Doctrinal Statement
The Scriptures
We believe the Old and New Testament to be verbally inspired by God, inerrant in the original writings, and that they are a supreme and final authority in faith and life. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21) We reject the R.S.V. or the New English Bible as being a true translation of the Word of God and insist that the King James Version of the Bible be used in both church, school, and from the pulpit in any meetings associated with the church.
The Godhead
We believe the Godhead eternally exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit... that these three are one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes, and perfections. (Genesis 1:1 & 26; Matthew 28:19-20; John 10:29-30; II Corinthians 13:14; Romans 8:9)
The Lord Jesus Christ
We believe in:
1. His eternal existence as God, Hebrews 1:8.
2. His incarnation by means of the Virgin Birth, Luke 1:35, Isaiah 7:14.
3. His death on the cross as the substitutionary atonement for sin, Romans 3:25, Hebrews 9:14.
4. His literal bodily resurrection from the dead, Luke 24:36-43, Acts 10:40-41.
5. His present ministry of intercession in Heaven, Acts 1:9, I John 2:1, Hebrews 8:1-2.
6. His personal return to earth, Acts 1:11, I Thessalonians 4:16, Colossians 2:9, Matthew 26:64, John 14:1-3
The Holy Spirit
We believe the Holy Spirit, the third Oerson of the Godhead, convicts men of sin (John 16:8); regenerates, indwells (I Corinthians 3:16, 6:19-20), seals (Ephesians 1:13-14, 4:30) and sets believers apart unto a holy life, that He keeps and empowers believers day by day, that He is the teacher of the Word of God and Guide for our daily life. Anyone who does not have the Holy Spirit living in gin is not a child of God. (Romans 8:9)
Man
We believe:
1. Man was created innocent and pure (Genesis 1:26)
2. Adam fell through the sun of disobedience (Romans 5:19)
3. Thereby all men are corrupted in body, mind, and soul (Romans 5:12)
4. Therefore, all are in need of redemption.
Satan
We believe in the reality and personality of Satan (Job 1:6-9,:3; Matthew 4:1-11; I Peter 5:8; James 4:7)
Salvation
We believe:
1. That salvation is solely by grace through faith in the blood sacrifice, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Son of God.
2. All who receive Him are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and become children of God.
3. All who are truly saved are kept by God.
4. However, God cannot overlook sin in His children and will chasten and correct them in love. (Hebrews 12:5-8)
The Church
We believe:
1. That the local church is composed of regenerated baptized believers, voluntarily United together for the purpose of worship, edification, fellowship of believers, spiritual growth and service.
2. It has been commissioned by Christ to propagate the gospel unto the uttermost parts of the earth.
3. That the local church has absolute right of self government, free from interferences of any hierarchy of individuals or organization; and that the one and only Head is Christ (Ephesians 1:22) through the Holy Spirit.
4. That all matters of membership, of policy of government, if benevolence, the will of the local church is final. (Acts 2:41-47, 4:33-37, 5:1-20)
The Ordinances
We believe that Christ gave only two ordinances to rhe church to be observed "Until He comes".
1. The Lord's Supper. It was left for us as an ordinance by the Lord Himself (Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20; I Corinthians 11:23-30) for a memorial of His death until He comes and should not be taken unadvisedly, but with the examination of one's life.
2. Believer's Baptism. We practice baptism because of the example of our Lord Jesus while He was here on earth (Matthew 3:13) and because of the command given by our Lord to be baptized (Matthew 28:19) We accept as the spiritual mode of baptism to be immersion. It should be made clear that there is no saving power in baptism. It is meant for those who are already saved, giving a clear picture of the fact that the believer is dead, buried, and raised spiritually with Jesus Christ by faith in Him.
The future
We believe in the personal premillennial return of Jesus Christ. He will come: A. For his saints to gather them unto Himself. B. With his saints to judge the nations and to eternal abode in the glory of his presence. The bodily resurrection of the unjust unto judgement and everlasting conscious punishment in the lake of fire. There are two separate resurrections.
Separation
We believe in our duty to call the attention of believers to the Spiritual teaching of separation and that we should abstain from worldly practices, and live a life devoted unto our Lord. (Romans 12:1-2)
Missions
Because all men everywhere without Christ are lost and bound for the eternal punishment (Romans 1:18-20)
and because men cannot believe in Him of whom they have never heard (Romans 10:14) we believe we are debtors to all men and have responsibility of giving them the Gospel. Jesus left us the command that we should all be witnesses for Him (Acts 1:8) and should take the good news of the gospel to every place where men are to be found (Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21)We believe that to carry out this command we must support by prayer and financial aid those who go out under sound missionary agencies to represent us in other parts of the world