Beliefs

I. THE HOLY SCRIPTURES

We believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, equally in all parts and in the whole and is totally inerrant in the original manuscripts. We further believe it is the supreme revelation from God and of God, superior to conscience and reason, though no contrary to them; and it is therefore our infallible rule in all matters. We believe that all Scriptures center about the Lord Jesus Christ and hence that no portion is properly read nor understood until it leads to Him. (John 5:39; II Timothy 3:16-17; I Peter 1:23-25; Hebrews 4:12)

II. THE GODHEAD

We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons, the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit; and that these three are one God, having the same nature, attributes, and perfection and are worthy of the same homage and obedience. (Matthew 28:18-29; Mark 12:20; John 1:14; Acts 5:3-4; II Corinthians 13:14; Hebrews 1:1-3; Revelation 1:4-6)

III. THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

We believe in the pre-existence, incarnation and virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ who came into the world to reveal the Father, and was the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person; that the Lord Jesus Christ was instrumental in the creation of all things, for by Him the worlds were made. We believe that in Christ dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and that He was very God and very man. We further believe in the sinless life of our Lord Jesus Christ, His Miracles, His vicarious and atoning death, His bodily resurrection, His bodily ascension into heaven, and in His coming again as revealed by the scriptures. (John 1:1-2,14; I Timothy 3:16; Acts 7:37-38; Philippians 2:9-10; Hebrews 7:25)

IV. THE HOLY SPIRIT

We believe that the Holy Spirit, though omnipresent from all eternity, after the glorification of Jesus Christ was sent on the day of Pentecost, dwells in every believer, unites all to Christ in one body, and is the source of all power and acceptable service. We believe that ministries are committed to the Holy Spirit including the restraining of evil in the world; the convicting of the world respecting sin, righteousness, and judgment; the regeneration of all believers; the sealing of all believers unto the day of redemption; and the continuous filling for power and service of these among the saved who are yielded to Him and to His will. We believe that the fruit of the Spirit is the manifestation of the character of Christ in the believer’s life. We further believe that all the gifts of the Spirit should be and must be operative in the church for the church to manifest her full glory under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. (John 3:6, 14:16-17; Romans 8:9, 12:10-11; I Corinthians 6:19, 12:8-11; Galatians 5:22-23; Ephesians 2:22, 4:11-13)

V. ANGELS, HEAVENLY AND FALLEN

We believe that God created a vast company of sinless spiritual beings known as angels; the one, “Lucifer, Son of the Morning,” the highest in rank, sinned through pride, thereby becoming Satan; that a great company of the angels followed him in his moral fall and have now become demons and are active as his agents in opposing all that is godly, holy and united in building the kingdom of God. (Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:11-19; II Peter 2:4; Jude 6)

We believe that Satan is the originator of sin, and that, under the permission of God, he, through subtlety, led our first parents into transgression, thereby accomplishing their moral fall and subjecting them and their posterity to his own power and that he is the enemy of God and His people. However, we also believe that Satan was defeated by Jesus Christ at Calvary and through the authority over Satan to His body the Church, and to each born again Christian in the church. At the return of Jesus Christ, to the earth, Satan will be bound and cast into the abyss for a thousand years, and after the thousand years he will be loosed for a little season and then cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where he shall be tormented day and night forever and ever throughout eternity. (Genesis 3:1-19; Romans 5:12-14; II Corinthians 4:3-4, 11:13-15; Ephesians 6:10-12; II Thessalonians 2:4; I Timothy 4:1-3; Colossians 2:15; Revelation 20:1-3, 10) VI. THE CREATION OF THE WORLD AND MAN

We believe that God sovereignty created the world out of nothing. We further believe that man was created in the image of God and by a direct and immediate act of God. (Genesis 1:1, 26-27, 2:4)

VII. MAN’S FALLEN CONDITION

We believe that man by willful transgression fell from a state of righteousness and holiness in which he was first created into total spiritual depravity; a state of death in trespasses and sins in which he is held as a slave of sin and an enemy of God, being unable to attain divine righteousness by his own efforts, but must be redeemed and delivered by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. (Romans 3:23-25, 5:12-21; I Corinthians 15:1-4; II Corinthians 4:3-4)

VIII. SALVATION ONLY THROUGH CHRIST

We believe that repentance and faith toward God produces the work of justification in the believer through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Further, we believe that, owing to universal spiritual death through sin, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless born of the Spirit. We also believe that our redemption has been accomplished solely by the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us as our substitute and that there is salvation in no other name. (Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:8-10)

IX. THE WALK OF THE BELIEVER

We believe that a continuous walk in grace should be the emphasis of heart righteousness and purity, believing in the keeping power of God, walking after the Spirit and not after the flesh, in conduct that demonstrates the character of Jesus Christ, not being conformed to the world, but being transformed by the renewing of the mind. We further believe that each believer must lay a foundation of Biblical truth and experience upon which he builds his life.

