What we believe
Doctrinal Statement of Faith
Theology Proper
The Existence of God
God is eternally existent (Genesis 1:1; John 1:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:9). There is one God, the Creator of all things. He is the Sustainer and the Sovereign, having in Himself and of Himself all absolute perfections, and being infinite in all of them. To Him is owed all love, reverence, and obedience (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 44:6-8; 1 Corinthians 8:4; Colossians 1:15-17; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 1:3). God is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. God is holy, just, good, loving, and unchanging.
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Trinity
There is one God who eternally exists as three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There is no confusion of persons within the Godhead and no division of substance or essence (Matthew 28:19; John 1:14; 14:9-11; 15:26; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 2 Corinthians 11:14; Galatians 4:6). All things were created by Him and for Him (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:21-22; Matthew 28:19; Colossians 1:16).
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Creation
God created all things from nothing (Genesis 1:1; Psalm 33:6, 9; John 1:3). God created the unseen, spiritual realm of existence including angels and other heavenly beings as well as heaven itself (Colossians 1:16: Nehemiah 9:6). Adam and Eve were created by God in His own image (Genesis 2:7, 21-22). God is transcendent and immanent – above His creation and independent of it, yet very much involved in His creation such that creation is continually dependent upon God for its functioning and existence (Ephesians 4:6; Job 12:10; Acts 17:25, 28; Colossians 1:17). All things were created and exist for God’s glory (Isaiah 43:7; Psalm 19:1-2; Revelation 4:11).
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Providence
God eternally decreed all things that come to pass, and He perpetually governs all creatures and events. However, He does not author or approve of sin in any way, nor does His decree in any way violate the responsibility of man for all his acts and failures to act for which he will be held accountable (Isaiah 46:10; Ephesians 1:11; Daniel 4:34-35; Deuteronomy 29:29).
Christology
God the Son, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, became a human being in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is both truly God and truly man – two natures united in His person forever without confusion, mixture, division or separation and both natures in the Incarnation retain their own distinct attributes. He was miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit and was born of the Virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life and He died a substitutionary death for all of humanity. He was raised from the dead on the third day and He ascended into heaven and He now sits at the right hand of God in His glory (John 1:1; 14, Matthew 1:18-25; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Hebrews 10:12-13). He will return visibly in all of His power and glory to judge all people, conquer all enemies, destroy death, and usher in a new heaven and a new earth wherein He will reign in righteousness forever, world without end. The eternally begotten God the Son is coequal, consubstantial and coeternal with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.
Pneumatology
God the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, is a distinct person from God the Father and God the Son. God the Holy Spirit was sent by God the Father and God the Son to convict the world of sin. In all He does, He glorifies Christ. Further, God the Holy Spirit regenerates, indwells and seals the faithful in the Lord Jesus Christ. God the Holy Spirit also empowers the body of Christ to live as His witnesses (John 14:16-17; John 16:7-11; Titus 3:5-6; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Ephesians 1:13-14; Acts 1:8; Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12-14; 1 Peter 4:10-11).
All of the gifts of the Holy Spirit outlined in Scripture are available to the body of Christ. They are active in the church today (John 14:16-17; John 16:7-11; Titus 3:5-6; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Ephesians 1:13-14; Acts 1:8; Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12-14; 1 Peter 4:10-11). However, although the gifts of the Holy Spirit are active and available to the body of Christ, all manifestations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit must be exercised in an orderly fashion (1 Corinthians 14:40) and must be tested against Scripture (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21).
Bibliology
The Word of God is foundational and essential to genuine faith and spirituality, Christian fellowship, and doctrinal accuracy. The most crucial function of the local church is the expository teaching of Scripture with exegetical depth and precision, verse by verse, from cover to cover to give to God’s people the whole counsel of God. (1 Timothy 4:6-7; Psalm 119:1ff; Psalm 138:2; Isaiah 66:2; Romans 15:4; Romans 16:25-26; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Timothy 1:5; 4:1-16; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Timothy 4:1-3).
