STATEMENT OF FAITH

  1. THE BIBLE: the word of God, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, verbally inspired in all parts and therefore wholly without error as originally given of God    (II Tim. 3:16; II Peter 1:21).
  2. THE ONE TRUE GOD: existing eternally as three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:22; Matt. 28:19; II Cor. 13:14).
  3. THE LORD JESUS CHRIST: His preexistence and deity (John 1:1-3), incarnation by virgin birth (John 1:14; Matt. 1:18-23), sinless life (Heb. 4:15), substitutionary death (II Cor. 5:21), bodily resurrection (Luke 24:36-43), ascension into heaven and present ministry (Heb. 4:14-16), and coming again (Acts 1:11).
  4. THE HOLY SPIRIT: His personality (John 16:7-15), deity (Acts 5:3-4), and work in each believer: baptism and indwelling at the moment of regeneration (I Cor. 12:13; Rom. 8:9) and filling to empower for Christian life and service (Eph. 5:18, 3:16; Acts 1:8; Gal. 5:22-23).
  5. MAN: his direct creation in the image of God (Gen 1:26-28), his subsequent fall into sin resulting in spiritual death (Gen. 3:1-24; Rom. 5:12), and his need of new birth for salvation (John 3:3-5).
  6. SALVATION: a complete and eternal salvation by God’s grace alone, received as the gift of God through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work (Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7; I Peter 1:18-19).
  7. THE CHURCH: one true Church, the body and bride of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23; 5:25-32), composed of all true believers of the present age (I Cor. 12:12-13); and the organization of its members in local churches for worship, edification of believers, and world-wide gospel witness, each local church being autonomous but cooperating in fellowship and work (Eph. 4:11-16).
  8. CHRISTIAN LIFE: a life of righteousness, good works, and separation unto God from the evil ways of the world (Rom. 12:1-2); manifested by speaking the truth (James 5:12), maintaining the sanctity of the home (Eph. 5:22-6:4), settling differences between Christians in accordance with the word of God (I Cor. 6:1-8), not engaging in carnal strife but showing a Christ-like attitude toward all men (Rom. 12:17-21), exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23), and maintaining a life of prayer (Eph. 6:18; Phil. 4:6), including the privilege of calling for the elders of the church to pray and anoint the sick with oil in the name of the Lord (James 5:13-18).
  9. ORDINANCES: the Christian should observe the ordinances of our Lord Jesus Christ which are: (i) baptism of believers by triune immersion (Matt. 28:19) (ii) the Lord’s Supper (I Cor. 11:20-22, 33-34; Jude 12)
  10. SATAN: his existence and personality as the great adversary of God and His people (Rev. 12:1-10), his judgment (John 12:31), and final doom (Rev. 20:10).
  11. SECOND COMING: the personal, visible, and imminent return of Christ to remove His Church from the earth (I Thess. 4:16-17) before the tribulation (I Thess. 1:10; Rev. 3:10), and afterward to descend with the Church to establish His millennial kingdom upon the earth (Rev. 19:11-20:6).
  12. FUTURE LIFE: the conscious existence of the dead (Phil. 1:21-23; Luke 16:19-31), the resurrection of the body (John 5:28-29), the judgment and reward of believers (Rom. 14:10-12; II Cor. 5:10), the judgment and condemnation of unbelievers (Rev. 20:11-15), the eternal life of the saved (John 3:16), and the eternal punishment of the lost (Matt. 25:46; Rev. 20:15).