What We Believe

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 (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21).

THE ONE TRUE GOD
Existing eternally as three persons – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:22; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14).

THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
His preexistence and deity (John 1:1-3), incarnation by virgin birth (John 1:14; Matthew 1:18-23), sinless life (Hebrews 4:15), substitutionary death (2 Corinthians 5:21), bodily resurrection (Luke 24:36-43), ascension into heaven, present ministry (Hebrews 4:14-16), and coming again (Acts 1:11).

THE HOLY SPIRIT
His personality (John 16:7-15), and deity (Acts 5:3-4); and His work in each believer: baptism and indwelling at the moment of regeneration (1 Corinthians 12-13; Romans 8:9); and filling (Ephesians 5:18) to empower for Christian life and service (Ephesians 3:16; Acts 1:8; Galatians 5:22-23).

MAN
His direct creation in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-28), his subsequent fall into sin resulting in spiritual death (Genesis 3:1-24; Romans 5:12), and the necessity of the new birth for his salvation (John 3:3-5).

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 (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7; 1 Peter 1:18-19).

THE CHURCH
One true Church, the body and the bride of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23; 5:25-32), composed of all true believers of the present age (1 Corinthians 12:12-13); and the organization of its members in local churches for worship, for edification of believers, and for world-wide gospel witness, each local church being autonomous by cooperating in fellowship and work (Ephesians 4:11-16).

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
A life of righteousness, good works and separation unto God from the evil ways of the world (Romans 12:1-2), manifested by speaking the truth (James 5:12), maintaining the sanctity of the home (Ephesians 5:22-6:4) settling differences between Christians in accordance with the Word of God (1 Corinthians 6:1-8), not engaging in carnal strife but showing a Christ-like attitude toward all men (Romans 12:7-21), exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), and maintaining a life of prayer (Ephesians 6:18; Philippians 4:6), including the privilege, when sick, of calling for the elders of the church to pray and to anoint with oil in the name of the Lord (James 5:13-18).

ORDINANCES
The Christian should observe the ordinances of our Lord Jesus Christ, which are: (1) baptism of believers by triune immersion (Matthew 28:19), and (2) the threefold communion service, consisting of the washing of the saint’s feet (John 13:1-17), the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:20-22, 33-34; Jude 12), and the communion of the bread and the cup (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

SATAN
His existence and personality as the great adversary of God and his people (Revelation 12:1-10), his judgment (John 12:31), and final doom (Revelation).

SECOND COMING
The personal, visible and imminent return of Christ to remove His Church from the earth (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17), before the Tribulation (1 Thessalonians 1:10; Revelation 3:10), and afterward to descend with the Church to establish His millennial kingdom upon the earth (Revelation 19:11-20:6).

FUTURE LIFE
The conscious existence of the dead (Philippians 1:21-23; Luke 16:19-31), the resurrection of the body (John 5:28-29), the judgment and reward of believers (Romans 14:10-12; 2 Corinthians 5:10), the judgment and condemnation of unbelievers (Revelation 20:11-15), the eternal life of the saved (John 3:16), and the eternal punishment of the lost (Matthew 25:46; Revelation 20:15).