Our Beliefs

 
1. The Bible
 
We believe the Bible is our final authority on all matters of faith and practice.
 
We believe the Bible was originally given by inspiration (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Peter 3:15-16).
 
We believe these inspired words have been passed down to us through transmission and preservation, guided by the providence of God.
 
We believe the King James version (KJV) of the Bible is the preserved word of God for the English Language.
 
2. The Godhead
 
We believe that there is one true and living God, and that He is absolute in nature, perfect in attributes, holy in character, and eternally existent.
 
We believe that the three persons of the Godhead are God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit (1 John 5:7); and these three are one. We refer to this as the doctrine of the Trinity.
 
We believe that the three Persons of the Godhead subsist in the same divine nature, essence, and being, and that they co-exist and are co-equal in every divine attribute, with each one executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of man's redemption.
 
3. Jesus Christ
 
We believe that Jesus Christ, God the Son, is God and that He eternally exists as God (Colossians 2:9). We believe Jesus was God manifest in the flesh, born of a virgin, lived a perfect sinless life, performed literal miracles, willingly died on the cross shedding His blood for the remission of our sins, rose from the grave on third day, ascended to heaven and is now seated at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us (1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 7:25; 12:12).
 
We believe that Christ defeated Satan on the cross at Calvary, judging the devil and wresting control over the dominion of the earth that man had lost to Satan (John 12:31). Jesus Christ is now the Prince of the kings of the earth having been given all authority, and will one day take possession of the earth (Matthew 28:18; Revelation 1:5). We believe that He will come again to earth in power and glory where He will rule over all nations with a rod of iron.
 
We believe Jesus is now our Shepherd and Bishop (1 Peter 2:25) and our Great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14) and because of Him all believers enjoy direct access to God, no other intermediary is needed.
 
4. The Holy Spirit
 
We believe the Holy Spirit is God and not some inanimate force. He was actively involved in creation and redemption, and is actively involved in the salvation of men, convicting men of sin and their need for salvation.
 
In the dispensation of grace, we believe the Holy Spirit regenerates, baptizes, indwells, seals, and fills the believer.
 
Besides His work in the salvation of man, the Holy Spirit plays many roles in the life of the believer. In John 14, Jesus says the Holy Spirit will comfort us, teach us all things and bring them to our remembrance. In John 16, Jesus says the Holy Spirit will guide us when we feel forsaken. In Romans 8, we are told the Holy Spirit helps us live righteously and helps us pray. In Acts 1:8, Jesus says the Holy Spirit will give us power to serve Christ. The Holy Spirit wants us to be Christlike.
 
We believe the Holy Spirit desires to glorify Christ, to point men to Christ and not to draw attention to Himself (John 15:26). His office is to illumine the heart and bring home to it the things of Christ. Therefore, caution should be given to those who place an overemphasis on the Holy Spirit.
 
We believe the Holy Spirit is not the author of confusion concerning the ‘tongues movement’ of this church age. There is no ‘second blessing’ or ‘subsequent act of grace’ after conversion. The believer gets all of the Holy Spirit upon regeneration; the believer does not get more of the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit more of the believer. Regarding the gift of tongues or speaking in other languages, it was for a sign to the Jews that the gift of Holy Spirit was from God (Acts 2:4) and that to the Gentiles also was given the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:46).
 
5. Creation
 
We believe the Genesis account of creation is a literal historical event, not an allegory or myth, and that God personally created heaven and the earth out of nothing; we reject as false all forms of evolution, either naturalistic or theistic, for all of His creative acts.
 
Furthermore, we believe that the earth and the universe as we know them were created by a direct work of God in six literal 24-hour solar days (Exodus 20:11) and that all men are descended from the historical Adam and Eve, the sole progenitors of the entire human race.
 
We believe that God created the angelic host at some time before the creation of man (Job 38:4-7), and that they were created perfect and holy and that a great number of them rebelled against God out of their own free will at some time before the creation of man.
 
6. Man

We believe that man was created in the image of God; man was the crown of God’s creation (Psalm 8:5). The Bible says, “…male and female created he them (Genesis 1:27)”. Therefore we believe gender dysphoria is an affront to God’s original design for man.

We believe in the sanctity of life and that the life of man was breathed into him by the very breath of God (Genes 2:7) therefore every life is precious in God’s eyes. We believe that the life of every human begins at conception, and therefore abortion is murder.
 
7. Marriage

We believe marriage is the first institution God ordained and that God intended marriage to be between a biological male and a biological female and that both male and female were created in the image of God to procreate and have dominion over the earth.

We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity should be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex.

8. Angels

We believe that the angels are created beings. They are by nature spiritual beings possessing all the characteristics of personality (intellect, emotion, and will) and are superior to man in power. Their purposes of existence are to praise, serve and glorify God, and to serve as ministering spirits on behalf of believers.

