OUR BELIEFS

DOCTRINE & BELIEFS

The Bible: We Believe that the Bible is the inspired (God-breathed) infallible (all true) and inerrant (without error or contradiction) Word of God. It is the supreme and final authority in faith and practice.

One God: We Believe in one true and living God revealed in the Scriptures as eternally existent in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ: We Believe that Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit and was born of the virgin Mary; that He was true God and true man; that He lived a sinless life upon this earth; that He died on the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of all mankind; that He rose bodily from the grave on the third day; that he ascended bodily into Heaven where He continues His ministry at the right hand of God as our Advocate and High Priest; and that He is personally, visibly, and imminently returning to this earth to set up His kingdom.

The Holy Spirit: We Believe that the Scriptures assign to the Holy Spirit all the attributes of God; that this present era of the Church is, in a special way, the dispensation of the Holy Spirit; and that His ministry in the world includes reproving, regenerating, indwelling, guiding, and empowering men.

Depravity: We Believe that man was created by the direct act of God; that he was made in the image of God; that in his original state he was innocent; that by exercise of his own free will he disobeyed God and, thereby, fell into a state of sin and condemnation; and that his descendants, inheriting a fallen, sinful nature, are under the condemnation of God at the age of accountability, and are in need of a new birth.

Salvation: We Believe that salvation is a gift of God's grace; that it is received by: (1) repentance - the renouncing and forsaking of one's sins, and (2) faith - the personal acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, trusting in His atoning sacrifice at the cross; and that there is no other means of being saved.

Election: We Believe that God has chosen from the beginning to save all who would comply with the conditions of salvation, and that these who trust in Christ constitute His elect; that God has given to man the freedom of choice, permitting him to yield to the influence of the truth and the Spirit and live, or to resist them and perish; and that God desires the salvation of all men everywhere.

Sanctification: We Believe that every believer is sanctified in Christ at conversion; that this sanctification continues during the Christian life as the believer grows in the grace and knowledge of Jesus; and that it is completed when the believer stands in the presence of Christ, either at death or at the rapture.

Security: We Believe that God has given to the believer Scriptural grounds for knowing positively that he is saved; that God has promised and provided to keep His children even in times of failure; when they fall out of fellowship with Him; that God has assured His followers that as believers they are secure in Christ and shall never perish.  We do not believe that sin is a separating factor, but that belief is. We believe that the Christians belief must be maintained throughout his or her Christian life.  If a person were to ever recant their belief they would be making shipwreck of their faith and their doom would be sealed. (I Tim. 1:18-19, Col 1:21-23, Heb. 3:14)

Church Ordinances: We Believe that God has given His Church the ordinances of Baptism, which is to be administered only to believers, by immersion and in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; and the Lord's Supper, which is to be open to all born-again believers present; and the washing of the Saint's feet.

Holiness: We Believe that the Christian is to live a righteous, pure and holy life; that he is called to be a witness for Christ; that he is to be faithful in attending his church; and that he is to support his church by his tithes and offerings.

Judgment: We Believe that all men will stand before God in judgment - the righteous before the Judgment Seat of Christ, when Jesus returns for His Bride, the Church, just prior to the period of tribulation and the thousand-year reign of Christ on the earth; and the unrighteous before the Great White Throne Judgment at the close of the Millennial Kingdom; and that the wicked will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.