What We Believe
Statement of Faith
We are a body of believers in Jesus Christ, devoted to Gospel-driven discipleship rooted in the authority of Scripture, which develops fully committed followers of Jesus.
Scriptures
We believe the Bible to be the verbally inspired Word of God, without error in the original writings, and the supreme and final authority in doctrine and practice.
— 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:20-21, John 17:17, Matthew 5:18
We believe the Bible is to be interpreted in a normal and literal way. This means to consider history, grammar, context, and harmony with other Scripture as guidelines for interpretation.
We believe that the Holy Spirit guides the believer to understand the Bible. We believe that God’s revelation to man is complete, and that He speaks to man through the Scriptures.
— 2 Timothy 2:15, John 16:12-15, Revelation 22:18,19
Godhead
We believe in one God eternally existing in three equal persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who have the same nature and attributes but who are distinct in office and activity.
— Deuteronomy 6:4, 2 Corinthians 13:14, Matthew 28:19
God the Father
We believe God the Father is the Creator of all things. In His nature, He is, among other things, completely holy, all-powerful, all-knowing, omnipresent, eternal, just and loving. He is totally sovereign in all that has or shall come to pass. As such, He is the author of election, through which He chooses a people for Himself.
— Psalm 139:1-18, 1 John 1:5, John 3:16, Ephesians 1:3-6
Jesus Christ
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man without ceasing to be God. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary so that He might reveal God to man and redeem sinful man.
We believe that He accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice.
We believe that our redemption and salvation ARE guaranteed to us by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead.
— John 1:1, 14, 18, Luke 1:35, Romans 3:24-26, 4:25
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is now in heaven, exalted at the right hand of God, where, as His people’s High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of intercession and advocacy.
— Hebrews 1:3, 3:1, 7:23-25, 9:24, 12:2, 1 John 2:1-2
Holy Spirit
We believe that God, the Holy Spirit, is that person of the Trinity whose ministry is to restrain evil in the world, convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ.
He also regenerates those who receive Christ as Savior, baptizing them at the moment of salvation into the church (the body of Christ), indwells them permanently, seals them unto the day of redemption, bestows on them spiritual gifts, and empowers them for godly living and service.
It is the Spirit’s ministry to lead, instruct, and fill (control) believers as they are yielded to Him.
— John 16:7-15, John 3:8, 14:16-17, 15:26-27, Ephesians 1:13-14, Titus 3:5,
1 Corinthians 6:19, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 13, Ephesians 4:30, 5:18, Romans 8:14
Angels & Satan
We believe that angels are spiritual beings who were created in a sinless state and that they occupied different orders and ranks. They presently exist in both fallen and unfallen states; the former includes Satan and his angels.
— Hebrews 1:13-14, 2 Peter 2:4, Revelation 7:11-12
We believe that Satan, by his own choice, is the enemy of God and of the people of God and is the originator of sin.
We believe he led our first parents into sin and now rules as the god of this world. Satan was judged at the cross, and ultimately he will be cast into the Lake of Fire for eternity.
— Isaiah 14:12-14, Genesis 3:1-19, Revelation 20:10
Creation & The Fall
We believe that all things in heaven and on earth were created by God and exist by His power and for His glory.
— Genesis 1:1, Colossians 1:16-17
We believe that the Scriptures provide a literal and historical account of God’s creation of all things. The climax of the six days of creation was the special, immediate, and personal creation of human life. The first humans, Adam and Eve, were directly created, not evolved from previous life forms.
God created humans, male and female, in His image. Human life, sexual identity, and roles are aspects of God’s creative design.
From creation, marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman that should be marked by sexual purity, by sacrificial male leadership, and by recognizing the divine blessing of children, including preborn children.
Adam and Eve, though created in perfection, sinned, warranting physical death, spiritual death, and eternal separation from God. Consequently, all human beings are born with a sinful nature, and are sinners in thought, word, and deed.
— Genesis 1:1-27, 2:7-25, 3:1- 24, Psalm 127:3-5, Romans 1:18-32, 3:10-19, 5:12-19, Ephesians 5:22-33, Colossians 3:18-19
We believe that man was created innocent and in the image and likeness of God but that he sinned, bringing both physical and spiritual death to himself and to his offspring.
We believe that man has inherited a sinful nature, is alienated from God, is incapable of redeeming himself, and requires salvation.
