Doctrinal Belief

​

1. The Holy Scriptures
   
   We believe that the sixty-six books commonly associated together in the Old and New testaments of the Protestant Bible are canonical and were written under the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21). We further believe that the Holy Spirit has guided and protected the transmission of these Scriptures from their origin to the present time (Isaiah 55:11; Matthew 24:35); and that they constitute the only rule of faith and practice binding upon Christians (John 8:31-32; 15:7; 1 John 2:3-7). 
   
   

2. The Godhead
   
   We believe in one God eternally existing in three Persons: The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit, known as the Trinity - Coequal in power and glory, identical in their essential nature, attributes and perfection (Deuteronomy 6:4; John 10:30; 2 Corinthians 13:14). 
   
   

3. Man's Creation and Fall
   
   We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam's sin the race fell, inherited a sin nature and consequent alienation from God, and came under the judicial sentence of death (Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 3:22-23; 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3, 12). 
   
   

4. The Person and Work of Christ
   
   We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, The Son of God, became Man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived of The Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful man. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a propitiatory and substitutionary sacrifice, and that our redemption is made sure to us by His resurrection from the dead in the identical, though glorified, body in which He was crucified (Luke 1:35; Romans 3:24-25; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:3-5; 2:24; 1 John 1:1-2, 14). We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is now in heaven, exalted at the right hand of God and Father, where as High Priest for His people, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor and Advocate (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:24-25; 9:24; 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 John 2:1-2). 
   
   We believe in the personal, bodily, imminent and premillennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones, and in His subsequent return to earth to set up His kingdom (Zechariah 14:4; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 20:6). 
   
   

5. The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
   
   We believe that the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Godhead, in the present age indwells all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ; baptizes them into the body of Christ; seals them unto the day of redemption; empowers believers for witnessing; and that every believer is commanded of God to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; Ephesians 1:13-14; 5:18-20). 
   
   

6. The Doctrine of Salvation
   
   We believe that salvation is by grace through faith, and not of works (Ephesians 2:8-9). All three members of the Trinity are involved in our salvation. 
   
   A. God the Father planned it as He sovereignly chose some, apart from foreseen human merit or response, to be recipients of His grace from before the foundation of the world. God's election does not negate man's responsibility to believe, the Christian's responsibility to freely offer the gospel to every person, or the fact that God desires salvation to all men (John 1:12-13; 6:37-44, 65; Acts 13:48; Ephesians 1:3-5; 2 Timothy 1:9; 2:3-4). 
   
   B. God the Son provided it by His substitutionary death for our sins and His resurrection from the dead. As a result God has been propitiated and the believer is redeemed and reconciled (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 3:25; Ephesians 1:7; 2 Corinthians 5:18-21). 
   
   C. God the Spirit applies it by convicting men of sin, by giving them faith to believe, and by causing them to be born again (John 3:1-7; 16:7-11; Ephesians 2:8-9). 
   
   D. Man receives it by faith, believing that Jesus Christ died for our personal sins, was buried, and bodily arose from the grave as the living Savior (1 Corinthians 15:1-7) -- the result being that man possesses eternal life, having been saved from a literal hell (1 John 5:11-12). 
   
   Since salvation is by grace, it is impossible for any believer to lose his salvation (John 10:27-29; Romans 8:35-39; Ephesians 1:13-14; 1 Peter 1:3-5). 
   
   

7. The Doctrine of the Church
   
   A. The Universal Church
   
   We believe that the universal church, the Body of Christ, is comprised of all believers from the Day of Pentecost to the "Rapture." At the point of salvation every believer was baptized into the Body of Christ and received spiritual gifts for service (Acts 1:5; Acts 2:33-47; 1 Corinthians 12:11-13). 
   
   B. The Local Church
   
   The local church is an organized group of born-again, spiritual baptized believers in a particular place who meet to observe the ordinances, to worship God, to edify the saints and to fulfill the great commission. The ordinances are baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper - both of which are symbolical. Every believer is responsible to use his spiritual gifts to edify the Body of Christ (Acts 2:41-42; 8:35-39; 1 Corinthians 1:23-24; Ephesians 4:11-16). 
   
   

8. The Eternal State
   
   We believe that heaven is real and that the redeemed will enjoy real, physical and eternal life dwelling with the Lamb (John 14:1-3; Philippians 3:20-21; 1 John 3:2; Revelation 19:9; 21:1-5). We believe that the fate of those who reject God's grace is eternal death, and they will be "cast into the lake of fire" (John 3:16; Romans 6:23; Revelation 20:12-15). 
   
   

9. Civil Government
   
   We believe that governmental authorities are the ministers of God, to be terrors of evil, and to allow us to live a quiet and peaceful life; that they are to be prayed for, honored and obeyed except in things contrary to God's Word (Daniel 6:10; Acts 5:29; Romans 13:1-7; 1 Timothy 2:2). 
   
   

10. Sexual Immorality
    
    A. We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God's gift of sex. We believe that God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one's gender by surgery or appearance. Gen. 2:24; Gen. 19:5, 13; Gen. 26:8-9; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom. 1:26-29; 1 Cor. 5:1; 6:9; 1 Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4) 
    
    B. We believe that the only Scriptural marriage is the joining of one man and one woman. (Gen. 2:24; Rom. 7:2; 1 Cor. 7:10; Eph. 5:22-23) 
    
    

11. Lawsuits Between Believers
    
    We believe that Christians are prohibited from bringing civil lawsuits against other Christians or the church to resolve personal disputes. We believe the church possesses all the resources necessary to resolve personal disputes between members. We do believe, however, that a Christian may seek compensation for injuries from another Christian's insurance company as long as the claim is pursued without malice or slander. (1 Cor. 6:1-8; Eph. 4:31-32)