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STATEMENT OF FAITH The
Bible
We
believe that the Bible, consisting of the 66 books of the Old and New
Testaments, is the revelation of God to mankind, is verbally and fully
inspired by Him, is sufficient for the knowledge of God and His will that
is necessary for the eternal welfare of mankind, is infallible and
inerrant in its original manuscripts, and is the supreme and final
authority for all Christian faith and conduct. (2
Timothy 3:16,17;
2
Peter 1:21; 1
Corinthians 2:13; Deuteronomy
29:29; 2
Timothy 3:15; John
10:35) God
We
believe that there is but one God, whose essential nature is that of a
living, personal Spirit. He is infinitely perfect in all of His
attributes, He is the creator and sustainer of all things, and He exists
in three persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (1
Corinthians 8:4; John
4:24; 5:26;
Genesis
1:1; Colossians
1:16,17;
Matthew
28:19) Jesus
Christ
We
believe that Jesus Christ is true God and true man; that is, He is fully
divine and also fully human. He preexisted eternally with the Father, was
conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, lived a perfect
life and died a substitutionary death for the sins of mankind. We believe
that He arose bodily from the grave, that He ascended to heaven, where He
is presently High Priest and Advocate for His people, and that He will
return personally and bodily to the earth at the close of this age. He is
the world’s only Savior and is the Lord of all. (Philippians
2:5-11; John
1:1; Matthew
1:23-25; 1
Peter 2:22; 1
Corinthians 15:3; 1
Timothy 2:6; 1
Corinthians 15:20; Hebrews
4:14-16; John
14:3; Acts
4:12) The
Holy Spirit
We
believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person, the third Person of the
Trinity. We believe that He was sent from the Father by the Son to convict
the world, to regenerate and indwell those who trust in Christ, to baptize
them into the Body of Christ, to seal them for the final day of
redemption, to guide them into truth, to fill them for a life of holiness
and victory and to empower them for witness and service. We believe that
He gives spiritual gifts to believers for the proper functioning of the
Body of Christ, which is the Church. (Acts
5:3,4;
John
16:7-14; 3:5-8;
1
Corinthians 2:9-12; 3:16;
12:3-13,28-31;
Ephesians
1:13,14;
Acts
1:8) Man
We
believe that man was originally created by a definite act of God in His
own image and is dependent upon and accountable to his Creator. Through
disobedience, the first man sinned and fell from his original state of
moral perfection. As a consequence, he brought upon himself and upon the
whole human race the penalty for sin, which is spiritual and physical
death. Since Adam, every person is born with an inherently sinful nature
and becomes a sinner in thought, word and deed. Every person, therefore,
stands under the just condemnation of God and is unable to save himself or
to present deeds worthy of merit before God. (Genesis
1:26,27;
2:7; Romans
2:6-16; 5:12-21;
6:23
; Matthew
5:20-48; John
3:36) Salvation
We
believe that a person is saved by God’s grace alone, made possible
through the shed blood of Christ, whereby He died a substitutionary death
for mankind, and through the Resurrection of Christ. Salvation becomes
effective when a person, by an act of faith, acknowledges Jesus Christ as
his personal Savior and Lord. The benefits of this salvation include the
forgiveness of sins and a new standing before God, the impartation of new
life and all the privileges that accompany a new family relationship with
God. The assurance of salvation as a present possession is the privilege
of every believer in Christ. (Ephesians
2:8,9;
1
Corinthians 15:3; Acts
16:31; Romans
10:9; Acts
3:19; Romans
3:28; John
3:16; John
1:12; 10:28;
Philippians
1:6) The
Christian Life
We
believe that God expects every believer to live a life of obedience, in
which every area of his life is brought under the lordship of Jesus Christ
and the fruit of the Spirit becomes increasingly evident in his life. The
goal of the Christian life is to be conformed to the image of Christ. This
life is characterized supremely by self-giving love for God and for
others. The life and character of Christ, which grows through the Holy
Spirit, is noticeably distinct from the life of the world. A believer who
resists the gracious working of the Holy Spirit and fails to grow in
obedience is chastened in infinite love by his Heavenly Father so he may
learn obedience. (John
14:21; 2
Corinthians 10:4,5;
Galatians
5:22,23;
2
Corinthians 3:18; Matthew
22:37-40; 1
John 2:15-17; Hebrews
12:5-14) The
Church
We
believe that the Church of Jesus Christ is the universal company of
God’s redeemed people, His Body, of which He is the head, His Bride,
whom He loves infinitely, and His temple, in which He dwells. This
universal Body of Christ is visibly expressed in local assemblies, whose
purpose is to glorify God through worship, fellowship, instruction in
God’s Word, observing the ordinances and training in service to the
world. The supreme task in the mission of the Church is to make disciples
for Christ in all the nations through the proclamation and teaching of the
Gospel. The Church is also to demonstrate the love and compassion of
Christ, through word and deed, in an alienated world. (1
Peter 2:9,10;
Ephesians
1:22,23;
5:25-27; 2:19-22;
1
Thessalonians 2:14; Ephesians
3:6-10; Acts
2:42; Ephesians
4:11-13; Hebrews
10:25; Matthew
28:18-20; 26:26-29;
1
John 4:17) The
Future Life
We
believe in the imminent, pre-millennial return of Christ to take His
people to be with Him and to judge and rule the earth in righteousness. We
believe in the resurrection of the body for both believers and
unbelievers. We believe that the believer goes to be with Christ in
conscious blessedness immediately after death, having escaped the
condemnation of his sins through the death of Christ. He will, however,
stand before God to receive rewards for works approved by God or to suffer
loss for works disapproved. The believer will live eternally in the
immediate presence of God, while the unbeliever must face the eternal and
holy Judge, who will sentence him for his sins. He will experience the
punishment of eternal separation in hell from the presence of God. (John
14:3; 1
Thessalonians 4:16,17;
Revelation
11:15; 1
Corinthians 15:20,23;
Philippians
1:23; Romans
8:1; 2
Corinthians 5:10; Revelation
20:11-21:5; Romans
2:11) Satan
We
believe in the personality and depraved character of Satan, who is the
great enemy of God and man. We believe that he, along with the company of
demonic beings serving him, works out his evil plans through the ungodly
world system, limited only by the sovereign rule of God. We believe that
he was judged by Christ at the cross and will ultimately meet his doom in
the lake of fire, where he will remain eternally. (Matthew
4:3-11; Genesis
3:1; John
8:44; Revelation
12:9,10;
2
Corinthians 4:4; 1
John 5:19; Job
1:6-12; 1
John 3:8; Revelation
20:10) HOME |