We believe there is a segment of angles that rebelled along with Lucifer and lost their rights and privileges and have been cast out from the presence of God; they are the devils or demons, the evil spirits mentioned in the Bible. Together with Satan they work to subvert God’s plan for mankind.

9. Satan

We believe that Satan or the Devil is an actual person and not an imaginary influence or force. He was created holy by God—Lucifer the anointed cherub “...full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty (Ezekiel 28:12-15).”

We believe Lucifer fell because of his pride and selfish ambition and drew after him a third of the angels. He is now the tempter, a liar, a murder, the father of the children of pride, and the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10).

We believe he is the author of sin and the serpent behind the fall of Adam and Eve; that he operates today as the god of this world, the prince of the power of darkness. Satan is the author of all false religions, blinding the minds of men to the truth and behind the apostasy of modern day Christianity.

We believe Satan is God’s enemy and opposes His work (1 Thessalonians 2:18), and actively attacks believers and is engaged in spiritual warfare against us (Ephesians 6:12), and that Christians must take an active role and fight back (Ephesians 6:11-18; James 4:7).

We believe that Satan is a defeated foe who has no real power over us (1 John 4:4) outside the permissive hand of God (2 Corinthians 12:7) and that he will meet his end in the never ending torment of the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:10).

10. Sin

We believe that sin originated with Lucifer when he rebelled against God, and lost his position because of his sin (Ezekiel 28:15; Isaiah 14:12). When God created man, man became the target of Satan’s attack.

We believe that sin and death entered the world in the Garden of Eden through Adam's disobedience and because of this, death passed upon all men for all men are sinners (Romans 5:12).

We believe man is born with a sinful nature passed on to him from Adam (Psalm 51:5), and therefore cannot save himself. We believe that all who die in their sins will go straight to hell where they will be tormented forever. We also believe that sin is not imputed to a man when he has no knowledge of sin (Romans 5:13), this is why innocent infants who die go immediately to heaven (2 Samuel 12:23).

11. Salvation

We believe that salvation is a gift of grace from God, received through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The sacrifice made by Jesus is the only basis of salvation, the only means of reconciliation, and the only ground for justification (Galatians 2:16). We believe that no man can come to God except through Jesus Christ, the only Mediator (John 20:31; Acts 4:12; 1 Timothy 2:5). 
We believe that works are not required for salvation nor are they necessary to keep one’s salvation. We believe God’s order is salvation first and then works follow after salvation (Romans 3:24-31; Ephesians 2:9-10; Titus 3:5-8).

We believe when a person is born again he receives eternal life and eternal security; eternal security results from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. When a person has everlasting life, it is life which never ends and cannot be taken away—saved forever! God’s children are kept by the power of God through faith unto eternal salvation and sealed unto the day of redemption (John 10:27-30; 1 Peter 1:5; Ephesians 4:30; Romans 8:35-39; John 5:24).

12. The Church

We believe that the invisible church is an organism composed of all saved people from the time of Pentecost to the rapture, that it is a New Testament institution unknown to the Old Testament prophets, and that it is separate and distinct from Israel, composed of both Jews and Gentiles.  Believers become part of this institution through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, whereby He places them into the body of Christ at the moment of salvation.

We believe Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it through His death on the cross (Ephesians 5:25) and that in the Bible the church is referred to as the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, and the Lamb’s wife (1 Corinthians 12:27; Revelation 21:19). It is Christ’s desire and work to present his bride to Himself spotless and without blemish (Ephesians 5:26-27).

We believe that a group of local baptized believers assembled together for worship, for service, and for the proclamation of the gospel is also referred to the church in the New Testament; this is the local church.

13. Church Polity

We believe in the autonomy and self-governance of the local church. The local church is an independent body accountable only to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Head of the church (Ephesians 1:22), and not to any outside organizational or ecclesiastical body. All human authority for governing the local church resides within the local church itself. No religious hierarchy outside the local church may dictate a church's beliefs or practices. Autonomy does not mean isolation. A church may fellowship with other churches around mutual interests and common goals.

We believe membership of the local church is restricted to individuals who can give testimony of personal faith in Christ and have publicly identified themselves with Him in believer's baptism. Members are to endeavor to live holy and sanctified lives and to cultivate the unity of the Spirit in order to allow the Holy Spirit to work in our midst (Acts 2:46; 1 Corinthians 12:6-13; Ephesians 4:3).

We believe God has ordained two offices that of bishop or pastor and deacon, together they form the elders we find in the NT. We believe that the Bible teaches that these offices in the church should only be filled by biblically qualified men and therefore are not open to women (Acts 6:1-6; 1 Timothy 2:12; 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9). Although the church may require a plurality of pastors due to congregational requirements, there should be one presiding elder or senior pastor (Revelation 2-3).

