Our Affirmation of Faith
We are a God-exalting, Christ-centered, Bible-saturated church. We believe in the supremacy of the Bible, and join with believers worldwide to celebrate the beautiful, historic Christian faith. If you are new to faith in Jesus Christ, you will find comfort, peace, and power in the doctrines of Christianity.
I. THE SCRIPTURES
We believe the Bible, consisting of the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, is the Word of God, written by men who were divinely inspired under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We believe the Bible is without error in the original manuscripts and fully true and trustworthy. The Bible 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. The Scriptures are true, sufficient for life and godliness, complete and clear enough for men and women to hear and believe their claims, authoritative, and necessary. We are thankful for numerous translations of the Bible that give an accurate and faithful understanding of the biblical text as it was written in the original languages.
2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20,21; Mark 13:31; John 8:31,32; John 20:31; Acts 20:32
II. THE GODHEAD
We believe there is only one living and true God who reveals himself as our Father, in his Son Jesus Christ, through his Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is God manifested in flesh and is fully both God and man. Through the agency of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, God executes distinct but harmonious offices in the work of creation, providence, and redemption.
God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing. His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of his people. To God alone we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience.
Genesis 1:1,26; John 1:1,3; Matthew 28:19; John 4:24; Romans 1:19,20; Ephesians 4:5
III. GOD THE FATHER
We believe in God the Father, an infinite, personal spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power, and love. We believe he infallibly foreknows all that shall come to pass, that he concerns himself mercifully in the affairs of men, that he hears and answers prayer, and that he saves from sin and death all who come to him through Jesus Christ.
Luke 10:21,22; Matthew 23:9; John 3:16; 6:27; Romans 1:7; 1 Timothy 1:1,2 & 2:5,6; 1 Peter 1:3; Revelation 1:6
IV. THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. We believe in his sinless life, miracles, and teachings. We believe in his substitutionary atoning death, bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven, perpetual intercession for his people, and personal visible return to earth.
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, and 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 raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to his disciples as the person who was with them before his crucifixion.
He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where he is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate his redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever-present Lord through the power of his Holy Spirit.
Matthew 1:18–25; Luke 1:26–38; John 1:1, 20:28; Romans 9:5, 8:32; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:21–23; John 20:30, 31; Matthew 20:28; Ephesians 1:4; Acts 1:11; Romans 5:6–8 & 6:9,10; Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 9:28; I Timothy 3:16
V. THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe the Holy Spirit came forth from the Father and Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and to regenerate, sanctify, and empower all who believe in Jesus Christ. We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Christ, and that he is an abiding helper, teacher, and guide.
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men in ancient times to write the Scriptures. Through illumination he enables men to understand truth. He convicts men of sin and draws them to repentance. He calls men to place their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ so that they may be become a new person in Christ.
He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve Christ through his church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will lead the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.
John 14:16,17,26 & 15:26,27; John 16:9–14; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19; Galatians 5:22–26
VI. JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH
We believe that mankind was created by God in his own image; that mankind sinned and thereby incurred physical, spiritual, and eternal death, which is separation from God. As a consequence, all human beings are born with a sinful nature and are sinners by choice and therefore under condemnation. We believe that those who repent and forsake sin and place their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior are justified by their faith, declared righteous by God, and regenerated by the Holy Spirit, becoming new creatures in Christ, delivered from condemnation and will receive eternal life in the age to come.
We believe in the forensic nature of justification in which the righteousness of Christ is imputed to the believer based on their faith in the person of Jesus Christ as the Messiah and as the One who performed the redemptive work of atonement upon the cross. We believe a person stands justified through faith alone in Christ. We are reformed in the sense that we believe and affirm the five sola’s of Scripture: we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to Scripture alone, to the glory of God alone.
We affirm the doctrine of propitiation, understanding that the greatest display of God’s wrath in Scripture is in the historical account of the death of Christ. God poured out his wrath against sin upon Jesus, who served as the sacrifice for sinners. The punishment of our sin was bore upon the body of Christ.
Genesis 1:26, 5:2; Genesis 3; Genesis 2:17, 3:19; Ecclesiastes 2:11; John 3:14, 5:24; John 5:30, 7:13, 8:12, 10:26; Romans 9:22; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Revelation 19:3,20, 20:10,14 & 15, 21:18; Psalm 51:7; Jeremiah 17:9; James 1:14; Romans 3:19, 5:19; Proverbs 28:13; 1 John 1:9; John 3:16, John 1:13; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 8:1
VII. THE CHURCH
We believe in the universal church; a living spiritual body of which Christ is the head, and all regenerated persons are members. We believe in the local church, consisting of a congregation of believers in Jesus Christ, baptized on a credible profession of faith, and associated for worship, work, and fellowship. We believe that God has laid upon the members of the local church the primary task of giving the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world.
