The Bible

We believe that

  1. The Bible, which comprises the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, is the verbally and wholly inspired Word of God, inerrant in the original documents.

  2. The Bible is the final authority in all matters of our faith and practices.

  3. The apocryphal books are not canonical.

The Triune God

We believe that

  1. There is one God existing in three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

  2. The Three are eternal in being, identical in nature and attributes, and equal in power and glory.

God the Father

We believe that

  1. God the Father plans, supervises, and works all things after the counsel of His will.

  2. He is the source of the believer's provision.

God the Son

We believe that

  1. The Son became true man without ceasing to be true God.

  2. In the Son’s Incarnation perfect humanity and undiminished deity were united in one Person forever, without confusion of the divine and human natures.

  3. In the Son’s Incarnation, He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.

  4. The Son was called Jesus Christ, was crucified as a substitutionary sacrifice, was buried, was physically resurrected from the dead and was seen alive by many.

  5. The Son physically ascended from the earth.

  6. The Son now sits in His glorified body at the right hand of the Father as Intercessor, Advocate, and High Priest for His people.

God the Holy Spirit

We believe that

  1. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.

  2. The Holy Spirit regenerates those who accept His witness and, at their salvation, He

    1. Baptizes them into the body of Christ

    2. Permanently indwells them and seals them to the day of redemption

    3. Sanctifies, comforts, encourages, and leads them through life

    4. Fills them when they are without unconfessed sin in their lives

    5. Gives at least one spiritual gift as a manifestation of the Spirit and for the common good and edification of the Church.

  3. The gifts of tongues, interpretation of tongues, miracles, healing, apostleship, and prophecy (in the sense of receiving new revelation) ended in the first century A.D., but God Himself still heals sicknesses and performs miracles in accordance with His own sovereign will and the prayers of His children.

Sin

We believe that man is under the triple curse of

  1. Imputed sin—the judicial share in responsibility for Adam's original sin

  2. Inherent sin—the inherent capacity and desire to sin

  3. Personal sin—volitional decisions to commit acts of sin

Salvation

We believe that

  1. The substitutionary work of Christ is unlimited in scope, sufficient for all but efficient to only those who believe.

  2. Every individual is free to accept or reject Christ’s work on his or her behalf.

  3. Salvation is obtained solely and simply by accepting, by faith, the work of Christ on one’s behalf.

  4. Salvation can never be lost.

The Christian Life

We believe that

  1. All Christians are called to conduct their lives in godliness. Christians are saved for the purpose of performing good works.

  2. The Adamic nature is not eradicated in this life, and, therefore, Christians are called to live by the power of the Holy Spirit so as not to fulfill the desires of the Adamic nature.

  3. The conduct of Christians should be characterized by love for God and love for their neighbors, especially for fellow Christians.

  4. For believers, forgiveness and restoration of fellowship with God is based on the sacrifice of Christ and conditional merely on confession before God of the offending sin.

  5. The persistence in a sin can lead to divine discipline.

  6. In addition to the freely bestowed benefits of salvation, believers can earn eternal rewards by fulfilling God’s plan for their lives.

  7. A believer’s deeds that are unworthy of the Lord will result in loss of rewards for the believer but not in loss of salvation.

  8. It is the Christian’s privilege and duty to participate in the Great Commission to spread the gospel, making disciples of every nation, baptizing them, and teaching them what Christ taught, both Christ Himself and through His apostles.