|
Section 1 – The Holy Scriptures
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verb, plenary, inspired Word of God, the final authority for faith and practice, inerrant in the original writings, infallible and God-breathed. (Mt 5:18, Jn 16:12-13, II Tim 3:16-17, II Pet 1:20-21)
Section 2 – The Godhead
We believe in one triune God, eternally existing in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – co-equal in power and glory, co-equal in being, and co-equal in attributes and perfections. (Deut 6:4, II Cor 13:14)
Section 3 – The Person And Work of Jesus Christ
a. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, God manifest in the flesh, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful man. (Lk 1:35, Jn 1:1, 2, 14)
b. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as our representative, vicarious substitutionary sacrifice; and that our justification is made sure by His literal and physical resurrection from the dead. (Rom 3:24, Eph 1:7, I Pet 1:3-5, 2:24)
c. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of the Father, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of intercessor and advocate. (Acts 1:9-10, Rom 8:34, Heb 7:25, 9:24, I Jn 2:1-2)
Section 4 – The Person And Work Of The Holy Spirit
a. We believe 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. (Jn 16:8-11, Rom 8:9, I Cor 12:13, II Cor 3:6, Eph 1:13-14)
b. We believe 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, or under the control of, the Holy Spirit. (Jn 16:13, Eph 5:18, I Jn 2:20, 27)
Section 5 – The Total Depravity Of Man
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God. In Adam’s sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God. Man is totally depraved and utterly unable by human means to remedy his lost condition. (Gen 1:27, Rom 3:22-23, 5:12, Eph 2:1-3, 12)
Section 6 – Salvation
We believe that salvation is God’s gift 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 our sins. (Jn 1:12, Eph 1:7, 2:8-9, I Pet 1:18-19)
Section 7 – The Eternal Security And Assurance Of Salvation Of Believers
a. We believe that all the redeemed, once saved are kept by God’s power and thus are secure in Christ forever. (Jn 6:37-40, 10:27-30, Rom 8:1, 35-39, I Cor 1:4-8, I Pet 1:5
b. We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian Liberty as an occasion to the flesh. (Rom 13:13-14, Gal 5:13, Eph 1:10, Tit 2:11-15)
Section 8 – The Two Natures Of The Believer
We believe that every saved person possesses two natures, with provision made for victory of the new nature over the old 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, 8:12-13, Gal 5:16-25, Eph 4:22-24, Col 3:10, I Pet 1:14-16, I Jn 3:5-9)
Section 9 – Separation
We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Saviour and Lord; and, that separation from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices and associations is commanded by God. (II Tim 3:1-5, Rom 12:1-2, 13:13, I Jn 2:15-17, II Jn 9-11)
Section 10 – Missions
a. We believe it is the obligation of the saved to witness by life and by word to the truths of the Holy Scripture and to proclaim the Gospel to all mankind. (Mt 28:18-20, Mk 16:15, Acts 1:8, II Cor 5:19-20)
b. We believe it is the mission of the church to reproduce itself in new, growing New Testament churches whether here or abroad. (II Tim 4:1-5, Acts 14:21-23)
c. We believe it is the mission of church leadership to reproduce themselves further undergirding the foundation of the planting of new churches. (II Tim 2:2)
Section 11 – The Ministry and Spiritual Gifts
a. We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowment of gifted people to the churches and sovereign in giving spiritual gifts to each person who is born again.
