Our BELIEF
We affirm
our
belief in one God, infinite Spirit, creator, and sustainer of all things,
who exists eternally in three persons, God the Father, God the Son, and
God the Holy Spirit. These three are one in essence but distinct in person
and function.
We affirm
the
Father is the first person of the Trinity and the source of all that God
is and does. From Him the Son is eternally generated and from Them the
Spirit eternally proceeds. He is the designer of creation, the speaker of
revelation, the author of redemption, and the sovereign of history.
We affirm
the Lord Jesus Christ is the second person of the
Trinity. Eternally begotten from the Father, He is God. He was conceived
by the virgin Mary through a miracle of the Holy Spirit. He lives forever
as perfect God and perfect man: two distinct natures inseparably united in
one person.
We affirm the Holy Spirit is the third person of the
Trinity, proceeding from the Father and Son and equal in deity. He is the
giver of all life, active in the creating and ordering of the universe: He
is the agent of inspiration and the new birth; He restrains sin and Satan;
and He indwells and sanctifies all believers;
We affirm all things were created by God. Angels were created as
ministering agents, though some, under the leadership of Satan, fell from
their sinless state to become agents of evil. The universe was created in
six historical days and is continuously sustained by God; thus it both
reflects His glory and reveals His truth. Human beings were directly
created, not evolved, in the very image of God. As reasoning moral agents,
they are responsible under God for understanding and governing themselves
and the world;
We affirm the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, though written by men, was
supernaturally inspired by God so that all its words are the written true
revelation of God, it is therefore inerrant in the originals and
authoritative in all matters. It is to be understood by all through the
illumination of the Holy Spirit, its meaning determined by the historical,
grammatical, and literary use of the author's language, comparing
Scripture with Scripture;
We affirm Adam, the first man, willfully disobeyed God, bringing sin and death into
the world. As a result, all persons are sinners from conception, which is
evidenced in their willful acts of sin; and they are therefore subject to
eternal punishment, under the just condemnation of a holy God;
We affirm Jesus Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice by the appointment of the
Father. He fulfilled the demands of God by His obedient life, died on the
cross in full substitution and payment for the sins of all, was buried,
and on the third day He arose physically and bodily from the dead. He
ascended into heaven where He now intercedes for all believers;
We affirm each person can be saved only through the work of Jesus Christ, through
repentance of sin and by faith alone in Him as Savior. The believer is
declared righteous, born again by the Holy Spirit, turned from sin, and
assured of heaven;
We affirm the Holy Spirit indwells all who are born again, conforming them to the
likeness of Jesus Christ. This is a process completed only in Heaven.
Every believer is responsible to live in obedience to the Word of God in
separation from sin;
We affirm a church is a local assembly of baptized believers, under
the discipline of the Word of God and the lordship of Christ, organized to
carry out the commission to evangelize, to teach, and to administer the
ordinances of believer's baptism and the Lord's table. Its offices are
pastors and deacons, and it is self-governing. It functions through the
ministry of gifts given by the Holy Spirit to each believer; and,
We affirm the return of Christ for all believers is imminent. It will be followed by
seven years of great tribulation, and then the coming of Christ to
establish His earthly kingdom for a thousand years. The unsaved will then
be raised and judged according to their works and separated forever from
God in hell. The saved, having been raised, will live forever in heaven in
fellowship with God.
