the scriptures

We hold that the entire Bible is the infallible, inspired word of God in the original manuscripts, and that the very words of Scripture were written as men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its Author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.

Exodus 24:4; Deuteronomy 4:1-2; 17:19; Joshua 8:34; Psalms 19:7-10;119:1,89,105,140; Isaiah 34:16; 40:8; Jeremiah 15:16; 36:1-32; Matthew 5:17-18; 22:29; Luke 21:33; 24:44-46; John 5:39; 16:13-15; 17:17; Acts 2:16ff.; 17:11; Romans 15:4; 16:25-26; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-2; 4:12; 1 Peter 1:25; 2 Peter 1:19-21.

The trinity

There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. As the Creator of time and space and wholly distinct from His creation, He exists outside of His creation and is always and everywhere present in His creation. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Genesis 1:1; 2:7; Exodus 3:14; 6:2-3; 15:1 1ff.; 20:1ff.; Leviticus 22:2; Deuteronomy 6:4; 32:6; 1 Chronicles 29:10; Psalm 19:1-3; Isaiah 43:3; 15; 64:8; Jeremiah 10:10; 17:13; Matthew 6:9ff.; 7:11; 23:9; 28:19; Mark 1:9-11; John 4:24; 5:26; 14:6-13; 17:1-8; Acts 1:7; Romans 8:14-15; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 4:6; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 11:6; 12:9; 1 Peter 1:17; 1 John 5:7.

Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities, and identifying Himself completely with mankind, yet without sin. He honored the divine Law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was buried, raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples over forty days. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God the Father where He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. Christ became the substitutionary sacrifice for all the sins of all men of all time with only those that believe receiving atonement. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord. We await His promised, physical return for His Bride, the Church, and His Second Coming to establish His eternal kingdom, beginning on earth and extending forever in the New Heavens and New Earth.

Genesis 18:1ff.; Psalms 2:7ff.; 110:1ff.; Isaiah 7:14; 53; Matthew 1:18-23; 3:17; 8:29; 11:27; 14:33; 16:16,27; 17:5; 27; 28:1-6,19; Mark 1:1; 3:11; Luke 1:35; 4:41; 22:70; 24:46; John 1:1-18,29; 10:30,38; 11:25-27; 12:44-50; 14:7-11; 16:15-16,28; 17:1-5, 21-22; 20:1-20,28; Acts 1:9; 2:22-24; 7:55-56; 9:4-5,20; Romans 1:3-4; 3:23-26; 5:6-21; 8:1-3,34; 1-:4; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2:2; 8:6; 15:1-8,24-28; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; 8:9; Galatians 4:4-5; Ephesians 1:20; 3:11; 4:7-10; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1;13-22; 2:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 3:16; Titus 2:13-14; Hebrews 1:1-3; 4:14-15; 7:14-28; 9:12-15,25-28; 12:2; 13:8; 1 Peter 2:21-25; 3:22; 1 John 1:7-9; 3:2; 4:14-15; 5:9; 2 John 7-9; Revelation 1:13-16; 5:9-14; 12:10-11; 13:8; 19:16.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand the truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Savior, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration, He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ and personally indwells every believer. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service. He produces the fruit of the Spirit in the lives of those who submit to Him.

Genesis 1:2; Judges 14:6; Job 26:13; Psalms 51:11; 139:7ff.; Isaiah 61;1-3; Joel 2:28-32; Matthew 1:18; 3:16; 4:1; 12:28-32; 28:19; Mark 1:10,12; Luke 1:35; 4:1,18-19;11:13; 12:12; 24:49; John 4:24; 14:16-17,26; 15:26; 16:7-14; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4,38; 4:31; 5:3; 6:3; 7:55; 8:17,39; 10:44; 13:2; 15:28; 16:6; 19:1-6; Romans 8:9-11, 14-16,26-27; 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 3:16; 12:3-11,13; 6:19; 12:13; Galatians 4:6; 5:16-17,22-23; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; 1 Timothy 3:16; 4:1; 2 Timothy 1:14; 3:16; Hebrews 9:8,14; 1 Peter 4:10-11; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 John 4:13; 5:6-7; Revelation 1:1-; 22;17.

