Statement of Faith
Having
been enabled, through divine Grace to give ourselves to the Lord, and
likewise to one another by the will of God, we account it as incumbent
upon us, to make a declaration of our faith and practice, to the honor
of Christ, and the glory of His Name; knowing, that as with the heart
man believeth unto righteousness, so with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation; which declaration is as follows:
The Inspiration of the Scriptures
We
believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the
verbally and plenarily inspired and inerrant Word of God. We hold the
Bible, as originally given through human agents of revelation, to be
infallible and see this as a crucial article of faith with implications
for the entire life and practice of all Christian people. With the
great fathers of Christian history we declare our confidence in the
total trustworthiness of the Scriptures, urging that any view which
imputes to them a lesser degree of inerrancy than total, is in conflict
with the Bible's self-testimony in general and with the teaching of
Jesus Christ in particular. Out of obedience to the Lord of the Church,
we submit ourselves unreservedly to His authoritative view of Holy Writ.
Psalms 119:89, 105, 103, 160; Proverbs 30:5-6; Isaiah 8:20; Luke 16:31, 24:25-27, 44-45; John 5:39, 45-47, 12:48, 17:17; Acts 1:16, 28:25, Romans 3:4, 15:4; Ephesians 6:17; 1 Timothy 3:16-17; 1 Peter 1:23; 2 Peter 1:19-21; Revelation 22:19
The Godhead
We
believe, that there is but one only living and true God; that there are
three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
who are equal in nature, power, and glory; and that the Son and the
Holy Spirit are as truly and properly God as the Father.
Genesis
17:1; Exodus 20:2-3, 15:11; Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Psalms 83:18, 90:2;
Jeremiah 10:10; Matthew 28:19; John 4:24, 10:30, 15:26, 17:5; Acts
5:3-4; Romans 11:33; 1 Corinthians 2:10-11, 8:6, 12:4-6, 2 Corinthians
13:14; Ephesians 2:18, 4:6; Philippians 2:5-6; 1 Timothy 1:17; 1 John
5:7; Revelation 4:11
The Deity of Christ
We believe in
the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is very God, express image of
the Father, the one by whom and for whom all things were created.
Matthew
28:19; Mark 9:37; John 1:1, 14, 5:23, 8:17,, 58, 10:30, 12:44, 14:7-9,
15:23, 17:9, Acts 7:59; Romans 9:5; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Philippians
2:6; Colossians 1:15-19, 2:9; 1 Timothy 3:16, 5:14-16; Titus 2:13;
Hebrews 1:3-6; 1 John 5:20
The Virgin Birth of Christ
We
believe in the virgin birth of Christ. He was conceived of the Holy
Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, and became the incarnate Son of God,
Immanuel, God with us.
Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:35; John 1:14; 1 Corinthians 15:47; Galatians 4:4; 1 John 5:20
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 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, endues, guides, teaches,
witnesses, sanctifies, and helps the believer.
Matthew
28:19, 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 1:35, 3:16, 24:49; John 1:33, 3:5-6,
14:16-17, 26, 15:26-17, 16:8-11, 13; Acts 5:30-32, 11:16; Romans 8:16,
26-27; Ephesians 1:13-14; 2 Thessalonians 2:7-14; Hebrews 9:14; 1 Peter
1:2
The Fall of Satan
We
believe that Satan was once holy, and enjoyed heavenly honors, that
through pride and ambition to be as the Almighty, fell and drew after
him a host of angels, that he is now the malignant prince of the power
of the air, and the unholy god of this world. We hold him to be man's
great tempter, the enemy of God and His Christ, the accuser of the
saints, the author of all false religions, the chief power back of the
present apostasy; the lord of the antichrist, and the author of all the
powers of darkness--destined however to final defeat at the hands of
God's own Son, and to the judgment of an eternal justice in hell, a
place prepared for him and his angels.
Isaiah
14:12-15; Ezekiel 29:14-17; Matthew 4:1-3, 13:25, 37-39, 25:49; Mark
13:21-22; Luke 22:3-5; John 14:30; Ephesians 2:2; 2 Corinthians
11:13-15; 1 Thessalonians 3:5; 2 Thessalonians 2:8-11; 1 Peter 5:8; 2
Peter 2:4; 1 John 2:22, 3:8, 5:3; 2 John 7; Jude 6; Revelation 12:7-10,
13:13-14, 19:11-20, 20:1-3,10
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 by constraint,
but of choice; and therefore under just condemnation without defense or
excuse.
