WHAT WE BELIEVE
Statement of Fundamental Truths
THE SCRIPTURES INSPIRED
We believe … the Bible, consisting of the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, is the revelation of God to mankind, is verbally and fully inspired by Him, is sufficient for the knowledge of God and His will that is necessary for the eternal welfare of mankind, is infallible and inerrant in its original manuscripts, and is the supreme and final authority for all Christian faith and conduct.
(2 Timothy 3:16,17; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 Corinthians 2:13; Deuteronomy 29:29; 2 Timothy 3:15; John 10:35)
THE ONE TRUE GOD
We believe … that the one true God is in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each person is fully God. There is one God. We believe that God cannot be other than he is, for he is unchanging.
(John 1:3; 1 Cor. 8:6; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2)
JESUS CHRIST
We believe… Jesus Christ is true God and true man; that is, He is fully divine and also fully human. He preexisted eternally with the Father, was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, lived a perfect life and died a substitutionary death for the sins of mankind. We believe that He arose bodily from the grave, that He ascended to heaven, where He is presently High Priest and Advocate for His people, and that He will return personally and bodily to the earth at the close of this age. He is the world's only Savior and is the Lord of all.
(Philippians 2:5-11; John 1:1; Matthew 1:23-25; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 Corinthians 15:3; 1 Timothy 2:6; 1 Corinthians 15:20; Hebrews 4:14-16; John 14:3; Acts 4:12)
THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe… the Holy Spirit is a divine Person, the third Person of the Trinity. We believe that He was sent from the Father by the Son to convict the world, to regenerate and indwell those who trust in Christ, to baptize them into the Body of Christ, to seal them for the final day of redemption, to guide them into truth, to fill them for a life of holiness and victory and to empower them for witness and service. We believe that He gives spiritual gifts to believers for the proper functioning of the Body of Christ, which is the Church.
(Acts 5:3,4; John 16:7-14; 3:5-8; 1 Corinthians 2:9-12; 3:16; 12:3-13,28-31; Ephesians 1:13,14; Acts 1:8)
MAN
We believe … that man was originally created by a definite act of God in His own image and is dependent upon and accountable to his Creator. Through disobedience, the first man sinned and fell from his original state of moral perfection. As a consequence, he brought upon himself and upon the whole human race the penalty for sin, which is spiritual and physical death. Since Adam, every person is born with an inherently sinful nature and becomes a sinner in thought, word and deed. Every person, therefore, stands under the just condemnation of God and is unable to save himself or to present deeds worthy of merit before God.
(Genesis 1:26,27; 2:7; Romans 2:6-16; 5:12-21; 6:23 ; Matthew 5:20-48; John 3:36)
THE SALVATION OF MAN
We believe… that a person is saved by God's grace alone, made possible through the shed blood of Christ, whereby He died a substitutionary death for mankind, and through the Resurrection of Christ. Salvation becomes effective when a person, by an act of faith, acknowledges Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and Lord. The benefits of this salvation include the forgiveness of sins and a new standing before God, the impartation of new life and all the privileges that accompany a new family relationship with God. The assurance of salvation as a present possession is the privilege of every believer in Christ.
(Ephesians 2:8,9; 1 Corinthians 15:3; Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9; Acts 3:19; Romans 3:28; John 3:16; John 1:12; 10:28; Philippians 1:6)
THE ORDINANCES OF THE CHURCH
We believe … that Jesus Christ instituted two rites that his followers were to observe: baptism, a once-for-all rite following salvation as an outward symbol of beginning the Christian life (Matt. 28:19, Gal. 3:27), and the Lord's Supper, a regular rite of remembrance which has three levels of meaning for the believer. First, it has a past reference to Christ's death which we remember. Second, it has a present reference to our corporate feeding on him by faith, with implications for how we treat our fellow believers, and thirdly, it has a future reference as we look ahead to Christ's return (1 Cor. 11:23-26).
BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe … that the purpose of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is the releasing of His power in the life of the believer which results in an expansion of our capacity for worshiping, an extension of our dynamic for witnessing, and an expulsion of the adversary through our spiritual warfare. We teach that one of the evidences of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is witnessed by the initial sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives them utterance (Acts 1:8; 2:4; 1 Cor. 14:14) We believe that all who are saved have the Holy Spirit indwelling in them and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a secondary experience to salvation.
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
We believe… that God expects every believer to live a life of obedience, in which every area of his life is brought under the lordship of Jesus Christ and the fruit of the Spirit becomes increasingly evident in his life. The goal of the Christian life is to be conformed to the image of Christ. This life is characterized supremely by self-giving love for God and for others. The life and character of Christ, which grows through the Holy Spirit, is noticeably distinct from the life of the world. A believer who resists the gracious working of the Holy Spirit and fails to grow in obedience is chastened in infinite love by his Heavenly Father so he may learn obedience.
(John 14:21; 2 Corinthians 10:4,5; Galatians 5:22,23; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Matthew 22:37-40; 1 John 2:15-17; Hebrews 12:5-14)
THE CHURCH
We believe… that the Church of Jesus Christ is the universal company of God's redeemed people, His Body, of which He is the head, His Bride, whom He loves infinitely, and His temple, in which He dwells. This universal Body of Christ is visibly expressed in local assemblies, whose purpose is to glorify God through worship, fellowship, instruction in God’s Word, observing the ordinances and training in service to the world. The supreme task in the mission of the Church is to make disciples for Christ in all the nations through the proclamation and teaching of the Gospel. The Church is also to demonstrate the love and compassion of Christ, through word and deed, in an alienated world.
(1 Peter 2:9,10; Ephesians 1:22,23; 5:25-27; 2:19-22; 1 Thessalonians 2:14; Ephesians 3:6-10; Acts 2:42; Ephesians 4:11-13; Hebrews 10:25; Matthew 28:18-20; 26:26-29; 1 John 4:17)
DIVINE HEALING
We believe… that physical sickness came as a result of the fall of Adam, and illness and disease are simply part of the outworking of the curse after the fall, and will eventually lead toward physical death. Healing is an attribute of God's mercy toward those who are in distress. Healing provides opportunity for God to be glorified as people see physical evidence of his goodness, love, power, wisdom and presence. We believe that God does hear and answer the prayer of faith and will answer in accordance with His own perfect will for the sick, suffering, and afflicted
(Luke 18:1-8; John 5:7-9; 2 Cor. 12:6-10; James 5:13-16; 1 John 5:14,15; Isa. 53:4,5; 1 Peter 2:24;)
THE FUTURE LIFE
We believe… We believe in the imminent, pre-millennial return of Christ to take His people to be with Him and to judge and rule the earth in righteousness. We believe in the resurrection of the body for both believers and unbelievers. We believe that the believer goes to be with Christ in conscious blessedness immediately after death, having escaped the condemnation of his sins through the death of Christ. He will, however, stand before God to receive rewards for works approved by God or to suffer loss for works disapproved. The believer will live eternally in the immediate presence of God, while the unbeliever must face the eternal and holy Judge, who will sentence him for his sins. He will experience the punishment of eternal separation in hell from the presence of God.
(John 14:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17; Revelation 11:15; 1 Corinthians 15:20,23; Philippians 1:23; Romans 8:1; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 20:11-21:5; Romans 2:11)
THE MILLENNIAL REIGN OF JESUS
We believe… The revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ from heaven, the salvation of the nation of Israel, and the Millennial reign of Christ on earth is the Scriptural promise and the world’s hope.
(II Thess. 1:17; Rev.19:11-14; Rom.11:26-27; Rev. 20:1-7)
THE LAKE OF FIRE
We believe… The devil and his angels, the beast and the false prophet, and whosoever is not found written in the Book of Life, shall be consigned to everlasting punishment in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
(Rev.19:20; Rev.20:10-15)
THE NEW HEAVENS AND THE NEW EARTH
We believe… according to His promise, look for new heavens, and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness.”
(II Peter 3:13; Rev. 21 - 22)