Doctrinal Statement
THE SCRIPTURES
We believe that the Bible is the Word of God. The words, not the writers, were divinely inspired and it is God’s revelation of Himself to man. The Bible is inerrant in the original writings, and is the supreme standard by which all human conduct and religious opinions should be tried. II Tim. 3:15-17; II Peter 1:21.
GOD
We believe that there is one God eternally existing in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, and the stream of human history moves according to the purpose of His grace. God the Son was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He is true God and man. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. In His death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin by becoming the substitutional sacrifice for sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body. He ascended into Heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of God. He will return in power and glory to receive His disciples and will ultimately judge the world. God the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person who enables men to understand truth, imparts new life to those who meet the conditions of salvation, and imparts gifts of soul-winning and service to every member of the Church, which is His body. Matt.28:18, 19; Mark 12:29; John 1:14; Acts 5:3, 4; II Cor. 13:14; Heb. 1:1-3; Rev. 1:4-6.
MAN
Man was created by the special act of God, in His own image, and is the crowning work of God’s creation. By his free choice, through the temptation of Satan, man sinned against God, and thereby incurred not only physical death, but also spiritual death, which is separation from God. Gen. 1:26, 2:17, 6:5; Rom. 3:10-19.
SALVATION
Salvation is the entire work by which God rescues man from his sinful state. It is offered to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Justification is the gracious and full acquittal, which is wrought by faith in the blood of Jesus Christ. Sanctification is the experience by which the believer is set apart to God’s purpose, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual perfection (at His coming), through the Holy Spirit who dwells in, and seals him. Glorification is the culmination of salvation, and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed. John 5:24; 14:16, 17; 17:17; II Cor. 3:18; Heb. 10:10, 14; 12:10.
THE CHURCH
A New Testament Church is a local body of baptized believers whose main purpose and responsibility before God is to evangelize the world and train believers for service. Gal. 1:1-2; I Cor. 1:2; Acts 11:26; Matt. 28:19, 20; Heb. 10:24, 25.
LAST THINGS
God will bring the world to its appropriate end in His own time and way. Jesus Christ will return personally in the air and take His Church to glory at the Rapture. There will follow a period of seven years of tribulation; then follows the Revelation of Christ at the end of the Tribulation Period for the judgment of the nations and the establishment of His Millennial Kingdom on earth; then follows the resurrection of the unsaved who appear at the Great White Throne for judgment; all the lost are cast into the Lake of Fire. God creates a new heaven and earth, which will last forever. John 14:1,3; I Cor. 15:51; Dan. 9:27; Rev. 6:1-17; Matt. 24:15-21; Isa. 11:9; Matt. 25:41-46; II Thess. 1:7-9; Rev. 20:11-15.
CREATION
God created all things by Jesus Christ according to the inerrant, literal Genesis account in six literal days and did not use “theistic” evolution over eons of time. Scientific creationism best harmonizes with the Biblical record of origins of life and the universe Gen. 1:1; John 1:1-4. SATAN We believe in the existence of a personal, evil being called Satan, who acts as tempter and accuser, for whom the place of eternal punishment was prepared, where all who die outside of Christ shall be confined in conscious torment for all eternity. Gen. 3:1-19; Rom. 5:12 - 14; II Thess. 2:4.