Through the Lordship of Jesus Christ, these foundation stones are established in the new birth and include repentance from dead works, faith toward God, doctrine of baptisms, laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. (Romans 4:1-5, 8:25, 12:1; I Corinthians 3:11; Galatians 5:16-25; Hebrews 6:1-2; Jude 24)

X. THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS

We believe the New Testament teaches at least three baptisms. First, there is the baptism whereby the repentant sinner, upon trusting Jesus Christ as his/her Savior, is baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ. (I Corinthians 12:10)

Second, there is water baptism by immersion for believers only. This we believe to be an ordinance of the church, whereby the believer is buried in the likeness of Christ as he was in the earth, and raised to walk in the newness of life with the Lord Jesus Christ. (Matthew 20:19-20; Acts 2:38; Romans 6:3-6)

Third, there is the filling or baptism in the Holy Spirit by the Lord Jesus Christ, which may occur at or subsequent to conversion. We believe that speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance is the normative evidence of this baptism. Further, we believe that, by the believer’s continued submission to the Holy Spirit, his very weakness is transformed into strength to witness for Jesus Christ in power and to live according to the will of God. (Acts 1:5, 8:24,38; 10:46; 11:28; 19:6)

XI. DIVINE HEALING

We believe in divine healing for the whole man through the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Further we believe that the stripes laid upon the back of Jesus during His scourging are counted by God as full and final payment for all sickness, pain, and infirmities of this life which may from time to time come upon mankind.

We therefore believe that sickness has no valid claim to bodies which are the temples of God and that every believer’s part is to resist sicknesses, pains, infirmities, and other such common enemies of man through prayer, the laying on of hands, and/or anointing with oil, all done by faith and in the name of Jesus. (Isaiah 53:4-5; Matthew 8:16; Acts 4:30, 19:11; I Corinthians 12:9; James 5:14; I Peter 2:24-25)

XII. THE CHURCH

We believe that all who are united by the new birth to Jesus Christ are members of the universal Church, the body of Christ. We also believe that the local congregation of Christian believers is divinely instituted and is the chosen instrument of God for the furtherance of God’s work upon the earth. While appreciating the work of para-church groups, we believe that the local church is God’s chosen vehicle for world evangelism, the nurture of Christians and the equipping of the saints to the work of ministry thereby building the body of Christ. We further believe in the spiritual unity of all believers and in working together with others who believe in salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ for the causes of evangelism, missions, and benevolence. (Matthew 16:16-18; John 17:21; Romans 12:5; Ephesians 1:20-23, 4:3-10; Colossians 3:14-15)

XIII. THE ORDINANCES

We believe that water baptism is for believers only and should be administered by the mode of immersions and in the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ to the glory of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We further believe that water baptism is the means whereby we receive the New Covenant sign of circumcision of the heart. We also believe that we identify with Jesus Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection through water baptism. (Matthew 28:10-20; Acts 8:16; Romans 6:4)

We believe and practice the ordinance of communion as described by Paul the Apostle in his letter to the church at Corinth. We further believe that the sacraments of communion are holy when accepted by God and represent the broken body and the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that the receiving of the communion sacraments is a serious matter, not to be taken lightly, nor in sin or insincerity, and is for believers only who have examined themselves before God. (I Corinthians 11:20-34)

XIV. WORSHIP

We believe that the whole purpose of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Therefore, we believe in the act of worshipping God with one’s total being as set forth in the Holy Scriptures. (Psalm 150; Mark 12:29-31; Ephesians 5:18-21)

XV. MINISTERS TO THE CHURCH

We believe in the divinely called, commissioned, and equipped five-fold ministry of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers as given to the church by the Lord Jesus Christ after His ascension. We further believe that all Christians are called to be ambassadors for Christ and that all believers have been given the ministry of reconciliation. (Ephesians 4:11-13; II Corinthians 5:20)

XVI. LAYING ON OF HANDS

We believe in the doctrine of laying on of hands for: A. The confirming of believers to commitment and ministry in the local church. B. The confirming of one’s call by God to special ministry in the local church. (Acts 13:1,3) C. The imparting of spiritual gifts (I Timothy 4:14; II Timothy 1:6) D. The experiencing of the infilling of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:17-18) E. The ministering of healing of the sick through the Lord Jesus Christ. (Mark 16:16)

F. The blessing and dedicating of children to the Lord. (Mark 10:16)

We further believe that, in obedience to the Holy Scripture, we should lay hands on no man suddenly, but that the laying on of hands confirms a ministry which is already observable and proven. (I Timothy 5:22)

XVII. EVANGELISM AND MISSIONS

We believe that it is the explicit message of our Lord Jesus Christ to those whom He has redeemed, that they are sent forth by Him into the world to be witnesses of His saving grace and that their primary purpose in life should be to glorify God by obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ’s command to preach the Gospel to every creature and to make disciples of all nations. (Matthew 28:18-19; Mark 16:15; John 17:18; Acts 1:8; II Corinthians 5:18-20; I Peter 1:17, 2:11)

XVIII. THE ETERNAL STATE

We believe that at death the spirits and souls of those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ pass immediately into His presence and there remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the glorified body, when Jesus Christ comes for His own, whereupon the soul and body reunited shall be with Him forever in glory; but the spirits and souls of the unbelieving remain after death conscious of condemnation and in misery until the final judgment of the Great White Throne, when soul and body reunited shall be cast into the lake of fire, not to be annihilated, but to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power. (Luke 16:19-26, 23:42; II Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; II Thessalonians 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Revelation 20:11-15)