WHAT WE BELIEVE
The Bible
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
-2 Timothy 3:16–17-
We believe that the Holy Bible, consisting of both the 39 Old Testament books and the 27 New Testament books, is the inspired, inerrant, infallible, and authoritative written Word of God. The Scriptures are both fully and verbally inspired by God. Therefore, the original autographs are inerrant. The Bible is infallible in all that it teaches. The Scriptures are the authoritative rule and guide of all Christian life, practice, and doctrine. The Bible is the complete revelation of God’s will for salvation and is also the ultimate authority on all issues of life, faith, doctrine, and practice.
Exodus 24:4; Deuteronomy 4:1-2; 17:19; Joshua 8:34; Psalms 19:7-10; 119:11,89,105,140; Isaiah 34:16; 40:8; Jeremiah 15:16; 36:1-32; Matthew 5:17-18; 22:29; Luke 21:33; 24:44-46; John 5:39; 16:13-15; 17:17; Acts 2:16; 17:11; Romans 15:4; 16:25-26; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-2; 4:12; 1 Peter 1:25; 2 Peter 1:19-21
One God
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” -Deuteronomy 6:4-
We believe in one God who has revealed Himself as eternally existing in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God is the Creator of Heaven and Earth, and all things. He is completely sovereign, and His purposes and decrees cannot be altered or stopped. He is holy, infinite, perfect, just, righteous, merciful, gracious, and loving. God has purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new. He does all things for His glory.
Genesis 1:1; 2:7; Exodus 3:14; 6:2-3; 15:11ff.; 20:1ff.; Leviticus 22:2; Deuteronomy 6:4; 32:6; 1 Chronicles 29:10; Psalm 19:1-3; Isaiah 43:3,15; 64:8; Jeremiah 10:10; 17:13; Matthew 6:9ff.; 7:11; 23:9; 28:19; Mark 1:9-11; John 4:24; 5:26; 14:6-13; 17:1-8; Acts 1:7; Romans 8:14-15; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 4:6; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 11:6; 12:9; 1 Peter 1:17; 1 John 5:7
The Lord Jesus Christ
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” -John 1:14-
We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate. He is fully God and fully man. He is one Person in two natures. He was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate. We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the Cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the redeemed. Repentance toward God, and faith in Christ and His finished work on the Cross, is the only means by which man can be saved.
Genesis 18:1ff.; Psalms 2:7ff.; 110:1ff.; Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 53:1-12; Matthew 1:18-23; 3:17; 8:29; 11:27; 14:33; 16:16,27; 17:5; 27; 28:1-6,19; Mark 1:1; 3:11; Luke 1:35; 4:41; 22:70; 24:46; John 1:1-18,29; 10:30,38; 11:25-27; 12:44-50; 14:7-11; 16:15-16,28; 17:1-5, 21-22; 20:1-20,28; Acts 1:9; 2:22-24; 7:55-56; 9:4-5,20; Romans 1:3-4; 3:23-26; 5:6-21; 8:1-3,34; 10:4; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2:2; 8:6; 15:1-8,24-28; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; 8:9; Galatians 4:4-5; Ephesians 1:20; 3:11; 4:7-10; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:13-22; 2:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 3:16; Titus 2:13-14; Hebrews 1:1-3; 4:14-15; 7:14-28; 9:12-15,24-28; 12:2; 13:8; 1 Peter 2:21-25; 3:22; 1 John 1:7-9; 3:2; 4:14-15; 5:9; 2 John 7-9; Revelation 1:13-16; 5:9-14; 12:10-11; 13:8; 19:16
Holy Spirit
“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” -John 14:26-
We believe in the Holy Spirit. He glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Through the preaching of the gospel, He effectually calls men to repent of their sins and confess Jesus as Lord. The Holy Spirit regenerates sinners, and by Him, they are baptized into the body of Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He indwells, illuminates, guides, equips, and empowers believers for Christian service. He distributes the spiritual gifts as He wills to empower the Church to fulfill the Great Commission; thus, we believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit continue to operate in the church today.
Genesis 1:2; Judges 14:6; Job 26:13; Psalms 51:11; 139:7ff.; Isaiah 61:1-3; Joel 2:28-32; Matthew 1:18; 3:16; 4:1; 12:28-32; 28:19; Mark 1:10,12; Luke 1:35; 4:1,18-19; 11:13; 12:12; 24:49; John 4:24; 14:16-17,26; 15:26; 16:7-14; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4,38; 4:31; 5:3; 6:3; 7:55; 8:17,39; 10:44; 13:2; 15:28; 16:6; 19:1-6; Romans 8:9-11,14-16,26-27; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 3:16; 12:3-11,13; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; 1 Timothy 3:16; 4:1; 2 Timothy 1:14; 3:16; Hebrews 9:8,14; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 John 4:13; 5:6-7; Revelation 1:10; 22:17
Man
“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” -Genesis 1:27-
We believe that God created man, both male and female, in His own image. Thus, gender is a gift of God. Adam willfully sinned against God in the Garden of Eden. When he sinned, as our federal representative, he brought the curse and wrath of God upon all mankind. Therefore, all men are born in sin, under its bondage, and cannot be reconciled to God apart from the saving work of Jesus Christ being applied to them through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.
