WHAT WE BELIEVE ttttt The True & Living God We believe there is one and only one true and living God, an infinite 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 Spirit, equal in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption. Exodus 20:2-3; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Revelation 4:11 The Scriptures We believe in the authority and sufficiency of the Holy Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, as originally written; that it was verbally and planarity inspired and is the product of Spirit-Controlled men, and therefore is infallible and inerrant in all matters of which it speaks. 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21 Jesus Christ We believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, the incarnation of the Father, begotten of the Holy Spirit in a miraculous manner, born of the virgin Mary, as no other man was ever born or can be born of woman, and that He is both the Son of God and God the Son. Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:35; John 1:14; 1John 1:1-10 The Holy Spirit We believe that the 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 righteousness and of judgment; 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, endures, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies and helps the believer. John 14:16-17; Matthew 28:19; Hebrews 9:14; John 14:26; Luke 1:35; Genesis 1:1-3; John 16:8-11, Acts 5:30-32; John 3:5-6; Ephesians 1:13-14; Mark 1:8; John 1:33; Acts 11:16; Luke 24:49; Romans 8:14, 16,26,27 The Creation We believe the Biblical account of the physical universe, angels and man; that this account is neither allegory nor myth, but is a literal, historical account of the direct immediate creative acts of God without any evolutionary process; that man was created by a direct work of God and not from previously existing forms of life; and that all men are descended from the historical Adam and Eve, the first parents of the entire human race. Genesis 1-2; Colossians 1:16-17; John 1:3 The Fall of Man We believe that man was created in innocence (in the image and likeness of God) under the law of his Maker, by voluntary transgression Adam fell from a sinless and happy state, and all men sinned in him, in consequence of which all men are totally depraved, are partakers of Adam's fallen nature, and are sinners by nature and by conduct, and therefore are under just condemnation, without defense or excuse. Genesis 3:1-6; Romans 1:18-32, 3:10-19; 5:12-19 Salvation We believe that the salvation of sinners is divinely initiated, wholly of grace through the mediatorial offices of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who, by the appointment of the Father, voluntarily took upon Himself our nature, yet without sin, and honored the divine law by His personal obedience, thus qualifying Himself to be our Savior; that by the shedding of His blood in His death He fully satisfied the just demands of a holy and righteous God regarding sin; that His sacrifice consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was a 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 tenderest sympathies with divine perfection, He is in every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate and an all-sufficient Savior. We believe that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation. Repentance is a change of mind and purpose toward God prompted by the Holy Spirit and is an integral part of saving faith. John 2:9; Ephesians 2:8; Acts 15:11; Romans 3:24-25; John 3:16; Matthew 18:11; Philippians 2:7-8; Hebrews 2:14-17; Isaiah 53:4-7; 1John 4:10; 1 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24. Resurrection and Priesthood of Christ We believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ and in His ascension into Heaven where He now sits at the right hand of the Father as our High Priest interceding for us. Matthew 28:6-7; Luke 24:39; John 20:27; 1 Corinthians 15:4; Mark 16:6; Luke 24:2-6; Acts 1:9-11; Revelation 3:21; Hebrews 8:6; 12:2; 7:25; 1 John 2:1; Hebrews 2:17; 5:5-10. Grace and The New Birth 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 comprehension, 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, faith and newness of life. 1 John 3:3; 1 Corinthians 5:17; 1 John 5:1; Acts 16:20-33, 2 Peter 1:4; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:13; Colossians 2:13; John 3:8. Baptism and the Lord's Supper We believe that Christian baptism is the single immersion of a believer in water to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our identification with the crucified, buried and risen Savior, through Whom we died to sin and rose to a new life; that baptism is to be performed under the authority of the local church; and that is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership. We believe the Lord's Supper is the commemoration of His death until He comes, and should be preceded always by solemn self-examination. We believe that the Biblical order of the ordinances is baptism first, and then the Lord's Supper, and that participants in the Lord's Supper should be immersed believers. Acts 8:36, 38, 39; John 3:23; Romans 6:3-5; Matthew 3:16; Colossians 2:12; 1 Corinthians 11:23-28; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:41-42. The Rapture and Subsequent Events We believe in the dispensational teaching of the Scriptures. We believe in the premillenial return of Christ an event which can occur at any moment, and that at that moment the dead in Christ shall be raised in glorified bodies, and the living in Christ shall be given glorified bodies without tasting of death, and shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air (The Rapture) before the seven years of the Tribulation. 1Thessalonians 4:13-18; Luke 1:30-33; Isaiah 9:6,7; 11:1-9; Acts 2:29, 30; Revelation 20:1-4, 6. We believe that the Tribulation, which follows the Rapture of the Church, will be culminated by the revelation of Christ in power and great glory to sit upon the throne of David and to establish the millennial kingdom. Daniel 9:25-27; Matthew 24:29-31; Luke 1:30-33; Isaiah 9:6-7; 11:1-9; Acts 2:29-30; Revelation 20:1 -4, 6. The Devil/Satan We believe in the reality and personality of Satan, the devil; and that he was created by God as an angel but through pride and rebellion became the enemy of his Creator; that he became the unholy god of this age and the ruler of all the powers of darkness and is destined to the judgment of an eternal justice in the lake of fire. We believe in the authority (exousia) and power (dunamis) of the believer over the devil because we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and Christ has victory over death and the grave. Matthew 4:1-11; 2Corinthians 4:4; Revelations 20:10; Ephesians 1:20-33; 6:10-17. Sanctification We believe that sanctification is the divine setting apart of the believer unto God accomplished in a threefold manner; first, an eternal act of God based upon redemption in Christ, establishing the believer in a position of holiness at the moment he/she trusts the Savior; second, a continuing process in the saint as the Holy Spirit applies the Word of God to their life; third, the final accomplishment of this process at the Lord's return. Hebrews 3:1, 10:10-14; John 17:17; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 5:25-27; 1 Thessalonians 4:3,-4; 5:23-24; 1John 3:2; Jude 1:24-25; Revelation 22:11. The Security of the Saints    We believe that all who are truly born again are kept by God the Father for Jesus Christ.   Philippians 1:16; John 10:28-29; Romans 8:35-39; Jude 1. The Church We believe that a local church is organized by His laws; and exercises the gifts, rights and privileges invested in them by His Word. 1 Corinthians 11:12; 12:12-13; Ephesians 1:22-23; 3:1-6; 4:11; 5:23; Colossians1:18; Acts 15:13-18. Justification We believe that justification is that judicial act of God whereby He declares the believer righteous upon the basis of the imputed righteousness of Christ, that it is bestowed, not in consideration of any work of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in the Redeemer's shed blood. Romans 3:24; 4:5; 5:1,9; Galatians 2:16; Philippians 3:9