Church Statement of Faith

Article I: Of the Scriptures

We believe that the Holy Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testaments alone, is verbally, plenarily inspired of God without error in the original writings and is the sole authority of faith and practice(1).  We believe in the innerant Word of God and it's wonderful preservation to us through good English translations.

We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense reveal divinely determined dispensations or rules of life which define man’s responsibilities in successive ages. These dispensations are not ways of salvation, but rather are divinely ordered stewardships by which God directs man according to His purpose. Three of these dispensations – the law, the church, and the kingdom – are the subjects of detailed revelation in Scripture(2).

Article II: Of the True God

We believe that there is only one living and true God, infinite in every excellence; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three personal distinctions – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – yet one in essence and equal in every divine perfection(3).

We believe in the absolute deity of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ; that He is divine as no other man can be, being very God of very God, existing from all eternity, co-equal with the Father and the Spirit; that He never ceases to be God for one instant; and that His humiliation did not consist in laying aside His deity but only the laying aside of the independent exercise of His divine attributes except as led by the Holy Spirit; that as a man He was miraculously conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary(4).

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person, equal with the Father and the Son and of the same essence and nature; that He convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment, bears witness to the truth, and is the agent of the new birth; and that He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses to, sanctifies, and helps the believer, indwelling every true child of God at the moment of salvation(5). We believe that the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues and the gift of healing, were temporary. Speaking in tongues was not and is not the common of necessary sign of the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit, and ultimate deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection, though God frequently chooses to answer the prayers of believers for physical healing(6).

Article III. Of the Devil, or Satan

We believe in the distinct personality of Satan; that he was an angel created perfect by God; that he rebelled and became the god of this age and the arch-enemy of both God and man and is doomed to eternal judgment in the lake of fire(7).

Article IV. Of the Creation

We believe that God created the heavens and the earth, including all life, “each after its own kind,” by direct and immediate act, and not by the process of evolution; that man was created in the image of God by a direct work of God and not from previously existing form of life; and that all men are descended from the historical Adam and Eve, first parents of the entire human race(8).

Article V: Of the Fall of Man

We believe that man, in the person of the first Adam, was created in innocence, but by voluntary transgression fell into sin, thus plunging the whole race into condemnation and death, so that now all mankind is born in sin and shapen in iniquity and become willful sinners with the first expression of personal choice, and so are without excuse before God and condemned to eternal punishment(9).

Article VI: Of the Redemption from Sin

We believe that the only escape from the condemnation of sin is through the redemption wrought by Jesus Christ when He voluntarily took upon Him a human body and nature, yet without sin, and, by His suffering, death by the shedding of His blood, and bodily resurrection made full satisfaction to the justice of God for the sin of man; that the blessings of this salvation are given on the grounds of grace to all who believe and confess; and that it is the immediate duty of all to accept these offers of mercy(10).

Article VII: Of Salvation by Grace

We believe that faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation from sin and that this salvation is wholly by grace; that no works, however good, make that salvation more secure(11).

We believe that all who take Christ as their Savior are born again from above and are eternally secure in Christ(12).

We believe in the Sovereignty of Almighty God and the fact that Christ died for whosoever will come.  A seeming paradox to our human mind but not to Almighty God.  

Article VIII: Of the Church

We believe that the Church is the company of all those who have been born of the Spirit of God and baptized by the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ; that this Church is the Body of Christ, the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the Bride of Christ; that during this dispensation all regenerated Jews and Gentiles are united in one true Church in Christ; and that someday Christ will present this Church to Himself without blemish(13).

We believe that a local church is a group of immersed (baptized) believers, called together by the Holy Spirit for the worship of God, edification of the saints, and worldwide dissemination of the Gospel, and is the only organization established by the Lord Jesus Christ for this purpose. It observes the ordinances of Christ, is governed by His laws, and exercises the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in it according to His Word. Its officers are pastor (bishop,elder) and deacons. It has the absolute right of self-government directed by the Holy Spirit, and it is answerable only to Christ, and, in all matters of membership, policy, government, discipline, and benevolence, the will of the local church is final(14).

We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach on the Savior and Lord. God commands His people to separate from all religious apostasy; all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices, and associations; and to refrain from all immodest and immoderate appearances(15).

Article IX: Of the Ordinances

We believe that there are two church ordinances: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water and is properly called “believer’s baptism.” It sets forth in a beautiful and solemn way our faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, with the effects of that faith in our lives as it produces death to sin and resurrection to a new life. Baptism is a prerequisite to the privileges or church membership. The Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of our Lord’s death until He comes and our continual fellowship with Him; it should be preceded by baptism and always by careful self-examination(16).

Article X: Of the Righteous and of the Wicked

We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that only such as through faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ are truly righteous in God’s sight; while all such who continue in unbelief are in His sight wicked and under condemnation; and that this distinction holds among men both during life and after death in the everlasting conscious happiness of the saved and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost(17).  