Man

Man was created by a direct act of God, not evolution. He created them male and female, in His own image, as the crowning work of His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God’s creation. In the beginning, man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original innocence whereby his posterity inherited a nature and an environment inclined toward sin. Therefore, as soon as they are capable of moral action, they become transgressors and are under condemnation. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God, and “without faith it is impossible to please Him.” The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man as an eternal being in His own image, and in that Christ died for all mankind; therefore, every person of every ethnicity possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.

Genesis 1:26-30; 2:5,7,18-22; 3; 9:6; Psalms 1; 8:3-6; 32:1-5; 51-5; Isaiah 6:5; 7:16; Jeremiah 17:5; Matthew 16:26; Acts 17:26-31; Romans 1:19-32; 3:10-18,23; 5:6, 12 19; 6:6; 7:14-25; 8:14-18,29; 1 Corinthians 1:21-31; 15:19,21-22; Ephesians 2:1-22; Colossians 1:21-22; 3:9-11.

satan, hell, and the lake of fire

Satan, also known as the Devil, is more than just the spirit of evil. He was created by God as the angel Lucifer, but through pride and rebellion became the enemy of God. He exists today as the accuser of the brethren. Satan is the unholy god of this present age and the ruler of all the powers of darkness. Satan is not omniscient, omnipresent, nor omnipotent, and must thereby employ the aid of demons, who, like Satan, were once angels, tempting the believer and the unbeliever to live contrary to the will of God, blinding the minds of the unsaved to God’s Gospel, and waging spiritual warfare against the children of God. Satan will be judged and cast into the Eternal Lake of Fire.

Hell is the temporary place of conscious torment where the souls of unbelievers remain after physical death until they are resurrected to the Great White Throne Judgment where they will be judged by Jesus Christ. Those unsaved being judged at the Great White Throne shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment.

Isaiah 14;12-21; Ezekiel 28:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11; 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; John 8:44; 16:11; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2; Colossians 2:15; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; 1 Peter 5:8; Revelation 9:11, 12:9, 20:10-15.

salvation

Salvation is the free gift of God’s grace, received through faith alone in Christ alone, based solely on the shed blood of Jesus Christ, His finished work on the cross, and His physical resurrection from the dead, and in no part is secured by man’s works. Saving faith is enabled by the Word of God and a conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit, leading to genuine repentance of sin and faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Genesis 3:15; Exodus 3:14-17; 6:2-8; Matthew 1:21; 4:17; 16:21-26; 27:22-28:6; Luke1:68-69; 2:28-32; John 1:11-14,29; 3:3-21,36; 5:24; 10:9, 28-29; 15:1-16; 17:17; Acts 2:21; 4:12; 15:11; 16:30-31; 17:30-31; 20:32; Romans 1:16-18; 2:4; 3:23-25; 4:3ff.; 5:8-10; 6:1-23; 8:1-18,29-39; 10:9-10,13; 13:11-14; 1 Corinthians 1:18,30; 6:19-20; 15:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17-20; Galatians 2:20; 3:13; 5:22-25; 6:15; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-22; 4:11-16; Philippians 2:12-13; Colossians 1:9-22; 3:1ff.; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 2 Timothy 1:12; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 2:1-3; 5:8-9; 9:24-28; 11:1-12:8,14; James 2:12-26; 1 Peter 1:2-23; 1 John 1:6-2:11; Revelation 3:20; 21:1-22:5.

The church

The Church is the Body of Christ, of which Jesus Christ is the head. A New Testament church is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the Gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws; exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word; and seeking to extend the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ in obedience to the commands and principles of Scripture through democratic processes. In such a congregation, each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. Its Scriptural offices are pastors and deacons. The offices of pastor and deacon are limited to qualified men as dictated by Scripture. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, women, in accordance with Scripture, are not to teach or usurp authority over the man in these offices. (1Tim 2:12)

Matthew 16:15-19; 18:15-20; Acts 2:41-42,47; 5:11-14; 6:3-6; 13:1-3; 14:23,27; 15:1-30; 16:5; 20:28; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 3:16; 5:4-5; 7:17; 9:13-14; 12; Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:19-22; 3:8-11,21; 5:22-32; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 2:9-14; 3:1-15; 4:14; Hebrews 11:39-40; 1 Peter 5:1-4;Revelation 2-3;21:2-3

Ordinances of baptism & Lord’s Supper

Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in the newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being the first commanded act of obedience for a new believer, it is a prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and the Lord’s Supper.

