The Bible
We believe the Holy Bible is the verbally inspired Word of God, and is the supreme authority, as found in the Authorized Version, the King James Bible. The King James Bible is inerrant, infallible, and inspired, and, therefore, is the sole authority for faith and practice. The sixty-six (66) books of the Old and New Testaments are the complete and divine revelation of God to man. And the Holy Bible (KJB) is the standard and guide of conduct and action for the believer and the church.
(Psalms 12:6-7, Proverbs 30:5-6, Matthew 4:4, Luke 4:4, II Timothy 3:16, II Peter 1:19-21)
The Trinity
We believe in one Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections.
(Deuteronomy 6:4, Matthew 28:19, II Corinthians 13:14, John 14:10, 26, I John 5:7-8)
The Godhead
We believe that there is one, and only one, true, and living God, who is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal being, eternally existing in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God is sovereign and perfect in His being, possessing the attributes of omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence; He is absolutely holy in His character and, as the creator and supreme ruler of all creation, is worthy of all worship and adoration.
(Genesis 1:1; Deuteronomy 6:4; Psalm 83:18; Psalm 139:7-9; Matthew 28:19; John 5:17-18, 10:30, 15:26)
The Lord Jesus Christ
We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate, the eternal Word and only begotten Son; that without any change in His divine Person, He became man through the miracle of the Virgin Birth, thus to continue forever as both true God and true man, that as man He was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin; that as the perfect Lamb of God, He gave Himself in death by the shedding of His blood upon the Cross, bearing there the sin of the world, and suffering its full penalty of divine wrath in our stead; that He arose from the grave in a glorified body; that as our great High Priest He ascended into Heaven, there to appear before God as our Advocate and Intercessor.
(John 1:1, 1:14, 3:16; Matthew 1:18-25; Galatians 4:4-5; Philippians 2:6-10; Colossians 2:9, I Corinthians 15:3-4; II Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:14-15; I Peter 1:18-19; I John 2:1-2)
The Holy Spirit
We believe in the Holy Spirit, who is the divine agent in nature, revelation, and redemption; that He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment; that He sanctifies, anoints, indwells, regenerates, seals, and is the Comforter and Teacher of all who come to God through Christ; that He further empowers, guides, teaches, sanctifies, and fills believers. We believe that the “signs of an apostle” ceased with the last Apostle.
(John 3:5, 14:16-17, 16:7-14; Romans 8:9; II Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 1:13, 5:18; Titus 3:5; Mark 16:17; Hebrews 2:4; I Corinthians13:8-10)
Man
We believe that Adam was the direct creation of God, made in God’s image and likeness; and that by willful and voluntary transgression fell into a sinful state, the consequence of which all his progeny are born in sin and become dead in trespasses and sin, not by constraint, but of choice, and is thus alienated from life with God, and are therefore under the righteous judgment and wrath of God without defense or excuse; and is, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition.
(Genesis 1:27, 3:6; Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:10, 23, 5:12; Galatians 3:22; Ephesians 2:1-3, 12)
Salvation
We believe that salvation is the free gift of God to man, neither merited nor secured in part or in whole by any virtue or work of man, but received only by personal faith in the finished work of Christ. The basis upon which God saves and forgives guilty sinners is the substitutionary death and shed blood of Jesus Christ upon Calvary, and His bodily resurrection. We believe that, although not all men will be saved, salvation has been secured, and is available to all who will come to Christ through repentance and faith. We believe that those in Christ shall never perish; and that apart from Christ there is no possible salvation.
(John 1:12, 3:16, 36, 6:37, 10:28, 14:6, 17:4; Acts 4:12; Romans 3:22-26, 5:8; II Corinthians 7:10; Ephesians 1:7, 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; I Peter 1:18-19, 3:18; II Peter 3:9)
Repentance and Faith
We believe that repentance and faith are solemn responsibilities, effected in our souls by the quickening Spirit of God; thereby, being deeply convicted of our sinful state and unbelief and by faith accepting the way of salvation through Jesus Christ, we turn to God receiving the Lord Jesus Christ, and openly confessing Him as our only and all-sufficient Savior.
(Acts 20:21; John 16:8-11; II Corinthians 7:10; I Thessalonians 1:10; Luke 12:8, 18:13; Romans 10:9-10; Psalm 51:1-4; Isaiah 55:6-7)
Christian Living
We believe that every believer should be separated in their daily life, not as a means of salvation but as its proper evidence and fruit of salvation; that all who claim to know Christ as Savior should live so as not to bring reproach on His name; that we therefore should set our affections on things above, not live in conformity to this present evil world, and engage in the faithful discharging of our solemn responsibility and privilege of bearing the gospel to a lost world; remembering that we will stand individually at the Judgment Seat of Christ and give account of the things done in our bodies, whether good or bad.
(Titus 2:11-14, Ephesians 2:10, Philippians 2:15, Colossians 3:1-2, Romans 12:1-2, II Corinthians 5:18-20, I Corinthians 3:12-15, II Corinthians 5:9-10)
The Family
We believe marriage was ordained by God as one male and one female becoming one flesh. We believe it is God’s design that a man and woman enter the marriage union for life.
(Genesis 2:18-25, Matthew 10:3-9, Ephesians 5:22-32)
We believe God has provided for intimate sexual relations between man and woman within the covenant of marriage. Sexual relations outside the bounds of marriage (including but not limited to) sodomy, adultery, and fornication are sins against God. We believe acts that defile God’s human creation, such as gender modification and participation in the sexual degradation of others through pornography, are attacks against the family unit and are sins against God.
