DOCTRINAL STATEMENT
"What We Believe"
2. We believe in the infallible, verbal inspiration of the whole
Bible and that the Bible is the all-sufficient rule of faith and
practice (Psalm 119:160; II Timothy 3:16, 17). We believe that God
has preserved His Word in the English language in the King James
Version.
3. We believe in the personal triune God: Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, equal in divine perfection (Matthew 28:19).
4. We believe in the Genesis account of Creation (Genesis 1; 2).
5. We believe that Satan is a fallen angel, the archenemy of God
and man, the unholy god of this world, and that his destiny is
the eternal lake of fire (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:11-19;
Matthew 25:41; II Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 6:10-17; Revelation
20:10).
6. We believe in the virgin birth and sinless humanity of Jesus
Christ (Matthew 1:18-20; II Corinthians 5:21; I Peter 2:22).
7. We believe in the deity of Jesus Christ (John 10:30; John 1:1,
14; II Corinthians 5:19).
8. We believe the Holy Spirit is the
divine Administrator for Jesus Christ in His churches (Luke
24:49; John 14:16, 17; Acts 1:4, 5, 8; Acts 2:1-4).
9. We believe that miraculous spiritual manifestation gifts were
done away when the Bible was completed. Faith, Hope and Love are
the vital abiding Spiritual Gifts (I Corinthians chapters 12-14).
10. We believe that Man was created in the image of God and lived
in innocency until he fell by voluntary transgression from his
sinless state, the result being that all mankind are sinners
(Genesis 1:26; Genesis 3:6-24; Romans 5:12, 19).
11. We believe that the suffering and death of Jesus Christ was
substitutionary for all mankind and is efficacious only to those
who believe (Isaiah 53:6; Hebrews 2:9; I Peter 2:24; I Peter
3:18; II Peter 3:9; I John 2:2).
12. We believe in the bodily resurrection and ascension of Christ
and the bodily resurrection of His children (Matthew 28:1-7; Acts
1:9-11; I Corinthians 15:42-58; I Thessalonians 4:13-18).
13. We believe in the premillennial, personal, bodily return of
Christ as the crowning event of the Gentile age. This event will
include the resurrection of the righteous to eternal heaven, and
the Millennium will be followed by the resurrection of the
unrighteous unto eternal punishment in the lake of fire and that
the righteous shall enter into the heaven age (John 14:1-6; I
Thessalonians 4:13-18; II Thessalonians 2:8; Revelation 19;
Revelation 20:4-6;Revelation 20:11-15; Revelation 21:8).
14. We believe that the depraved sinner is saved wholly by grace
through faith in Jesus Christ, and the requisites to regeneration
are repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
(Luke 13:3-5; John 3:16-18; Acts 20:21; Romans 6:23; Ephesians
2:8, 9), and that the Holy Spirit convicts sinners, regenerates,
seals, secures, and indwells every believer (John 3:6; John 16:8,
9; Romans 8:9-11;I Corinthians 6:19, 20; Ephesians 4:30; Titus
3:5).
15. We believe that all who trust Jesus Christ for salvation are
eternally secure in Him and shall not perish (John 3:36; John
5:24; John 10:27-30; Romans 8:35-39; Hebrews 10:39; I Peter 1:5).
16. We believe that God deals with believers as His children,
that He chastises the disobedient, and that He rewards the
obedient (Matthew 16:27; Matthew 25:14-23; John 1:12; Hebrews
12:5-11; 2 John 8; Revelation 22:12).
17. We believe that Jesus Christ established His church during
His ministry on earth and that it is always a local, visible
assembly of scripturally baptized believers in covenant
relationship to carry out the commands and Great Commission of
the Lord Jesus Christ, and each church is an independent,
self-governing body, and no other ecclesiastical body may
exercise authority over it. We believe that Jesus Christ gave the
Great Commission to His New Testament churches only, and that He
promised the perpetuity of His churches (Matthew 4:18-22; Matthew
16:18; Matthew 28:19, 20; Mark 1:14-20; John 1:35-51; Ephesians
3:21).
18. We believe that there are two pictorial ordinances in the
Lord's churches: Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Scriptural
baptism is the immersion of penitent believers in water,
administered by the authority of a New Testament church in the
name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Lord's Supper is a
memorial ordinance, restricted to the members of that local
church observing the ordinance (Matthew 28:19, 20; Acts 8:12, 38;
Romans 6:4; I Corinthians 5:11-13; I Corinthians 11:1, 2, 17-20,
26).
19. We believe that there are two divinely appointed offices in a
church, pastors and deacons, to be filled by men whose
qualifications are set forth in Titus and I Timothy.
20. We believe that all associations, fellowships, and committees are, and properly should be, servants of, and under control of the churches (Matthew 20:25-28).
21. We believe in freedom of worship
without interference from the government and affirm our belief in
civil obedience, unless the laws and regulations of civil
government run contrary to the Holy Scriptures (Romans 13:1-7; I
Peter 2:13-15).
22. We believe the Bible definition of marriage
is the union between a man and a woman (Genesis 2:21-24; Matthew 19:4-6;
Mark 10:6-9; I Corinthians 7:2-4; Ephesians 5:22-31).
23. We believe that God designates each individual their gender. God ordained two genders, male and female. Mankind does not possess the authority to identify themselves differently than their biological sex assigned by God, and any attempt to alter one's gender is sin (Genesis 1:27; Genesis 5:2; Matthew 19:4; Mark 10:4; Job 40:8; Jeremiah 13:23).