The Scriptures

We believe the Bible, the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament, is the written word of God. We believe the Scriptures were written by men who were divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit, and thus are without error in their original manuscripts. The Scriptures are the supreme authority of all life, practice, and doctrine. The Bible leads us to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

Psalm 19.7; Matthew 4.4; 5.18; Mark 13.31; John 10.35; 14.26; 16.12-15; 20.31; Acts 20.32; 1 Cor 2.10-11; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21

God

We believe that there is one and only one living and true God, the Creator and Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth. God is inexpressibly glorious in holiness and worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love. In the unity of the Godhead there are three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, equal in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.

Exodus 20:2–3; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Revelation 4:11

God the Father – We believe that God the Father, the first Person of the Trinity, orders and accomplishes all things according to His own purpose and grace. As the only absolute and omnipotent Ruler in the universe, He is sovereign in creation, providence, and redemption. His fatherhood involves both His designation within the Trinity and His relationship with mankind. As Creator, He is Father to all humanity, but He is spiritual Father only to believers. He has decreed for His own glory all things that come to pass. He continually upholds, directs, and governs all creatures and events. He has graciously chosen from eternity past those whom He would have as His own. He saves from sin all who come to Him through Jesus Christ. He adopts as His own all those who come to Him, and He becomes, through adoption, Father to His own.

Psalm 103:19; 145:8-9; Romans 8:14-15; 11:36; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 2 Corinthians 6:18; Ephesians 1:4-6; 1:11; 4:6; 1 Chronicles 29:11; John 1:12; Galatians 4:5; Hebrews 12:5-9

God the Son – We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. He was not created, but is the Second Person of the Trinity. He came into this world as foretold in the Scriptures to manifest God to mankind and to be the Redeemer of the sinful world. Jesus took upon Himself human flesh and a sinless human nature through the supernatural conception by the Holy Spirit in a virgin, Mary. Jesus was both fully God and fully man, and His earthly life sometimes functioned in the realm of the humanly and at other times in the realm of the divine. He came to die for the sins of the world—the just for the unjust. Jesus Christ alone is the full and complete propitiation for sin—the full satisfaction of the Father's justice regarding sin. He rose from the dead, according to the Scriptures, retaining the same body, though glorified. His bodily resurrection and ascension into heaven, where He now serves as the High Priest for the redeemed of God and head over the Church, gives proof to the truth that His sacrificial death was fully acceptable to the Father for sin. 

Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6; 53:1ff; Micah 5:2; Luke 1:30–35; 24:34–39; John 1:1–2; 20:20; Acts 2:22–6; Romans 3:25–26; Colossians 1:16-17; Hebrews 1:3; 2:17; 4:14–15; 7:25; 10:1–14

God the Holy Spirit – We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person, equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature. He was active in the creation. He restrains the evil one until God's purpose is fulfilled. He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. He bears witness to the truth of the Gospel in preaching and testimony, and He is the agent in the new birth. He seals, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies, and helps the believer.

Genesis 1:1–3; Matthew 28:19; John 14:16–17, 26; 16:8–11; Hebrews 9:14

The Fall of Man

We believe that God made man and woman in his own image, as the crown of creation that they might have fellowship with him. However, they willfully sinned against God leading to physical, spiritual, and eternal death; becoming subject to divine wrath; and are under the dominion of sin and Satan. As a result, all human beings are born with a nature corrupt and wholly opposed to God and his law, are sinners by choice, and are under condemnation to eternal ruin without defense of excuse.

Genesis 1.26-27; 2.16-17; 3.1-7, 14-19; 6.5, 12; 8.21; Deuteronomy 30.19-20; Jeremiah 17.9; Romans 3.9-20; 5.12; 6.21, 23; 7.13; 8.6-8; 9.22; Ephesians 2.1-3; 2 Thessalonians 1.9; James 1.14-15; 1 John 3.14; Revelation 21.8

Regeneration

We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be regenerate or born again. Regeneration is a work of the Holy Spirit whereby a change of heart occurs in a person bringing about life in the place of death and peace with God in the place of hostility towards him. The result of regeneration is a new life no longer under condemnation, but one marked by repentance, faith, and newness of life. 

Ezekiel 36.25-26; John 1.13; 3.3-8; 6.65; 2 Corinthians 5.17; Ephesians 2.1-9; Titus 3.5; 1 John 5.1

Repentance And Faith

We believe that salvation is conditioned upon genuine repentance and faith, which follow upon God’s drawing of sinners through the gospel. Repentance occurs when, by the Holy Spirit, a person is made sensible of the manifold evil of his/her sin, detests, and forsakes it, humbles himself/herself with godly sorrow, and endeavors to walk before God to please him in all things. Saving faith is the belief, on God’s authority, of whatever is revealed in his word concerning Christ and accepting and resting upon him alone for justification and eternal life. It is accompanied by all other saving graces and leads to a life of holiness.