Ephesians 2:19–22; Acts 1:8; Ephesians 5:19–21; Acts 2:42; Hebrews 10:23–25
VIII. SANCTIFICATION & CHRISTIAN CONDUCT
We believe that as Christians, we should live for the glory of God and the well-being of our fellow man; that our conduct should be blameless before the world; that we should be a faithful steward of our possessions; and that we should seek to realize for ourselves and others the full stature of maturity in Christ.
We believe that holiness; genuine holiness, born of an ongoing encounter with God, is accompanied by consistent fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance). Holiness, as with all other things in the Christian's walk, is not something that can be accomplished apart from the Holy Spirit.
We believe that as the Spirit of God transforms us into the image of Christ, we will experience a transformation on the inside in our thoughts, attitudes, desires, motives, and emotions—and experience transformation on the outside in our lifestyle, habits, outward appearance, entertainment practices, marriages, relationships, financial decisions, and all other areas on life that reflect Christ’s nature.
1 Corinthians 10:31; Romans 12:1–3; Hebrews 12:1–2; John 14:15,23-24; 1 John 2:3-6; 2 Corinthians 9:6–9; 1 Corinthians 4:2; Colossians 1:9–10
IX. THE ORDINANCES
We believe the Lord Jesus Christ has committed two ordinances to the local church: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of the believer in water into the name and person of Jesus Christ. We believe that baptism is an ordinance of the Lord reserved for those who have come to saving faith in Christ and repented of their sins. Through baptism the believer may express their union with Christ in his death and resurrection. Baptism is a sign of belonging to the new people of God, the true Israel, and an emblem of burial and cleansing, signifying death to the old life of unbelief, and purification from the pollution of sin.
Our church is baptistic:
I. Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, to be unto the person baptized, a sign of his fellowship with him, in his death and resurrection; of his being engrafted into him; of forgiveness of sins; and of giving up into God, through Jesus Christ, to live and walk in a new life in Christ.
II. Those who do profess repentance towards God, faith in, and obedience to, our Lord Jesus Christ, are the only proper subjects of this ordinance.
III. The outward element to be used in this ordinance is water, wherein the person is to be baptized, into the name and person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
IV. Immersion, or dipping of the person in water, is necessary to the due administration of this ordinance.
We believe the Lord’s Supper was instituted by Christ for commemoration of his death and should be observed in corporate worship.
We believe these two ordinances should be observed and administered until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Matthew 28:18–20; Acts 2:38; Romans 6:3–5; 1 Corinthians 11:23–26;
X. RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
We believe that every human being has a direct relationship with God and is responsible to God alone in all matters of faith; that each church is independent and must be free from interference by any political authority; that therefore Church and State must be kept separate as having different functions, each fulfilling its duties free from dictation or patronage of the other.
I Timothy 2:5; Romans 14:7–9,12
XI. THE WORKING OF GOD’S SPIRIT
We believe that the ministry of the Spirit in signs and wonders continues to be as broad, tangible, and powerful among believers today as it was in the first-century church. We also believe that all the biblical gifts of the Spirit continue to be distributed by the Holy Spirit today; that these gifts are divine provisions central to spiritual growth and effective ministry; and that these gifts are to be eagerly desired, faithfully developed, and lovingly exercised according to biblical guidelines.
John 14:12; Acts 2:14-21; 4:29-30; Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:7-11; 12:28-31; 14:1-33; Galatians 3:1-5
XII. THE LAST THINGS
We believe in the personal and visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth so that he may consummate his Kingdom with his eternal reign. We believe in the resurrection of the body, the final judgement, the eternal life of the righteous and the endless suffering of the wicked. We believe after Christ returns at the end of this present age, the people of God will live eternally in the restored creation of the new heavens and the new earth.
Matthew 16:27; Mark 14:62; John 14:3; Acts 1:11; Philippians 3:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:15; 2 Timothy 4:1; Titus 2:13; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 1 Corinthians 15; 2 Thessalonians 1:7–10; Revelation 20:4–6,11–15
We Affirm the Five Solas of the Protestant Reformation
Sola Scriptura “Scripture alone”: The Bible alone is our highest authority.
Sola Fide “faith alone”: We are saved through faith alone in Jesus Christ.
Sola Gratia “grace alone”: We are saved by the grace of God alone.
Solus Christus “Christ alone”: Jesus Christ alone is our Lord, Savior, and King.
Soli Deo Gloria “to the glory of God alone”: We live for the glory of God alone.