1. The Scriptures {K.J.V. 1611} We believe that the Holy Bible, consisting of the Old Testament and New Testament Scriptures, was written by men divinely inspired and is a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction; that it has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without mixture of error for its matter, that it reveals the principles by which God will judge us and, therefore is, and shall remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions shall be tried. II Tim. 3:16-17; Isaiah 8:20 I Thess. 5:21; II Pet. 1:19-21
2. The True God We believe that there is one and only one living and true God, an infinite, intelligent Spirit whose name is JEHOVA, THE MAKER AND SUPREME RULER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH: the He is inexpressibly glorious in holiness and worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love; that in unity of the God Head there are three persons Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost equal in every divine perfection and executing distance but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.
a. GOD THE FATHER We believe in God the Father, perfect in holiness, love and wisdom, and measureless in power. We believe He is merciful in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayer and He saves from sin and death all, who will come to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.
b. GOD THE SON We believe in Jesus Christ, God the son, pre-existent with the Father, begotten by the Holy Ghost and Born of the Virgin Mary; sinless in His nature and life, infallible in His teaching, making atonement for the sins of the world by His substitutionary death on the cross. We believe in His bodily resurrection, His ascension into Heaven, His intercession for His people and His glorious Second Coming in two parts.
1. "The Blessed Hope" of the believer, namely the personal, premillenial, and pretribulation return of our Lord Jesus Christ, to rapture out the saints according to I Thess. 4:13-18.
2. His return with His saints to set up His millennial reign.
c. GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person, co-equal with the Father and the Son. We believe that He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment; that He bears witness of and to the truth, that He is the agent of the new birth, that He baptized all true believers into the body of Christ at conversion, sealing and securing them unto the day of redemption. We believe He endures, guides, teaches, and helps believers and that it is the privilege and Duty of all who are saved to be filled with the Spirit, the evidence being soul winning power, and Not Speaking In Tongues, or the second work of grace. Eph. 5:18
3. Satan We believe that Satan, a fallen angel, is a distinct and real personality. He is the adversary of Jesus Christ and all born again believers and his destiny is eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire.
4. Creation We believe that God created the universe in Six literal, 24-hour periods. We reject evolution, the Gap Theory, The Day-Age Theory, and Theistic Evolution as un-scriptural theories of origin. Genesis1-2; Ex. 20:11
5. The Fall of Man We believe that man was created in holiness under the law of his maker but, by voluntary transgression, fell from that holy and happy state, in consequence of which all mankind are now sinners, not by constraint but by choice, being by nature utterly void of that holiness required by the law of God, positively inclined to evil, and therefore under just condemnation to eternal ruin without defense or excuse. Genesis 1:27, 31; 3:6-24; Isaiah 53:6; Romans 1:20; Romans 5:19
6. Human Sexuality We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity should be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, beastiality, incest, fornication, adultery and pornography are sinful perversions of God's gift of sex. Gen. 2:24; Gen. 19:5, 13, Gen. 26:8-9; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom. 1:26-29; I Cor. 5:1; 6:9; I Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4
7. Abortion We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified, un-excused taking of unborn human life. Abortion is murder. We reject any teaching that abortions of pregnancies due to rape, incest, population control, or the mental well-being of the mother are acceptable. Job 3:16; Psalms 51:5; 139:14-16; Isaiah 44:24; 49:1,5; Jeremiah 1:5, 20:15-19; Luke 1:44
8. Christian Living We believe that every saved person should manifest the Christ-like life by a consistent walk in the Holy Spirit, fully and constantly yielding his members to the indwelling Holy Spirit. His life should always be separated, holy and bringing forth praises of Him who has called him out of darkness into light. We believe in a separated life for all believers as set forth in II Cor. 6:14, 7:1, including separation from mixed marriages and worldly alliances, pleasures, methods of work, worldly societies, worldly literature, long hair on men (over the ears), etc. I Cor. 3:16-17; I Cor. 6:19-20; II Cor. 5:17; I Cor. 11:14-15
9. Lawsuits Between Believers We believe that Christians are prohibited from bringing civil lawsuits against other Christians or the Church to resolve personal disputes. We believe the Church possesses all the resources necessary to resolve personal disputes between members. We do believe, however, that a Christian may seek compensation for injuries from another Christian's insurance company as long as the claim is pursued without malice or slander. I Cor. 6:1:8; Eph. 4:31-32
10. The Righteous and the Wicked We believe that there is an essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that only such as who are saved (accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior) are going to Heaven; and those who deny the Lord will go to Hell. Luke 16: Rev. 20:15; Romans 19:13; Romans 10:10; John 3:16
11. The Way of Salvation We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace through the mediatorial offices of the Son of God who, by the appointment of the Father, freely took upon Him our nature; that being conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, yet without sin, He honored the divine law by His personal obedience and by His death made a full atonement for our sins; that having risen from the dead, He is now enthroned in heaven and, uniting in His wonderful person the tenderest sympathies with divine perfections, He is in every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate and an all-sufficient Savior.
