Our Doctrine

This Is What We Believe, Teach and Proclaim

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• THE BIBLE: It is the Inspired and Inerrant Word of God.

  We accept fully the writings of the Old and New Testaments in the original texts as the inerrant Word of God, verbally inspired in all parts and therefore altogether sufficient as our only infallible and authoritative rule of faith and practice. (Psalm 119:160; Proverbs 30:5a; 2 Timothy 3:16, 17; 2 Peter 1:19-21).

• GOD: He is Triune and His unchanging character is Holy, Just, and Love.

  We believe that He is a triune, intelligent, sovereign, spiritual and personal Being; perfect, infinite, and eternal in His being, holiness and love, wisdom and power; absolutely separate from and above the world as its Creator, yet everywhere present in the world as the Upholder of all things. He is revealed to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three distinct persons but without division of nature, one essence of being, and each having a distinct ministry in God’s relation to His creation and people. (Genesis 1:1; Exodus 15:11; Psalm 83:18; 139:7-9; Matthew 28:19; John 10:30; 15:26).

• JESUS: He is the Second Person of the Trinity and the only Savior of the world.

  We believe that He is the second Person of the Triune God, the eternal Word and Only Begotten Son; that without any change in His divine Person, He became man by miracle of the Virgin Birth, thus to continue forever as both true God and true Man, one Person with two natures; that as Man He was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin, that as the perfect Lamb of God He gave Himself in death upon the cross, bearing there the sin of the world, and suffering its full penalty of divine wrath in our stead; that He arose from the grave in a glorified body; that as our great High Priest He ascended into Heaven, there to appear before the face of God as our Advocate and Intercessor. (John 1:1, 14; 3:16; Matthew 1:18-25; Galatians 4:4, 5; Philippians 2:6-10; 1 Corinthians 15:3-7; Hebrews 4:14-16; 1 John 2:1, 2).

• THE SECOND COMING: Jesus will return to establish His Kingdom at an unknown future time.

  We believe that Jesus will come in the air to rapture His Church, which is our blessed Hope, is always imminent; that when He has first by resurrection of the dead and translation of the living removed from the earth His waiting church, He will then pour out the righteous judgments of God upon the unbelieving world and afterwards descend with His church and establish His glorious and literal kingdom over all the nations for a thousand years. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; James 5:8; Hebrews 10:37; Jude 14, 15; Revelation 19:11-16; 20:4-7).

• THE HOLY SPIRIT: He is the Third Person of the Trinity who indwells the believer upon conversion.

  We believe that He is the Third Person of the Trinity, and the divine Agent in nature, revelation and redemption; that He convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgment; that He regenerates, indwells, baptizes, seals and anoints all who become children of God through Christ; that He further empowers, guides, teaches, sanctifies and fills believers who daily surrender to Him. (John 3:5; 14:16, 17, 26; 16:7-14; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:13; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 1:13; 5:18).

• ANGELS: God created angelic beings to serve Him. Some of them rebelled against God.

  We believe that God created all angels. Many remain faithful to God and are God’s ministering spirits to His people. Some followed the angel Satan in his prideful rebellion against God and became demonic adversaries of God and His people. These angels are limited by God’s omnipotence, and await final incarceration in the lake of fire. (Genesis 1:1; Exodus 20:11; Psalm 33:6; Revelation 12:3-4; Matthew 12:24-27; Job 2:1-2; Revelation 20:10; Matthew 26:41; Hebrews 1:13-14).

• SATAN: He is the master deceiver who uses his tactics to turn people away from God.

  We believe that Satan was originally created a holy and perfect being, but through pride and wicked ambition rebelled against God, thus becoming utterly depraved in character, the great adversary of God and His people, leader of all other evil angels and wicked spirits, the deceiver and god of this present world: that his powers are vast, but strictly limited by God who at His sovereign and permissive will overrules Satan’s wicked devices for good; that he was defeated and judged at the cross, and therefore his final doom is certain; that we are able to resist and overcome him only in the armor of God, by the blood of the Lamb and through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ephesians 6:12; I Peter 5:8;1; I John 3:8; Revelation 12:9-11; 20:10).

• HUMANS: We were created in God’s image but became sinners, so we need a Savior.

  We believe that man was the direct creation of God, made in His image and likeness; that by personal disobedience to the revealed will of God, man became a sinful creature, the father of a fallen race which is universally sinful in both nature and practice, thus alienated from the life and family of God, under the righteous judgment and wrath of God, and has within himself no possible means of salvation. (Genesis 1:27; 3:6; Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:23; 5:12, 19; Galatians 3:11).

• MARRIAGE: A sacred institution created by God to be a life covenant between a man and a woman.