Article XI: Of the Return of Christ

We believe in the bodily, personal, pre-millennial return of Jesus Christ; that He will come before the seven-year tribulation period to catch away His Church, coming only into the air, and that He will come with His Church at the close of the tribulation to judge the living nations and to set up His Kingdom on Earth(18).

Article XII: Of the Resurrection

We believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. We also believe in the resurrections of the bodies of the dead; that the dead in Christ will be raised at His coming for His own and caught up with transformed living saints to meet the Lord in the air; and that the wicked dead will be raised at the close of the Millennial Kingdom and stand in their bodies at the Great White Throne of Judgment to receive their final doom(19).

Article XIII: Of Human Sexuality

We believe that God has commanded that no sexual activity be engaged in outside of marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form or homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, or pornography is sinful perversion of God’s gift of sex. We believe that God disapproves of and forbids and attempt to alter one’s gender by surgery or appearance(20).

We believe that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman(21).

Article XIV: Of Family Relationships

We believe that men and women are spiritually equal in position before God but that God has ordained distinct and separate functions for men and women in the home and the Church. The husband is to be the leader of the home, and men are to be the leaders (pastors and deacons) of the Church. Accordingly, only men are eligible for licensure and ordination by the Church(22).

We believe that God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. The husband is to love his wife as Christ loves the Church. The wife is to submit herself to her husband as the Church submits to the headship of Christ. Children are a heritage from the Lord. Parents are responsible for teaching their children spiritual and moral values and leading them through consistent lifestyle example and appropriate discipline, including Scriptural corporal correction(23).

Article XV: Of Sanctity of Life

We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused taking of unborn human life. Abortion is murder. We reject any teaching that abortions of pregnancies due to rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, birth or population control, or the physical or mental well-being of the mother are acceptable(24).

Article XVI: Of Music

We believe that God has made music an important part of the believer’s life and that it emanates from the Spirit-filled heart(25). Therefore, the believer associates himself only with music that is consistent with God’s character as revealed in His Word. This Church uses music that is biblical in content, edifying to the believer in message and presentation, and glorifying to God in intent and result. We strive to keep a biblical standard of music in our homes, as well as all Church activities, and we reject as unbiblical and ineffective that type of music which imitates the music of the unbelieving world while claiming to be a song of the Word.

 

 1. 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21

2. Genesis 1:28; 1 Corinthians 9:17; 2 Corinthians 3:9-18; Galatians 3:13-25; Ephesians 1:10,3:2-10; Colossians 1:24-25,27; Revelation 20:2-6

3. Exodus 20:2-3; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 1 John 5:7; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14

4. John 1:1-2; 1 John 5:20; Matthew 1:20; Luke 1:26-38

5. 2 Corinthians 13:14; John 14:16-17; Romans 8:14-27

6. 1 Corinthians 1:22, 13:18, 14:21-22

7. Matthew 4:1-3; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 20:10; Ezekiel 28; Isaiah 14:12-14

8. Genesis 1:2; Colossians 1:16-17; John 1:3

9. Genesis 3; Romans 5:10-19

10. John 1:1-3,14,3:1-7; Hebrews 10:14; Acts 16:30-33

11. Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7; Romans 10:9-13

12. John 10:28-29; Romans 8:35-39; Philippians 1:6

13. 1 Corinthians 12:12-28; Ephesians 1:22-23, 5:25-27

14. Matthew 18:15-17; 1 Corinthians 1:2, 6:4-5, 7:17, 11:16; 1 Timothy 3:1-16

15. Romans 12:1-2, 14:13; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; 1 John 2:15-17; 2 John 9-11

16. Acts 8:36-39; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32

17. Malachi 3:18; Romans 6:17-23; Matthew 25:34-41; Luke 6:25; John 8:21

18. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 19:11-21

19. John 5:21-30; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Revelation 7:9-17, 20:11-15

20. Genesis 2:24, 19:5,13, 26:8-9; Leviticus 18:1-30; Romans 1:26-29; 1 Corinthians 5:1, 6:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4

21. Genesis 2:24; Romans 7:2; 1 Corinthians 7:10; Ephesians 5:22-23

22. Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:18; 1 Timothy 2:8-15, 3:4-5,12

23. Genesis 1:26-28; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Psalm 127:3-5; Proverbs 19:18, 22:15, 23:13-14; Mark 10:6-12; 1 Corinthians 7:1-16; Ephesians 5:21-33; Colossians 3:18-21; Hebrews 13:3; 1 Peter 3:1-7

24. Job 3:16; Psalm 51:5, 139:14-16; Isaiah 44:24, 49:1,5; Jeremiah 1:5, 20:15-18; Luke 1:44

25. Ephesians 5:18-21; Colossians 3:16-17

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