— Genesis 1:26-27, 2:17, 3:1-24, Romans 3:10-12, 23, Romans 5:12, 17-19,
Ephesians 2:1-3, 12
Salvation
We believe that every man is lost in sin apart from Christ and in need of a Savior. We believe that salvation is a gift of God and is received by man only through personal faith in Jesus Christ.
We believe that man is justified by grace through faith alone, apart from works.
-
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace (ESV)
-
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God (ESV)
-
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (ESV)
-
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (ESV)
-
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24) being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; (ESV)
We believe that all true believers, once saved, are kept secure in Christ forever.
-
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (ESV)
-
For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30) and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. (ESV)
-
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39) nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (ESV)
-
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. 38) “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39) “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. 40) “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” (ESV)
-
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28) and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29) “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30) “I and the Father are one.” (ESV)
Sanctification
We believe that sanctification, which is a setting apart of an individual unto God, is positional, progressive, and ultimate: Positionally, it is already complete at the moment a person trusts Christ for salvation, since the believer is in Christ and is set apart unto God as Christ is set apart unto God.
Since the believer retains his sinful nature, however, there is a need for progressive sanctification (or spiritual growth) whereby the Christian matures in grace by the power of the Holy Spirit and the daily intake of the Word.
Ultimately, the child of God will be sanctified when he is taken to be with Christ and becomes like Him.
-
Sanctify themin the truth; your word is truth. (ESV)
-
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (ESV)
-
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26) so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27) that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. (ESV)
-
like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3) if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. (ESV)
-
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (ESV)
-
And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (ESV)
-
For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. (ESV)
-
Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3) And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (ESV)
Church
We believe that the universal church, the body and Bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism, made up of all born-again persons of this present age, irrespective of their affiliation with Christian organizations. We believe that the church began at Pentecost and that a believer is placed into the church by the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit.
We believe that the church is distinct from Israel.
— Ephesians 1:22-23, 5:25-27, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 10:32, Acts 2:1-4
We believe that the local church is an assembly of professed believers in Jesus Christ who are voluntarily joined together in one locality for the purpose of worship, study of the Word of God, observance of the ordinances, Christian fellowship, and prayer, thereby to be equipped for Christian service and evangelism.
— Acts 2:42-47, Ephesians 4:11-13
Ordinances
We believe that Christ instituted the ordinances of water baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which are to be observed by believers until He returns.
— Matthew 28:19-20, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
We believe that by water baptism a believer is publicly identified with his Savior in His death, burial, and resurrection, and that immersion is the Scriptural mode.
— Acts 8:36-38
We believe that the Lord’s Supper is a memorial of Christ’s death by which He established the New Covenant, the elements being symbols of His body and blood.
The Lord’s Table is open to all believers who are walking in fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
— 1 Corinthians 11:23-24, Luke 22:17-20
End Time Events
A. The Blessed Hope
We believe in the personal, imminent coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in the air to receive to Himself all those, dead or alive, who belong to Him. This event, the rapture of the Church, is the blessed hope for which we should be constantly looking.
— John 14:1-3, 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, 1 Thessalonians 1:8-10, 4:13-18, 5:9, Titus 2:11-14
B. The Tribulation
For seven years at the end of this dispensation, the earth will undergo a time of judgment known as “The Time of Jacob’s Trouble” or “The Tribulation.” During this period, many will turn to Christ and be slain for their faith.
— Jeremiah 30:7, Matthew 24:14-22, 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12, Revelation 6:1-19:21
C. The Second Advent
The culmination of the Tribulation will be the personal, bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth to establish the Millennial Age, during which He will reign; Satan will be bound; Israel will be restored; and the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord.
— Isaiah 11:9, Ezekiel 37:21-28, Matthew 24:15-25, 36, 2 Timothy 3:1-5, Revelation 20:1-3
D. The Eternal State
We believe that the spirits of believers in Jesus Christ in this age pass immediately into His presence at death and there remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the body at His coming for the church.
At that time the spirit and body shall be reunited and shall be associated with Him forever in glory.
We believe that the spirits of unbelievers remain in conscious torment in Hades after death until the final judgment of the Great White Throne at the close of the Millennium.
At that time, spirit and body shall be reunited and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be destroyed but to be punished with everlasting separation from the presence of the Lord.
— Luke 16:19-26, 23:43, 2 Corinthians 5:8, Philippians 1:23, 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9, Revelation 20:11-15