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Statement of Faith
The Holy Scriptures
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old
and New Testaments to be the verbally and plenarily inspired
Word of God. The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible and
God-breather, and therefore are the final authority for
faith and life. The sixty-six books of the Old and New
Testaments are the complete and divine revelation of God to
man. The Scriptures shall be interpreted according to their
normal grammatical-historical meaning. The King James
Version shall be the official translation of the church and
shall be the final authority in all matters pertaining to
God’s Word. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
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The True God
We believe that there is one, and
only one, living and true God, an infinite, intelligent
Spirit, the maker and supreme ruler of heaven and earth;
inexpressibly glorious in holiness and worthy of all
possible honor, confidence and love; that in the unity of
the Godhead there are three person; the Father, the Son and
the Holy Ghost, equal in every divine perfection, and
executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work
of redemption. (Exodus 20:2-3; Genesis 17:1; 1 Corinthians
8:6; Ephesians 4:6; John 4:24; Psalm 147:5; Psalm 83:18;
Psalm 90:2; Jeremiah 10:10; Exodus 15:11; Revelation 4:11;
I, 1 Timothy 1:17; Romans 11:33; Mark 12:30; Matthew 28:19;
John 15:26; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6; 1 John 5:7; John 10:30;
John 17:5; 1 Corinthians 2:10-11; Philippians 2:5-6;
Ephesians 2:18; 2 Corinthians 13:14)
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The Person and
Work of Christ
(1) 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 men. (Isaiah 7:14, 9:6; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-2,
14; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; Galatians 4:4-5; Philippians
2:5-8)
(2) We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ
accomplished our redemption through His death and the
shedding of His blood on the cross as a representative,
vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and, that our
justification is made sure by His literal, physical
resurrection from the dead. (Acts 2:18-36; Romans 3:24-25; 1
Peter 2:24; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:3-5; Colossians 1:14)
(3) We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ
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;
Hebrews 9:24, 7:25; Romans 8:34; 1 John 2:1-2)
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The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a
divine person; equal with God the Father and God the Son and
of the same nature; that He was active in the creation; that
in His relation to the unbelieving world He restrains the
evil one until God’s purpose is fulfilled; that he convicts
of sin, of judgment and of righteousness; that He bears
witness to the Truth of the Gospel in guides, teaches,
witnesses, sanctifies, and helps the believer. (John
14:16-17; Matt. 28:19; Heb. 9:14; John 14:26; Luke 1:35;
Genesis 1:1-3; 2 Thessalonians 2:7; John 16:8-11; John
15:26-27; Acts 5:30-32; John 3:5-6, Ephesians 1:13-14; Matt.
3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33; Acts 11:16; Luke
24:49; John 16:13; Romans 8:14; Romans 8:16; 2 Thessalonians
2:13; 1 Pet. 1:2; Romans 8:26-27)
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The Fall of Man
We believe that man was created in
innocence under the law of his Maker, but by voluntary
transgression fell from his sinless and happy state, in
consequence of which all mankind are now sinners, not by
constraint, but of choice; and therefore under just
condemnation without defense or excuse. (Genesis 3:1-6, 24;
Romans 5:12; Romans 5:19, Romans 3:10-19; Ephesians 2:1-3;
Romans 1:18; Ezek. 18:19-20; Romans 1:32; Romans 1:20;
Romans 1:28; Gal. 3:22)
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Salvation
We believe that salvation is the
gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal
faith in the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ, Whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for
the forgiveness of our sins and was raised for our
justification. (John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7, 2:8-10; 1 Peter
1:18-19; Romans 10:9-13; John 3:36; 1 John 5:11-12)
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The
Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers
(1) We believe that all born-again
believers, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus
secure in Christ forever and in no way can lose their
salvation (John 6:37-40, 10:27-30; Romans 8:1, 38-39; 1
Corinthians 1:4-8; 1 Peter 1:4-5; Ephesians 4:30), although
the believer can lose rewards (1 Corinthians 3:12-15),
fellowship with God (1 John 1:6), their testimony (Romans
2:24) and even their physical life (1 Corinthians 11:30).
(2) 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. (Romans 13:13-14; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11-15)
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The Church
(1) We believe that the local
church, which is the body of Christ, is solely made up of
born-again persons. (1 Corinthians 12:12-14; 2 Corinthians
11:2; Ephesians 1:22-23, 5:25-27)
(2) We believe that the establishment and
continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined
in the New Testament Scriptures. (Acts 14:27, 20:17, 28-32;
1Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 5-11)
(3) We believe in the autonomy of the
local church free of any external authority or control.
