CONFESSION OF FAITH

The Scriptures:

We believe in the verbal, plenary (full, entire, complete) inspiration of the Bible, which is the Word of God, that in its truthfulness and completeness it is the only criterion and authority of both church and individual for faith and practice.
II Peter 1:19-21; II Timothy 3:16.

God:

We believe that there is one God eternally existing, manifesting Himself to us in three persons; Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Gen. 1:1; John 9:35; John 14:16-26.


The Person and Work of Jesus Christ:

We believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ; His virgin birth; His sinless life; His substitutionary death on the cross for our sins; His bodily resurrection from the grave; His ascension to the right hand of God, where He ever liveth to make intercession for believers; and His personal, visible, imminent, and pre-millennial return to the earth at the end of this age. Matt. 1:18; John 1-4; Acts 1:11; I Thess. 4:16,17.

Satan or the Devil:

We believe in the personality of Satan, that he is the “god of this world” and the “prince of the power of the air” and is destined to eternal damnation in the lake of fire.
Matt. 4:1-3; II Cor. 4:4; Rev. 20:10

Creation:

We accept the Genesis account of creation, and believe that Man came by direct creation of God and not by evolution. We further do not accept theistic evolution. Gen. 1 and 2; Col. 1: 16,17; John 1:3.

Fall of Man:

We believe that Man was created in innocence but by voluntary transgression fell from his sinless estate in consequence of which all are now sinners not only by birth, but also by practice and therefore (apart from Christ) are under condemnation. Gen. 3:1-6; Rom. 5:19; Rom. 5:12; Rom. 1:8; Rom. 1:32

Salvation:

We believe that salvation is by grace through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ; that it is instantaneous and wholly apart from human merits; that all human beings must exercise personal faith in the redeeming work of Christ on Calvary and receive Him as Savior in order to be saved. Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; Psalms 51:5; Rom. 3:23; Rom.10:9,10.

Responsibility of the Saints:

We believe that it is the privilege of Believers to rejoice in full assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, but that the same Word clearly forbids the use of our liberty as an occasion to be flesh. Rom. 13:14; Titus 2:11-15

Security of the Saints:

We believe that salvation is eternal; that all who are truly born again are kept by God the Father, and sealed by the Holy Spirit for the Lord Jesus Christ. Rom 8:38,39; Jude 24, 25; John 10:28,29.

The Church:

(1)The Church, which is His body; We believe that every born-again believer is, by the miracle work of God, accorded a place in the body of Christ, and that this body is biblically identified as "the Church". The Church, which is His body, realized in the assembly of the local church. Eph. 3:3; Col. 1:24-27; I Cor. 12: 12,13

(2)The Local Church: We believe that a local church is a congregation of immersed believers, associated together by covenant of faith and fellowship of the Gospel; that it has the absolute right of self-government, directed by the Holy Spirit and answerable only to Christ; that in all matters of membership, policy, government, discipline, and benevolence, the will of the church is final. Acts 2:41,42;
I Cor.11:2; Eph. 1:22,23; 5:23,24; Col. 1:18.


The Two Natures:

We believe that every saved person has two natures, with full provision made by God for victory of the new over the old nature through the power of the indwelling Holy spirit, and that all claims to the eradication of the old nature in this life are unscriptural. Rom. 6:13; 7:17: 8:1, inclusive; Rom. 8:12,13; Gal. 5:16-25; Eph. 4:22-24; Col.3:10.

Civil Governments:

We believe that civil governments are of Divine appointment for the interests of good order of human society; that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed except in things opposed to the will of God as expressed in His Word and interpreted in the light of this constitution and confession of faith. Rom. 13:1-7; Titus 3;1 I Peter 2:13,14,17.

The Righteous and the Wicked:

We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that such only as exercise saving faith in Jesus Christ are righteous in His sight, while all who continue in impenitence and unbelief are wicked in His sight and under His wrath; and that this distinction holds both in and after life, in the everlasting felicity of the saved and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost. Mal. 3:18; Gen. 18:23; Rom. 6: 17.18; Luke 16:25; Matt. 25:34-41; John 8:21; Luke 9:21; Matt. 7:13,14.

Future Things:

We believe that the next event on God’s program is the rapture of the Church. At the rapture, the Saints will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. We believe that this event precedes and initiates the Great Tribulation period of seven years on the earth. We believe at the beginning of the Great Tribulation period the anti-Christ will be revealed, and together, with the False Prophet, make a covenant with Israel. In the middle of the Great Tribulation period anti-Christ will break this covenant and the last three and a half years will be characterized by devastating judgments of all kinds upon the earth, culminating in the Battle of Armageddon, at which time Christ shall visibly return to earth, bringing the Nations to their knees by the brightness of His coming, and set up a rule of righteousness in this world, called the Millennial Reign of Christ. Dan. 9:20-27;
I Thess. 4:13-18; 5:3-9; Matt. 24:4-31.

We believe the thousand-year millennial reign of Christ will be climaxed by the brief rebellion of Satan and the Great White Throne judgment. At the Great White Throne judgment, all those whose names are not found in the Lamb’s book of life shall be cast—along with Satan, false prophet and Beast, Death and Hell—into the lake of fire. This is the second death. From this point there will be a new Heaven and new Earth, and the dwelling of God with men. Rev. 16:19; 20; 21:1-8.