The Scripture
We believe in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments alone as the verbal, plenary, inspired Word of God, without error and that it is our sole authority for faith and practice. We believe the Bible was providentially preserved as God's eternal Word (I Peter 1:23-25; II Peter 1:21; II Timothy 3:16-17). We believe in a dispensational understanding of the Bible based on the progressive unfolding of the divine mysteries from God, which result in distinguishable stewardships of God's truth (Hebrews 1:1-3; Ephesians 1:10).
The Godhead
We believe in one God, an eternal Spirit existing in three distinct uncreated Persons — God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit — yet One in essence and equal in every divine perfection and attribute (Deuteronomy 6:4, Matthew 3:13-17, 28:19; II Corinthians 13:14).
Jesus Christ
We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, God's eternal Son, who was begotten by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, and is truly God and truly Man, one person with two natures, divine and human (Matthew 1:18-20; John 1:1-2, 14). We believe the Lord Jesus Christ died as a substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of all men according to the Scriptures, and all who receive Him are justified on the grounds of His shed blood (1 Corinthians 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 3:21-26; Hebrews 2:9; 1 John 2:2). We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His bodily ascension into Heaven, and in His present life there as High Priest for us (Matthew 28:1-10; Acts 1:9; Hebrews 7:25-28). We believe in the imminent return of Christ, at which time all believers in Christ will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air (I Thessalonians 4:14-17; I Corinthians 15:51-53; Romans 5:9).
The Holy Spirit
We believe in the eternal deity and personality of the Holy Spirit, who is one of the three Persons of the Trinity. We believe the following are among His ministries: the restraining of evil in the world; the conviction of the world regarding sin, righteousness, and judgment; the calling and regeneration of all believers; the indwelling of those who are saved; and, the continued filling for power, teaching, and service of all among the saved who are truly yielded to Him (II Thessalonians 2:7, John 3:6, 16:7-11; Romans 8:9; Ephesians 4:30, 5:18). We believe the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit were temporary, miraculous in nature, prevalent in the church in the first centurry, and were foundational and transitional. We believe these are no longer needed today because the Scriptures have been completed (Hebrews 2:1-4; I Corinthians 13:8-12; Ephesians 2:20-22). We believe God, in accordance with His own will, does hear and answer prayer for the sick and afflicted (I Corinthians 13:8; James 5:14-16).
Man
We believe that man was created directly by God on day six of the literal creation week, in His image (James 3:9) and in a state of sinlessness (Genesis 1:26-31). We believe that originally man freely chose to transgress the well of God, and thereby, incurred sin, condemnation, physical and spiritual death (Genesis 3:1-7; Romans 5:12-19; Ephesians 2:1-3) so that man is a sinner by nature and by choice, completely depraved, destitute of any moral good, and utterly unable to merit God's favor or contribute to his salvation (Romans 3:10, 4:5-6; Jeremiah 17:9; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5).
Salvation
We believe in the salvation of sinners through the God-man, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, who is the only Savior of men by virtue of His shed blood and His substitutionary death for sinners. We believe that salvation is completely dependent on the grace of God, is a free gift of God that man cannot earn or merit in any way, and is appropriated by repentance and faith in the person and cross work of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We hold that in salvation the believer is called, regenerated, Spirit baptized into union with Christ, justified (including the forgiveness of sin and restoration to favor with God through the merit or righteousness of Christ), adopted, sanctified, and glorified (John 17:2). We believe that God secures and guarantees the final salvation of every true believer, and that the genuine believer will continue in his faith and will show evidence of that faith in how he lives his life. We believe all the elect of God, once saved, are kept by God's power and are secure in Christ forever. (John 1:13, 6:39, 14:6, 16:8-11; Romans 3:25, 5:1, 6:3-5, 8:15, 30, 37-39; Isaiah 53:4-6; Acts 20:21; Ephesians 2:8-10; Hebrews 10:10-14, I Corinthians 15:2; II Corinthians 5:17)
Sanctification
We believe sanctification is presented in three tenses in Scripture: (1) every saved person has been sanctified through the death of Christ; (2) is being sanctified by the Holy Spirit; and (3) will be completely sanctified at his glorification. Every believer has two natures, old and new. We believe the old nature is something we wrestle with and cannot be totally eradicated during this life. (Hebrews 10:10; John 17:17; Ephesians 5:25-27; Galatians 5:17; Romans 7:18-25)
Separation
We believe in the separation of the believer from all worldly practices (philosophies, goals, lifestyles, amusements, habits, and practices) that dishonor the Savior. (II Timothy 3:1-5; Romans 12:1-2; I John 2:15-17; II John 9-11
The Church
We believe the Church — a living, spiritual body of which Christ is the Head, and of which all regenerated people in this age are a part. We believe the Church is a body peculiar to the age of grace and entirely distinct from national Israel. We believe a local church is a company of believers in Jesus Christ, who come together upon a credible confession of faith and gather for worship, work of the ministry, evangelism, observance of the ordinances (baptism and the Lord's supper), and fellowship. We believe that God has ordained the local church as the representation of the universal church in this age of grace. Wee believe that each Christian should endeavor to be an active part of a local church, fulfilling their spiritual gifts as an important part of the body of Christ. (Matthew 16:16-18, 28:19-20; I Corinthians 12:12-17; Acts 1:8, 2:42-47; I Timothy 3:15-16; Ephesians 4:11-12)
The Ordinances
We believe there are two ordinances — water baptism and the Lord's Supper. Water baptism is accomplished through the immersion of a believer in water as a picture of a new birth. It is properly called "believer's baptism" because it is a declaration of that person surrendering their life to Jesus Christ. It is a picture of the washing away of the old man and the emergence of the new man through salvation. It sets forth, in a beautiful and solemn way, our identification with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, and the resultant responsibility to "walk in the newness of life." (Romans 6:4)
The Lord's Supper is the commemoration of the Lord's death until He comes. It is a reminder of our continual fellowship with Him, and shsould be preceded by careful self-examination. We believe that taking part in the Lord's Supper is open to anyone who is a follower of Jesus Christ, and that the elements of the Lord's Supper are representations of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 8:36-39; Romans 6:3-5; I Corinthians 11:23-32)
The Great Commission
We believe the Lord Jesus Christ has commissioned us to take the Gospel to the world and that evangelism and church-planting at home and abroad should be primary in the program of the local church, which includes baptism and instruction of believers. (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8)
The Last Things
We believe in the imminent rapture of the church to Heaven followed by a seven-year period of tribulation upon all the Earth. At the end of the period of tribulation, Jesus Christ will come back to Earth in power and glory with His Church to establish the promised Davidic Kingdom. Satan will then be bound, and Christ will reign for one thousand years during which time peace and righteousness will cover the earth, and Israel will be established in her own land. At the end of this glorious reign, Satan will be released, lead a rebellion against Christ, will be defeated, and will be forever banished to the Lake of Fire. The wicked dead will be judged at the Great White Throne and will be condemned to everlasting conscious punishment in the Lake of Fire. The righteous will be in eternal conscious blessedness in the presence of the Lord. (John 14:3; Matthew 24:21; Revelation 19:11-16; 20:1-3, 7-10; 21:1-15; Ezekial 39:25-29; I Thessalonians 4:17)
(Approved by Elder Board for website on 01/06/2011, with grammatical revisions on 10/28/2014.)