12. Justification We believe that the great Gospel blessing, which Christ secures to such as believe in Him, is justification; that justification includes the pardon of sin and the promise of eternal life in principles of righteousness; that it is bestowed not in consideration of any works of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in the Redeemer's Blood, by virtue of which faith His perfect righteousness is freely imputed to us of God; that justification brings us into a state of most blessed peace and favor with God and secures every other blessing needful for time and eternity. Jn 1:16; Rom 4:4,5; Acts 13:39; Rom 5:1,2; Rom 5:9
13. The Freeness of Salvation We believe that the blessings of salvation are made free to all by the Gospel; that is the immediate duty of all to accept them by a cordial penitent, and obedient faith; and that nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth but his own inherent depravity and voluntary rejection of the Gospel, which rejection involves him in an aggravated condemnation. Isaiah 55:1; Rom. 16:25,26; John 5:40; Jn. 3:19; 4
14. The Grace in Regeneration We believe that, in order to be saved, sinners must be regenerated or born again; that regenerations consists in giving a holy disposition to the mind; that it is affected in a manner above our comprehension by the power of the Holy Spirit, in connection with divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the holy fruits of repentance, faith, and newness of life. John 3:3; I Peter 1:22-25; II Cor. 5:17 Eph. 5:9; John 3:8; Gal. 5:16-23
15. Repentance and Faith We believe that repentance and faith are sacred duties and also inseparable graces, wrought in our souls by the regenerating Spirit of God whereby being deeply convinced of our guilt, danger, and helplessness and of the way of salvation of Christ, we turn to God with unfeigned contrition, confession, and supplication for mercy; and at the same time we heartily receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Prophet, Priest, and King, and rely on Him alone as the only and all-sufficient Savior. Mark 1:15; Acts 2:37,38; Acts 11:18; Romans 10:9,10; Eph. 2:8
16. God's Purpose of Grace We believe that election is the eternal purpose of God, according to which He graciously regenerates, sanctified, and saves sinners; that being perfectly consistent with the free agency of man God's purpose comprehends all the means in connection with the end; that grace is a most glorious display of God's sovereign goodness, being infinitely free, wise, holy, and unchangeable; that grace utterly excludes boasting and promotes humility, love prayer, praise, trust in God and imitation of His free mercy; that it encourages the use of means in the highest degree; that it may be ascertained by its effects in all who truly believe the Gospel; that it is the foundation of Christian assurance; that to ascertain it with regard to ourselves demands and deserves the utmost diligence. II Tim 1:8,9; II Tim. 2:10 II Thes. 2:13-14; II Peter 1:10,11; Ex. 33:18, 19
17. 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 it 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, self-denial, watchfulness, and prayer. I Thess. 4:3; I John 2:19; Rom. 8:5; Phil. 2:12,13
18. The Security of the Believer We believe that born again believers are preserved by God for eternal life, that a person who is truly saved becomes a child of God and their soul is sealed by the Holy Spirit until the day of Redemption, that God gives us eternal life at the moment of salvation, that God places us in His hand, and that no one can ever take us out of God's hand. Jn. 3:1-8; Jn. 1:12; Jn. 10:27-28; Jn. 4:14; Eph. 4:30 Rom. 6:23
19. The Harmony of The Law and The Gospel We believe that the law of God is the eternal and unchangeable rule of His moral government; that it is holy, just, and good; that the inability which the Scriptures ascribe to fallen men to fulfill its precepts arises entirely from their love of sin; and that the one great end of the Gospel is to deliver them from this inability and to restore them, through a Mediator, to unfeigned obedience to the holy law and of the means of grace connected with the establishment of the visible church. Rom. 3:31; Rom. 7:12; Rom. 8:2 ,4; Rom. 8:7, 8
20. A Gospel Church We believe that the Lord's Church is a visible body of scripturally baptized believers who can trace a succession of churches of like faith and order clean back to the days of Christ, and who are associated together by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the Gospel, observing the ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, and exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word; that its only Scriptural officers are Bishops or Pastors and Deacons, whose qualifications, claims, and duties are defined in the Epistles to Timothy and Titus. Matt. 18:17; Matt. 28:20; I Cor. 1:1-13; I Cor. 11:2; Acts 2:41, 42; I Tim. 3
21. Baptism and the Lord's Supper We believe that Scriptural Baptism is done by the authority of a New Testament Church and is immersion in water of a believer, in the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord. We believe that the Lord's Supper, in which the members of the church by the sacred use of the bread and fruit of the vine are to commemorate together the dying love of Christ. It is to be preceded always with solemn self-examination. Matt. 3:13-17; Matt. 28:18-20; John 3:22, 23; Rom. 6:4; Acts 2:41, 42; I Cor. 11:26; I Cor. 11:28
22. The Lord's Day We believe that the first day of the week is the Lord's Day and is to be kept sacred to religious purposes by abstaining from all secular labor, except works of mercy and necessity; by the devout observance of all means of grace, both private and public; and by preparation for the rest with remaineth for all the people of God. Acts 20:7; Heb. 10:24, 25; Heb. 4:3-11; Psa. 118:24; Isaiah 58:13, 14
23. Civil Government We believe that God has ordained and created all authority consisting of three basic institutions: 1) the home; 2) the Church; 3) the state. Every person is subject to these authorities, but all (including the authorities themselves) are answerable to God and governed by His Word. God has given each institution specific Biblical responsibilities and balanced those responsibilities with the understanding that no institution has the right to infringe upon the other. The home, the Church, and the state are equal and sovereign in their respective Biblically assigned spheres of responsibility under God. Rom. 13:1-7;Eph. 5:22-24; Heb. 13:17; I Peter 2:13-14
24. A Gospel church We believe that the Lord's Church is a visible body of scripturally baptized believers who can trace a succession of churches of like faith and order clean back to the days of Christ, and who are associated together by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the Gospel, observing the ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, and exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word; that its only Scriptural officers are Bishops of Pastors and Deacons, whose qualifications, claims, and duties are defined in the Epistles to Timothy and Titus.
25. The World to Come We believe that the end of this age is approaching. (I Pet. 4:7) We believe in the personal imminent return of the Lord. (I Thess. 4:13-18) We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, the everlasting punishment of the lost. Acts 24:15; Matt. 24:31-46; Rev. 22:11
The Statement of Faith does not exhaust the extent of our faith. The Bible itself is the sole and final source of all that we believe. We do believe, however, that the foregoing Statement of Faith accurately represents the teaching of the Bible and, therefore, is binding upon all members.