Genesis 1:26-30; 2:5,7,18-22; 3; 9:6; Psalms 1; 8:3-6; 32:1-5; 51:5; Isaiah 6:5; Jeremiah 17:5; Matthew 16:26; Acts 17:26-31; Romans 1:19-32; 3:10-18,23; 5:6,12,19; 6:6; 7:14-25; 8:14-18,29; 1 Corinthians 1:21-31; 15:19,21-22; Ephesians 2:1-22; Colossians 1:21-22; 3:9-11
Salvation
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” -Ephesians 2:8–9-
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense, salvation includes election, calling, regeneration, conversion, justification, adoption, sanctification, perseverance, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.
Genesis 3:15; Exodus 3:14-17; 6:2-8; Matthew 1:21; 4:17; 16:21-26; 27:22-28:6; Luke 1:68-69; 2:28-32; John 1:11-14,29; 3:3-21,36; 5:24; 6:37; 44; 10:9,28-29; 15:1-16; 17:17; Acts 2:21; 4:12; 15:11; 16:30-31; 17:30-31; 20:32; Romans 1:16-18; 2:4; 3:23-25; 4:3ff.; 5:8-10; 6:1-23; 8:1-18,29-39; 10:9-10,13; 13:11-14; 1 Corinthians 1:18,30; 6:19-20; 15:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17-20; Galatians 2:20; 3:13; 5:22-25; 6:15; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-22; 4:11-16; Philippians 2:12-13; Colossians 1:9-22; 3:1ff.; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 2 Timothy 1:12; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 2:1-3; 5:8-9; 9:24-28; 11:1-12:8,14; James 2:14-26; 1 Peter 1:2-23; 1 John 1:6-2:11; Revelation 3:20; 21:1-22:5
The Church
“And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” -Ephesians 1:22–23-
We believe that the true church is made up of all those who have been justified by God’s grace through faith alone in Christ alone. The church is united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ. Jesus is the Head of His Church. Individual Christians are members of the visible Church and are placed under the authority of the Word of God and the leadership of a particular congregation for their spiritual development and to mature into a perfect man in the earth, as Paul taught in Ephesians chapter four. The church’s purpose is to worship God, disciple believers, evangelize the lost, and expand the Kingdom of God on earth. The church is to train believers to apply God’s Word and principles to every area of life to redeem and transform culture. The church’s mission is the Great Commission, which is to bring all things under the dominion of Christ, thereby transforming culture.
Matthew 16:15-19; 18:15-20; Acts 2:41-42,47; 5:11-14; 6:3-6; 13:1-3; 14:23,27; 15:1-30; 16:5; 20:28; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 3:16; 5:4-5; 7:17; 9:13-14; 12; Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:19-22; 3:8-11,21; 5:22-32; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 2:9-14; 3:1-15; 4:14; Hebrews 11:39-40; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Revelation 2-3; 21:2-3
Ordinances of the Church
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” -Matthew 28:19-
We believe the Lord Jesus Christ gave two ordinances to His Church. They are water baptism and Communion.
Matthew 3:13-17; 26:26-30; 28:19-20; Mark 1:9-11; 14:22-26; Luke 3:21-22; 22:19-20; John 3:23; Acts 2:41-42; 8:35-39; 16:30-33; 20:7; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 10:16,21; 11:23-29; Colossians 2:12
Eschatology
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” -John 14:3-
We believe in the personal, bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ. At the end of all things, the dead will be raised and will face the final judgment. Those who are saved shall be raised unto everlasting life, and those who have rejected Christ and His salvation into eternal damnation. Until Christ returns, it is the Christian’s responsibility to work to bring all things under the dominion of Christ.
Isaiah 2:1-4; 11:9; Matthew 16:27; 18:8-9; 19:28; 24:27,30,36,44; 25:31-46; 26:64; Mark 8:38; 9:43-48; Luke 12:40,48; 16:19-26; 17:22-37; 21:27-28; John 14:1-3; Acts 1:11; 17:31; Romans 14:10; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 15:24-28,35-58; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Philippians 3:20-21; Colossians 1:5; 3:4; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 5:1ff.; 2 Thessalonians 1:7ff.; 2; 1 Timothy 6:14; 2 Timothy 4:1,8; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 9:27-28; James 5:8; 2 Peter 3:7ff.; 1 John 2:28; 3:2; Jude 14; Revelation 1:18; 3:11; 20:1-22:13