What We Believe

We believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, equally in individual parts and in the whole and is inerrant in the original manuscripts. We further believe it is the supreme revelation from God and of God, superior to conscience and reason, though not necessarily contrary to them; and it is, therefore, our infallible rule in all matters. We believe that all Scripture centers around the Lord Jesus Christ and hence that no portion is properly read or understood until it leads to Him. (John 5:39, II Timothy 3:16-17; I Peter 1: 23-25; Hebrews 4:12).

We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and that these three are one God, having the same nature, attributes, and perfections, and are worthy of the same homage and obedience. (Matthew 28:18-19; Mark 12:29; John 1:14; Acts 5:3-4; II Corinthians 12:12; Hebrews 1:1-3; Revelation 1:4-6).

We believe in the pre-existence, Incarnation, and virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ who came into the world to reveal the Father and was the brightness of his glory and the express image of His person; that the Lord Jesus Christ was the Creator of all things, for by Him the worlds were made. We believe that He was very God and very Man, and I AM, the Jehovah of the Old Testament. We further believe in the sinless life of our Lord Jesus Christ, His miracles, His vicarious and atoning death, His bodily ascension into heaven, and His imminent return. We further believe that He is presently seated at the right hand of God the Father interceding for His redeemed. We also acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord over all things in heaven, and in the earth, and under the earth. (John 1:1-2; 1 Timothy 3:16; Acts 7:37-38; Philippians 2:9-10; Hebrews 7:25).

We believe that the Holy Spirit, though omnipresent from all eternity, after the glorification of Jesus Christ was sent on the day of Pentecost, dwells in every believer, unites all to Christ in one body, and is the source of all power and all acceptable service. We believe that ministries are committed to the Holy Spirit including the restraining of evil in the world; the convicting of the world respecting sin, righteousness, and judgment; the regenerating of all believers; the sealing of all believers unto the day of redemption; and the continued filling for power and service of those among the saved who are yielded to Him and to His will. We believe that the fruit of the Spirit is the manifestation of the character of Christ in the Believer’s life. We further believe that all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit are available to Christians today and that all of the gifts of the Spirit should be and must be operative in the church for the church to manifest her glory under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. (John 3:6; 14:16-17; Romans 8:9; 12:1-11; I Corinthians 6:19, 12:8-11; Galatians 5:22-23; Ephesians 2:22, 4:11-13).

We believe that God created an innumerable company of sinless spiritual beings known as angels; the one “Lucifer, Son of the Morning”, the highest in rank, sinned through pride, thereby becoming Satan; that a great company of the angels followed him in his moral fall and have now become demons and are active as his agents. (Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:11-19; II Peter 2:4; Jude 6).
We believe that Satan is the originator of sin, and that under the permission of God, he, through subtlety, led our first parents into transgression, thereby accomplishing their moral fall and subjecting them and their posterity to his own power, and that he is the enemy of God and His people. However, we also believe that Satan was defeated by Jesus Christ at Calvary and that He has delegated this authority over Satan to His body, the church. At the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, Satan will be bound and cast into the abyss for a thousand years, and after the thousand years, he will be loosed for a little season and then cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where he shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. (Genesis 3:1-19; Romans 5:12-14; II Corinthians 4:3-4, 11:13-14; Ephesians 6:10-12; II Thessalonians 2:4; I Timothy 4:1-3; Colossians 2:15; Revelation 20:1-3, 10).
We further believe that a great company of angels kept holy estate and are before the Throne of God, from whence they are sent forth as ministering spirits to minister to and for those who are the heirs of salvation. (Luke 15:10; Ephesians 1:21; Hebrews 1:14).

We believe that God sovereignly created the world out of nothing.  We further believe that man is a love creation of God created in the image and likeness of God. Man was given by God dominion over every living thing that moves upon the earth. (Genesis 1:1, 26-27, 2:4).

We believe that man, by the willful transgression of God’s command, betrayed God’s trust and sinned thereby falling from a state of righteousness and holiness in which he was first created into total spiritual depravity; a state of death in trespasses and sins in which he is held as a slave and an enemy of God, being unable to attain divine righteousness by his own efforts but must be redeemed and delivered by the power of the Gospel. We further believe that the fall of man brought a curse not only upon humanity but upon creation itself resulting in every form of sin, evil, sickness, disease, pain, poverty, death, and natural disasters upon the earth. (Genesis 3:14-19; Romans 3:23-25, 5:12-21, 8:19-23; I Corinthians 15:1-4; II Corinthians 4:3-4).