(Acts 13:1-4, 15:19-31, 20:28; Romans 16:1, 4: 1 Corinthians
3:9, 16, 5:4-7, 13; 1 Peter 5:1-4)
(4) We recognize water baptism and the
Lord’s Supper as the Scriptural ordinances of obedience for
the Church in this age. (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42,
18:18; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
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The Second Advent of
Christ
We believe in that “blessed hope,”
the personal, imminent return of Christ Who will rapture His
Church prior to the seven-year Tribulation period. At the
end of the Tribulation, Christ will personally and visibly
return, with His saints, to establish His earthly Messianic
Kingdom which was promised to the Nation of Israel. (Psalm
89:3-4; Daniel 2:31-45; Zechariah 14:4-11; 1 Thessalonians
1:10, 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; Revelation 3:10, 19:11-16,
20:1-6)
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The Eternal State
(1) We believe in the bodily
resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the
unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment. (Matthew
25:46; John 5:28-29, 11:25-26; Revelation 20:5-6, 12-13)
(2) 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 23:43; 2 Corinthians
5:8; Philippians 1:23, 3:21; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-7;
Revelation 20:4-6)
(3) We believe that the souls of
unbelievers remain, after death, in a conscious punishment
and torment until the second resurrection, when with soul
and body reunited; they 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 and torment. (Matthew 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48;
Luke 16:19-26; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Jude 6-7: Revelation
20:11-15)
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The Devil, or Satan
We believe that Satan was once
holy, and enjoyed heavenly honors; but through pride and
ambition to be as the Almighty, fell and drew after him a
host of angels; that he is now the malignant prince of the
power of the air, and the unholy god of this world. We hold
him to be man’s great tempter, the enemy of God and His
Christ, the accuser of the saints, the author of all false
religions, the chief power back of the present apostasy; the
lord of the antichrist, and the author of all the powers of
darkness –destined, however, to final defeat at the hands of
God’s own Son, and to the judgment of an eternal justice in
hell, a place prepared for him and his angels. (Isaiah
14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:14-17; Revelation 12:9; Jude 6; 2
Peter2:4; Ephesians 2:2; John 14:30; 1 Thessalonians 3:5;
Matthew 4:1-3, 1 Peter 5:8; 1 John 3:8; Matthew 13:39; Luke
22:3-4; Revelation 12:10; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15; Mark
13:21-22; 1 John 4:3; 2 John 7: 1 John 2:22; Revelation
13:13-14; 2 Thessalonians 2:8-11; Revelation 19:11, 16, 20;
Revelation 12:7-9; Revelation 20:1-3; Revelation 20:10;
Matthew 25:41)
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Creation
We believe that God create the
universe in six literal, 24 hour periods. We reject
evolution, and any other unscriptural theories of origin.
(Genesis 1-2; Exodus 20:11; John 1:1-14; Colossians 1:15-18)
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Civil Government
We believe that God has ordained
and created all authority consisting of three basic
institutions: 1) the home; 2) the church; and 3) the state.
Every person is subject to these authorities, but all
(including the authorities themselves) are answerable to God
and governed by His Word. God has given each institution
specific Biblical responsibilities and has balanced those
responsibilities with the understanding that no institution
has the right to infringe upon the other. The home, the
church, and the state are equal and sovereign in their
respective Biblically assigned spheres of responsibility
under God. (Rom 13:1-7; Ephesians 5:22-24; Hebrews 13:17; 1
Peter 2:13-14)
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Human Sexuality
We believe that God has commanded
that no intimate sexual activity should be engaged in
outside of marriage between man and woman. We believe that
any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, incest,
fornication, adultery and pornography are sinful perversions
of God’s gift of sex. (Genesis 2:24; Genesis 19:5, 13;
Genesis 26:8-9; Leviticus 18:1-3; Romans 1:26-29; 1
Corinthians 5:1, 6:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4)
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Abortion
We believe that human life begins
at conception and that the unborn child is a living human
being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused
taking of unborn human life. Abortion is murder. We reject
any teaching that abortion of pregnancies due to rape,
incest, birth defects, gender selection, birth or population
control, or the mental well being of the mother are
acceptable. (Job 3:16; Psalm 51:5; 139:14-16; Isaiah 44:24;
49:1, 5: Jeremiah 1:5; 20:15-18; Luke 1:44)
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Missions
We believe that God has given the
Church a Great Commission to proclaim the Gospel to all
nations so that there might be a great multitude from every
nation, tribe, ethnic group, and language group who believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. As ambassadors of Christ, we must
use all available means to go to the foreign nations and not
wait for them to come to us. (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15;
Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:20)
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Giving
We believe that every Christian, as
a steward of that portion of God’s wealth entrusted to him,
is obligated to support his local church financially. We
believe that God has established the tithe as a basis for
giving but that every Christian should also give other
offerings sacrificially and cheerfully to the support of the
church, the relief of those in need, and the spread of the
Gospel. (Genesis 14:20; Proverbs 3:9-10; Acts 4:34-37; 1
Corinthians 16:2; 2 Corinthians 9:6-7; Galatians 6:6;
Ephesians 4:28; 1 Timothy 5:17-18; 1 John 3:17)
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