God honors those who honor His word and when the word of God is displaced as the center of a church’s equilibrium, the results are always devastating. The word of God effectually and positively changes the dynamic of every church attribute because a Bible-saturated church is a Spirit-filled body (cf. Ephesians 5:18-6:9 and Colossians 3:16-4:1). A Spirit-filled body will bear the fruit of Christian virtue (Galatians 5:22). A Spirit-filled church will worship in spirit and in truth. A Spirit-saturated body will fellowship together united as one (1 Corinthians 12:13). A Spirit-led church will be holy and sanctified and evangelistic in mission.
The Bible is a miracle – the very words of the Almighty (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Bible possesses devastating power that cannot be contained once it is unleashed (Hebrews 4:12). The Bible is divinely inspired, perfect and inerrant in the original manuscripts, and authoritative. The Bible is the final authority in every area of faith and praxis for every individual Christian, as well as for the church collectively (2 Peter 1:21; John 10:35). The Bible is all that is needed for life and godliness.
Soteriology
As a result of the Fall and owing to universal death through sin, all people are sinners by nature and in desperate need of a Savior. Jesus Christ is the one and only Savior. The redemption of the world has been accomplished solely by the blood of Jesus Christ, who was made sin and was made a curse, dying as a substitute for the salvation of humanity (Romans 5:12; John 3:3-6; Ezekiel 36:25-27; Titus 3:5; Ephesians 5:26; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23; Leviticus 17:11; Matthew 26:28; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18-19; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13; Romans 5:6-7). People can be saved through faith in Him alone. Salvation is by faith alone through grace alone and all who repent and call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved eternally (Romans 3:10; Romans 3:23; Romans 5:18-19; Matthew 1:21; 1 John 4:14; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 10:9).
A concomitant truth being that God, before the foundation of the world, chose in Christ those whom He sovereignly and graciously regenerates, saves, and sanctifies (Romans 8:28-30; Ephesians 1:4-11; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 2:10; 1 Peter 1:1-2). The grace and unmerited favor of God granted to totally depraved sinners is not related to any initiative on man’s part nor to God’s anticipation of what a person might do by their own will, but it is solely of His sovereign election (Psalm 115:3; Romans 3:10-12; Ephesians 1:4-7; 2:1-10; Titus 3:4, 7; 1 Peter 1:2). However, sovereign election does not contradict or negate the responsibility of man to repent and put their faith in Christ as Savior and Lord (Ezekiel 18:23, 32; 33:11; John 3:18-19, 36; 5:40; Romans 9:22-23; 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12; 2 Peter 3:9; Revelation 22:17).
Ecclesiology
There is one universal church, the body of Christ, consisting of men and women from every people group – every tribe, tongue, and nation. Each local congregation is a part of and an expression of that universal church. There is spiritual unity for all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:4; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Revelation 5:9; Acts 2:42-47). The mission of the church is to make disciples of all nations and to baptize them in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that the Lord Jesus commanded (Matthew 28:19-20).
God created human beings, both male and female, in His image. Men and women are of equal value. According to God’s purpose and design, He created them to fulfill distinct but complementary roles in marriage, within the family, and in the local church (Genesis 1:26-28; Ephesians 5:22-6:4; 1 Timothy 3:1-7). God assigned to each a role. We err when we insist on assigning each role a rank.
Eschatology
Jesus Christ will literally return to the earth to consummate God’s redemptive plan (Jude 1:14; Revelation 19:11-16; Revelation 20:4). All the dead shall be resurrected. Believers will be raised to life and unbelievers will be raised to shame, eternal contempt, and second death (hell) (Daniel 12:2; John 5:25-29; Revelation 21:1-22:5).
Jesus Christ will return to the earth prior to the Millennium and He will sit upon the throne of David and rule over Israel and all the nations of the earth forever (Revelation 20:1-6; Luke 1:31-33; Isaiah 9:6-7).
Prior to Christ’s literal return to earth, the church will be raptured to meet the Lord in the air – delivered from the Tribulation which will come upon all the earth (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, 1 Corinthians 15:51-55, Revelation 3:10).