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ARTICLES OF FAITH
CONCERNING THE SCRIPTURES
We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as originally written were God-breathed, both verbally and in every part. We believe God, who is Truth, communicated through Spirit-controlled men so that the Scriptures are without error and therefore authoritative in all they teach and in all matters they touch. We believe the Bible is the supreme revelation of God’s will for man and constitutes the only infallible guide for faith and life. We believe that God has preserved and will continue to preserve the Bible as His Word. We further believe that the King James Version is the preserved Word of God in the English language.
We believe in one God, the Creator of heaven and earth; that in the unity of the Godhead, there are three equal persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, equal in power and glory and executing distinct and harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary as no other man was ever nor can be born of a woman. He is the God of every god, being “God…manifest in the flesh.” He lived a life of absolute sinlessness and in His death made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins; dying not as a martyr, but as a voluntary substitute in the sinner’s place. He rose from the dead on the third day and ascended bodily into heaven. He is coming in the air to rapture His saints, and then to the earth to set up the throne of David and establish His kingdom. The rapture is imminent and will be personal, pretribulational and premillennial.
- CONCERNING THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person possessing all attributes of personality and of deity. He is equal with the Father and the Son and is of the same nature. His relation to the unbelieving world is that He convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He is the agent of the new birth. His work among believers is that He baptizes them into the Body of Christ, seals, indwells, fills, teaches and guides them in the ways of righteousness. We believe there is a distinction between the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and His ministry in the New Testament. We believe the Bible rejects the legitimacy of the sign gifts (i.e., prophecy, speaking in tongues, miracles, and healing) for today; and repudiates the experience-oriented theology and ecumenically oriented practice of the charismatic movement.
We believe that the Scriptures teach that man was created by a direct act of God and not from any previously existing form of life. Man fell by voluntary transgression from his state of innocence, in consequence of which all men are now sinners by nature and by choice, utterly devoid of the holiness required by law, positively inclined to evil, and therefore under just condemnation to eternal punishment and everlasting existence separated from God without defense or excuse.
We believe the Scriptures teach that the salvation of sinners is divinely initiated, wholly of grace, and is accomplished only through the mediating work of the Son of God. We believe that salvation is obtained wholly apart from works upon the sole condition of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and never without genuine repentance. We believe that in order to be saved the sinner must be born again, being regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith in God’s Word thus becoming the recipient of a new nature. Furthermore, we believe the Gospel blessing which Christ secures to such as believe in Him is justification (i.e., that judicial declaration of God by which is received the pardon of sin and the imputation of divine righteousness). The believer who has exercised personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is completely justified and in possession of a salvation which is eternally secure.
We believe the Scriptures teach that the Church of Jesus Christ was conceived during the early ministry of our Lord and birthed on the Day of Pentecost. We reject the theory that there is a universal, invisible church. The churches of the New Testament were always local and visible. Thus the church is a congregation of baptized believers associated by a covenant of faith and fellowship in the Gospel that observes the ordinances of Christ, is governed by His laws, and exercises the gifts, rights, and privileges of His Word. Its scriptural officers are pastors, sometimes called bishops or elders, and deacons whose qualifications, claims, and duties are defined in the Epistles 2 Timothy and Titus. This definition leads to these scriptural distinctives:
B – The Bible is the Sole Authority for Faith and Practice.
A – The Local Church is Autonomous.
P – The Priesthood of the Believer
T – The Two Ordinances are Baptism and Lord’s Supper
I – The Mode of Baptism is by Immersion.
S – The Separation of Church and State
T – The Two Offices are Pastors and Deacons.
We believe the Scriptures teach that Christian baptism is the single immersion of a believer in water, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This shows the believer’s identification with the crucified, buried, and risen Savior thus illustrating his death to sin and his resurrection to new life. It is prerequisite to membership and privileges in a local church.
We believe that the Lord’s Supper is for believers of like faith only. The ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper must be observed under the discipline of the local church.
- CONCERNING THE ETERNAL STATE
We believe the Scriptures teach the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust. All those who, through faith, are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ will spend eternity in full enjoyment of God’s presence, and those who through unbelief refuse to accept God’s offer of mercy will spend eternity in everlasting punishment.
We believe the Scriptures teach that there is a real devil who is the god of this world and the prince of the power of the air. He once enjoyed the presence of God until he was lifted up in pride and rebellion. We believe that Satan has legions of fallen angels and demonic spirits that have allegiance to him and are in rebellion against God. Satan is full of all subtlety. He seeks continually to frustrate the purposes of God and to ensnare the sons of men. He was conquered by Christ on the cross and is condemned to everlasting punishment.
- CONCERNING PERSONAL SEPARATION
We believe the Scriptures teach that every believer should be separated unto God from the world and, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, should walk in Christian love and holiness, exhibiting qualities of honesty, integrity, forgiveness, and loving-kindness. We further believe that any achievement in these characteristics will be evident by sincere humility and genuine zeal for the advancement of the cause of Christ. We also believe the Scriptures admonish every believer not to love the world or the things of the world. Believers should flee wicked lusts, avoid every kind of evil, and refrain from questionable practices which destroy one’s testimony, offend one’s brother, and fail to glorify God.
- CONCERNING ECCLESIASTICAL SEPARATION
We believe the Scriptures teach that the believer should be separated from apostasy as exemplified in ecclesiastical organizations which include radicals, liberals, and those who sanction theological compromise. This doctrine is based upon God’s eternal principle of division between truth and error and His specific command to be separate from unbelievers and disobedient brethren. This truth is to be practiced with an attitude of devotion to God, humility, compassion, but with conviction. We believe this will create the proper condition and atmosphere for the believer’s main objective, the salvation of the lost through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe ecumenical evangelism, which involves apostates, violates the principle taught in God’s Word.
- CONCERNING SEXUAL ORIENTATION
We believe that God created two sexes, male and female, and that the Bible defines a marriage as one man joined to one woman, thus becoming one until the death of the man or the woman. We further believe that homosexuality is an abomination to God and a scourge to any society. The Bible additionally condemns cross-dressing and effeminacy. Being “Gay” or “Lesbian” is not a lifestyle. It is a sin. A person is not born a homosexual, but rather becomes one by giving into the perverseness that is in his or her heart. Furthermore, we hold that we are to loathe this sin as God does, however we are to love those sinners who practice this sin and try to reach them for Christ.
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