Doctrine

We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense reveal divinely determined dispensations or rules of life which define man’s responsibilities in successive ages. These dispensations are not ways of salvation, but rather are divinely ordered stewardships by which God directs man according to His purpose. Three of these dispensations – the law, the church, and the kingdom – are the subjects of detailed revelation in Scripture. (Gen. 1:28; 1 Cor. 9:17; 2 Cor. 3:9-18; Gal. 3:13-25; Eph. 1:10, 3:2-10; Col. 1:24-25, 27; Rev. 20:2-6)

We believe in one triune God, eternally existing in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – each co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, coequal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections. (Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; John 14:10, 26; 2 Cor. 13:14)

1. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God,
became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived
by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He
might reveal God and redeem sinful men. (Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Luke
1:35; John 1:1-2, 14; 2 Cor. 5:19-21; Gal. 4:4-5; Phil. 2:5-8)

2. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our
redemption through His death on the cross as a representative,
vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and, that our justification is
made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead.
(Acts 2:18-36; Rom. 3:24-25; Eph. 1:7; 1 Pet. 2:24; 1 Pet. 1:3-
5)

3. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven and
is now exalted at the right hand of God where, as our High
Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor,
and Advocate. (Acts 1:9-10; Rom. 8:34; Heb. 9:24; 7:25;
1 John 2:1-2)

1. We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and, that He is
the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption. (John 16:8-11; Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:12-14; 2 Cor. 3:6; Eph. 1:13-14)

2. We believe that He is the divine Teacher who assists believers to understand and appropriate the Scriptures and that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit. (Eph. 1:17-18; 5:18; 1 John 2:20, 27)

3. We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowal of spiritual gifts to every believer. God uniquely uses evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip believers in the assembly in order that they can do the work of the ministry. (Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Cor. 12:4-11, 28; Eph. 4:7-12)

4. We believe that the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues and the gift of healing, were temporary. Speaking in tongues was never the common or necessary sign of the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit. Ultimate deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection, though God frequently chooses to answer the prayers of believers for physical healing. (1 Cor. 1:22; 13:8; 14:21-22)

We believe that man was created in the
image and likeness of God; but that in Adam’s sin the human race fell,
inherited a sinful nature and became alienated from God. Man is
totally depraved and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost
condition. (Gen. 1:26-27; Rom. 3:22-23; 5:12; 6:23; Eph. 2:1-3; 4:17-
19)

We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man
by grace and received by repentance from sin and personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins. We believe that all sins, except blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, are forgivable. (Matt. 12:31-32; John 1:12; Eph. 1:7, 2:8-10; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; 1 John 1:9)

1. We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s
power and are thus secure in Christ forever. (John 6:37-40;
10:27-30; Rom. 8:1, 38-39; 1 Cor. 1:4-8; 1 Pet. 1:4-5)

2. We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the
assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s
Word, which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian
liberty as an occasion to the flesh. (Rom. 13:13-14; Gal. 5:13;
Titus 2:11-15)

1. We believe that the church, which is the body and the
espoused bride of Christ, is solely made up of born-again
persons. (1 Cor. 12:12-14; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 1:22-23; 5:25-
27)

2. We believe that the establishment and continuance of local
churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament
Scriptures. (Acts 14:27; 20:17, 28-32; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; Titus
1:5-11)

3. We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any
external authority or control. (Acts 13:1-4; 15:19-31; 20:28;
Rom. 16:1, 4; 1 Cor. 3:9, 16; 5:4-7, 13; 1 Pet. 5:1-4)

4. We recognize water baptism by immersion in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and the Lord’s Supper as the
Scriptural ordinances of obedience for the church in this age.
(Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; 8:36-38; 1 Cor. 11:23-26)

We believe that all the saved should live in such a
manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord. God
commands His people to separate from all religious apostasy, all
worldly and sinful pleasures, practices, and associations, and to refrain
from all immodest and immoderate appearances. (Rom. 12:1-2; 13:14;
1 Cor. 6:19-20; 2 Cor. 6:14; 7:1; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; 1 John 2:15-17; 2 John 9-11)

