WHAT WE BELIEVE
(Excerpts)
The Scriptures
The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter.
God
There is one and only one living and true God; To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.
God the 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.
God the Son
Christ is the eternal Son of God. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. His substitutionary death on the cross made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission.
God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He exalts Christ, convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.
Mankind
Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice man 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 original innocence whereby his posterity inherited a nature and an environment inclined toward sin. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God.
Salvation
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely 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. Salvation is truly by faith alone in Christ alone.
The Church
The church is the Body of Christ and includes all of the redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ.
Baptism
Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of our Triune God. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in the Savior, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper.
The Lord’s Supper
The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.
Stewardship
God is the source of all blessings; all that we have and are, we owe to Him. According to the Scriptures, Christians should contribute of their means cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancement of the Redeemer’s cause on earth. They are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions.
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.