OUR STATEMENT OF TRUTH
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES: The Bible is God’s word in written form. It consists of the 66 books of the Holy Bible; written by the hand of man under the inspiration and instruction of the Holy Spirit. God cannot err; the Bible was written by God; therefore the Bible contains no error in its original texts. It is the complete and infallible rule of faith and practice, not subject to revision or addition. It is to be interpreted literally where intended and symbolically where intended. It is the immutable Word of God, the embodiment of objective truth; not open to subjective interpretation for the sake of cultural shift, supposed new revelation or any other reason. Exodus 32:16; Deuteronomy 31:9-13; 1 Timothy 3:16
GOD: There is but one true and living God (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5-7; 1 Corinthians 8:4), an infinite, all-knowing Spirit (John 4:24), perfect in all His attributes, one in essence, eternally existing in three Persons—the Father, the Son who is Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14)—each equally deserving worship and obedience.
God is truly sovereign, but He exercises this sovereignty in harmony with His other attributes, especially His omniscience, justice, holiness, wisdom, grace, and love. This sovereignty will always exalt the will of God in a manner totally consistent with His character as revealed in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ (Proverbs 16:1-4).
God the Father: God the Father is the Creator of all things (Genesis 1:1-31; Ephesians 3:9). As the only absolute and omnipotent Ruler in the universe, He is sovereign in creation, providence, and redemption (Psalm 103:19; Romans 11:36). He is Father to all men (Ephesians 4:6), but He is spiritual Father only to believers (Romans 8:14). He has decreed for His own glory all things that come to pass. He continually upholds, directs, and governs all creatures and events (1 Chronicles 29:11).
God the Son: Jesus Christ possesses all the divine attributes, and in these He is coequal, consubstantial, and coeternal with the Father (John 10:30; 14:9). At the incarnation, Christ was born of a virgin and is the incarnate God (God becoming man). In His incarnation, the eternally existing second Person of the Trinity accepted all the essential characteristics of humanity and so became the God-Man, being both fully God and fully man (Philippians 2:5-8; Colossians 2:9).
God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a divine Person, eternal, underived, possessing all the attributes of personality and deity, including intellect (1 Corinthians 2:10-13), emotions (Ephesians 4:30), will (1 Corinthians 12:11), eternality (Hebrews 9:14), omnipresence (Psalm 139:7-10), omniscience (Isaiah 40:13-14), omnipotence (Romans 15:13), and truthfulness (John 16:13). In all the divine attributes He is coequal and consubstantial with the Father and the Son (Matthew 28:19; Acts 5:3-4; 28:25-26; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6; Hebrews 10:15-17).
CREATION: We believe that the creation of the universe from nothing is neither allegory nor myth but a literal, historical event. The existence of all things is the result of the direct, immediate, creative acts of the triune God over six literal days (Genesis 1) appoximately 6,000 to 10,000 years ago. Humanity—body and soul/spirit—was created by a direct work of God. Humans did not evolve from previously existing forms of life. The entire human race descended from the historical Adam and Eve, the first parents of the entire human race. (Genesis 1–2; John 1:3; Colossians 1:16–17)
MAN: Man was created by God in His image and likeness; free of sin with a rational nature, intelligence, volition, self-determination, and moral responsibility to God (Genesis 1:26-27; James 3:9).
God’s intention in the creation of man was that man should glorify God, enjoy God’s fellowship, live his life in the will of God, and by this accomplish God’s purpose for man in the world (Isaiah 43:7; Colossians 1:16; Revelation 4:11).
Through Adam’s sin of disobedience, man lost his innocence, incurred the penalty of spiritual and physical death, became subject to the wrath of God, and became inherently corrupt and utterly incapable of choosing or doing that which is acceptable to God apart from divine grace. Man’s salvation is thereby wholly of God’s grace through the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:1-19; John 3:36; Romans 3:23; 6:23; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Ephesians 2:1-3; 1 Timothy 2:13-14; 1 John 1:8).
REDEMPTION: The Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through the shedding of His blood and sacrificial death on the cross, that He died in our place and in so doing He paid the full price demanded by the Father for the forgiveness of sin (John 10:15; Romans 3:24-25; 5:8; 1 Peter 2:24).
On the basis of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, the believing sinner is freed from the punishment, the penalty, the power, and one day the very presence of sin; and by the Grace of God he is declared righteous, given eternal life, and adopted into the family of God (Romans 3:25; 5:8-9; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15; 1 peter 2:24; 3:18).
In the miracle of resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave, God confirmed the deity of His Son and gave proof that God has accepted the atoning work of Christ on the cross. It also guarantees the future resurrection of all believers (John 5:26-29; 14:19; Romans 1:4; 4:25; Romans 6:5-10; 1 Corinthians 15:20, 23). Jesus’ bodily resurrection is a historical event.
SALVATION: Salvation is wholly of God by Grace on the basis of the redemption of Jesus Christ, the merit of His shed blood, and not on the basis of human merit or works (John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-10; 1 Peter 1:18-19).
The unmerited favor that God grants to totally depraved sinners is not related to any initiative of their own part or to God’s anticipation of what they might do by their own will, but is solely of His sovereign grace and mercy (Ephesians 1:4-7; Titus 3:4-7; 1 Peter 1:2).
THE CHURCH: All who place their faith in Jesus Christ are immediately placed by the Holy Spirit into one united spiritual Body, the church (1 Corinthians 12:12-13), the bride of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:23-32; Revelation 19:7-8), of which Christ is the Head (Ephesians 1:22; 4:15; Colossians 1:18). The church is thus a unique spiritual organism designed by Christ, made up of all born-again believers in this present age (Ephesians 2:11-3:6).
The one supreme authority for the church is Christ (1 Corinthians 11:3; Ephesians 1:22; Colossians 1:18).
Advancing and communicating the gospel to the entire world (Matthew 28:19; Acts 1:8; 2:42) is a command. Discipleship (Matthew 28:19-20; 2 Timothy 2:2) and mutual accountability of all believers to each other (Matthew 18:5-14) is necessary and important.
There are two ordinances that have been committed to the local church: baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Acts 2:38-42).
THE JUDGMENT: All men are resurrected bodily, the saved to eternal life (John 6:39; Romans 8:10-11, 19-23; 2 Corinthians 4:14), and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (Daniel 12:2; John 5:29; Revelation 20:13-15).
The resurrection of the unsaved dead to judgment will be a physical resurrection, whereupon receiving their judgment (John 5:28-29), they will be committed to an eternal conscious punishment in the lake of fire (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:11-15).
