salvation will culminate in the believer’s glorifications at Christ’s coming.
VI. The Church
We believe that the Church, the body and bride of Christ, began on the day of Pentecost and is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again people regardless of their affiliation with Christian organizations. We believe that by the Holy Spirit all believers since the day of Pentecost are baptized into one body of Christ. We believe that all true believers are to associate themselves with a local church, which is the people of God in a particular location who meet together for worship, teaching of Scripture, prayer, fellowship and service for the glory of God. The leadership of the local church consists of elders and deacons who serve under the authority of Christ as revealed in the Bible.
VII. The Ordinances
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ Instituted two ordinances which are to be observed by all believers until He returns. We believe in water baptism by immersion as an act of obedient public confession of the believer’s union with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. We believe in regular participation in the Lord’s Supper, which is a memorial of the Lord’s death on our behalf.
VIII. Last Things
We believe in the imminent return of Jesus Christ to remove His Church from the earth. This will be followed soon after by the seven year tribulation, which ends with the second coming of Jesus Christ with His Church to judge the nations and to establish His millennial kingdom on earth. At the close of the millennium the unsaved dead will be raised and committed to eternal punishment, and the saved will enter the eternal state of glory with God.