Beliefs

The Holy Scriptures

We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally and plenary inspired Word of God. The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible and God breathed, and therefore are the final authority for faith and life. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are the complete and divine revelation of God to man. The Scriptures shall be interpreted according to their normal grammatical- historical meaning (II Timothy 3:16-17; I Peter 1:20-21).11

Dispensationalism

We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense reveal divinely determined dispensations, or rules, of life, which define man’s responsibilities in successive ages. These dispensations are not ways of salvation, but rather are divinely ordered stewardships by which God directs man according to His purpose. Three of these dispensations the age of law, the age of the Church, and the age of the kingdom–are the subjects of detailed revelation in Scripture (Genesis 1:28; I Corinthians. 9:17; II Corinthians. 3:9-18; Gal. 3:13-25; Ephesians. 1:10; Col. 1:24-25, 27; Rev. 20:2-6).

The Godhead

We believe in one Triune God eternally existing in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfection (Dt. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; II Corinthians. 13:14; John 14:10, 26).

The Person and Work of Christ

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men (Isa. 7:14, 9:6; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-2, 14; II Corinthians. 5:19-21; Gal. 4:4-5; Phil. 2:5-8). We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through his death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and, that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Acts 2:18-36; Romans 3:24-25; I Peter 2:24; Ephesians. 1:7; I Peter 1:3-5). We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate (Acts 1:9-10; Hebrews 9:24, 7:25; Romans 8:34; I John 2:1-2).

The Total Depravity of Man

We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin the human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and, that man is totally depraved, and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition (Genesis1:26-27; Romans 3:22-23; 5:12, 6:23; Ephesians. 2:1-3, 4:17-19).

Salvation

We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins (John 1:12; Ephesians. 1:7, 2:8-10; I Peter 1:18-19).

The Assurance of Believers

1. We believe that all redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever as long as that person walks according to the guidance of character outlined in scripture (John 6:37-40, 10:27-30; Rom. 8:1, 38-39; I Corinthians. 1:4-8; I Pet. 1:4-5; I Corinthians 9:27, 10:12; Hebrews 6:4-6; II John 1:8; Rev. 2-3). We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh (Rom. 13:13-14; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11- 15).

The Church

We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:27, 20:17, 28-32; I Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11). We recognize water baptism and the Lord’s Supper as the Scriptural ordinances of obedience for the Churches in this age (Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42, 18:18; I Corinthians. 11:23-26).

The Second Advent of Christ

We believe in that “blessed hope,” the personal, imminent return of Christ who will rapture His Church prior to the seven-year Tribulation period. At the end of the Tribulation, Christ will personally and visibly return, with His saints, to establish His earthly, Messianic Kingdom which was promised to the Nation of Israel (Ps 89:3-4; Dan. 2:31-45; Zechariah. 14:4-11; I Thessalonians. 1:10, 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; Rev. 3-10, 19:11-16, 20:1-6).

Creation

We believe that God created the universe in six literal, 24-hour periods. We reject evolution, the Day-Age Theory, and Theistic Evolution as unscriptural theories of origin (Gen. 1-2; Ex. 20:11).