Statement of Faith

1. We believe the Holy Scriptures, consisting of the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament and the twenty-seven books of the New Testament, are the verbally, plenarily inspired Word of God; and that they are inerrant, infallible, perfect and the final authority for faith and life. Furthermore we believe that God has promised to preserve His true and perfect Word for all generations. We believe that He has fulfilled His promise by preserving the very words of the inspired prophets in the Masoretic Hebrew text of the Old Testament canon and the Textus Receptus (or Byzantine) Greek text of the New Testament canon. We believe that the word-by-word equivalent of these divinely preserved Hebrew and Greek texts is the King James Version of the Bible, and that it is the preserved Word of God in the English language. Our conviction is based upon the historical record of its translation, its accuracy, its endurance, and its miraculous manifestation of divine power. {2 Tim. 3:16,17; 2 Pet. 1:21; Mat. 24:35; Psa. 19:7-10; 1 Pet. 1:23; Psa. 12:6-7; 119:89; 119:160; Isa. 40:8, 59:21}

2. We believe in one God, and only one, Who is self-existent, eternal, and infinite in every aspect, and Who has revealed Himself to mankind as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- a Trinity co-eternal in being, co-equal in power and glory, though distinct in personality. {Deut. 6:4; Gen. 1:1,2,26; John 1:1-13; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; Rev. 1:8,17,18}

3. We believe that mankind, in the persons of Adam and Eve, was created innocent, in a state of fellowship with God; but that in Adam's sin of disobedience, the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and is subject to death and eternal condemnation. {Gen. 1:26,27; 2:16,17, 3:6; Rom. 5:12,18; Psa. 51:5; Rom. 3:10,23; John 3:18,36}

4. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin; that He was sinless; that He accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a vicarious, substitute sacrifice, whose blood was shed for reconciliation with God; and that He was literally and physically resurrected from the dead, and has ascended into heaven, where He is now exalted at the right hand of the Father. {John 1:1,14; Luke 1:31-35; Ph'p. 2:7,8; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 2:24; Eph. 1:7; Lev. 17:11; Heb. 9:12; 1 Cor. 15:1-8,20; Heb. 1:3}

5. We believe that salvation is the free gift of God, brought to mankind through His grace; that it is received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the all-sufficient Saviour, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary; that it cannot in whole or part be earned by our works or merit. {Rom. 5:15,6:23; Eph. 2:8,9; John 1:12; Rom. 10:9-13; Titus 3:5; Acts 16:31}

6. We believe that the person of the Holy Spirit is the agent of the Father in drawing men unto the Saviour, by convicting the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; that He purposes to bring glory to the Lord Jesus Christ; that He regenerates the believer through the new birth, baptizing him into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing him unto the day of redemption. {John 6:44,16:8-11,13,14; Titus 3:5; John 3:5; 1 Cor. 12:14; Eph. 1:13,4:30}

7. We believe that nothing can separate the redeemed from the love of God; and that they are kept by God's power and are thus secure in Christ forever. {Rom. 8:35-39; John 10:27-30; 1 Pet. 1:5; Ph'p. 1:6}

8. We believe that it is the privilege of the redeemed to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God's Word and the witness of the indwelling Spirit. {1 John 5:13; Psa. 107:2; 2 Tim. 1:12; Rom. 8:16}

9. We believe that the Body of Christ is a growing spiritual organism made up of all born-again believers of this age, and will be presented as the Church, the Bride of Christ, holy and without blemish, when it is called out of the world, and to the Saviour; that the Local Church is an assembly of believers, established on the pattern of the New Testament Scriptures for the purpose of worship, teaching doctrine, sharing fellowship, joining in prayer, sharing with those in need, carrying out the command to witness, win, and baptize converts, and celebrating the Lord's Supper. {Eph. 1:22, 23, 5:29-32; 1 Cor. 12:12,13; Acts 2:41,42,47, 4:34, 13:2,3}

10. We believe that there are but two ordinances of the Local Church: water baptism and the Lord's Supper; that water baptism is the immersion of a believer in water, symbolic of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and of the regeneration of the believer; that the Lord's Supper is commemorative of the loving sacrifice of our Lord and Saviour. {Matt. 28:19; Acts 8:36-39; Rom. 6:1-6; Acts 2:42; 1 Cor. 11:23-29}

11. We believe that the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Saviour and Lord; and that separation from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful practices is commanded of God. {1 John 2:15-17; Rom. 12:1,2; 1 Cor. 10:31; 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1; 2 Pet. 2:1,2}

12. We believe that it is the will and command of God for every believer to be filled with the Spirit of God; that this filling is necessary to produce the fruit of the Spirit and to bestow power and boldness to witness for the Saviour; and that the requisites for the filling of the Spirit are an earnest desire to be used of God and a life yielded unto Him. {Eph. 5:18; Acts 1:8, 2:4, 4:8,31; Luke 11:13; Gal. 2:20, 5:22-24}

13. We believe that God sovereignly bestows spiritual gifts upon individual believers to mature and strengthen the body of Christ; that some of the gifts evident in apostolic times were temporary and ceased with the completion of the New Testament Scriptures and the death of the apostles, specifically: the gift of tongues, the interpretation of tongues, the gift of miracles, the gift of healing, the gift of knowledge, and the gift of prophecy. We do not limit God's ability to perform miracles at His will, but believe He has chosen to remove these sign gifts from the realm of human performance. {1 Cor. 12:4-11,28,31; Eph. 4:11-12; Rom. 12:6-8; 1 Cor. 13:8-10}.

14. We believe that Satan is a spiritual being, the author of sin and the cause of the fall of Adam; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and that he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire. {Job 1:6-7; Isa. 14:12-17; Matt. 4:2-11; Rev. 20:10}.

15. We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense demonstrate that God has progressively revealed Himself to mankind in successive epochs or dispensations; that these dispensations have revealed the character of God and responsibility of mankind in steps, each one bringing mankind closer to a full understanding of God's plan for Adam's race; and, that a natural and literal interpretation of the Scriptures distinguishes Israel from the Church, with each having a special role in God's plan. {John 1:17; 2 Cor. 3:6-18; Gal. 3:13-18; Eph. 1:10; Col. 1:24-27; Gen. 17:8; Deut. 30:3: 2 Sam. 7:16; Jer. 31:33}

16. We believe in the Blessed Hope, the personal, imminent, pretribulation, premillennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones; and in His subsequent return to earth, with His saints, to establish His Millennial Kingdom. {1 Thess. 4:13-18; Rev. 19:11-16, 20:1-6; 1 Thess. 1:10, 5:9; Titus 2:13}

17. 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; and 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 punishment. {2 Cor. 5:8; Ph'p. 1:23, 3:21; 1 Cor. 15:51-53; Rev. 20:11-15: Luke 16:19-26; 2 Thess. 1:7-9}

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