The Bible
We believe the Holy Bible is the Word of God and is free from all contradictions and errors in it’s original manuscripts. The Bible is the only reliable, trustworthy, authoritative and infallible rule and guide for faith and life. Except in instances of obvious figurativeness the Bible is to
be adhered to as literally as possible. The Apocrypha of the Roman Catholic Church is not inspired nor part of the canon of scripture.
(2 Peter 1:21, 2 Timothy 3:16)
God
The only supreme being is God in all of existence, in all places, and in all time. No other gods were created before or after Him. God has always been God and never anything else. God is Holy, Eternal, Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient, etc. He is Love, Light, Spirit, Truth,
Creator, etc. God is to be worshiped, served, and proclaimed.
(Isaiah 43:10, 44:6, 44:8; 1 Timothy 1:17; Psalm 90:2; Revelation 4:8; Isaiah 57:15, Jeremiah 32:17,27; Psalm 139:7; 1 John 3:20; 1 John 4:8,16; 1 John 1:5; John 4:24; Psalm 117:2; Isaiah 40:12, 22,26; Genesis 24:26; Exodus 4:31; 2 Chronicles 29:28; 1 Chronicles 14:25; Revelation 7:11; Matthew 4:10; 1 Chronicles 6:19; Philippians 3:7; 1 Thessalonians 1:9; Hebrews 9:14; Matthew 28:19; John 14:15; Acts 1:8)
The Trinity
God is one in whom the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three eternal, distinct and simultaneous persons. All three are the one eternal God, co-equal. There is only one God – not three gods, and not one person who took three modes, offices, or forms.
(Isaiah 44:6,8; 45:5; Genesis 1:26-27; 3:22; Matthew 3:17; 28:19; Luke 9:35; 2 Corinthians 13:14)
Jesus Christ
Jesus is the Word (God) (Logos) who became a man in the flesh. He added human nature to His divine nature. Jesus has two natures because He is both human and divine. He is one person – not two. He presently is one person, a man, with two natures – one nature is wholly God and the other nature is wholly man. Jesus intercedes for believers eternally as a high priest after the order of Melchizedek and He will remain eternally as a man.
(Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 2:9; 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 1:5-13; John 1:1-3,14; Hebrews 6:20; 7:25)
The Virgin Birth
Jesus was miraculously conceived via divine intervention and born of the virgin Mary. Mary ceased to be a virgin after the birth of Jesus.
(Luke 1:42; Matthew 1:25)
The Resurrection of Christ
Jesus rose from the dead after being in the grave for three days. He rose in the same body in which He died. He was raised in a glorified physical body which still retains the wounds of His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven bodily where He sits at the right hand of the Father, and rules heaven and earth. Christian believers will also be raised bodily from the dead and will be with the Lord for eternity.
(John 2:19; 1 Corinthians 15; Luke 24:39)
The Atonement
God the Father so loved us that He sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, the Word, who became man, bore our sins in His own body on the cross, and died in our place. He suffered the consequences of breaking the law which is physical and spiritual death, which was due
us. Jesus Christ became sin on our behalf and His sacrifice was a legal substitution for us. It was legal in that sin is breaking the law of God and substitutionary because Christ took our punishment and tasted death for everyone. As a result, God's justice was satisfied and Christian believers are released from eternal punishment. The debt that our sin brings against us has been canceled.
(1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 3:4; Romans 6:23; Isaiah 59:2; 53:4-6; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 John 2:2;
John 19:30; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 3:4; Isaiah 53:4-6; Hebrews 2:9; 1 Peter 3:18; Matthew 1:21;
24:46; Romans 5; 1 John 2:2; Colossians 2:14)
Baptism
Baptism, while not a requirement of salvation is an important act of obedience for a Christian and signifies a person's identification with Jesus Christ. Baptism is an outward manifestation of the inward reality of trust and belief in Christ, of conversion, and of identification with Christ. We are made right before God by grace through faith – not by faith and baptism. The act of water baptism in no way saves anyone.