The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby believers, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His Second Coming. It is also an important time of self-examination concerning one’s obedience to Jesus Christ.

Matthew 3:13-17; 26:26-30; 28:19-20; Mark 1:9-11; 14:22-26; Luke 3:21-22; 22:19-20; John 3:23; Acts 2:41-42; 8:35-39; 16:30-33; 20:7; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 10:16,21; 11:23-29; Colossians 2:12.

The Lord’s day

Sunday, the first day of the week, is the Lord’s Day. It is a Christian practice for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private. Activities on the Lord’s Day should be commensurate with the Christian’s conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Exodus 20:8-11; Matthew 12:1-12; 28:1ff.; Mark 2:27-28; 16:1-7; Luke 24:1-3,33-36; John 4:21-24; 20:1,19-28; Acts 20:7; Romans 14:5-10; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2; Colossians 2:16; 3:16; Revelation 1:10.

The pre-tribulation rapture and the eternal kingdom

We believe in the imminent pre-tribulation rapture of the Church. We believe in the pre-millennial return of Christ to the earth at the end of the Great Tribulation when He will fulfill His covenant promises to Israel. We believe in the bodily resurrection of all the dead, the saved to eternal life and blessedness in Heaven, and the unsaved to eternal, conscious suffering in the Lake of Fire. After the literal millennial reign of Christ, and the subsequent Great White Throne Judgment, Christ will establish the eternal state of the New Heavens and New Earth.

Isaiah 2:4; 11:9; Matthew 16:27; 18:8-9; 19:28; 24:27,30,36,44; 25:31-46; 26:64; Mark 8:38; 9:43-48; Luke 12:40,48; 16:19-26; 17:22-37; 21:27-28; John 14:1-3; Acts 1:11; 17:31; Romans 14:10; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 15:24-28,35-58; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Philippians 3:20-21; Colossians 1:5; 3:4; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 5:1ff.; 2 Thessalonians 1:7ff.; 2; 1 Timothy 6:14; 2 Timothy 4:1,8; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 9:27-28; James 5:8; 2 Peter 3:7ff.; 1 John 2:28; 3:2; Jude 14; Revelation 1:18; 3:11; 20:1-22:13.

Evangelism and missions

It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to make disciples of all nations. Individually, it is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle, and by other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ. Corporately, the Church must consistently preach the Gospel and support evangelism and missions, here and abroad, through giving and prayer, as the Lord leads.

Genesis 12:1-3; Exodus 19:5-6; Isaiah 6:1-8; Matthew 9:37-38; 10:5-15; 13:18-30,37-43; 16:19; 22:9-10; 24:14; 28:18-20; Luke 10:1-18; 24:46-53; John 14:11-12; 15:7-8,16; 17:15; 20-21; Acts 1:8; 1; 8:26-40; 10:42-48; 13:2-3; Romans 10:13-15; Ephesians 3:1-11; 1 Thessalonians 1:8; 2 Timothy 4:5; Hebrews 2:1-3; 11:39-12:2; 1 Peter 2:4-10; Revelation 22:17.

stewardship

God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are, we owe to Him. We are therefore under obligation to serve Him with our time, talents, and material possessions; and should recognize all these as entrusted to us to use for the glory of God and for the helping of others. According to the Scriptures, Christians should contribute from their means cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancement of the Redeemer’s cause on earth.

Genesis 14:20; Leviticus 27:30-32; Deuteronomy 8:18; Malachi 3:8-12; Matthew 6:1-4,19-21;19:21; 23:23; 25:14-29; Luke 12:16-21,42; 16:1-13; Acts 2:44-47; 5:1-11; 17:24-25; 20:35; Romans 6:6-22; 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 4:1-2; 6:19-20; 12; 16:1-4; 2 Corinthians 8-9; 12:15; Philippians 4:10-19; 1 Peter 1:18-19.

Cooperation

Members of New Testament churches should cooperate with one another in carrying forward their missionary, educational, and benevolent ministries for the extension of Christ’s Kingdom. Cooperation is desirable between other fundamental Bible believing Christians when such cooperation involves no violation of conscience or compromise of loyalty to Christ and his Word as revealed in the New Testament.

