OUR CORE BELIEFS

The Scriptures

We believe in the verbal inspiration and inerrancy of the original writings of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments (Genesis-Revelation) (Matthew 5:18; 2 Peter 1:19-21; John 17:17). We believe that these books reflect the distinctive qualities of their human authors, but that what they wrote is the Word of God (2 Samuel 23:2; Acts 1:16). Therefore, we accept the Bible as our sole and sufficient authority for faith and practice (Deuteronomy 4:2; 2 Timothy 3:14-17).

The Godhead

We believe that there is only one God and that He exists in three co-equal Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; James 2:19). God is infinitely glorious and praiseworthy in every aspect of His character (Psalm 29:1-2; 1 Timothy 1:17). We believe that God created the universe and is sovereign over all things (Genesis 1; Daniel 4:35).

Jesus Christ

We believe that Jesus Christ is fully God and that he added to Himself a genuine human nature through a virginal conception (John 1:1, 14; 20:28; Matthew 1:18-25; Philippians 2:7). We believe that, as our Substitute, Christ lived a sinless life (Galatians 4:4-5; 2 Corinthians 5:21). We believe that He willingly laid down His life in a blood-shedding death, suffering the penalty of God’s wrath against our sin (1 Peter 1:18-19; 3:18; 1 John 4:10). We believe that Christ arose bodily from the grave on the third day and ascended to intercede for us (1 Corinthians 15:1-8; Acts 1:9; Romans 8:34).

The Holy Spirit

We believe in the full deity and personality of the Holy Spirit (Psalm 139:7-10; Acts 5:3-4; 1 Corinthians 2:10-11; Ephesians 4:30). We believe that the Spirit continues the work of the ascended Christ (John 14:16-17). This work includes conviction, regeneration, assurance, and sanctification (John 16:8-11; Titus 3:5; Romans 8:13-17; 2 Corinthians 3:18).

Angels

We believe in the existence of angels as personal spirit beings, some good and some evil (Mark 8:38; James 2:19). We believe that Satan is the leader of the evil angels and the archenemy of God (Job 1:6-2:8; Matthew 25:41; Revelation 12:9). He enticed the human race into sin and currently dominates the unregenerate in their rebellion against God (Genesis 3:1-6; Ephesians 2:2; 2 Corinthians 4:4: Acts 26:18; Colossians 1:13).

Creation

We believe God created the universe out of nothing (Hebrews 11:3) in six twenty-four hour days (Exodus 20:11) by means of His bare word (Genesis 1:1-25; Psalm 33:6). On the sixth day, God formed Adam out of dust from the ground and breathed into him the breath of life (Genesis 1:26-2:7). He then made Eve from one of Adam’s ribs (Genesis 2:21-22). The theory of evolution is incompatible with the Bible’s teaching on creation (Romans 5:12).

Humanity

We believe that God created the human race in His own image, capable of reflecting His character in numerous and unique ways (Genesis 1:26-28; 5:1-2; Ephesian 4:24; Colossians 3:10). The purpose of humanity is to exercise dominion over the rest of creation for the glory of God (Genesis 1:26-28). We believe that Adam and Eve were actual, historical persons from whom the entire human race descended (Genesis 2:4-24; 3:20; Luke 3:38).

Sin

We believe that sin is failure to conform to God’s will in act, attitude, or nature (Galatians 5:19-21; 1 John 3:4). Sin entered the human race through the disobedience of Adam (Genesis 3:1-8; Romans 5:12-21). We affirm that humanity retains the image of God (Genesis (9:6; James 3:9). Yet, we believe that every human being is guilty before God’s law, that the entirety of his nature is corrupted by sin, and that his conduct inevitably expresses rebellion against God (Romans 3:10-23; Psalm 51:5; Isaiah 53:6). As a result, human beings are unable to please God or remedy their lost condition (Genesis 6:5; Isaiah 64:6; Romans 8:7-8). We believe that the consequences of sin include physical death and spiritual death, that is, separation from God (Hebrews 9:27; Ephesians 2:1-3; Colossians 2:13).

Salvation

We believe that the sole source of salvation from sin and its consequences is the grace of God, exclusive of human works (Ephesians 2:8-10). We believe that the sole basis of salvation is the atoning work of Jesus Christ (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Timothy 2:5). We believe that the sole means of salvation is repentance from sin and faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21; Romans 3:21-26; 10:9-13). We deny that baptism or any other ritual is a condition for salvation (Matthew 28:19; Luke 23:42-43). The blessings of salvation include the new birth, a standing of righteousness before God, growing conformity to the image of Christ in this life, and eternity in sinless fellowship with God (Titus 3:4-7; Romans 5:1-5; 6:1-14; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Revelation 21:22-27).

The Church

We believe in the reality of the universal Church, which is the Body of Christ throughout the world (Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 5:25). We believe that the universal Church expresses itself through local churches (Acts 13:1), whose mission is to glorify God by making and maturing disciples of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 3:10, 21; 4:11-16). Each Christian should affiliate himself with a local church in which he can listen to accurate preaching of God’s Word, observe the ordinances (the Lord’s Supper and Baptism) scripturally, fellowship with and be accountable to other believers, and use his or her spiritual gift(s) to minister to them (Acts 2:41-42; Matthew 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32; 12:4-31; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13; 1 Timothy 3:15-16; Hebrews 10:23-25).

Last Things

We believe that at death the spirits of the regenerate enter the presence of God and the spirits of the unregenerate enter conscious punishment (2 Corinthians 5:8; Luke 16:22-31). We believe that Jesus Christ will return bodily to earth in order to judge the world and bring final deliverance to His people (Acts 1:10-11; 17:31; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10). We believe in the future bodily resurrection of all people, the regenerate to eternal bliss and the unregenerate to conscious, fiery punishment in the lake of fire for all eternity (Matthew 25:46; Revelation 20:11-15). We believe that God will consummate His redemptive program by re-creating heaven and earth and that His people will rule this perfect world under Him (2 Peter 3:7-13; Revelation 21:1-22:5).