Statement of Faith

What We Believe

The Holy Scriptures

We believe that the Bible is the written and inspired Word of God, authoritative and without error in the original manuscripts. We further believe that the Scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments are designed for our practical instruction in faith and conduct.

(II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:21)

The Godhead

We believe that the Godhead eternally exists in three persons–the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit– and that these three are one God.

(Genesis 1:26; Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; John 1:1-3,14:9-12,26)

Man

We believe that man was created in the image of God, but because of man’s sin and disobedience, mankind was alienated from God. We further believe that the entire human race now shares in man’s lost and depraved nature, and that only through faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord can this alienation be removed.

(Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:23-24, 5:18-19; Ephesians 2:3-5)

The Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ

We believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, who came into the world that He might manifest God to men, fulfill prophecy, and become the Redeemer of a lost world. To this end, He was born of the Virgin Mary, received a human body and a sinless human nature without ceasing to be God.

(Luke 1:30- 35; John 1:1, 14, 18; Philippians 2:5-11; Hebrews 4:15)

We believe that, in infinite love for the lost, He voluntarily accepted His Father’s will and became the divinely provided sacrificial Lamb and took away the sins of the world.

(Romans 3:23-31; I Corinthians 15:1-3; II Corinthians 5:14-19; Hebrews 10:5-18)

We believe that He arose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He had lived and died, and that His resurrected body is the pattern of the body which ultimately will be given to all believers.

(John 20:19-20; Philippians 3:20-21)

We believe that He ascended into Heaven and was accepted by His Father, and that the Father’s acceptance is a final assurance to us that Christ’s redeeming work was perfectly accomplished.

(Mark 16:19; Ephesians 1:20-21; Hebrews 1:3- 4)

We believe that He became Head over all things to the Church, which is His body, and in this ministry He does not cease to intercede and to be an advocate for the saved.

(Ephesians 1:22-23; Philippians 2:6-11; I Timothy 2:3-6; I John 2:1- 2)

The Holy Spirit

We believe in the personality and deity of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, who is eternal and coequal with the Father and the Son.

We believe that Jesus Christ brings people into relationship with Himself and His body, the Church, through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and that all believers have been baptized with the Holy Spirit. We further believe that the Holy Spirit indwells all believers immediately after they place their trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

(Matt. 3:11; John 1:33; I Corinthians 12:13; Rom. 8:14-27)

We believe that it is the will and command of God that every believer be filled with the Holy Spirit, and that the spirit-filled life is desirable, valuable, and an issue of obedience for all believers. We further believe that all believers are to walk, be led by, and live in the power of the Holy Spirit. We believe being filled with the Holy Spirit is the result of continuing submission to His divine power and control.

(Acts 1:8; Ephesians 5:18; Galatians 5:16-25)

We believe the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the filling of the Holy Spirit are separate, distinct, valid, and valuable ministries of the Holy Spirit. Baptism of the Holy Spirit occurs once and for all at salvation. Being filled with the Holy Spirit may occur simultaneous with salvation, but there should also be subsequent fillings as part of the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer.

(Acts 1:8, 2:4, 4:8, 31)

We believe the proclamation of the Gospel includes both the eternal power of Calvary and the potential power of Pentecost; the baptizing power of Jesus Christ for salvation because of Calvary, and the filling of the Holy Spirit for service and holy victorious living because of Pentecost. We believe that being filled with the Holy Spirit equips believers for service in the kingdom of God and empowers believers to live a victorious Christian life that glorifies God. We further believe that the evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit will be the fruit of the Spirit.

(Matthew 28:19; Acts 1:8, 2:4, 3:10, 4:8, 4:31, 5:3-4, 20:27; I Corinthians 12:2-6; Romans 5:5 and 8:9-11; Galatians 5:16-25; Ephesians 5:18)

We believe that the Holy Spirit: convicts of sin (John 16: 8-11); glorifies Jesus Christ (John 15:26); regenerates the unsaved (John 3:5-8); indwells the believer (John 14:16-18; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20); comforts the afflicted (John 14: 16; 26); equips the saints with gifts (Romans 12, Ephesians 4 and 1 Corinthians 12); sanctifies (Romans 15:16); unifies the body (Ephesians 4:3); assures us of our salvation (1 John 3:24); and teaches us the Word of God (John 14:17,26).

Spiritual Gifts

We believe that Jesus Christ is the sovereign giver of spiritual gifts, which He distributes to all believers through the Holy Spirit in order to help them to function as a member of the church, which is the body of Christ. We further believe that these gifts are given for the perfecting of the saints in the work of the ministry and for the edifying of the body of Christ.

(Ephesians 4:7-12; Galatians 3:26-28)

We believe in the perpetuity and continuing ecclesiastical value of all spiritual gifts until the end of this church age, which is consummated by the glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that the exercise or use of any spiritual gift must be done in accordance with Scriptural principles and under the oversight of the local church.

(Romans 12:3-8; I Corinthians 12-14; Ephesians 4:11-12)

The Personality of Satan

We believe that Satan, the devil, is the prince of demons and is the declared adversary of God and man. However, when the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, He limited the power of the devil and guaranteed the ultimate triumph of God.

(Ephesians 2:2; Colossians 2:13-15; 1 Peter 5:8; Revelation 20:10)

We believe in the authority of the believer, through our Lord Jesus Christ, over the enemy, Satan, and the victory to be gained by the exercise of that authority where Satan and sin seeks to oppress believers.

(Acts 10:38; Ephesians 1:18-21; 6:10-18; 1 John 2:16)

Salvation

We believe that no one can enter the kingdom of God unless born again spiritually, and that the new birth of the believer comes only through confession and repentance of sin and profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We believe, also, that our redemption has been accomplished by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and that this redemption is by the grace of God, an unmerited gift, given in love by God and not the result of any human works.

(John 3:7, 18; II Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13-14; Ephesians 2:4-9; Romans 4:4-5, 6:23, 10:9-10, 13)

We believe that upon receiving the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, the believer passes immediately out of spiritual death into spiritual life and into fellowship with God.

(John 1:12, 5:24; I Corinthians 1:9)

Eternal Security

We believe that once salvation is accomplished, we and all true believers everywhere shall be kept saved forever. True believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit and are secure in Christ. This security is not found in a place called Heaven, for a third of the angels fell from Heaven. Instead, this security comes only through true faith in the person of Jesus Christ, who declared ”No one can snatch them out of my hand.”

(John 10:28-29; Romans 3:21-24, 8:35-39; Galatians 2:15-16; Ephesians 1:13-14, 2:4- 5, 8-9; II Timothy 2:11-13)

We further believe that the Bible does not teach unconditional security. The condition to our security is that we must truly be saved. Someone who claims to be saved, yet lives a life of continual, habitual sin is like the person Paul warned Jude about in Jude 1:4 “They are godless men, who change the grace of God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.” The person who lives like that is not saved and is living with a sense of false security.