We believe that repentance and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ produce the work of justification in the believer through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Further, we believe that owing to universal spiritual death through sin, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless born of the Spirit. We also believe that our redemption has been accomplished solely by the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, who died as our substitute. (Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:8-9).

We believe that a continuous walk in grace should be the emphasis of heart righteousness and purity, believing in the keeping power of God, walking after the Spirit and not after the flesh, in conduct that demonstrates the character of Jesus Christ, not being conformed to the world, but is transformed by the renewing of the mind. We further believe that each believer must lay a foundation of Biblical truth and experience upon which he builds his life. Through the Lordship of Jesus Christ, these foundation stones are established in the new birth and include repentance from dead works, faith toward God, the doctrine of baptisms, laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. (Romans 4:1-5, 8:25, 12:1; I Corinthians 3:11; Galatians 5:16-25; Hebrews 6:1-2; Jude 24).

GENDER:  We believe that God created only two human genders: male and female. Every individual’s gender is a biological reality established by God at conception and is unalterable by the individual, family, or society. We believe that any attempt to alter biological gender or to live contrary to one’s biological gender is sin against God the Creator. (Genesis 1:27; 2:7, 21-23; Deuteronomy 22:5; Matthew 19:4)
 
SEXUAL INTIMACY:  We believe that God ordained in the creation of mankind that sexual intimacy occur between only one biological male and a one biological female who are married to each other. We believe that engagement in all intimate sexual activity outside of marriage, including adultery, fornication, homosexuality, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, pedophilia, pornography, and the like, is sinful and forbidden by God. (Genesis 2:21-23; Romans 1:24-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21)

MARRIAGE:  We believe that marriage sanctioned by God is an exclusive single union covenant between one adult biological male and one adult biological female for life as delineated in Scripture. (Genesis 2:18-24; Matthew 19:4-6)

ABORTION:  We believe that abortion is murder. We believe that human life begins at conception (Genesis 4:1; Psalm 139:13-16). We believe that each human being is pre-ordained by God before conception with a divine purpose and plan (Jeremiah 1:5). We believe that human beings bear the image and likeness of the Creator (Genesis 1:25-27). We believe that ending the life of the unborn is sin against the Author of Life, the image of God in man, and the value of human life.

We believe that Christ is our Great High Priest and through Him, every born-again person has direct access into God’s presence without the need of a human priest or human mediator; that the believer has the right and responsibility to personally study and interpret the Scriptures guided by the Holy Spirit. (John 14:6; Hebrews 4:16 II Timothy 2:15; I Peter 2:1, 5, 9; I John 2:27).

We believe that the New Testament teaches at least three baptisms.

First, there is the baptism whereby the repentant sinner, upon trusting Jesus Christ as his Savior, is baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ. (I Corinthians 12:13)

Second, there is water baptism by immersion for believers only. This we believe to be an ordinance of the church, whereby the believer experiences the reality of co-crucifixion and co-resurrection with the Lord Jesus Christ. (Matthew 28:19-20; Romans 6:3-6)

Third, there is the filling or baptism in the Holy Spirit by the Lord Jesus Christ, which may occur at or subsequent to conversion. We believe that speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance is the normative evidence of this baptism. Further, we believe that through the believer’s continued yeildedness to the Holy Spirit his very weakness is transformed into strength to witness for Jesus Christ in power and to live according to the will of God.  (Acts 1:5, 8, 2:4, 38, 10:46, 11:28, 19: 6).

We believe in the healing of the whole man (spirit, soul, and body) by Divine power, or Divine healing in its varied aspects as provided for through the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ and as practiced in the Early Church. (Isaiah 53:4-5; Matthew 8:17; Acts 4:30, 19:11; Romans 8:11; I Corinthians 12:9; James 5:14; I Peter 2:24-25).

We believe that there is one true universal Church, made up of genuine believers, but this one universal church is also composed of many local churches in given localities. We also believe these churches to be under the sovereign Headship of the Lord Jesus Christ, exercising autonomous government under Him, in all its local affairs and ministry, as well as the propagation of the Gospel. These local churches however are not to view themselves as unaccountable to other valid New Testament churches and leadership but are under spiritual obligation to uphold the standards of Christian doctrine, life, and practice according to the Holy Scriptures. We further believe that these churches, working independently or cooperatively, are the chosen instruments of God for the furtherance of God’s work upon the earth. While appreciating the work of parachurch groups, we believe that the local church is God’s chosen vehicle for world evangelism and the nurture of Christians. We further believe in the unity of all believers and in working together with others who believe in salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ for the cause of evangelism, missions, and benevolence. (Matthew 16:16-18, 18:15-20; John 17:21; Acts 15:22; Romans 12:5; Ephesians 1:20-23, 4:1-10; Colossians 3:14-15).

