What We Believe
OUR STATEMENT OF FAITH
1. We believe the Bible, consisting of the 66 canonical books of the Old Testament and the New Testament alone, is the only source of written revelation through which God instructs and guides His people. We believe the Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God, infallible and inerrant in its original texts, and is the standard by which God’s people should conduct themselves as believers. (Deut 4:2; Rom 3:4; 2 Tim 3:16; 2 Pet 1:21; Rev 22:19)
2. We believe there is ONE God, Who exists eternally and coequally in three divine Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Ps 2:7; Is 42:1, 48:16, 61:1; Mt 28:19; Luke 4:17-18; John 1:14; 2 Co 13:14; 1 John 5:7)
3. We believe that God the Father, infinitely perfect, is mercifully concerned with the affairs of people, hears and answers prayer, and saves from sin and death all who come to Him through His Son, Jesus. (Job 34:28; Ps 18:30, 34:17; Lam 3:22-23; Ac 4:12; 1 Tim 4:10)
4. We believe in the pre-existence and deity of our Lord Jesus, Messiah promised by God, incarnated in real humanity, all God and all human, His virgin birth, His sinless life, His miracles, His perfect teachings, His substitutionary sacrifice, His death and bodily resurrection, His ascension to the right hand of God the Father, and His personal return in power and glory. (Luke 1:35; John 19:33, 20:19-20; Ac 1:9-11, 5:31; He 2:14, 4:15, 7:3; Rev 22:13)
5. We believe that Jesus is the only path to God and salvation. (John 14:6)
6. We believe that all people are sinners by nature and by choice and that regeneration by the Holy Spirit, expressed though faith in Jesus alone, is absolutely essential for salvation. We affirm the spiritual unity of all believers in Jesus as God’s Son. (Ps 51:5, 53:3; John 3:3, 8:24; Ro 4:16, 5:1-2, 12:5; 1 Cor 12:13; 2 Cor 5:17; Gal 3:28; Eph 4:13)
7. We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, Whose indwelling enables the believer to live a godly life. We believe in the work of the Holy Spirit in the regeneration of the believer, and in the instruction and guidance of the body of believers. (Rom 8:29; 2 Cor 3:18; Phil 3:21; 2 pet 1:4)
8. We believe that our Lord gave two ordinances to believers in the visible church: baptism as the symbol of God’s Grace; and the Lord’s Supper as the symbol of His death through the shedding of His blood as a vicarious atoning sacrifice;
9. We believe that water baptism in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is for the believer who approaches God through faith in His Son Jesus by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. We believe baptism is a solemn and beautiful profession of faith in the atoning work of our crucified, buried, and resurrected Savior, Jesus Christ. It is a symbol of our death to sin and resurrection to a new life in Him;
10. We believe that the Lord’s Supper is a symbol of our faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, through which professing believers share in the commemoration of Christ’s sacrifice for His people. We believe that the bread and wine are symbolic of Christ’s body and blood. (Mt 28:19; Lk 22:17-20; Ac 2:38, 10:48, 22:16; 1 Cor 10:16, 11:23-29)
11. We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; those who are saved will live forever in the manifest presence of God, and those who are lost will be separated forever from God’s presence in Hell. (Mt 25:46; John 14:1-3; Ro 8:18; 2 Peter 2:4,9; Rev 11:18, 14:9-11)
12. We believe marriage, as instituted by God, is between one man and one woman. It is not lawful at the same time for any man to have more than one wife, nor for any woman to have more than one husband. (Gen 2:24; 1 Co 7:2)
13. We believe that God created man and woman in His image, and that human life begins at conception. (Gen 1:27, 25:23; Judges 13:5; Job 31:15; Ps 139:13; Ecc 11:5; Isa 44:2,24; Jere 1:5; Luke 1:15,41)
14. We affirm the freedom of conviction for each follower of Jesus Christ on other doctrinal matters (Ac 15:1-2, 28-29; Rom 14:1-15:7; 1 Cor 10:25-26; Col 2:16), provided that any interpretation is based upon the Bible alone (Is 8:20; Ac 17:11) and that no such interpretation shall be used by an individual or group to cause division within the church or to hinder the ministry to which God has called this congregation as a unified body of Christ. (Prov 17:14; Mk 9:50; Ro 12:18, 14:19; Eph 4:3; 2 Tim 2:14; Heb 12:14; 1 Pet 3:8)