(Genesis 2:24; Leviticus 18:1-30, 20:13; Romans 1:18-32; I Corinthians 6:6-10, 7:3-5; Hebrews 13:4; I Thessalonians 4:7)
We believe that men and women are equal in position before God but that God has ordained distinct and separate spiritual functions for men and women both in the home and in the church. The husband is to be the leader of the home and men are to be the leaders of the church. Accordingly, only men are eligible for licensure and ordination by the church.
(Galatians 3:28; I Timothy 2:8-15, 3:4-5, 12)
We believe that God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. The husband is to love his wife as Christ loves the church. The wife is to submit herself to the Scriptural leadership of her husband as the church submits to the headship of Christ.
(Genesis 1:26-28; Ephesians 5:21-33, 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21; Hebrews 13:4; I Peter 3:1-7)
We believe children are a blessing from God and are to be taught Biblical and spiritual values by their parents, who rear them with loving discipline and bring them up to follow the example and instruction of our Lord.
(Genesis 2:18-25; Matthew 15:3-6; Genesis 3:16, 18:19; Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 32:46; Psalm 78:5-6; Psalm 127; Proverbs 3:12, 13:24, 22:6; Ephesians 5:21-33, 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21)
We believe in the sanctity of human life. We believe human life begins at conception, and from conception through the elderly adult years should be respected as a creation of God. We believe abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, suicide, assisted suicide, and other similar acts are murder and therefore against the will of God.
(Genesis 1:27, Exodus 20:13, Leviticus 19:32, Psalms 139:13-14, Isaiah 7:14/Matthew 1:23)
Satan
We believe in the existence of Satan, who originally was created a holy and perfect being, but through pride and wicked ambition rebelled against God, thus becoming utterly depraved in character, the great adversary of God and His people, leader of all other fallen angels and unclean spirits, the deceiver and god of this present world; that his powers are vast, but strictly limited by the permissive will of God, that he was defeated at the Cross, and therefore his final doom is certain; that we are able to resist and overcome him only in the armor of God, by the blood of the Lamb, and through the power of the Holy Spirit.
(Isaiah 14:12-15; I Peter 5:8; II Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2; I John 3:8; Revelation 12:9-11, 20:10; Ephesians 6:10-18)
The Second Coming of Christ
We believe in the imminent, physical, and literal return of the Lord Jesus Christ to rapture His Church (the “saved”) to meet Him in the air, wherein the dead in Christ shall be raised incorruptible and those living saints shall be translated into a glorified body; that they should not experience physical death. Following this event the earth will experience a period of judgment (Tribulation Period, or Seventieth Week of Daniel) that will culminate in the literal, physical, visible, glorious, and triumphant return of the Lord Jesus Christ (Second Advent) with His saints to establish a literal kingdom on earth, to reign a thousand years, and in fulfillment of His promised kingdom to His covenant people, Israel.
(John 14:3; I Thessalonians 4:13-17; I Corinthians 15:51-54; Philippians 3:20; Jeremiah 30:7; Matthew 24:15-21; Revelation 19:11-16, 20:1-6)
Heaven and Hell
We believe in the literal existence of both Heaven and Hell; that at death the souls of the saved go immediately to be with Christ. That likewise at death the souls of the unsaved go immediately to Hell where they are kept under punishment until the final day of judgment, at which time they will be raised to stand before the Great White Throne judgment, and then be cast into the Lake of Fire, the place of final, conscious, and everlasting punishment.
(John 14:2; Hebrews 9:24, 10:34; I Peter 1:4; Revelation 4:1-2, 21:1-2; Mark 9:43-48; II Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; Luke 16:19-24; Revelation 20:13-14)
The Church
We believe that the “general assembly and church of the firstborn” (the body of Christ) manifests itself on earth as visible, indigenous, independent, local churches. We believe that a local, New Testament church is an assembly of baptized believers associated together by a covenant of faith and fellowship of the gospel, whose purpose is the proclamation of the gospel, the instruction and edification of the saints, the observance of the ordinances; the faithful contending for the “faith once delivered to the saints”; that its Biblical offices are two, Bishop (pastor/teacher) and Deacon; that each local church has the absolute right of self-government without any outside interference, whether individual or ecclesiastical; the one and only Head of the church is Christ. We further believe in the authority and responsibility of the church to exercise New Testament church discipline upon offending members and that each member is subject to such discipline if, in the judgment of the church, the member is determined to be a reproach upon Christ and the church in either attitude, creed, or conduct. Therefore, any person desiring membership in a New Testament church willingly submits themselves to the disciplinary authority of the local church. Furthermore, we believe that in the event of differences and conflicts arising between believers, the Scripture requires that those differences and conflicts be settled between the believers involved or, if necessary, with the judgment of the church, without resorting to the secular court system.
(Acts 2:41-42; Matthew 28:19-20; Ephesians 4:11-12; I Corinthians 11:23-34; Jude 3-4; Acts 14:23, 20:17-28: I Timothy 3:1-13; Acts 6:5, 15:22, 25; Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 1:22-23, 5:23-24; I Corinthians 5:4-7, 11-13; I Corinthians 6:1-8; Hebrews 12:23)
Church Ordinances
We believe that the ordinances of the church are two, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
We believe that scriptural baptism is by immersion in water of a believer in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; preformed under the authority of the local church; that baptism pictures the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and has no part in the salvation process but is simply the answer of a good conscience toward God and the believer’s identification with the same; that scriptural baptism is a pre-requisite to church membership and the participation in the Lord’s Supper.
We believe observing the Lord’s Supper, by sacred use of unleavened bread and the unleavened fruit of the vine, commemorates the broken body and shed blood of Christ. This observance is to always be preceded by solemn self-examination, has no part in the salvation process, and shows the Lord’s death “till He come”.
(Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 2:41-42, Romans 6:4-8, Matthew 26:26-30, I Corinthians 11:23-34)