Doctrinal Beliefs

We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the verbally inspired Word of God, the final authority for faith and practice, inerrant in the original writings, infallible, and God-breathed (2 Tim 3:16-17, 2 Pet 1:20-21, Matt 5:18, John 16:12-13).

We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and have the same attributes and perfections (Deut 6:4, 2 Cor 13:13). 

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man without ceasing to be God having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful man (John 1:1-2, 14; Luke 1:35); that He accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and that our justification is made sure by His literal physical resurrection from the dead (Rom 4:25, 1 Peter 2:24, Eph 1:7, 1 Peter 1:3-5); that He ascended to heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate (Acts 1:9-10, Heb 9:24, 7:25, Romans 8:34, 1 John 2:1-2).

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a Person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, and that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the Body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption (John 16:8011, 2 Cor 3:16, 12:12-14, Rom 8:9, Eph 1:13-14) and that He is the Divine Teacher who guides believers into all truth and that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Holy Spirit (John 16:13, 1 John 2:20,27, Eph 5:18).  

We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin, the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and that man is totally depraved, and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition (Gen 1:26-27, Romans 3:22-23, 5:12; Eph 2:1-3, 12). 

We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of sins (Eph 2:8-10, John 1:12, Eph 1:7, 1 Peter 1:18-19)

We believe that all the redeemed are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever (John 6:37-40, John 10:27-30, Rom 8:1, 38-39; 1 Peter 1:5); and that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, which, however, forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh (Rom 13:13-14, Gal 5:13, Titus 2:11-15). 

We believe that every saved person possesses two natures with provision made for victory of the new nature over the old nature through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit; and that all claims of the eradication of the old nature in this life are unscriptural (Rom 6:13, Rom 8:12-13, Gal 5:16-25, Eph 4:22-24, Col 3:10, 1 Pet 1:14-116, 1 John 3:5-9).  

We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as to not bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord; and that separation from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasure and practices is commanded by God  (2 Tim 3:1-5, Rom 12:1-2, Rom 14:13, 1 John 2:15-17, 2 John vv. 9-11, 1 Cor 5;19-20).

We believe that it is the obligation of the saved to witness by life and by word to the truths of the Holy Scriptures and to seek to proclaim the Gospel to all mankind (Mark 16:15, Acts 1:8, 2 Cor 5:19-20). 

We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowment of all His gifts, and that the gifts of evangelists, pastors and teachers are sufficient for the perfecting of the saints today; and that speaking in tongues and the working of sign miracles gradually ceased as the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their authority became established.  We further believe that, although all believers receive a gift or gifts to be used, the emphasis of the Christian walk should be on the fruit of the Spirit (which is true spirituality) rather than on the gifts of the Spirit (Ga. 5:16, 22-23, 1 Cor 12:4-11, 2 Cor 12:12, Eh 4:7-12). 

We believe that the Church which is the body and espoused bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again persons of the present age (Eph 1:22-23, Eph 5:25-27, 1 Cor 12:12-14, 2 Cor 11:2); that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:27, Acts 20: 17, 28-32; 1 Tim 3:1-13, Titus 1:-11).

We believe that our Lord Jesus Christ has left two ordinances to be observed by the Church in commemoration of His person and work  The one is that of baptism; the other is the partaking of the Lord’s Supper (Matt 28:19-20, Acts 2:41-42, Acts 18:18, 1 Cor 22:23-26).

We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the cause of the fall; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and, that he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire (Job 1:6-7, Isaiah 14:12-17, Matt 4:2-11, Matt 24:41, Rev 20:10); further we believe that Satan’s emissaries, known as demons (fallen angels) do indeed “possess” individuals.  Although believers can be attacked and “influenced” by demons, such “possession is limited to the unsaved since the Holy Spirit indwells every believer and his body is the “temple of the Holy Spirit”.  The exorcising of such demon “possessed” individuals is accomplished by the preaching of the Gospel, which brings Salvation and true freedom (Mark 5:1-20, Acts 16:16-18, Rom 8:9-11, Eph 1:13-14, 1 Cor 6:19-20, 2 Cor 5:17, John 8:36, 1 John 4:4).

We believe in the “Blessed Hope”, the personal, imminent, pretribulational and premillennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones, and in His subsequent return to earth with His saints to establish His Millennial Kingdom (1 Thess 4:13-18, Zech 14:4-11, Rev 10:16, 1 Thess 1:10, 1 Thess 5:9, Rev 3:10).

We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (Matt 25:46, John 5:28-29, John 11:25-26, Rev 20:6, 12-13); we believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss, they await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord (Luke 12:43, Rev 20:4-6, 2 Cor 5:8, Phil 1:23, Phil 3:21, 1 Thess 4:16-17); we believe that the souls of unbelievers remain after death in conscious misery until the second resurrection, when the soul and body, reunited, shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment (Luke 16;19-26, 2 Thess 1:7-9,  Jude vv. 6-7, Mark 9:43-48, Rev 20:15).