We believe in that blessed hope, the
personal, imminent return of Christ Who will rapture His church prior
to the seven-year tribulation period. At the end of the Tribulation,
Christ will personally and visibly return with His saints, to establish
His earthly Messianic Kingdom which was promised to the nation of
Israel. (Ps. 89:3-4; Dan. 2:31-45; Zech. 14:4-11; 1 Thess. 1:10; 4:13-
18; Titus 2:13; Rev. 3:10; 19:11-16; 20:1-6)

1. We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to
eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting
punishment. (Matt. 25:46; John 5:28, 29; 11:25-26; Rev. 20:5-
6, 12-13)

2. We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious
bliss they await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord. (Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; 3:21; 1 Thess. 4:16-17; Rev.
20:4-6)

3. We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious punishment and torment until the second resurrection, when with soul and body reunited, they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer ever-
lasting conscious punishment and torment. (Matt. 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; 2 Thess. 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Rev. 20:11-15)

We believe that Satan is a person, the
author of sin and the cause of the Fall of Man; that he is the open and
declared enemy of God and man; and that he shall be eternally
punished in the Lake of Fire. (Job 1:6-7; Is. 14:12-17; Matt. 4:2-11;
25:41; Rev. 20:10)

We believe that God created the universe in six literal, 24-
hour periods. We reject evolution, the Gap Theory, the Day-Age
Theory, and Theistic Evolution as unscriptural theories of origin.
(Gen. 1-2; Ex. 20:11)

We believe that God has ordained and created all
authority consisting of three basic institutions: (1) the home, (2) the
church, and (3) the state. Every person is subject to these authorities,
but all (including the authorities themselves) are answerable to God
and governed by His Word. God has given each institution specific
Biblical responsibilities with the understanding that no institution has
the right to infringe upon the other. The home, the church, and the
state are equal and sovereign in their respective Biblically assigned
spheres of responsibility under God. (Rom. 13:1-7; Eph. 5:22-24;
Heb. 13:17; 1 Pet. 2:13-14)

1. We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between one man and one woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. We believe that God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one’s gender by surgery or appearance. (Gen. 2:24; Gen. 19:5, 13; Gen. 26:8-9; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom. 1:26-29; 1 Cor. 5:1; 6:9; 1 Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4)

2. We believe that the only Scriptural marriage is the joining of one man and one woman.

1. We believe that men and women are spiritually equal in position before God but that God has ordained distinct and separate spiritual functions for men and women in the home and the church. Accordingly, only men are eligible for licensure and ordination by the church. (Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:18; 1 Tim. 2:8-15; 3:4-5, 12)

2. 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. Children are an heritage from the Lord. Parents are responsible for teaching their children spiritual and moral values and leading them, through consistent lifestyle example and appropriate discipline. (Gen. 1:26-28; Ex. 20:12; Deut. 6:4-9; Ps. 127:3-5; Prov. 19:18; 22:15; 23:13-14; Mk. 10:6-12; 1 Cor. 7:1-16; Eph. 5:21-33; 6:1-4; Col. 3:18-21; Heb. 13:4; 1 Pet. 3:1-7)

We believe that God disapproves of and
forbids divorce and intends marriage to last until one of the spouses
dies. Divorce and remarriage is regarded as adultery. Although
divorced and remarried persons or divorced persons may hold positions of service in the church and be greatly used of God for Christian service, they may not be considered for the offices of pastor or deacon. (Mal. 2:14-17; Matt. 19:3-12; Rom. 7:1-3; 1 Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:6)

We believe that human life begins at conception and that
the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the un-
justified, unexcused taking of unborn human life. Abortion is murder.
We reject any teaching that abortions of pregnancies due to rape,
incest, birth defects, gender selection, birth or population control, or
the physical or mental well being of the mother are acceptable. (Job
3:16; Ps. 51:5; 139:14-16; Isa. 44:24; 49:1, 5; Jer. 1:5; 20:15-18;
Luke 1:44)

We believe that God has given the church a great commis-
sion to proclaim the Gospel to all nations so that there might be a
great multitude from every nation, tribe, ethnic group, and language
group who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As ambassadors of
Christ, we must use all available means to go to the foreign nations
and not wait for them to come to us. (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15;
Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; 2 Cor. 5:20)