We believe the two ordinances of the local church are baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We believe that baptism is by immersion in water and that baptism contains no saving power, but that it is rather commanded for those who have already been saved and received the new birth, which comes through faith in Jesus Christ; therefore only those who are old enough to believe on their own should be baptized (Acts 2:38-41; 8:12, 26-39; 16:25-34; Romans 6:3-5).

We believe that the Lord's Supper is simply a memorial of Christ's death and that it is to be reserved only for those who have been saved by faith in the name of Christ and who walk in obedient fellowship with Him. We do not believe in or practice ‘closed communion’ (1 Corinthians 11:23-32).
 
14. Separation
 
We believe in ecclesiastical separation, personal separation and separation from civil government.
 
Regarding ecclesiastical separation—we recognize the unity of all true believers in the body of Christ. However, we disapprove of the unbiblical yoking (2 Corinthians 6:14-17; Ephesians 5:11) that has been occurring between believers and unbelievers resulting in interfaith organizations that reject the true gospel (Galatians 1:6-8) and instead preach works salvation. They have turned their attention to the social gospel, forsaking the great commission. From such organizations we are commanded to separate ourselves (2 Corinthians 6:17; Revelation 18:4). 
 
Regarding personal separation, we believe that all the saved are called into a life of separation from all worldly and sinful practices. Once a person has accepted Christ as Savior, he is a new creature in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15) and should live a holy consecrated life. He should separate himself from the world and all its lusts in obedience to the commands of God (Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Colossians 2:6; 2 Timothy 2:19; 1 John 2:15-17; 1 Peter 2:9).

Regarding separation from civil government, we believe that God established both the church and civil government, and that He gave each its own distinct sphere of influence and operation. We believe the Scriptures teach that civil government has been divinely appointed for the interest and orderly function of human society; and that civil authorities are to be prayed for, honored and obeyed (Romans 13:1-7), except only in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 5:29), who is the only Lord of the conscience, and the Prince of the kings of the earth. We believe governments should not interfere with nor have no jurisdiction in matters of religion, but are bound to protect all citizens in the peaceable enjoyment of their religious rights and freedoms. We also believe that no organic union of church and state should be tolerated.

15. Evangelism

We believe that the Great Commission to evangelize the world was given to the church by our risen Lord and that this evangelization is the mission of the church. It was the Lord who gave this Great Commission and commanded His disciples to: “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature” (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; John 20:21). Christ commanded His church to be a witness for Him “…in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth…” (Acts 1:8).

We believe that the responsibility of evangelism includes the support of missions; every true New Testament church should be missions minded. The Bible says that for people to be saved they must hear the gospel, and they cannot hear the gospel unless someone is sent to them to preach the gospel (Romans 10:13-17). To be obedient to Christ, we must send missionaries to the foreign field (Matthew 9:38; Luke 10:2), while we are missionaries on the home field.

We believe evangelism is not only the responsibility of the church and missionaries but of every individual believer, and that all believers should be ready to witness for Christ and share their faith (1 Peter 3:15).

16. Israel

We believe the Jews are God’s chosen people through an everlasting and irrevocable covenant He made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Genesis 12:1-3).

We believe this includes the gift of the land of Israel and the promise of the Messiah through whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed (2 Samuel 7:6-16; Jeremiah 31:23-40; Romans 9-11; Galatians 3:6-4).

We believe that the church has not replaced Israel, and that God is not done with Israel (Romans 11:25-29).

We believe that at the return of Christ at the Second Coming He will set His throne in Jerusalem with Israel as the head nation (Deuteronomy 28:13) of the world, and the remnant shall receive Him as Messiah (Joel 2:27-32; Zechariah 12:10; Romans 11:26).

17. Resurrection of the Dead

We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust (Daniel 12:2). The just or believers will rise to spend eternity in the presence of God, this is called “the first resurrection (Revelation 20:6).” The unjust or unbelievers will rise at the final day of judgment (2 Peter 2:9) when they will be judged according to their works, this is called “the second resurrection”; they will finally be thrown into a literal lake of fire, where they will suffer eternal punishment and separation from God (Revelation 20:11-15; 21:8).

18. Future Things

We believe in the pre-Tribulation return of Jesus Christ where He will “rapture” all believers (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53; Revelation 4-5).

We believe those left behind will go through a period called the Tribulation (Daniel 9:24-27; Matthew 24:21; Revelation 7:14; Revelation 13:5).

We believe in the Second Coming of Christ (Matthew 24:27) and that it is a physical, visible, premillennial return of Christ to the earth at the end of the Tribulation when He will set up His millennial (one thousand year) kingdom.

We believe in that at the end of Christ’s millennial rule that mankind under the influence of Satan will rebel and be dealt with swift destruction (Revelation 20:9).

We believe that after this final rebellion all unbelievers of all ages will stand at the Great White Throne to be judged and cast into the Lake of Fire, eternally separated from God (Revelation 20:15).

We believe after this final judgement God will create a new heaven and a new earth where all believers will spend eternity in His presence (2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1).
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