HOLY SCRIPTURES
We believe the Bible is the Word of God. It is God's revelation to man and is composed of 66 books. It is verbally and fully inspired by the Holy Spirit and inerrant in the original manuscripts. We thus affirm its supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct. We likewise teach the literal, grammatical-historical interpretation of Scripture.
2 Timothy 3: 16-17; 2 Peter 1: 20-21; John 8: 31-32, 1 Thessalonians 2: 13
TRIUNE GOD
We believe that there is only one true and living God. He eternally exists in 3 persons--the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and they are equal in every perfection. We thus worship and serve Him, and put our confidence and hope in Him, knowing that He alone bears all wisdom, power, justice, grace, goodness and mecy.
Genesis 1: 1, 26; Exodus 20: 1-6; isaiah 43: 11, 44: 6-8, 45: 5; Matthew 28:19; John 4: 24; Romans 1: 18-23; Ephesians 4: 5-6; 1 Timothy 2: 5; James 2: 19
GOD THE FATHER
We believe in God the Father, the first Person of the Trinity, eternal, infinite, self-existent, self-sufficient and perfect in holiness, wisdom, sovereignty and love. As the only absolute Ruler in the universe, He is omnipresent,omniscient and omnipotent. 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 men but He is Spiritual Father only to believers. We believe that He is infallible in all His ways, that He knows everything, that He concerns Himself in the affairs of men, that He elects men unto salvation, and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through saving faith in Christ Jesus.
Psalm 103: 19; Romans 11: 36; Ephesians 4: 6; Romans 8: 14-15; 2 Corinthians 6: 18;, Ephesians 1: 11; Habakkuk 1: 13; Ephesians 1: 4-6; 1 Peter 1: 17; John 1: 12; Galatians 4: 5; Hebrews 12: 5-9
GOD THE SON, JESUS CHRIST
We believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He is the second Person of the Trinity and is co-equal, co-substantial, co-eternal with the Father. We believe that He became man without ceasing to be God and was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, inorder that He may reveal God and redeem sinful man.
John 1: 3, 10: 30, 14: 9; Colossians 2: 9; Luke 1: 31-35; Philippians 2: 5-11; Colossians 1: 15-17; Hebrews 1: 2, 7:25-26; Psalm 2: 7-9; Isaiah 9: 6; John 1: 29
We in His sinless and perfect life, as well as in His miracles and teachings. We believe He is the only Mediator between God and man and that through His substitutionary and atoning death on the cross, He accomplished the redemption of all believers.
2 Corintians 5: 21; 1 Peter 2: 22-24; 1 John 3: 5; Hebrews 7: 26; Romans 5: 8-12
We believe that He literally and physically resurrected from the dead and that He ascended to heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of the Father. He reigns as Kind who will one day put all His enemies under His feet and now stands as the High Priest who represents, intercedes for and acts as advocate of believers before the throne of God.
Acts 1: 9-11, 2: 33; 1 Corinthians 15: 24-28; Hebrews 1: 3, 7: 25, 9:24; Romans 8:34; 1 John 2: 1,2; Hebrews 4: 14-16
We believe that He will personally and visibly return to earth and that He will judge all mankind.
John 14: 1-3; 1 Corinthians 15: 51-54; 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18; Revelation 5: 1-10, 11, 20: 6
GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirt, the third Person of the Trinity is underived, and in all the divine attributes, is co-eternal, co-equal and co-substantial with the Father and the Son.
Matthew 28: 19; 2 Corinthians 13: 14; Hebrews 10: 15-17
His work is to execute the divine will with relation to all mankind. We recognize His sovereign activity in creation, in the incarnation, in the written revelation and in the work of salvation. The Holy Spirit also initiated, and is even now completing, the building of the Body of Christ by convicting the world of sin, righteousness and judgment, glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ and transforming believers into the image of Christ.
Genesis 1: 2; Matthew 1: 18; 2 Peter 1; 20-21; John 3: 5-7; Acts 28: 25-26
The Holy Spirit is the supernatural and sovereign agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the Body of Christ. He also indwells, sanctifies,instructs, empowers for service and seals them into the day of redemption.
1 Corinthians 12: 13; Romans 8: 9-11; Ephesians 1: 13; 2 Corinthians 3: 6
The Holy Spirit administers spiritual gifts to the Church for the perfection of the saints.
1 Corinthians 12: 4-6
MAN
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God to glorify God and enjoy God's fellowship, live his life in the will of God and by this accomplish God's purpose for man in the world. But in Adam's sin of disobedience, man lost his original innocence, incurred physical, spiritual and eternal death which is separation from God, became subject to the wrath of God and became inherently corrupt, hopelessly lost and utterly incapable of choosing or doing that which is acceptable to God apart from divine grace. Thus, all men are sinners by nature, by choice and by divine declaration.
Genesis 2: 7, 15-25; James 3: 9; Genesis 3: 1-19; 1 Corinthians 2: 14; 1 Timothy 2: 13-14; Romans 3: 23; Ephesians 2: 1-3; Psalm 14; 1-3; Jeremiah 17: 9; 1 John 1: 8; Romans 3: 9-18, 23; 5: 10-12; John 3: 36; Romans 6: 23
SALVATION
We believe that God is sovereign in salvation and that salvation is wholly of God by grace on the basis of the redemption of Jesus Christ, the merit of His shed blood and not on the basis of human merit or works.