(Romans 3:28-30; 4:3,5; 5:1; Galatians 2:16,21; Philippians 3:9; Acts 10:44-48)
The Human Condition
Man is by nature fallen, corrupt, and wicked. The consequences of the unregenerate person’s sinfulness who has not trusted in the redemptive sacrificial work that Christ completed on the cross is eternal punishment in hell and separation from the glorious presence of God. Man believes in God only by God's grace through faith and is unable to draw near to God through his own efforts. Man cannot be born again by his own will, nor can he understand the spiritual things of God on his own. Man cannot earn salvation through any attempts of his own at good works. Once a man is saved he cannot maintain his salvation through his good works.
(John 6:28-29; 15:5; Philippians 1:29; John 6:44; Romans 3:10-12; John 1:13; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Romans 8:7; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 4:1-6; Galatians 3:1-3; Ephesians 2:1-3; Romans 6:23)
Divine Election
God has elected or chosen people for salvation.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:13, But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.
- Ephesians 1:4-5, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
- Romans 8:30, And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
- Romans 9:16, So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
Salvation
Salvation is being saved from the righteous judgment of God upon the sinner and is only obtained by grace alone, through faith alone, in the work of Jesus Christ alone. We are not saved by our good works. We are chosen by God for salvation.
(John 3:16; Romans 3:20; Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Thessalonians 2:13)
Justification by Grace Alone through Faith Alone
Justification is to be declared legally righteous by God. Justification is received by faith alone, through the work of Christ which fulfilled the law in His earthly ministry, and His removing of sin by His sacrifice. Justification is a gift from God and is received apart from the works of the law.
(Romans 4:1-6; 1 Peter 2:22; Romans 3:24; Romans 3:28; Galatians 2:21)
Regeneration
Regeneration occurs with faith and is the work of God. Through regeneration a person is made a new creation and is then able to resist sin and seek to increase in sanctification before the Lord. Consequently, the regenerated no longer seek to abide in sin though they do fall into it, but wage war against it and repent of sin before the Lord.
(2 Corinthians 5:17)
Eternal Security
Christ has accomplished all that is needed for our salvation. He tells us in John 10:27-28, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”
(John 10:27-28; 1 John 2:19; Romans 5:21-6:2; 2 Timothy 2:25)
Sanctification
Sanctification is by God’s grace, the process by which the Holy Spirit makes us more like Jesus Christ and increases our ability to repent from sin. This process of sanctification continues throughout the Christian's life and is the result of salvation – not a cause of it, nor a contributing factor to it. The effort of sanctification does not maintain the believer’s salvation.
(1 Thessalonians 4:7; Ephesians 2:10; 1 Timothy 4:4; 1 Peter 3:15; 2 Timothy 2:25)
The Christian Church
The true Christian Church is that body of true believers wherever they might be. There is no single earthly ecclesiastical body that is the true church.
The Second Coming
The Lord will return from heaven to earth bodily and visibly with great glory and majesty. Marriage and the Family
God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God’s unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the
human race.
The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God’s image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect,
and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.
Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God’s pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.
(Genesis 1:26-28; 2:15-25; 3:1-20; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Joshua 24:15; 1 Samuel 1:26-28; Psalms 51:5; 78:1-8; 127; 128; 139:13-16; Proverbs 1:8; 5:15-20; 6:20-22; 12:4; 13:24; 14:1; 17:6; 18:22; 22:6,15; 23:13-14; 24:3; 29:15,17; 31:10-31; Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; 9:9; Malachi 2:14-16; Matthew 5:31-32; 18:2-5; 19:3-9; Mark 10:6-12; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 7:1-16; Ephesians 5:21-33; 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Timothy 5:8,14; 2 Timothy 1:3-5; Titus 2:3-5; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 3:1-7.)