What We  Believe

The Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testaments, is the verbally inspired Word of God.  It is inerrant and infallible in the original manuscripts, and is upheld as the ultimate written authority in faith and life in its faithful translation.  (I Thessalonians 2:13; II Timothy 3:15-17; II Peter 1:19-21)

One God, living and true, infinite and unmatched in power, wisdom, and goodness, perfect in all holiness and love, the Creator and sustainer of all things.  This one God is eternally existent in a blessed trinity of three equal persons:  the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 43:10-11; Matthew 28:19; Luke 3:22; II Corinthians 12:14)

Jesus Christ is the sinless Son of God begotten of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, fully God and fully man.  He was crucified, dead, and buried, providing a perfect sacrifice for the sins of man and thereby reconciling man to God.  He rose again bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, now sits at the right hand of God the Father to make intercession for the saints, and will come again to judge all mankind at the last day.  (Matthew 1:21-23; John 1:1, 14, 18; Romans 8:34; 14:9; I Corinthians 15:3-4; II Corinthians 5:18-19, 21; Galatians 1:4; Colossians 1:14-15; 2:9; I John2:2; Revelation 22:12-13)

The Holy Spirit, proceeding eternally from the Father and the Son, is fully God, possessing all the attributes of deity and personality.  By His work believers are called, convicted, regenerated, sealed, sanctified, and filled for service.  (John 14:16-17; 16:8-14; Acts 1:8; II Corinthians 3:17; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 4:30)

The personal existence of angels and demons, which are fallen angels.  Satan, or the devil, who is the unholy god of this age, the father of all lies, and the author of the powers of darkness, was created by God as an angel of the highest rank, but because of his pride revolted against God and was cast out of heaven with his demonic host.  He and the forces of darkness are destined to ultimate defeat and the judgment of eternal punishment in the lake of fire.  (Psalm 91:11; Isaiah 14:12-14; Luke 10:17-18; Ephesians 6:12; Hebrews 1:13-14; 13:2; Jude 6; Revelation 12:7-9; 20:1-3, 10)

God created heaven and earth, and all that exists, from nothing [exnihilo] such that nothing exists that was not directly created by Him.  God created the institution of marriage between a man and a woman.  Therefore, we only perform marriage between one man and one woman.  The theory of evolution is thus held to be contrary to biblical revelation and destructive of faith.  (Genesis 1-2; John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16-17)

That man was created in the image of God, perfect and upright.  Because of the willful, historic disobedience of the first man, Adam, sin entered the world and thereby man incurred not only physical death but spiritual death, which is separation from God.  (Genesis 1:26-27; 3:1-19; Isaiah 59:2; Romans 5:12-19; Ephesians 2:1-3)

That salvation is available to all men wholly by grace through the mediating work of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross.  The Son of God died in the place of sinful man, according to the scriptures, once and for all, making the perfect atoning sacrifice for sin.  Through His shed blood alone, all that believe on Him are justified by faith before God and given eternal life in Christ.  (John 3:15-18; Acts 4:12; Romans 5:1, 8-10; 10:9-13; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 2:11; 3:5-7; Hebrews 9:11-15, 22; 10:11-14) 

That at the moment of salvation one is born again and made a new creature in Christ.  This new birth is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit whereby, those who receive Christ by faith are adopted into the family of God and made the children of God.  There will be a witness of the Holy Spirit whereby the believer may know that he is truly born of God.  (John 1:12; 3:3; Romans 8:15-17; II Corinthians 5:17; I John 3:1, 24)

That sanctification is that work of the Holy Spirit whereby the child of God is separated from sin unto God.  Sanctification is initiated at the moment of justification and regeneration.  From that moment there is a continuing gradual and progressive work as the believer walks with the Lord, growing daily in His grace.  Entire sanctification is wrought instantaneously when a believer presents himself wholly and unreservedly to God as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable, through faith in Jesus Christ.  This experience perfects the believer in love thereby enabling him to love the Lord with all his heart, soul, and strength, and to walk in His commandments blameless.  (Deuteronomy 6:5; 30:6; Ezekiel 36:25-27; Matthew 5:48; Romans 12:1-2; II Corinthians 6:17; 7:1; I Thessalonians 3:13; 5:23; Hebrews 12:14; I Peter 1:2; I John 4:16-17)

The unity of all true believers in one Body, whose founder and head is Jesus Christ.  The true Church includes the believers of every age, both living and dead, who have through faith in Christ, been made perfect unto eternal life.  The local church is that company of believers associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel.  Its ministry is to worship God, observe the sacraments, proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, make disciples of all nations, and to build up the body of saints.  (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; I Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:19-22; 4:4-5, 11-16; Colossians 1:18; Hebrews 12:23)

There are two and only two sacraments instituted by our Lord and enjoined upon all believers.  Baptism and the Lord's Supper.   Baptism in water is a symbolic expression of faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, with tis effect in our death to sin and resurrection unto new life.  The act of Baptism in no way conveys salvation, but rather is a testimony to the world of the grace of God unto salvation.  The Lord's Supper is the commemoration of the death of our Lord enjoined upon the church until He comes again.  (Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:38; 8:35-37; 10:47; Romans 6:3-4; Luke 22:15-20; John 6:53-56; I Corinthians 11:23-29)

The imminent, personal return of our Lord Jesus Christ to catch away  His people, at which time those who have fallen asleep in Christ shall be bodily resurrected and translated together with them that are alive and remain.  This blessed hope of all who believe will precede the Great Tribulation, which is the final outpouring of God's wrath against sin.  (John 14:1-3; Hebrews 9:28; I Thessalonians 4:16-17; Titus 2:13; I Corinthians 15:51-52)

That our Lord will physically return to earth, following the Great Tribulation, to vanquish the powers of evil,  to set up His Kingdom upon the earth, and to reign with His saints for a thousand years.  (Isaiah 11:6-9; Micah4:3-4; Zechariah 14:5; Matthew 24:27, 30; Revelation 1:7; 19:11-14; 20:4-6)

That there will be a final judgment wherein the wicked will be raised bodily from the dead and judged according to their works.  Whosoever is not found written in the Book of Life, together with the devil and his demons, the beast and the false prophet, and death and hell, will be relegated to everlasting punishment in the lake of fire, which is the second death.  (Mark 9:43-48; Revelation 19:20; 20:11-15; 21:8)

That the eternal destiny of  every man is determined in this life, and that all men will have a conscious, personal existence throughout eternity--the righteous in the eternal blessedness of God's presence, and the wicked in the eternal torment of separation from God.  (Daniel 12:2; Matthew 25:46)