OUR BELIEFS
The sole basis of our beliefs is the Bible, God’s infallible written word, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments. We believe that it was uniquely and fully inspired by the Holy Spirit, and that it was written without error (inerrant) in the original manuscripts. It is the supreme and final authority in all matters on which it speaks. We accept the areas of doctrinal teaching on which, historically, there has been general agreement among all true Christians. We desire to allow for freedom of conviction on other doctrinal matters, provided that any interpretation is based on the Bible alone, and that no such interpretation will become an issue which hinders the ministry to which God has called us.
Baptism is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection explicitly affirm our belief in biblical teachings as follows:
//There is one true God, eternally existing in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – each of whom possesses equally the same attributes of Deity and the characteristics of personality.
//Jesus Christ is God, the living Word, who became flesh through His miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit and His virgin birth. Hence, He is perfect Deity and true humanity united in one person forever.
//He lived a sinless life and voluntarily atoned for the sins of men by dying on the cross as their substitute, thus satisfying divine justice and accomplishing salvation for all who trust in Him.
//He rose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He lived and died.
//Man’s nature is corrupted. Thus, he is totally unable to please God. Every man is in need of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
//The salvation of man is wholly the work of God’s free grace and is not the work, in whole or part, of human works, goodness or religious ceremony. God imputes His righteousness to those who put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation, and thereby justifies them in His sight.
//It is the privilege of all who are born again of the Spirit to be assured of their salvation from the very moment in which they trust Christ as their Savior. This assurance is not based on any kind of human merit, but is produced by the witness of the Holy Spirit, who confirms in the believer the testimony of God in His written Word.
//Every believer is called to live so in the power of the indwelling Spirit that he/she will not fulfill the lust of the flesh, but will bear fruit to the glory of God.
//Jesus Christ is the head of the Church, His body, which is composed of all men, living and dead, who have been joined to Him through saving faith.
//At physical death the unbeliever enters into eternal, conscious separation from the Lord and awaits the resurrection of his body to everlasting judgment and condemnation.
//Jesus Christ will come again to the earth – personally, visibly and bodily – to consummate history and the eternal plan of God.
//Baptism is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus.