We believe the Holy Scriptures, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, to be the inspired Word of God, the final and foremost authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings of Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic, infallible and God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16, 17; 2 Peter 1:20, 21).
We believe in one True God, eternally existing in three persons — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections (Deuteronomy 6:4; 2 Corinthians 13,14). In the beginning, God created the universe and everything in it out of nothing (Genesis 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 lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men (John 1:1, 2, 14; Luke 1:35).
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice; and, that our salvation is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Romans 3:24, 25; 1 Peter 2:24; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:3-5).
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where He is our High Priest and Advocate before God (Acts 1:9, 10; Hebrews 7:25; 9:24; Romans 8:34; 1 John 2:1, 2).
We believe that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and, that He baptizes all believers into the body of Christ, at the moment of conversion, indwelling and marking them for the day of redemption (John 16:8-11; 2 Corinthians 3:6; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; Romans 8:9; Ephesians 1:13, 14).
We believe that He comforts, guides and teaches believers God’s truth; and that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with (yielded to) the Spirit (John 16:13; 1 John 2:20, 27; Ephesians 5:18).
We believe that Satan is a spiritual being taking many forms. He is the author of sin and the cause of the fall (man’s first disobedience to God); that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man, seeking to deceive and accuse us and destroy our relationship with God. He shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire (Genesis 3:1-19; Job 1:6, 7; Isaiah 14:12-17; Matthew 4:2-11; 25:41; 2 Corinthians 11:14; 1 Peter 5:8; Revelation 20:10).
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that when Adam sinned the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God. Man is totally depraved and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition (Genesis 1:27; Romans 3:22, 23; 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3, 12).
We believe that salvation is a free gift from God (grace) and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. While God’s gift of forgiveness is free (without punishment) it is also just (He ensured that the penalty for our sin was paid) by allowing His son Jesus to take the punishment for our sin by dying on the cross (Hebrews 9:22, 27, 28; Romans. 3:23-26), (Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18, 19).
We believe that all the redeemed are kept by God’s power and are therefore secure in Christ (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Romans 8:1, 38, 39; 1 Peter 1:5).
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 a reason to keep sinning (Romans 13:13, 14; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11-15).
We believe there is nothing we can do to deserve God’s forgiveness, yet by grace forgiveness is freely offered to us by God. (Ephesians 2:8, 9; Romans 5:8; 6:23)
We believe that every believer is sanctified (set apart) to God and is therefore declared to be holy and is identified as a saint. This sanctification is positional and instantaneous and should not be confused with spiritual growth. This sanctification has to do with the believer’s standing, not his present walk or condition. (Acts 20:32; 1 Corinthians 1:2, 30; 6:11; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; Hebrews 2:11; 3:1; 10:10, 14; 1 Peter 1:2)
We also believe in spiritual growth in which the Holy Spirit brings a believer more in line with the standing he/she already has positionally through God’s justice, and grace. Through obedience to the Word of God and the empowering of the Holy Spirit, the believer is able to live a life of increasing holiness in conformity to the will of God, becoming more and more like our Lord Jesus Christ (John 17:17, 19; Romans 6:1-22; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4; 5:23).
In this respect we believe that every saved person is involved in a daily conflict – the new creation in Christ doing battle against the flesh (human nature) – but adequate provision is made for victory through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. The struggle nevertheless stays with the believer all through this earthly life and is never completely ended. All claims to the eradication of sin in this life are unscriptural. Eradication of sin is not possible, but the Holy Spirit does provide for victory over sin. (Galatians 5:16-25; Ephesians 4:22-24; Philippians 3:12; Colossians 3:9-10; 1 Peter 1:14-16; 1 John 3:5-9)
We believe that the Church, which is the body and ‘the promised bride of Christ’, is a spiritual organism made up of all born again believers (Ephesians 1:22, 23; 5:25-27; 1 Corinthians. 12:12-14).
We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:23; 1 Corinthians 14:17).
We believe God commands us to assemble together for the purposes of worship, training and mutual encouragement. (Acts 2:42, Ephesians 4:12, 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Hebrews 10:24, 25)
We believe it is the responsibility of each member to protect the unity of the Church (Psalms 133:1, Ephesians 4:3).
We believe the church is to show Christian concern for the needs of people everywhere (Matthew 25:35, 36, James 1:27, Proverbs 14:31, Proverbs 31:9).
We believe in two church ordinances (commands) for the believer as acts of love and devotion to Jesus, which, though not necessary for a person’s salvation, are none the less commanded –
Water Baptism
We believe that Christian Baptism is the immersion in water of a believer; in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as a sign of association with the death and resurrection of Christ, of forgiveness of sin, and of his yielding to God’s will, desiring to live and walk in his new life (Romans 6:3, 4; Acts 8:38).
The Lord’s Supper
We believe that communion is an especially meaningful way to remember the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. It should always be preceded by careful self-examination, and we should continue to remember Him this way until He comes (1 Corinthians 11:23-28).
We believe that it is the obligation of each believer to bear witness by life and by word to the truths of The Bible and to seek to proclaim the Gospel (the good news about Jesus Christ) to all mankind (Matthew 28:19,20; Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:19, 20).
We believe in that “Blessed Hope,” the personal, imminent, coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for those He has redeemed (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; Matthew 24:36-44).
We believe in the bodily resurrection of all people, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (Matt. 25:46; John 5:28-29; 11:25-26).
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, 17).
We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious misery 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 (Luke 16:19-26; Matthew 25:41-46; Jude 6 & 7; Mark 9:43-48; Revelation 20:11-15).