Statement of Faith

The Bible

We believe that the Holy Bible, and only the Bible, is the 100% infallible, inerrant Word of God. It alone is the final authority in determining all doctrinal truths. The Bible, in its original writing, was written by holy men of God as they were inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Bible is an essential and infallible record of God’s self-disclosure to mankind. It leads us to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Being given by God, the Scriptures are both fully and verbally inspired by God. Therefore, as originally given, the Bible is free of error in all it teaches. Each book is to be interpreted according to its context and purpose and in reverent obedience to the Lord who speaks through it in living power. All believers are exhorted to study the Scriptures and diligently apply them to their lives. The Scriptures are the authoritative and normative rule and guide of all Christian life, practice and doctrine. They are totally sufficient and must not be added to, superseded or changed by later tradition, extra-biblical revelation or worldly wisdom. We further reject the modern-day tendency to “read between the lines” at the expense of what is plainly stated within them. Every doctrinal formulation, whether of creed, confession or theology, must be put to the test of the full counsel of God in Holy Scripture. (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Prov. 30:5; Rom. 16:25-26).

Trinity

We believe that there is one God, who is a Trinity, or Tri-Unity, of three distinct persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. They are all co-equal and co eternal. (1 John 5:7; Gen. 1:26; Matt. 28:19; 3:16-17; Luke 1:35; Isa. 9:6; Heb. 3:7-11)

Jesus Christ

We believe that Jesus Christ is God the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity. Jesus Christ is 100% man and 100% God. He is the only man ever to have lived a sinless life. (John 1:1, 14; 20:28; 1 Tim. 3:16; Isa. 9:6; Phil. 2:5-6; 1 Tim. 2:5)

Virgin Birth

Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of the Father, conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary. Therefore, Jesus is the Son of God. (Matt. 1:18, 20,23; Luke 1:27-35; Isa. 7:14)

Redemption

Man was created good and upright, but by voluntary transgression he fell; his only hope of redemption is in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. (Gen. 1:26-31; 3:1-7; Rom. 5:12-21)

Salvation

We are saved by grace (which is undeserved and unearned) through faith in Jesus Christ, and His death, burial, and resurrection. Salvation is a free gift from God, not a result of our good works or of any human effort. (Eph. 2:8-9; Gal. 2:16; 3:8; Tit. 3:5; Rom. 10:9-10; Acts 16:31; Heb. 9:22)

Christ's Blood

Because Jesus Christ lived a sinless life, His blood shed on the cross of Calvary is 100% sufficient to cleanse us of all sins when appropriated individually through repentance and faith. Jesus allowed himself to be punished for the sins we have committed, enabling all who believe to be freed from the penalty of sin, which is death. (1 John 1:7; Rev. 1:5; Col. 1:20; Rom. 3:10-12, 23; 5:9; John 1:29)

Repentance

Repentance is a commitment to turn away from sin in every area of our lives and to follow Christ. Through repentance, we individually receive forgiveness of sins and appropriate salvation. (Acts 2:38; 3:19)

Indwells All Believers

A Christian is a person who has invited the Lord Jesus Christ to come and live inside him by the Holy Spirit. He is putting his trust in what Christ accomplished for him when He died, was buried, and rose again from the dead. (John 1:12; 14:17, 23; 15:4; Rom. 8:11; Rev. 3:20

Water Baptism

After believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, the new convert is commanded by the Word of God to be baptized in water in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Water baptism is not exclusively reserved to be conducted by the clergy, but may be conducted by any believer who has been born again and instructed in the scriptural truths of water baptism. (Matt. 29:19; Acts 2:38, 41)

The Church

The Lord's Supper

Baptism in the Holy Spirit

The church is the Body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit, with divine appointments for the fulfillment of Christ’s great commission. Every person who is born of the Spirit is an integral part of the church as a member of the body of believers. (Eph. 1:22, 2:19-22; Heb. 12:23)

The Lord’s Supper is a unique time of communion in the presence of God, when the elements of bread and wine (or grape juice), representing (but not literally becoming) the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, are taken by believers in remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. (1 Cor. 10:16; 11:23-25; Mark 16:16; Acts 8:12; 8:36-38; 10:47-48; Matt. 26:26-28)

Initiated at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit baptism is the promise of the Father, given by Jesus after His ascension, to empower the Church to preach the gospel throughout the whole earth, and is available to all who are born again. The primary purpose of speaking in tongues is to bring edification to the believer by enhancing his prayer life (Acts 1:5, 8; 2:1-4, 17, 38-39; 8:14-17; 10:38, 44-47; 11:15-17; 19:1-6; Mark 16:17; Joel 2:28-29; Matt. 3:11).

Sanctification

Sanctification is the ongoing process of being set apart for God, characterized by our yielding to God to complete the development of Christ’s character in us. A lifestyle of developing righteousness and holiness is the evidence to all men that Christ’s Spirit lives within us. (1 Th. 4:3; 2 Cor. 3:18; 6:14-18; 2 Th. 2:1-3; Rom. 8:29; 12:1-2; Heb. 2:11)

Healing of the Sick

Healing of the sick is illustrated through the life and ministry of Jesus, and is included in the life of the born again believer. Healing is a provision of Christ’s atonement on the cross, and is given as a sign which is to follow all believers. (Matt. 8:16-17; Acts 8:6-7; James 5:14-16; 3 John 2; Ps. 103:2-3; Isa. 53:5; Mark 16:17-18)

Health and Prosperity

We believe that, as a part of Christ’s work of salvation, it is the Father’s will for believers to be whole, healthy and successful in all areas of life:

1) Spiritual (John 3:3, 11; 2 Cor. 5:17-21; Rom. 10:9-10)

2) Mental and Emotional (2 Tim. 1:7; Rom. 12:2; Isa. 26:3)

3) Physical (Isa. 53:4, 5; Matt. 8:17; 1 Pet. 2:24)

4) Financial (Josh. 1:8; 3 John 2; Mal. 3:10-11; Luke 6:38; 2 Cor. 9:6-10; Dt. 38:1-14; Ps 34:10; 84:11; Phil. 4:19)

The Resurrection

The Second Coming of Christ

Heaven and Hell

We believe that Jesus Christ was physically resurrected from the dead in a glorified body three days after His death on the cross. One day, all believers in Christ will also be physically resurrected in glorified bodies to their eternal reward in heaven with God. (Luke 24:16, 36, 39; Phil. 1:21-23; 3:21; 1 Cor. 15:42, 44; John 2:19-21; 20:26-28; 21:4; Acts 24:15)

Jesus Christ will physically and visibly return to the earth again to establish His kingdom. This will occur at a time undisclosed by the Scriptures. (Rev. 1:7; Acts 1:9-11; Matt. 24:30; 26:63-64; 1 Th. 4:15, 17; 2 Th. 1:7-8)

Heaven is the eternal dwelling place of all who believe in Jesus Christ. (2 Cor. 5:1; 1 Peter 1:4; Heb. 11:16; John 17:24; Matt. 5:3, 12, 20; 6:20; 19:21; 25:34).

After living one life on earth, those who have rejected Christ will be judged justly by God and sent to Hell, where they will be eternally tormented together with the devil and the fallen angels. (Heb. 9:27; Matt. 25:41; Rev. 14:9-11; 20:12-15; 21:8; Mark 9:43-48)

Marriage

Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God’s unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race. (Genesis 2:18-25; Prov. 31:10-31; Mal. 2:14-16; Matt. 19:3-9; Eph. 5:22-33; 6:1-4; 1 Thess. 2:7, 11; 1 Tim. 3:1-12; 5:4; 1 Pet. 3:1-7).