Beliefs

We believe that the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments are the only inspired and infallible Word of God. The Bible not only contains the Word of God, but is the Word of God, in that the Holy Spirit directed the writers, using their own unique personalities, to write the exact words He intended. The Scriptures are inerrant in the original writings and our final authority for belief and behavior (Psalm 119:105; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 1:1-2; 2 Peter 1:20-21).

We believe in the one and only true God, who is the creator, sovereign ruler, and sustainer of all things. God is completely perfect and holy, eternal, unchangeable, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, and full of love, justice, goodness, wisdom, and truth. God eternally exists and has revealed Himself in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who are equal in essence, power, and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections, but distinct in person and function. God has revealed Himself to us through the general revelation of His creation and special revelation of His Word (Gen. 1:1; Deut. 6:4, 7:9; Job 42:2; Psalm 19:1, 89:14, 90:2, 139:7-10; Matt. 28:19; Mark 4:39; John 4:24; Rom. 1:19- 20; Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 13:8; 1 Pet. 1:16).

Jesus Christ has always existed as the God, the Son. Jesus became a man through the incarnation to redeem humanity. As a man, He became both fully God and fully man. He was supernaturally conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus lived a sinless life and died a substitutionary death on the cross for the sins of humanity. He was buried, was raised bodily on the third day, and ascended into Heaven where He now intercedes for believers as our High Priest and Advocate. He will come again one day for His own (Luke 1:34-35; John 1:1-2, 1:18, 8:58-59; Acts 1:9-11; Rom. 3:23-26; Phil. 2:5-11; Heb. 4:15, 7:25, 9:24; 1 John 2:1).

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity and fully coequal with the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is actively ministering in the world by restraining evil and convicting the world of sin. His specific ministry for believers includes: regeneration, sealing, indwelling, and spiritually gifting. It is through yielding to the Holy Spirit that the believer is empowered for godly living and service. The Holy Spirit also guides, teaches, assures, comforts, and intercedes for believers. Every believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit and sealed for the day of redemption. (Matt. 28:19; John 3:6; 14:16-17, 16:8-11, 16:13-14; Acts 5:3-4; Rom. 8:9, 8:13, 8:26; 1 Cor. 2:10-11, 6:19, 12:4-11; 2 Cor. 1:22, 13:14; Eph. 1:13-14; 2 Thess. 2:6- 7; Tit. 3:5; 1 John 2:27).

Humans, both male and female, are uniquely created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27). In bearing God’s image, humanity has been created to reflect the glory of God. Through deliberate disobedience, Adam and Eve sinned and experienced both physical and spiritual death. Because of Adam’s sin the entire human race has inherited a corrupt nature, which is prone to sin and unable to please God. It is only through God’s gift of salvation that humans are able to be restored to fellowship with God. Believers are currently being transformed into the image of God and have the hope of one day bearing that image in glorified bodies untainted by sin and death. (Gen. 1:26-27, 2:17; Rom. 3:10-19, 3:23-26, 8:23; 1 Cor. 15:53-57; 2 Cor. 3:18; Eph. 2:1-3).

Sin is anything that does not conform to the moral character of God. Because of Adam’s original sin humanity has become alienated to God. Each person is born with a sin nature and deserving of separation from God forever. It is only through repenting of our sin and placing our faith in Jesus Christ that we can be forgiven from our sin and made right with God. Even upon salvation, the sinful nature is not eradicated, and it is only through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit that believers can live victoriously over sin (Gen. 2:17; Rom. 3:10-12, 23, 6:23, 8:11-14; Eph. 2:1-3, 12, 4:17-18; Gal. 5:16).

Because of God’s deep love for humanity, He provided a way for us to be brought back into fellowship with Himself. Salvation is only possible through faith in Jesus Christ alone. There is absolutely nothing one can do to earn or maintain salvation. It is entirely a gift from God received through faith alone. Jesus’ perfect sacrifice on the cross satisfied God’s righteous requirements for forgiveness. At the moment of salvation, the believer is forgiven, imputed with Christ’s righteousness, adopted into God’s family, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. All who have placed their faith in Jesus are kept secure and cannot lose their salvation (Rom. 3:24-25, 5:1, 8:9, 38-39; 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:24; Eph. 1:13-14, 2:8-10; Heb. 9:22; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:18-19).

The true church is composed of all believers in all places, who are united together in the Body of Christ, of which Christ is the head. The church began on the Day of Pentecost and will continue to fulfill its purpose until Christ’s return. The church exists as a universal organism, but also exists in a local body of believers, who have joined themselves together in love in order to carry on the mission of evangelizing the lost and discipling the believer (Matt. 16:18, 28:18-20; Acts. 2:1- 4, 42-47; 1 Cor. 12:12-13; Eph. 1:22-23, 4:4; 1 Thess. 4:13-17; Heb. 10:24-25).

Marriage is a picture of Christ’s relationship with His Bride – the church. He has established marriage as a lifelong, exclusive covenant between one man and one woman. God designed sexual intimacy exclusively for the marriage relationship and all sexual activity outside this relationship, whether heterosexual, homosexual, or otherwise, is contrary to God’s design and, therefore, sin. God created the human race male and female and all efforts to adopt a gender other than that is contrary to God’s design and, therefore, sin (Gen. 1:26-27, 2:24-25; Matt. 19:4-6; Rom. 1:18-31; Eph. 5:31-33; 1 Thess. 4:3-5).

We believe in the literal and imminent return of Christ. Preceding Christ’s return, the Rapture will occur, when both dead and living believers will be caught up together to meet the Lord and be with Him forever. Believers works will be judged at the Judgment Seat of Christ and they will receive rewards for what they have done in the body. Following the Rapture, there will be a seven-year period of Tribulation upon the earth during which God’s wrath will be poured out. Following the Tribulation, the Millennial Kingdom will be ushered in when Jesus Christ returns to the earth to rule sovereignly for a thousand years. The unsaved dead from all generations will be raised after the Millennium and will be judged at the Great White Throne. Those who have not placed their faith in Christ will be separated from God in eternal punishment (Dan. 7:13-14; Zech. 14:4-11; John 14:2-3; Acts 1:11; Rom. 14:10; 1 Cor. 3:8, 13-15; 2 Cor. 5:10; 1 Thess. 4:16-17, 5:9; Titus 2:13; Rev. 19:11-16, 20:4-6, 11-15, 21:1-8)

We believe that Jesus instituted two ordinances for the church to observe: Water Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These are open to all believers and are not means of salvation. We practice water baptism by immersion, which is a sign of one’s conversion, and the Lord’s Supper, which is a remembrance of Christ’s death and anticipation of His return (Matt. 28:19-20; Rom. 6:3-4; 1 Cor. 11:23-26; Col. 2:12- 13; 1 Pet. 3:21).