OF THE SCRIPTURES: We believe that the Holy Bible as originally written was verbally inspired and the product of Spirit-controlled men, and therefore, is truth without any admixture of error for its matter. We believe the Bible to be the true center of Christian union and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds and opinions shall be tried.
OF THE TRUE GOD: We believe that there is one and only one living and true God, an infinite Spirit, the Maker and supreme Ruler of heaven and earth; inexpressibly glorious in holiness, and worthy of all possible honor, confidence and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.
OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST: We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the eternally existing Son of God and promised Messiah who became man without ceasing to be God, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful man. We believe that He accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice and that our redemption is made sure by His physical resurrection from the dead. We further believe He is now in heaven, exalted at the right hand of God, where, as the High Priest for His people, He fulfills the ministries of representative, intercessor, and advocate until He comes again.
OF 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 the 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 righteousness and of judgment; 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, endures, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies, and helps the believer.
OF ANGELS AND SATAN: We believe that angels are real personalities created by God. Some angels, the elect ones, serve God, encourage and help believers, and administer God’s judgment. Other angels, whom the Bible calls “demons,” seeks to thwart the plan of God. We believe in the reality and personality of Satan, the Devil. He was created by God as an angel, but, through rebellion, became the enemy of God and of all humans. He became the unholy god of this age, the ruler of all the powers of darkness, and is destined to eternal judgment in the Lake of Fire.
OF CREATION: We believe that God is the creator of all things and that He did so in six, twenty-four-hour days as described in Genesis 1-11. We believe that God created the universe from nothing and that He created all basic kinds of living things distinctly and not from previous, lower life forms. We believe all creation testifies to the existence, glory, nature, and power of God. We further believe that He, by His right as Creator, is the owner, sustainer, and purpose of all creation.
Of Gender, Sexuality, And The Family: We believe that marriage was divinely ordained to be the lifelong and exclusive union of one man and one woman, and we affirm that the Scriptures command that sexual intimacy be reserved for this Biblical marital relationship alone, condemning all other forms as sexual immorality. We believe that God created both male and female, and that He designed gender distinctions between men and women, including the Biblically-defined and distinctive roles of husband and wife. Since gender distinctions are rooted in divine order, changing or disguising one’s inherited sex (and correlated gender) reflective of this order transgresses God’s design. We believe in the sanctity of life of all human persons, including the unborn, ailing and aging.
OF THE FALL OF MAN: We believe that man was created in innocence under the law of his Maker, but by voluntary transgression fell from his sinless and happy state in consequence of which all mankind are now sinners, not only by constraint, but of choice, and therefore under just condemnation without defense or excuse.
OF THE VIRGIN BIRTH: We believe that Jesus was begotten of the Holy Spirit in a miraculous manner, born of Mary, a virgin, as no other man was ever born or can be born of woman; and that He is both the son of God and God, the Son.
OF THE ATONEMENT FOR SIN: We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace, through the mediatorial offices of the Son of God, Who by the appointment of the Father, freely took upon Him our nature, yet without sin, honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and by His death made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins; that His atonement consisted not just in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was a voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner’s place, the Just dying for the unjust; Christ, the Lord, bearing our sin in His own body on the tree; that, having risen from the dead, He is now enthroned in Heaven, and, uniting in His wonderful Person the tenderest sympathies with divine perfection, He is in every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate, and an all-sufficient Savior.
OF GRACE IN THE NEW CREATION: We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be born again; that the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus; that it is instantaneous and not a process; that in the new birth the one dead in trespasses and in sins is made a partaker of the divine nature and receives eternal life, the free gift of God; that the new creation is brought about in a manner above our comprehension, solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the Gospel; that its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance and faith and newness of life.
OF FAITH AND SALVATION: We believe that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation. We believe that the Gospel brings justification, regeneration, adoption, sanctification, the indwelling Holy Spirit, and reconciliation with God to all who believe. We further believe that this gift is bestowed, not in consideration of any works of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in the finished work of Christ by His death and resurrection.
OF THE LOCAL CHURCH: We believe that a local church is a congregation of immersed believers, associated by covenant of faith and fellowship of the Gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws; and exercising the gifts, rights and privileges invested in them by His Word; that its officers are pastors and deacons, whose qualifications, claims and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures. We believe the true mission of the church is the faithful witnessing of Christ to all men as we have opportunity. We hold 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 true churches to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the Gospel; that each local church is the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation; and that on all matters of membership, of polity, of government, of discipline, of benevolence, the will of the local church is final.
OF THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH: We believe in the unity of all true believers in the church, which is the Body of Christ, which was established on the Day of Pentecost, and that all believers, from Pentecost to the Rapture, both Jews and Gentiles, are added to this church by the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
OF BAPTISM AND THE LORD’S SUPPER: We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem his faith in the crucified, buried and risen Savior, with its effect in his death to sin and resurrection to a new life, and that it is prerequisite to the privileges of a church relation. We believe that the Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of His Death until He comes, and should be preceded always by solemn self-examination.
OF THE SECURITY OF THE SAINTS: We believe that all who are truly born again are kept by God the Father for Jesus Christ.
OF THE RIGHTEOUS AND WICKED: We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that such only as through faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and sanctified by the Spirit of our God, are truly righteous in His esteem; while all such as continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked, and under the curse; and this distinction holds among men both in and after death, in the everlasting felicity of the saved and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost.
OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT: We believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the interests and good order of human society; that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored, and obeyed; except in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ Who is the only Lord of the conscience, and the coming Prince of the kings of the earth.
OF THE RESURRECTION; THE PERSONAL, VISIBLE, PRE-TRIBULATIONAL, PREMILLENNIAL RETURN OF CHRIST AND RELATED EVENTS: We believe the return of Christ can happen at any time and will happen before the Tribulation and before the Millennium. When it does, the dead in Christ will be raised in glorified bodies and the living in Christ will be given glorified bodies without dying. Together they will be taken up to meet the Lord in the air. Following the seven-year Tribulation, Christ will return to earth in power and great glory to sit on the throne of David and establish the Millennial Kingdom. We believe in the everlasting happiness of believers with God in the new heaven and new earth and the everlasting, conscious suffering of unbelievers in the lake of fire.