What We Believe About . . .
The Scriptures We believe that the Holy Bible, as originally written, was verbally inspired and the product of Spirit-controlled men, and therefore, has truth without admixture of error for its matter. We believe that it is the true center of Christian union and the only infallible rule for all human conduct, creeds, and opinions (II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:19-21).The True God We believe that there is only one living and true God, infinite in every excellence; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three personal distinctions – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – yet one in substance and equal in every divine perfection (Exodus 20:2-3; I Corinthians 8:6; I John 5:7).The Devil We believe in the distinct personality of Satan, that he is the unholy god of this age, author of all powers of darkness and sin, and is destined to the judgment of an eternal justice in the lake of fire (Matthew 4:1-3; II Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 20:10).The Creation We believe that God created the heavens and the earth, including all life, "each after its own kind," by direct act, and not be the process of evolution (Genesis 1-2; Colossians 1:16-17, John 1:3).The Fall of Man We believe that man, in the person of the first Adam, was created in innocence but by voluntary transgression fell into sin thus plunging the whole race into condemnation and death, so that now all mankind is born in sin and shaped in iniquity and become willful sinners with the first expression of personal choice, and so are without excuse before God (Genesis 3; Romans 5:10-19).The Redemption We believe that the only escape from the condemnation of sin is through the redemption wrought by Jesus Christ, when He voluntarily took upon Him a human body and nature, yet without sin and by His suffering, death, and resurrection made full satisfaction to the justice of God for the sin of man; that the blessings of this salvation are given on the grounds of grace to all who believe and confess and that it is the immediate duty of all to accept these offers of mercy (John 1:1-3, 14, 3:1-7; Hebrews 10:4-14; Acts 16:30-33).Salvation We believe that faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation from sin and this salvation is wholly by grace; that no works, however good, make the salvation more secure (Acts 16:31, Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7; Romans 10:9-13).The Church We believe that the Local Church is a New Testament institution; unknown to the Old Testament prophets; established by Jesus Christ, Who is its sole Head; revealed through the holy Apostles; empowered and perpetuated by the Holy Spirit; Christ’s "body" for service and His "bride" for glory. It began with the New Testament saints and will be consummated at the coming of Christ in the Rapture (Matthew 16:18; Acts 1:8, 2:1-13, 41-47, 15:14; Romans 16:26, I Corinthians 12:12-28; Ephesians 1:22-23, 3:21, 5:23-33; I Thessalonians 4:13-18).The Ordinances We believe that there are the two church ordinances: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water and is properly called "Believer’s Baptism." It sets forth in a beautiful and solemn way our faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, with the effects of that faith in our lives as it produces death to sin and resurrection to a new life. Baptism is a prerequisite to the privileges of church relation. The Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of our Lord’s death until He comes and our continual fellowship with Him and should be preceded by baptism and always by careful self-examination (Acts 8:36-39; Romans 6:3-5; I Corinthians 11:23-32).The Righteous and Wicked We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that only such as through faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and sanctified by the Spirit of God, are truly righteous in God’s esteem; while all such who continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked, and under the curse; and that this distinction holds among men both during life and after death, in the everlasting conscious felicity of the saved and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost (Malachi 3:18; Romans 6:17-23; Matthew 25:34-41; Luke 6:25; John 8:21).The Return of Christ We believe in the bodily, personal, pre-millennial return of Jesus Christ; that He will come before the seven-year tribulation period to catch away His church, coming only into the air; and that He will come with His church at the close of the tribulation to judge the living nations and to set up His kingdom on earth (I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25;31-46; Revelation 19:11-21).The Resurrection We believe in the resurrection of the bodies of the dead; that believers who sleep in Jesus will be raised at the coming of Christ for His Church and caught up with the transformed living saints to meet the Lord in the air, and that the wicked dead will be raised at the close of the millennial kingdom and stand in their bodies at the Great White Throne of judgment to receive their final doom (John 5:21-30, I Thessalonians 4:16; Revelation 7:9-17; 20:11-15). |