Genesis 3:1-6; Ezekiel 18:19-20; Romans 1:18, 20, 28, 30, 3:10-19, 5:12, 19; Galatians 3:22; Ephesians 2:1, 3, 12
Salvation by Grace through Faith
We
believe in salvation by the sacrifice of Christ received by grace
through faith alone. He shed His blood to accomplish propitiation to
God, redemption from sin, and reconciliation of man. "Christ died for
us," and, "bore our sins in His body on the tree."
Isaiah
53:4-7, 11,12; Matthew 18:11; John 3:16, 10:18; Acts 15:11; Romans
3:24-25; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 20; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 1:4;
Ephesians 2:8-10; Philippians 2:6-7; Hebrews 2:14, 7:25, 9:12-15, 12:2;
1 Peter 2:24, 3:18; 1 John 2:2, 4:10
The Eternal Security of the Believer
We
believe that all those who are chosen by the Father, redeemed by the
Son, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit, shall certainly and finally
persevere, so that not one of them shall ever perish but shall have
everlasting life.
John
3:15-16,, 36, 5:24, 6:37, 54, 10:28, 29, 14:16-17; Romans 5:8-10,
6:5-6, 8:28-39, 11:29, 16:25; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 1:4, 13-14,
4:30; Philippians 1:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:9, 24; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; 2
Timothy 1:12, 2:19, 4:18; Hebrews 7:25, 10:12-18; James 1:18; 1 Peter
1:5, 10; 2 Peter 1:4; 1 John 2:1, 19, 27, 5:4, 11-13
The Eternal State
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, 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.
Genesis
19:23; Proverbs 11:31, 14:32; Malachi 3:18; Matthew 25:34, 41, 7:13-14;
Luke 9:26, 16:25; John 8:21, 12:25; Acts 10:34-35; Romans 1:17,
6:16-18, 23, 7:6; 1 Corinthians 15:22; Galatians 3:10; 1 Peter 1:18; 1
John 2:7, 29, 5:19
The Ordinance of Baptism
We
believe that Christian baptism is the immersion in water of 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
effects in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life; that it is
prerequisite to the privileges of a church and to the Lord's Supper; in
which the participants by the sacred use of bread and the fruit of the
vine are to commemorate together the dying love of Christ; preceded
always by solemn self-examination.
Matthew 3:6, 16, 28:1, 19-20; John 3:23; Acts 2:41-42, 8:26-39; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 11:23-28; Colossians 2:12
We
believe that a New Testament Church is a congregation of baptized
believers associated by a covenant of faith and fellowship of the
gospel, said church being understood to be the citadel and propagator
of the Divine and Eternal Grace: observing the ordinances of Christ;
governed by His laws; exercising the gifts, rights and privileges
invested in them by His Word; that its officers of ordination are
pastors or elders whose qualifications, claims and duties are clearly
defined in the Scriptures; we believe the true mission of the church is
found in the Great Commission. 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 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.
Matthew
28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42, 6:5-6, 14:23, 15:22-23, 20:17-28; 1 Corinthians
5:11-13, 6:1-3, 11:2, 12:4, 8-11, 16:1-2; 2 Corinthians 8:23-24;
Ephesians 1:22-23, 4:11, 5:23-24; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; 1
Peter 5:1-4; Jude 3-4
The Resurrection and Future Things
We
believe in the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
that because He lives we shall live also. We affirm the blessed hope of
the personal, imminent, pre-tribulational, and pre-millennial coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ for His Church, and in His subsequent return to
the earth, with His saints, to establish His Millennial Kingdom.
Zechariah
14:4-11; John 14:2-3; Romans 1:4; 1 Corinthians 1:78, 15:1-58;
Philippians 3:20-21; Colossians 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 1 Timothy
6:14; 2 Timothy 4:1; Titus 2:13; James 5:7-9; 1 John 2:28; Revelation
3:11, 19:11-16