What We Believe

We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally inspired Word of God, the final authority of faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible and God-breathed.

We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections.

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and, that our justification is made by His literal and physical resurrection from the dead. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate.

We believe that the Holy Spirit is the Divine Person who convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment; gives eternal life to those who place their trust in Christ, unites all believers to Christ in one body by His baptizing ministry, indwells them permanently, seals them unto the day of redemption, fills (controls) those who are yielding to Him, and empowers them for service. He seeks to direct their attention not to themselves nor to their experience, but to Christ.

We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and, that man is totally depraved, and of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition.

We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins.

We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever.

We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh.

We believe that every saved person possesses two natures, with provision made for victory of the new nature over the old nature through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit; and, that all claims to the eradication of the old nature in this life are unscriptural.

We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord; and, that separation from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices and associations is commanded of God.

We believe that it is the obligation of the saved to witness by life and by word to the truths of Holy Scripture and to seek to proclaim the Gospel to all mankind.

We believe that enabling gifts for service are bestowed according to God’s sovereign will upon all believers by the Spirit of God to be exercised for the edification of the Church and for the glory of the Lord. We believe that the Biblical gift of speaking in tongues was speaking in existing languages which the speaker had never learned and that it was never the common nor necessary sign of the baptism or filling of the Spirit. We believe that some gifts of the Holy Spirit such as speaking in tongues and miraculous healings were given to be used as signs to authenticate the message of the first century church. We believe that while God may choose to heal supernaturally, the healing of the temporal body is not assured by Christ’s atoning work on the cross. We believe that the spiritual gift of apostleship is no longer given today having fulfilled its purpose to establish the Church and the New Testament documents. We believe those claiming to have the spiritual gift of prophecy must be tested in the same manner as Old Testament prophets – giving a near term prophecy that must come to pass. We believe the canon of Scripture is complete.

We believe that the Church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again persons of this present age. We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures. We believe that the ordinances of the church are baptism (which is properly administered by immersion) and the Lord’s Supper.

We believe in the dispensational view of Bible interpretation and recognize God’s program for Israel to be distinct from His program for the church.

We believe that Satan is a created, angelic being, the author of sin and the cause of the fall; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and, that he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire.

We believe in the “Blessed Hope” – the personal, imminent, pre-tribulation and premillennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones; and in His subsequent return to earth, with His saints, to establish His Millennial Kingdom.

We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment. We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, to be glorified forever with the Lord. We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in constant misery until the second resurrection when they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment (cf. Chronology of Eschatology chart).