b. We believe that God gives evangelists and pastor/teachers to the churches for the purpose of perfecting the saints today. Apostles, in the sense of the original Twelve, and prophets, in the sense of giving forth new revelation from God ceased with the deaths of the Twelve and the completion of the New Testament. (Eph 4:7-16, II Tim 3:16-17, Rev 22:18-19)
c. We believe that God gives at least one spiritual gift to each believer at regeneration to empower in personal ministry as a part of the body of Christ. The purposes for certain "sign gifts" and their practice ceased during early church days. (I Cor 12:4-16, 13:8-10, II Cor 12:12, Eph 4:7-12, Heb 2:4)
d. We believe that God does hear and answer the prayer of faith in accord with His own sovereign will, for the sick and afflicted. (Jn 15:7, Jas 5:13-18, I Jn 5:14-15)
Section 12 – The Church
a. 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 this New Testament era. (I Cor 12:12-14, ii Cor 11:2, Eph 1:22-23, 5:25-27)
b. We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament. (Acts 14:27, 20:17, 28-32, I Tim 3:1-13, Tit 1:5-11)
c. We believe in the autonomy of the local church, that it is to be a self-supporting, self-governing, self-propagating ministry. Responsibility in actions and relationships are inherent with autonomy. (Acts 13:1, 15:19-31, 20:28, Rom 16:1, 4, I Cor 3:9, 16, 5:4-7, 13, I Pet 5:1-4)
d. We recognize the ordinances of water baptism by immersion subsequent to salvation and the Lord’s Supper as our Lord’s commands for believers today. (Mt 28:19-20, Acts 2:41-42, 18:8, I Cor 11:23-26)
Section 13 – Dispensationalism
We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense reveal divinely determined dispensations – rules of life which define man’s responsibilities in successive ages. These dispensations are not ways of salvation, but rather divinely ordered stewardships by which God directs man according to His purposes. Of the dispensation, three – the age of the law, the age of grace, and the age of the millennial kingdom – are the subjects of detailed revelation in Scripture. (Jn 1:17, I Cor 9:17, II Cor 3:9-18, Gal 3:13-25, Eph 1:10, 3:2-10, Col 1:24-25, Heb 7:19, Rev 20:2-6)
Section 14 – Personality of Satan
We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin, the cause of the Fall, the open and declared enemy of God and man, and destined to be eternally punished in the lake of fire. (Job 1:6-7, Isa 14:12-17, Mt 4:2-11, Rev 20:10)
Section 15 – The Second Advent of Christ
We believe in the "Blessed Hope", the personal, imminent, pre-tribulation, and pre-millennial coming of the Lord Jesus for His redeemed ones; and in His subsequent return to earth, with His saints, to establish His millennial kingdom. (Zech 14:4-11, I Thess 1:10, 4:13-18, 5:9, Rev 3:10, 19:11-16, 20:1-6)
Section 16 – The Eternal State
a. We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life in heaven, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment in the lake of fire. (Mt 25:46, Jn 5:28-29, 11:25-26, Rev 20:5-6, 12-13)
b. 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 the body and soul are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord. (Lk 23:43, II Cor 5:8, Phil 1:23, 3:21, I Thess 4:16-17, Rev 20:4-6)
c. We believe that the souls of the unbelievers remain after death in conscious misery until the second resurrection, when with the soul and body reunited they shall appear before the Great White Throne Judgment and shall be cast into the lake of fire, not to be annihilated but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment. (Mt 25:41-46, Mk 9:43-48, Lk 16:19-26, II Thess 1:7-9, Jude 6-7, Rev 20:11-15)
Section 17 – Key Modern Theological Issues We Find Unbiblical
a. Liberalism – and its departure from sound Bible doctrines.
b. Ecumenism – and its uniting of groups locally, nationally, and worldwide under the banner of Christianity but without a sound doctrinal base (WCC, NCC, etc.).
c. Ecumenical evangelism – and its efforts to numerically increase all the participating churches regardless of doctrinal soundness.
d. Humanism – and its efforts to seduce our society by controlling the media and the educational system and by affecting church thought and policies concerning morals and church priorities.
e. Modern "prophets" – and their alleged new revelation from God in addition to the Bible.
f. Modern "tongues and healing" movement – and its unscriptural emphasis on miraculous signs and gifts.
* We realize that "saved" brethren may be participating unknowingly or willingly in the above movements. We are not judging their salvation nor their sincerity. But we do see these as unbiblical and therefore separate ourselves as a mission from them.
|
