Statement Of Faith

We believe that—

  1. The Bible is inspired of God, inerrant in the original documents, and the only official authority in all matters of faith and practice [2 Tim. 3:16-17].
  2. There is One God, eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit [Deut. 6:4; Matt. 3:16-17; Rom 3:29-30; 1 Cor 12:4-6; 2 Cor 13:14; Eph 4:4-6; 1 Pet 1:2; 1 Tim 2:5].
  3. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is himself fully God, of the same substance with the Father, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and Spirit [John 1:1; 1:14; Rom 9:5; Col 2:9; Heb 1:8].
  4. In this same Jesus also God became man, being born of a virgin, so that in his one person he is and remains forever both fully God and fully man at the same time—the God-man [Matt 1:16; John 1:1, 14; Matt 1:23; cf. Isa 7:14; 1 Tim 3:16].
  5. Jesus lived a sinless life, so that by his own sacrifice of himself he vicariously atoned for the sins of all who believe in him [John 8:46; 2 Cor 5:21; Heb 4:5; 7:26; 1 Pet 2:22; 1 John 3:5].
  6. Jesus rose bodily from the dead on the third day, ascended to the Father’s right hand, and will personally return in great power and glory [Matt 28:1-7; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-35; John 20:1-10; Acts 1: 9-11; 2:24, 35; 1 Cor 15:3-4; Rev 19:11-20:10].
  7. The Holy Spirit is both a person and God as well, the third member of the Trinity [See Trinitarian passages above; also, Acts 5:3-5; 1 Cor 2:10-11; cf. Ps 139:7-8].
  8. Although mankind was created in the image and likeness of God, and without sin [Gen 1:26-28], he fell through disobedience into a state of being lost, totally depraved, unable on his own to turn to God [Rom 3:9-18, 23; 5:12-21; Eph 2:1-3], [and in need of regeneration by the Holy Spirit [John 3:3-8; Titus 3:5].
  9. Salvation, therefore, is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and redemption is wholly the accomplishment of Christ and his finished work on the cross [Rom 3:21-31; 4:1-8; 5:1-11; 6:23; Gal 2:15-16; Eph 2:8-9; Titus 3:5].
  10. Therefore, the atonement provided by the finished work of Christ is understood as penal and substitutionary, which means that Christ became the substitute, bearing in himself the wrath of God in our stead [Mark 10:45; 2 Cor 5:15; Gal 2:20; 3:13; Eph 5:2; 1 Tim 2:5-6; Tit 2:14].
  11. Because salvation is by grace alone, all those who have received this salvation is eternally secured, being indwelt and sealed by the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption. Therefore, all true believers are possessed with eternal life, being sanctified and sealed by the Holy Spirit and secured for all eternity [John 10:30; 14:17; 17:12; Rom 8: 31-39; Eph 1:13-14; Phil 1:6].
  12. However, a Christian can, through sin, lose his fellowship, joy, power, testimony and reward, and incur the Father’s chastisement [1 Cor. 11:29f]. Relationship is eternal, being established by the new birth [John 3:3-8; cf. 1:12]; fellowship, however, is dependent upon obedience [Jn. 15:1–11; 1 John 1:6-8].
  13. With the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost, God began the final gathering together of his people in the church, composed of all true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, united to him and to one another by the indwelling of the Spirit, as a living organism in the one body of Christ [Acts 2:1f; 1 Cor 12:12-13; Eph 2:11-22].
  14. As the risen and exalted head of the church, Christ has given gifts and gifted people to the church to equip the saints for the work of ministry and to edify the body as a whole [Eph 4:11-16; 1 Cor 12:1-30; Rom 12:4-8].
  15. There are two ordinances of the church, namely, baptism and the Lord’s Supper or communion.
    * Baptism is by immersion to signify the believer’s identification with Christ in his death    burial and resurrection, with the consequence of walking in newness of life [Matt 28:19; Acts 2:41; Rom 6:1-11].
    * The Lord’s Supper is a memorial feast, instituted by the Lord Jesus himself for us to remember him in his death until he returns [Matt 26:26-29; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Cor 11:23-32].
  16. That just as Jesus was physically raised from the death, there will be a physical, bodily resurrection from the dead, although there will be a separate resurrections for the saved and the lost—the saved being raised unto eternal life, and the lost to eternal damnation of separation from God [Dan 12:2; Matt 15:46; John 5:29; Rev 20:4-15].