John 1: 12; Ephesians 1: 4-7, 2: 8-10; 1 Peter 1: 18-19; Titus 3: 5-7
We believe that election is the act of God by which, before the foundation of the world, He chose in Christ those whom He graciously regenerates, saves and sactifies, without foresight of faith or good works in them.
Romans 10: 1-10; Ephesians 1: 4-11; Romans 8: 28-30; 2 Thessalonians 2: 13; 2 Timothy 2: 10; 1 Peter 1: 1,2
We believe that it is absolutely essential for the Holy Spirit to impart the divine nature and the divine life by way of regeneration to bring a man to conviction of sin, to repentance and to saving faith. Regeneration is the supernatural, instantaneous work accomplished solely by the power of the Holy Spirit through the instrumentality of the Word of God. We therefore hold that a person must first come to the knowledge of the saving work of Christ before he can be saved.
Romans 1: 16, 10: 14-17; 1 Corinthians 12: 3, 1 Corinthians 15: 1-2; Colossians 1: 5-7; 1 Timothy 2: 3-7; Acts 20: 21, 26: 20; Hebrews 6: 1; 1 Thessalonians 1: 9b; John 3: 3-8; Titus 3: 5; John 5: 24; 2 Corinthians 4: 5; 2 Thessalonians 2: 13
We believe that when the elect through faith in Christ repent of their sins and confess His as sovereign Lord, God justifies them. He declares them righteous as a result of the perfect life and the substitutionary sacrifice and death of Christ on the cross, and the imputation of Christ's righteousness to them.
Luke 13: 3; Acts 2: 38, 3: 19, 11:18; Romans 2: 4; 2 Corinthians 7: 10; Isaiah 55: 6, 7; Romans 10; 9,10; Philippians 1: 11; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 1: 30, 6:11; 2 Corinthians 5: 21
We believe that every believer is declared to be holy or sanctified (i.e., set apart) unto God. This sanctification is instantaneous and has to do with the believer's standing before God and not with his present walk.
Acts 20: 32; 1 Corinthians 1: 2, 1: 30, 6: 11; Hebrews 2: 11, 3:1, 10:10 10:14, 13: 12; 1 Peter 1: 2
We believe in the Holy Spirit's work to bring the believer closer to the likeness of Christ through obedience to the Word of God and His empowering. This progressive sanctification enables the believer to increasingly separate himself from the world and any association with religious apostasy and sinful practices and to live a life of increasing holiness, conformity to the will of God and Christlikeness. We hold that complete eradicatio of sin is not possible in this life but that the Holy Spirit does provide for victory over sin.
John 17: 17, 19; Romans 6: 1-22; 2 Corinthians 3: 18; 1 Thessalonians 4: 3-4, 5: 23
We believe that all the redeemed once saved are kept by God's power and are thus secure in Christ forever. This joy in the assurance of salvation however does not provide the believer an excuse for sinful, carnal living. Out of deep gratitude for the undeserved grace of God, all the saved are to live in such a manner as to demonstrate their adoring love to God and their passion of His glory.
John 5: 24, 6: 37-40, 10: 27-30; Romans 5: 9-10, 8: 1, 8: 31-39; 1 Corinthians 1: 4-9; Ephesians 4: 30; Hebrews 7: 25, 13: 5, 1 Peter 1: 4-5; Jude 24; Romans 6: 15-22, 13: 13-14; Galatians 5: 13, 16, 17, 25, 26; Titus 2: 11-14
THE CHURCH
We believe that all who place their faith in Jesus Christ are immediately placed by the Holy Spirit into one united, spiritual body, the Church, the Bride of Christi, of which Christ is the Head.
1 Corinthians 12: 12-13; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5 23-32; Revelation 19: 7-8; Ephesians 1: 22, 4: 15; Colossians 1: 18
We believe that the Church is God's chosen instrument for glorifying His name. She shall accomplish this by building herself up in the faith, by instruction of the Word, by fellowship, by keeping the ordinances and by advancing and communicating the Gospel to the entire world.
Ephesians 2: 11-3: 6, 4: 13-16; 2 Timothy 2: 2, 2: 15, 3: 16-17; Acts 2: 47; 1 John 1: 3; Acts 2: 38-42; Matthew 28: 19; Acts 1: 8
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ committed two ordinances to the local church: the believer's baptism and the Lord's Supper.
Acts 2: 38-42, 8: 36-29; 1 Corinthians 11: 23-32
We believe that the one supreme authority for the church is Christ and that church leadership, gifts, order, discipline and worship are all sovereignly appointed by Him according to the Scriptures. The Biblically-designated officers serving under Christ and over the assembly are elders and deacons, all of whom must meet Biblical qualifications.
Ephesians 1: 22; Colossians 1 18; 1 Timothy 3: 1-13; Titus 1: 5-9; 1 Peter 5: 1-5
We believe that since these leaders rule as servants of Christ, they have His authority in directing the church. The congregation therefore must submit to their leadership and esteem them highly in love.
1 Timothy 5: 17-22; 1 Thessalonians 5: 12-13; Hebrews 13: 7, 17
LAST THINGS
We believe in the personal and visible return of the Lrod Jesus Christi to earth and the establishment of His kingdom. We believe in the final judgment and in the resurrection of the body -- the unsaved unto everlasting punishment and the saved unto eternal joy in God's presence.
1 Thessalonians 4: 16; Titus 2: 13; Matthew 25: 31-46; Revelation 20: 1-17; Luke 1: 32-33; John 5: 22, 28, 29; Revelation 20: 11-15; Revelation 21, 22
In God's service, for God's glory by God's grace.
