the Scriptures

The collection of 66 books was authored by God and written by men who were divinely inspired.  Scripture is God’s revelation of Himself to mankind. We believe all Scripture is true and trustworthy, revealing the principles by which the Eternal God judges us. The Word of God is enduring, will last until the end of time, and is the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried.

GOD

There is only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing, and His perfect knowledge extends to all things past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest honor, respect, and obedience. The eternal God, complete in triunity, reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

Father: God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly, in both grace and discipline, in His attitude toward all men.

Son: Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ, He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind – yet without sin. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the one Mediator – fully God, fully man – in whose person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission.

Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through revelation He enables men to understand truth. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Savior, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration, He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption.

MAN

Man is the special creation of the Almighty, made in His own image. He created them male and female distinctly as the crowning work of His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God’s creation. Man lost his position of innocence when, by his free choice, he willfully sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan, man transgressed the command of God and fell from his position, now inclining his posterity toward sin. Therefore as soon as man is capable of moral action, they become transgressors and are under condemnation. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God. The sacredness of human personality is witnessed in that God made man in His own image and Christ died for man; therefore, every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.

SALVATION

Salvation is a broad term for the redemption of the whole man, which begins at the bidding of the Holy Spirit and culminates in our final, eternal state of being with Christ forever. Salvation is freely offered to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense, salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

Regeneration
This is the experience of New Birth and is a work of God’s grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace. Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the belief in Jesus and His atoning work on the cross for one’s sins and a commitment of the entire person to Him as Lord.

Justification
While repentance and turning is a willful act of the human being, justification is the work of God in salvation. Justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. It further brings the believer into a relationship of peace and favor with God.

Sanctification
Sanctification is a process, beginning in regeneration, whereby the believer is set apart for the purposes of God and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. During this portion the believer is often baptized in the Holy Spirit with the speaking of tongues and/or other signs of the Spirit’s control.

Glorification
This is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed.

Memorials of Baptism and The Lord’s Supper

Baptism
Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water at the command of Christ. Being a memorial of the death, burial, and resurrection, we typically use the name of Jesus as the formula, in congruence with the pattern of the early disciples.  It is a testimony to the believer’s faith in the final resurrection of the dead.

The Lord's Supper
The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the Body of Christ, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the life, sacrificial death and resurrection of the Redeemer. Further, it is a looking forward to Christ's second coming.

Last Things

God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.