WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT THE BIBLE
We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men supernaturally inspired; that it has truth without any admixture of error for its matter; and therefore is, and shall remain to the end of the age, the only complete and final revelation of the will of God to man; the true center of Christian union and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions should be tried.
We believe it is the duty of the Church to teach and preach this Book and for every Church member to study it, to commit it to memory and to obey it.
WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT GOD:
We believe that there is one, and only one, living and true God, an infinite, intelligent Spirit, the maker and supreme ruler of heaven and earth; inexpressibly glorious in holiness and worthy of all possible honor, confidence and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.
WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT:
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person; equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature; that He was active in the creation; that in His relation to the unbelieving world He restrains the evil one until God’s purpose is fulfilled; that He convicts of sin, of judgment and of righteousness; that He bears witness to the Truth of the Gospel in preaching and testimony; that He is the agent in the New Birth; that He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies and helps the believer. We believe He moved the human authors of the Bible to write its words.
WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT SATAN:
We believe that Satan was once holy, and enjoyed heavenly honors; but through pride and ambition to be as the Almighty, fell and drew after him a host of angels; that he is now the malignant prince of the power of the air, and the unholy god of this world. We hold him to be man’s great tempter, the enemy of God and His Christ, the accuser of the saints, the author of all false religions, the chief power back of the present apostasy; the lord of the antichrist, and the author of all the powers of darkness – destined however to final defeat at the hands of God’s own Son, and to the judgment of an eternal justice in hell, a place prepared for him and his angels.
WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT CREATION:
We believe in the Genesis account of creation and that it is to be accepted literally, and not allegorically or figuratively; that man was created directly in God’s own image and after His own likeness; that man’s creation was not a matter of evolution or evolutionary change of species, or development through interminable periods of time from lower to higher forms; that all animal and vegetable life was made directly.
WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT SIN:
We believe that man was created in innocence under the law of his Maker, but by voluntary transgression fell from his sinless and happy state, in consequence of which all mankind are now sinners, not by constraint, but of choice; and therefore under just condemnation without defense or excuse.
WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT ATONEMENT FOR SIN:
We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace; through the mediatory offices of the Son of God, Who by appointment of the Father, freely took upon Him our nature, yet without sin, honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and by His death made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins; that His atonement consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was the voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner’s place, the Just dying for the unjust, Christ, the Lord, bearing our sins in His own body on the tree; that, having risen from the dead, He is now enthroned in heaven and uniting in His wonderful person the most tender sympathies with divine perfection, He is in every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate and an all sufficient Savior.
WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT SALVATION:
We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be born again; that the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus; that it is instantaneous and not a process; that in the new birth the one dead in trespasses and in sins is made a partaker of the divine nature and receives eternal life, the free gift of God; that the new creation is brought about in a manner above our comprehension, not by culture, not by character, nor by the will of man, but wholly and solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the gospel; that its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance and faith and newness of life. We believe that at the moment of Spiritual birth, the “Babe in Christ” has their Birth Certificate recorded forever in the “Lamb’s Book of Life” in Heaven.
WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT THE CHURCH
We believe that Christ’s “Church” is that group of baptized believers in any location, who have been organized by an existing Church into a “Body of Christ”, to do Christ’s work on earth. The two ordinances of the Church are Baptism and the Lord’s Supper and it is the only group authorized by Christ to administer these. It is an autonomous Body, ruled only by God’s Word and the Holy Spirit and those individuals placed by them in positions of responsibility. We believe that the monetary necessities of each Church are to be supplied through the Tithes and Offerings of the membership.
WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT BAPTISM:
We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion in water of a believer, in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, with the authority of the local church, to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our faith in the crucified, buried and risen Savior, with its effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life; that it is prerequisite to the privileges of a church relation and to the Lord’s supper, in which the members of the church, by the sacred use of bread and the fruit of the vine are to commemorate together the dying love of Christ; preceded always by solemn self-examination.
WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT MISSIONS:
We believe that the command to give the gospel to the world is clear and unmistakable and that this Commission was given to the churches and to each member thereof. We believe this commandment of Jesus included also, “teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded”, i.e. to teach believers the whole Word of God, after their conversion.
We believe that it is the responsibility of each Church to give monetary support to God called individuals and families, as the Holy Spirit directs and to cooperate with other Churches in the training and sending of such missionaries throughout the world.
