What We Believe

The Scriptures

We believe the Bible to be composed of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments. The canon is complete. There is no new revelation (Rev. 22:18-19).  The Scriptures are the sole authority for faith and practice. We believe them to be the revealed and inspired Word of God, inerrant and infallible. By the power of the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21) the very words of God were recorded by various human penman (2 Tim. 3:16).  We believe that God has preserved His Word (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Matt. 5:18). The preserved text of the Bible is the text that has been accepted by the people of God down through the ages (the Textus Receptus of the New Testament and the Masoretic Text of the Old Testament). We believe the words of God are preserved for us today in English in the K.J.V. Bible (Ps. 12:6-7; 119: 89, 152, 160; Is. 40:8).

God

We believe in the triune God existing in three persons; Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and that each personality is eternal in being, identical in essence, equal in power and glory, and has the same attributes and perfections (Deut. 6:4, 2 Cor. 13:14; Matt. 3:16, 17).  God created all things in six literal days (Ex. 20:11; 31:17; Ps. 33:6-9).

Christ

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin (Is 7:14; Matt 1:23) in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men through His substitutionary death on the cross (John 1:1, 2, 14; Luke 1:35; Phil. 2:5-11).  The bodily resurrection of Christ from the grave reveals God the Father’s approval of all His life and work (Romans 1:4; 1 Cor. 15:3-4).

The Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third Person of the trinity and convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and that He is the Divine Teacher who guides believers into all truth.  He is the supernatural agent in regeneration indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption. The Holy Spirit empowers believers for soul-winning and local church ministry (John 16:8-11; 2 Cor. 3:6; Romans 8:9; Eph. 1:13, 14; Acts 1:8).

Angels

We believe that Satan is a real and personal being, a fallen angel who is the adversary of Christ and His people, and who deceives, entices and accuses Christians, and whose end is the Lake of Fire. The holy angels are (Rev. 14:10) “ministering spirits” (Heb 1:14) helping Christians and serving God in heaven and on earth (Heb. 13:2; Isa. 14:12-15; 2 Cor. 4:3, 4; 1 Peter 5:8; Rev. 12:9, 10; 20:10).

Man

We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that he sinned, and physical and spiritual death resulted; that in Adam’s sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, became alienated from God and is totally unable on its own to regain its former position (Gen. 1:26; 3:1-24; Rom. 3:23; 5:12; Eph. 2:12).

Salvation

We believe that salvation is a gift of God’s grace to “whosoever will” (Rev. 22:17) and is received by repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ whose precious blood was shed for the forgiveness of our sins. Salvation is “by grace” alone “through faith” alone (Eph. 2:8,9; Acts 20:21; John 1:12, 3:16; 1 Pet.1:23).

The Church

A Church is saved, baptized believers gathered into a local congregation for the purpose of obedience to Christ, edification of the saints and fulfillment of the great commission (Matt. 28:19, 20).  God’s work today is primarily being carried on through the ministry of local churches (1 Tim. 3:15, Matt.16:18).

There are two offices and two ordinances given to the local church.  The two offices of the local church are pastor and deacons.

The Pastor has the duty to oversee the flock of God as the under-shepherd under Christ (Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:1, 8; Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:3).  A church must only call a man as its pastor who meets the specific qualifications laid out in Scripture (1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9).

The deacon is a servant to help the pastor with the needs of the church (Acts 6:1-6).  There are also specific qualifications for deacons (1 Tim. 3:8-13).

The two ordinances for the church are Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Baptism was instituted by the command of Christ that all believers should be baptized (Matt. 28:18-20).  He set the example for us to follow by being baptized in water, and our baptism should be by the mode of immersion to testify of our identification with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection (Rom. 6:1-4).

The Lord’s Supper, as instituted by Christ, is a memorial, a symbol and a prophecy to show forth His death until He comes (1 Cor. 11; Mat. 26:29).  Those who partake are to be saved, baptized, and walking in obedience to God (Acts 2:41-42; 1 Cor. 11:27-32).

Prophecy

We believe in the personal, imminent, and pre-tribulational (1 Thes. 5:9) return of Christ for His saints known as the Rapture.  After a seven year tribulation period on earth Christ will have a personal pre-millennial return to the earth to reign over a literal earthly kingdom for one thousand years (1 Thes. 4:16-18; Acts 15:14-18; Rev.1:11-16; 20:6; 2 Sam. 7:12-16; Zech. 14:4-11).

Separation

We believe that the church should be separate from the state (Acts 22:21; Rom. 13:1-4), the believer from the world (2 Cor. 6:14-18; Col. 3:1-12) and the church from apostasy (2 Peter 2; 2 Tim. 2; Jude).  We believe the Word of God clearly demands that the believer walk in the path of separation from carnal worldly pleasures and questionable practices which are harmful in their influence and a stumbling block to others (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-17). Under no circumstances will fellowship with those who deny the Scripture; who deny the person and work of Christ; who are not similar in faith and practice or who compromise the truth of Scripture.