We believe that water baptism is for believers only and should be administered by the mode of immersion and in the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ to the glory of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We further believe that water baptism is the means whereby we outwardly witness to others, the New Covenant sign of circumcision of the heart. We also believe that we are identified with Jesus Christ and participate in His death, burial, and resurrection through water baptism. (Matthew 28:10-20; Acts 8:16; Romans 6:4).

We believe that through the Lord’s Supper the believer renews and affirms the reality of the New Covenant. It is a memorial commemorating the death of Jesus Christ for us and a reaffirmation of His imminent return. The elements are to be received with joy and gratitude upon confessions and repentance from every known sin. We also believe that this ordinance is open to all Christian believers who have no unconfessed sin in their lives

We believe that the whole purpose of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Therefore, we believe in the act of worshipping God with one’s total being as set forth in the Holy Scriptures. We believe that God desires worshippers who will worship Him in spirit and in truth as opposed to the external religious requirements of man. (Psalm 150; Mark 12:29-31; John 4:23-24; Ephesians 5: 18-21).

We believe in the divinely called, commissioned, and equipped five-fold ministries of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers as given to the church by the Lord Jesus Christ upon His ascension. We believe their purpose is to train and equip the saints for the work of the ministry unto the building up and maturing of the Body of Christ. We further believe in the ministry of duly qualified, recognized, and appointed Elders and Deacons in the local church. In addition, we believe that every Christian is called to be an ambassador for Christ in representing His character, ministry, and teaching to the lost. Every believer has been given the ministry of reconciliation. (Acts 6:1-6, 14:23, 15:4, 22-23; Ephesians 4:11-13; II Corinthians 5:20).

We believe in the doctrine of laying on of hands for the confirming of believers to commitment and ministry in the local church, the confirming of one’s call by God to special ministry in the local church (Acts 13:1,3), the imparting of spiritual gifts (I Timothy 4:14; II Timothy 1:6), the experiencing of the infilling of the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:17-18), the ministering of healing of the sick through the Lord Jesus Christ, (Mark 16:16), and the blessing and dedicating of children to the Lord (Mark 10:16). We further believe that, in obedience to the Holy Scriptures, we should lay hands on no man suddenly, but that the laying on of hands confirms a ministry that is already observable and has been proven. (I Timothy 5:22).

We believe that it is the explicit message of our Lord Jesus Christ to those whom He has redeemed, that they are sent forth by Him into the world to be witnesses of His saving grace, and that their primary purpose in life should be to glorify God by obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ’s command to preach the Gospel to every creature. (Matthew 28:18-19; Mark 16:15; John 17:18; Acts 1:8; II Corinthians 5:18-20; I Peter 1:17, 2:11).

We believe that all which was lost by the Fall is now being restored by Jesus Christ in and through His Church and that there will be the total and ultimate restoration of all things (those things prophesied in Scripture) by the Lord Jesus Christ. (Daniel 7:14; Acts 3:21; Revelation 21:1-5).

We believe that at death the spirits and souls of those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ pass immediately into His presence and there remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the glorified body, when Jesus Christ comes for His own, whereupon soul and body reunited shall be with Him forever in glory; but the spirits and souls of the unbelieving remain after death conscious of condemnation and in misery until the final judgment of the Great White Throne, when soul and body reunited shall be cast into the lake of fire, not to be annihilated, but to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power. (Luke 16:19-26; II Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; II Thessalonians 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Revelation 20:11-15).

We believe that human government is ordained of God, and the powers that be are ordained as ministers to us for good. To resist the powers and the ordinance of government is to resist the ordinance of God. We are to be subject not only for wrath’s sake but for conscience’s sake, rendering to all their dues, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. We believe our foremost allegiance is to God and His laws as revealed in Scripture. As citizens of this world, we recognize and submit to the ordinance of human government in all matters which are consistent with the Christian faith. (Romans 13)

We believe in the separation of Church and State, with each having definite and distinct spheres of responsibility and accountability to God. (Matthew 22:21; Romans 13:1-7)