Statement of Faith

The following is an abbreviated summary of the position we take on many doctrinal issues.

Section 1: The Bible  (Top)

We believe the Bible to be the "breathed out", inspired Word of God. We believe the Bible is absolutely true and cannot be broken (John 10:35), that the Bible is not man's words but God's words (II Peter 1:20-21;II Timothy 3:16), and that the Scriptures are sufficient for both our faith and our everyday practice (II Timothy 3:16-17). We believe that all Scriptures should be interpreted literally unless otherwise indicated by the context.

Section 2: God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit  (Top)

We believe that there is one God (Deut 6:4;John 17:3). God has many attributes. Among these are omniscience (Psalm 139:1-4), omnipresence (Psalm 139:7-12), omnipotence (Matthew 19:26), holiness (I Peter 2:16), and truth (John 17:3). In this one God, however, we believe there are three persons - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19;II Corinthians 13:14).

Furthermore, we believe that Jesus Christ is God as He is called God (John 1:1), and He is worshipped as God (Phil 2:10-11). But He became man (John 1:14); Phil 2:7-8) and became an atonement for our sins (Isaiah 53). Today He intercedes for believers (Hebrews 7:25;9:24). We further believe that the Holy Spirit is a person, not merely a "force" (John 15:26: Ephesians 4:30).

Section 3: Creation (Top)

We believe that the world was created in a literal 6 day period by God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (Gen 1). God has not left His creation to itself, however, but is active in preservation (Col 1:17; Hebrews 1:3). He controls His creation through His providence (Proverbs 21:1; Matthew 6:26-30).

Section 4: Sin  (Top)

We believe sin had its conception in Adam (Rom 5:12,17-19), and that it is universal (Rom 3:10,12,19,23). Sin has totally corrupted man (Rom 3:10). Man is not searching for God but God is, because of His love, searching to restore the relationship with man (Eph 4:18). Sin produces physical and ultimately eternal death (Rev 20:15; Matthew 22:12-13). The only way to escape this death is by accepting God's gracious gift of His Son's death on the cross (Rom 6:23; Heb 9:22).

Section 5: Salvation  (Top)

Salvation is due to God's grace alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). Salvation is necessary for eternal life (John 3:3). Salvation is achieved through God's love (John 3:16) through which He gave His only Son to die on the cross for our redemption (John 3:16). True salvation will result in (but is not effected by) good works (Ephesians 2:10).
When we are saved, we are declared righteous in God's sight (Rom 3:24-26). We never fear losing this salvation for it cannot be lost (Rom 8:30-33).
We are not, however, righteous in our actions. God accomplishes this through sanctification. Sanctification is the process whereby the believer, through the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures (John 17:17), comes to be more and more like Christ (II Cor 3:18; Phil 1:6).

Section 6: The Church  (Top)

The Church is a term used to describe two entities: both the universal church and the local church. As a universal church, it consists of all believers which either have accepted or will accept Christ as their personal Savior (Matt 16:18; Eph 1:22).
The local church is made up of a group of believers out of the universal church which gather together for the purpose of obeying His commandments (Matt 28:20) and edifying one another (Eph 4:12).
The Church has two ordinances it is commanded by the Lord to keep. One of these is Baptism, which signifies our obedience to and identification with Christ. Baptism is a one time act to follow conversion and is to be by immersion (Acts 8:38-39). The other sacrament instituted by the Lord is the Lord's Supper, which is to be a memorial to Christ's sacrificial death on the cross. This is to be observed often (I Cor 11:26) and is to be accompanied by believers making an examination of themselves spiritually (I Cor 11:27-28). Neither of these sacraments will lead to salvation, nor do either have any meritorious value.

Section 7: Separation  (Top)

The Bible clearly teaches separation for the believer. Our first area of separation is personal separation from ungodly practices (I John 2:15-17) realizing that we are to be holy because God is holy (I Peter 1:16). A second area of separation is in the area of ecclesiastical separation. The Bible teaches that the church is to maintain her doctrinal integrity (I Timothy 4:6) and her testimony (I Peter 2:12).

Section 8: The Eternal State  (Top)

Not all things concerning the timetable of the last things are easily discerned. We do believe that the Scriptures teach a pretribulational rapture and a premillennial return of Christ. This means that the next event in God's prophetic timetable is the return of Christ for His saints (i.e. the Universal Church) (I Thess 4:13-17). We believe that this will precede the terrible tribulational period spoken of in Revelation 4-19. After this there will be a Millennial period where Christ will literally reign for a thousand years (Revelation 20). After this will follow the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev 20:11-15).
The Bible teaches that ultimately there will be a new heaven and a new earth where the saved will live eternally in the presence of God (Rev 22) while those who have rejected God will go to live with Satan in a literal hell for eternity (Rev 20).