What We Believe
Statement of Faith
Scripture: We believe that Scripture is inspired by God, authoritative in all matters of faith and conduct, and inerrant in the original manuscripts. We believe that because of the unique nature and purpose of Scripture, we can be confident that it is completely sufficient to provide for all our spiritual needs. (Ps. 19:7- 11; Isa. 66:2; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:3)
The Trinity: We believe in the one true God who is one in His essence, yet eternally exists as three distinct persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe that each person is equal in every divine perfection, executing distinct but harmonious offices in the work of creation, providence, and redemption. (Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; John 5:19; 14:26; Acts 5:3-4; 10:38; 1 Pet. 1:2; Heb. 1:8-10; James 2:19)
God the Father: We believe in God the Father, from whom every good and perfect gift comes, who sent His Son Jesus Christ, and who rescues from death and adopts into His family all who come to Him through Christ. (Luke 10:21-22; Matt. 23:9; John 3:16; 6:27; Rom. 1:7; Eph. 1:3-14; I Tim. 1:1-2; 2:5-6; James 1:17; I Pet. 1:3; Rev. 1:6)
Jesus Christ: We believe in Jesus Christ, who is fully God and fully man. We believe that He is the only begotten Son of God the Father, miraculously born of a virgin. We believe that He lived a sinless life and died on a cross, shedding His blood and offering Himself in our place as a perfect sacrifice and the propitiation for our sins. We believe that He rose bodily from the grave, ascended to heaven, was seated at the right hand of God, and now serves as the only mediator between God and man. (Isa. 9:6; Luke 2:7; John 1:1, 18, 26-38; 4:6; 19:28; Rom. 3:25; Titus 2:13; Heb. 1:8; 4:15; 5:8; 7:26-28)
Holy Spirit: We believe in the Holy Spirit, who convicts the world of sin, works to bring about salvation, baptizes all believers into the Body of Christ at the moment of salvation, indwells all believers, is given to believers as a seal guaranteeing their future inheritance, and labors in the process of their sanctification. We believe that He bestows gifts upon all believers, enabling them to work for the building up of Christ’s church. (John 3:8; Rom. 8:9, 11; 1 Cor. 2:11, 13; Eph. 1:13-14; 4:11ff; 5:18; Titus 3:5)
Creation: We accept the Genesis account of creation literally, in its entirety, and believe that man came by direct creation of God and not by the process of evolution. (Gen. 1:27; 2:7; Ps. 33:6; John 1:3, 10; Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 1:2; 11:3)
Humanity & Sin: We believe that man was created in the image of God but became separated from Him due to Adam’s sin. We believe that each human being is born with a sin nature and has chosen to continue in rebellion to God. We believe that before faith in Christ, they are dead in their trespasses and sins and are in danger of experiencing eternal judgment in hell. (Rom. 5:12-21; Eph. 2:1-3; Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:11-15)
Salvation: We believe that human beings are saved by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. We believe that the work of Christ on the cross at Calvary was necessary to provide the satisfaction for our sin, to provide us righteousness from God, to redeem us, to reconcile us to God, and to demonstrate God’s love for us. We believe that those who repent[DB1] of their sin and place their faith in Jesus Christ are regenerated, justified, adopted into God’s family, and receive eternal life. We believe that their sin has been imputed to Christ and His righteousness imputed to them. We believe that Scripture assures us that believers are no longer slaves to sin, having died to it, and are now called to present the members of their body as instruments to God for righteousness. (Isa. 53:6; John 1:29; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Cor. 1:30; Phil. 3:9; Rom. 5:12-21; 6:1-14; Rom. 1-3; 3:21-25; 5:7-10; Gal. 3:13; Eph. 2:8-9; 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 3:5)
Angels: We believe that angels are spirit beings created by God for the purpose of ministering to Him and the saints. We believe that Satan is a fallen angel who led a rebellion against God, taking a large number of angelic beings with him. He currently works to deceive, accuse, and destroy believers. We believe that despite Satan’s power, the believer is empowered by God to resist Satan’s attacks. (Gen. 19:1-26; Ezek. 28:12-16; Isa. 14:12-17; Dan. 9:21-23; 10:4-21; Luke 1:26-38; Eph. 6:12-17; 1 Tim. 3:6; Heb. 1:6-7, 14; 2:6-7; James 4:7; Rev. 5:11-12; 12:4-10; 14:6-20)
The Church: We believe that the church exists to glorify God as we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and prepare His people to worship Him forever. We believe that all Christians are part of the church, which is called to be unified, to be holy and to be in conformity to the teachings of the apostles and prophets as found in Scripture. We believe that the church has been commanded to baptize believers and administer the Lord’s Supper. (Matt. 28:19-20; John 17:20-21; 1 Cor. 10:18-26; Eph. 1:4, 22-23; 2:20; Col. 1:28-29)
Human Sexuality and Marriage: We believe that marriage is the joining of one naturally-born man and one naturally-born woman for life. Marriage was created by God and is a holy and divinely established covenant between man and woman to be a representation of the relationship between Jesus Christ and His church. We believe that God created sexual intimacy to be enjoyed exclusively between one man and one woman who are married to one another. We believe that any form of deviation from this—such as homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, pornography, prostitution, pedophilia, premarital sexual intimacy, cross dressing, sexting, any wrongful attempt to change one’s gender, or disagreement with one’s biological gender—is sinful and offensive to God. We also believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. (Gen. 1:27-28; 2:24; 19:5, 13; 26:8-10; Lev. 18:1-30; Matt. 15:19; 19:3-9; Mark 10:7; Rom. 1: 22-29; 7:2; 1 Cor. 5:1; 6:9, 12-20; 7:10; Eph. 5:22-23, 31; 1 Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4; 1 John 1:9)
The Future: We believe that the souls of all people will exist forever and that while unbelievers will experience eternal, conscious torment, believers will spend eternity with Christ. We believe that Christ will return again to reign over His kingdom and that there is a future inheritance for the believer. We believe that these truths should motivate the believer to live a godly life now in this present age. (Matt. 8:12; 24; Mark 9:43; Luke 16:28; John 3:16; 1 Cor. 15:50-58; 1 Thess. 4:16-18; 1 Pet. 1:3-9; Rev. 22:10-21)
For our complete teaching statement along with our Constitution and By Laws, click here.
Share