Proverbs 28.13; Matthew 3.8-10; Mark 1.14-15; John 3.16, 36; 5.24; 6.40, 44; Acts 2.37-38; 11.18; 13.38-39; 17.30; 20.21; Romans 2.4-5; 3.21-28; 4.1-5; 4.16-25; 5.15-21; 6.23; 8.1; 10.3-4, 14-17; 2 Corinthians 5.21; 7.10-11; Ephesians 2.8-10; Philippians 1.29; 3.9; Hebrews 11.6; James 2.14-26

Sanctification

We believe that sanctification is the process by which, according to the will of God, we are made partakers of his holiness; that it is a progressive work; that is begun in regeneration; and that it is carried on in the hearts of believers by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, the Sealer and Comforter, in the continual use of the appointed means – especially the word of God, self-examination, spiritual disciplines, confession, worship, and prayer. 

John 17.17, 19; Romans 12.1-2; 1 Corinthians 1.30; 6.11; 2 Corinthians 3.18; Philippians 1.9-11; 2.12-13; 3.12-16; 1 Thessalonians 4.3-7; 5.23-24; Hebrews 2.11; 6.1; 10.10; 12.10; 1 Peter 2.2; 2 Peter 1.5-8; 1 John 2.29

Perserverance of Saints

We believe that those whom God has accepted in Christ and sanctified by his Spirit will never totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace but shall certainly persevere to the end and though they may fall, through neglect and temptation, into sin, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, bring reproach on the Church and temporal judgments on themselves, yet they shall be renewed again unto repentance and be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

Jeremiah 32.40; John 8.31; 17.20-26; Romans 8.28-39; Philippians 1.6; Hebrews 13.5; 1 John 2.19; 2.27-28; 3.9; 5.12, 18

The Church

We believe in the universal church, a living spiritual body of which the Lord Jesus Christ is the Head, and all regenerated persons are members. We believe in the autonomous local church, consisting of baptized believers in Jesus Christ, who have given a credible profession of faith and have covenanted together for worship, edification, discipline, fellowship, and spreading of the gospel. We believe that the Biblical offices are elders and deacons.

John 10.16; Acts 1.8; 2.42; Ephesians 1.22-23; 2.19-22; 4.11-16; 5.19-21, 23; Colossians 1.18; 3.16; Hebrews 3.13; 10.24-25

Ordinances of the Church

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has committed two ordinances to the local church – Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism is obligatory upon every believer, wherein a person is immersed in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit as a sign of their fellowship with the death and resurrection of Christ and the remission of sins.

We believe that the Lord’s Supper is in no sense a sacrifice, but was instituted by Christ to commemorate his death, to confirm the faith and other graces of Christians, and to be a pledge and renewal of their communion with him and with one another. We believe that these two ordinances should be observed and administered until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Matthew 26.26-29; 28.18-20; Acts 2.38; Romans 6.3-5; 1 Corinthians 10.16-17; 11.23-31; 12.13; Galatians 3.27; Colossians 2.11-12

The Family

We believe that every person is created in the image of God, that human sexuality reflects that image in terms of intimate love, fellowship, and subordination of the self to the larger whole. We believe that God creates people as male or female, and that gender is determined by God for their good and his glory and therefore is not to be denied or altered. God’s word makes use of the marriage relationship as the supreme metaphor for his relationship with his covenant people and for revealing the truth that this relationship is of one God with one people.

Therefore God’s plan for human sexuality is that it should be expressed only in a monogamous, lifelong relationship between one man and one woman within the framework of marriage. This is the only relationship which is divinely designated for the birth and rearing of children and is a covenant union made in the sight of God, taking priority over every other human relationship. Any sexual activity outside of a monogamous, heterosexual marriage is sin. 

Genesis 1:27-28, 2:20-24, Mark 10:6-9, Hebrews 13:4, I Corinthians 6:9-10, Romans 1:26-27, Ephesians 5:22-33

The Last Things

We believe in the personal and visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth and the establishment of his kingdom. We believe in the resurrection of the body, the final judgment, the eternal joy of the righteous, and the endless suffering of the wicked.

Matthew 16.27; 25.31-46; Mark 14.62; John 5.28-29; 14.3; Acts 1.9-11; 17.31; Romans 2.6-11; Philippians 3.20; 2 Timothy 4.1, 8; Titus 2.13; 1 Corinthians 4.5; 15.12-28; 2 Corinthians 5.1-10; 1 Thessalonians 4.15-17; 2 Thessalonians 1.7-10; Revelation 20.4-6,11-15