  We believe that God created Adam and Eve in order to rule over creation and fill the earth with godly offspring in perfect relationship with God. In order to rule over creation in perfect harmony, God assigned the role of headship to the man and the role of suitable helper to the woman. However, because of sin, humans have distorted God’s original design for marriage in three areas. People have redefined the monogamous heterosexual nature of marriage, they have distorted the roles in marriage, and they have broken the sacred lifetime covenant that God intended for marriage to be. In contrast to these human distortions, God desires for his people to embrace only monogamous heterosexual intercourse and always within the covenant of marriage, because any other behavior outside these sacred boundaries is sexually immoral.   He desires for the husband to cherish his wife and love her sacrificially as Christ loved the Church, and for the wife to respectfully submit to her husband’s headship as to the Lord. He desires for husband and wife to face conflicts in marriage by seeking reconciliation. God hates divorce but has allowed divorce and remarriage as legitimate options in extreme situations. God rejects any human version of marriage that is not monogamous and heterosexual in nature, and warns us that He will judge the sexually immoral because of acting against the created order established by God. (Genesis 1:26-31; 2:15-25; 3:1-24; Malachi 2:13-17; Matthew 19:1-12; Ephesians 5:21-33; I Corinthians 7:1-16; Hebrews 13:4).

• SALVATION: We are saved by faith in Jesus based on His grace and not based on our works.

  We believe that salvation is the free gift of God, neither merited nor secured in part or in whole by any virtue or work of man, but received only by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom all true believers have as a present possession the gift of eternal life, a perfect righteousness, sonship in the family of God, deliverance and security from all condemnation, every spiritual resource needed for life and godliness, and the divine guarantee that they shall never perish; that this salvation affects the whole man; that apart from Christ there is no possible salvation. (Ephesians 2:8, 9; Titus 3:5; John 1:12; 3:14; 10:28, 29; Romans 8:1; Philippians 1:6).

• GODLINESS: Loving God and desiring to honor Him is the supernatural fruit of true salvation.

  We believe that godliness is not a means of salvation in any sense, but it is its proper evidence and fruit; and therefore as Christians we should obey the Word of our Lord, seek the things which are above, walk as He walked, accept as our solemn responsibility the duty and privileges of bearing the gospel to a lost world; remembering that a victorious and fruitful Christian life is possible only for those who in gratitude for the infinite and undeserved mercies of God have presented themselves wholly to Christ. This is to be demonstrated by maintaining a godly home, settling differences with believers in the church, avoiding carnality, exhibiting the fruit and fullness of the Spirit, and fulfilling the Great Commission in making disciples. (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8; Romans 12:1, 2; 1 Corinthians 6:1-8; Galatians 5:16-23; Ephesians 2:8-10; 5:18-22; 6:4; Philippians 2:16; 1 Peter 4:10-11).

• RESURRECTION: God’s people will be resurrected for life, while the unsaved will be judged.

  We believe that the spirits of the saved at death go immediately to be with Christ in Heaven, that their works shall be brought before the Judgment Seat of Christ for the determination of rewards which will take place at the time when Christ comes for His own; that the spirits of the unsaved at death descend immediately into Hades where they are kept under punishment until the final day of judgment, at which time their bodies shall be raised from the grave, that they shall be judged and cast into Hell, the place of final and everlasting punishment. (1 Corinthians 15; 2 Corinthians 5:8-10; Luke 16:19-23; Revelation 20:11-15).

• PRIESTHOOD OF ALL BELIEVERS: A saved person has direct access to God and represents Him in the world.

  We believe that Christ is our Great High Priest and through Him every born-again person has direct access into God’s presence without the need of a human priest; that the believer has the right and responsibility to personally study and interpret the Scriptures guided by the Holy Spirit. (John 14:6; Hebrews 4:16; 2 Timothy 2:15; 1 Peter 2:1, 5, 9).

• THE LORDSHIP OF JESUS CHRIST: He is the head of the church and His people honor Him.

  We believe that He alone is Head of the body of Christ, into which all true believers are immediately baptized by the Holy Spirit; that all members of this one spiritual body should assemble and identify themselves in local churches. (1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:22, 23; 4:11-15; Galatians 1:22).

• THE LOCAL CHURCH: All believers must be organized in communities to serve God in unity.

  We believe that a New Testament church is a local assembly of born-again baptized believers united in organization to practice New Testament ordinances, to meet together for worship, prayer, fellowship, teaching and a united testimony, and to actively engage in carrying out the Great Commission. (Acts 2:41, 42; 1 Corinthians 11:2; Matthew 28:19, 20).

• THE ORDINANCES: The church practices two symbols: Baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper.

  We believe that baptism is by immersion of believers in water, thus portraying the death, burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ;’ that the Lord’s Supper is the partaking of the bread and cup by the believer as a continuing memorial of the broken body and shed blood of Christ. (Matthew 28:19, 20; Acts 2:41; 8:38,39; Matthew 26:26-30; 1 Corinthians 11:23-34).

• THE AUTONOMY OF THE LOCAL CHURCH: The local church is an independent and self-governing body of believers.

  We believe that each New Testament church is free to govern itself without ecclesiastical interference, and should cooperate with other New Testament churches as the Holy Spirit leads; that it is responsible to follow the pattern of the New Testament church and is directly accountable to God. (Matthew 18:17; Acts 6:1-5; 13:1-3; 15:22, 23).

• SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE: They are two separate entities with different responsibilities.

  We believe that each entity has definite and distinct spheres of responsibility. (Matthew 22:21; Romans 13:1-7).