Exodus 17:12; 18:17ff.; Judges 7:21; Ezra 1:3-4; 2:68-69; 5:14-15; Nehemiah 4; 8:1-5; Matthew 10:5-15; 20:1-16; 22:1-10; 28:19-20; Mark 2:3; Luke 10:1ff.; Acts 1:13-14; 2:1ff.; 4:31-37; 13:2-3; 15:1-35; 1 Corinthians 1:10-17; 3:5-15; 12; 2 Corinthians 8-9; Galatians 1:6-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Philippians 1:15-18.

The Christian and social order

Christ holds supreme authority in the lives of every believer. Therefore, all Christians should oppose false teaching, racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including but not limited to: fornication, adultery, homosexuality, pornography, transgenderism, and pedophilia. We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love. In order to promote these ends, Christians should be ready to work with others without compromising their loyalty to Christ and His truth.

Exodus 20:3-17; Leviticus 6:2-5; Deuteronomy 10:12; 27:17; Psalm 101:5; Micah 6:8; Zechariah 8:16; Matthew 5:13-16,43-48; 22:36-40; 25:35; Mark 1:29-34; 2:3ff.; 10:21; Luke 4:18-21; 10:27-37; 20:25; John 15:12; 17:15; Romans 12-14; 1 Corinthians 5:9-10; 6:1-7; 7:20-24; 10:23-11:1; Galatians 3:26-28; Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians 3:12-17; 1 Thessalonians 3:12; Philemon; James 1:27; 2:8.

Christian liberty in church and state

The Bible is the infallible and final authority on all matters of Christian liberty. Where the Bible is not explicit, Christians must prayerfully seek God’s wisdom and guidance while exercising liberty of conscience. Christians are forbidden from judging others in these areas. However, Christians, as ambassadors for Christ, are to limit their liberties in submission to human authorities which have been established by God. When human authority contradicts the clear teaching of Scripture, “we must obey God rather than men.”

Genesis 1:27; 2:7; Matthew 6:6-7;24; 16:26; 22:21; John 8:36; Acts 4:19-20; Romans 6:1-2; 13:1-7; Galatians 5:1,13; Philippians 3:20; 1 Timothy 2:1-2; James 4:12; 1 Peter 2:12-17; 3:11-17; 4:12-19.

Marriage and family

Marriage – Marriage is the uniting of one man to 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. We believe the only Scriptural marriage is the joining of one man and one woman for life (Gen. 2:24; Romans 7:2; I Cor. 7:10; Eph. 5:22-23.)
Children – Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God’s pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through their consistent lifestyle examples and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents. We believe in the sanctity of all human life. The Bible teaches that life begins at conception and must be respected until natural death, viewing it as a sacred gift from God. (Genesis 1:27, Exodus 20:13; Psalm 139:13, Jeremiah 1:5). We believe that abortion in any form is the taking of human life. We also emphasize that the Gospel makes possible the forgiveness of any sin. God offers mercy and healing for those who put their faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Human Sexuality – We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of marriage between one genetically-born man and one genetically-born woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, trangenderism, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, pedophelia, and/or pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex.
Male & Female – God created human beings as either genetically male or genetically female. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God (Genesis 1:26-27). Rejection of one’s biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person. We believe that God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one’s gender by surgery, medical intervention, or appearance (Gen. 2:24; Gen. 19:5; Gen. 26:8-9; Lev. 18:1-30; Romans 1:26-29; I Cor. 5:1;I Cor. 6:9: I Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4.)

Genesis1:26-28; 2:15-25; 3:1-20; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Joshua 24:15; 1 Samuel 1:26-28; Psalms 51:5; 78:1-8; 127; 128; 139: 13-16; Proverbs 1:8; 5:15-20; 6:20-22; 12:4; 13:24; 14:1; 17:6; 18:22; 22:6,15; 23:13-14; 24:3; 29:15,17; 31:10-31; Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; 9:9; Malachi 2:14-16; Matthew 5:31-32; 18:2-5; 19:2-5; 19:3-9; Mark 10:6-12; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 7:1-16; Ephesians 5:21-33; 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Timothy 5:8,14; 2 Timothy 1:3-5; Titus 2:3-5; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 3:1-7.

our beliefs