WHAT WE BELIEVE

THE BIBLE - THE WORD OF GOD
The Bible consists of 66 books, which comprise the completed canon of scripture. The canon is the inspired Word of God and is infallible (Psa 119:89; Pro 30:5-6; Joh 10:35; 2Ti 3:16; 2Pe 1:20-21).

THE TRIUNE GOD
There is only one God. He is triune, which means that He exists in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Although each Person of the Godhead exhibits functional differences, all are equal in essence, making them coequal and coterminous. (Deu 6:4; 2Co 13:14).

THE DEPRAVITY OF MAN
Man is created in the image of God. As a result of Adam's original sin in the Garden of Eden, the human race is spiritually dead at birth. Each human receives a sin nature at birth as a result of Adam's transgression. This sin nature keeps mankind at enmity with God until the moment of salvation. There is nothing man can do himself to improve his inherent condition at birth. He needs restoration from a power source that is not his. (Gen 11:26-27; Rom 3:22-23, 5:12; Eph 2:12).

THE PERSON AND WORK OF CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the unique One, the God-man, which means that He is 100% deity and 100% man simultaneously, indivisibly. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His substitutionary sacrificial death on the Cross. This single act propitiated God the Father's justice and provided God's elect with an atonement for all sin. Our faith is illustratively validated by His physical resurrection from the dead (Rom 4:24-25; 1Co 15:1-4; Heb 13:20; 1Pe 1:3-5).

Jesus Christ is now seated at the right hand of God the Father in the third Heaven, continuing His ministry as our High Priest, interceding for us always, as our great Advocate. He is indeed the head of the Church, His bride, the Body of Christ. He will return physically to wage war on all of His enemies and claim ultimate victory (Rom 8:34; Eph 1:19-23; Heb 7:25-27; 1Jo 1:1-2).

THE PERSON AND WORK OF GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity. He convicts the world of the sin of unbelief, restrains evil from its ultimate manifestation, and glorifies Jesus Christ while guiding believers into all truth (Joh 16:7-14). At salvation, the Holy Spirit baptizes each believer into union with Jesus Christ. This union is eternal and cannot be broken. He permanently indwells, seals, and regenerates each believer. We believers are commanded to walk by means of the Spirit and neither quench nor grieve Him (Rom 8:9; 1Co 12:12-13; Gal 3:26-29, 5:16; Eph 1:12-14, 4:30, 5:18; Tit 3:5-6).

SALVATION
We are all born depraved. Salvation is a gracious gift from God. It is the result of the Gospel calling, which is: Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate, humbled Himself to die on our behalf. Thus He became the sinless sacrifice to pay the penalty of our guilt. He rose from the dead to declare with power that He is Lord over all, and He offers eternal life freely to sinners who will surrender to Him in humble, repentant faith. (Joh 3:15-16, 5:24, 6:40, 6:47, 20:31; Act 16:31, Rom 3:24-25, 5:11, 5:16; 2Co 5:18-21; Eph 2:8-9). See Are You Saved?

THE ETERNAL SECURITY OF THE BELIEVER
Once saved, all believers remain saved for all of eternity without any possibility of losing their salvation. All believers have the right to personal assurance of their eternal security (Joh 10:27-30; Rom 8:1, 38-39; 1Co 1:4-8; 1Th 5:23-24; Heb 10:14).

THE CHURCH, THE BODY AND BRIDE OF CHRIST
The Church is a spiritual organism. It is called the Body and Bride of Christ in scripture and is comprised of believers only. Members of Christ's Church are in union with Christ now and for eternity. This designation is distinctly different from a christian denomination (1Co 12:12-14; Eph 1:22).

SATAN
Satan is one of many titles given to the primary adversary of God and man. He is openly declared as such in the Bible (Job 1:6-7; Isa 14:12-17; 1Pe 5:8). God, in His sovereignty, has given Satan rulership of this present world, which will terminate at Christ's second advent (Eph 2:2; 2Co 4:4; Joh 12:31, 14:30; 16:11).

THE BLESSED HOPE
The next great event in the fulfillment of prophecy will be the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in the air, also dubbed the rapture or translation of the church, where he will receive to Himself believers who have died and believers who are alive on earth. This event will occur prior to the Tribulation. (1Co 15:51-57; 1Th 4:13-18; Tit 2:11-14).

THE TRIBULATION
The rapture of the Church will be followed by the fulfillment of Israel's seventieth week. The latter half of this seven-year period is the time of Jacob's trouble, the Great Tribulation (Jer 30:7; Dan 9:27; Mat 24:15-21; Rev 6:19).

THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
Jesus Christ will physically step foot on earth at His second advent at the end of the Great Tribulation and before His millennial reign. He will remove Satan from power and set up His kingdom literally on earth (Zec 14:4-11; Mat 24:15-25; 2Th 1:7-10; Rev 20:6).

THE ETERNAL STATE
The soul and the human spirit of those who have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation immediately pass into His presence at the moment of physical death. The soul and the human spirit remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the body at His coming. At this time, soul, human spirit and body reunite, and shall forever be associated with His glory. The souls of unbelievers remain after death in conscious misery until the final judgment of the Great White Throne at the close of the millennium. At this time, the soul and body reunited shall be cast into the eternal Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to be salted with everlasting destruction and banished from the presence of the Lord forever (Luk 16:19-26, 23:43; 2Co 5:8; Phi 1:23; 2Th 1:7-9; Jud 6:7; Rev 20:11-15).

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE BELIEVER
Salvation is just the beginning. It is God's desire that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1Ti 2:4). This implies that we believers must continually learn His Word on a daily basis in order to fulfill God's purpose, plan, and will. Executing His plan for our lives is what ultimately will bring glory to the Lord (Rom 12:1-2; 2Co 13:9; 1Ti 4:6; 1Pe 2:2; 2Pe 3:18).

THE LORD'S SUPPER
The Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Lord's Supper to be observed until His return (1Co 11:23-36).

WATER BAPTISM
In Jesus’ great commission, He explicitly states that we go out and baptize those who believe (Mat 28:19-20). In the early Church, there is much evidence that water baptisms were carried out faithfully as a public display of faith (Acts 10:47-48).

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
God, existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is sovereign. He exercises supreme and absolute rule over all creation as a part of, and consistent with, the essence and attributes of deity (1Ch 29:11-12, Dan 4:35, Psa 24:1, Eph 1:11, 1Ti 6:15).

THE FILLING OF THE SPIRIT
Man's inherent sin nature is antagonistic to the Holy Spirit’s ministry in the believer (Gal 5:17). Believers are commanded to walk by means of the Spirit and be filled with the Spirit in order that they may abide in God’s will (Gal 5:16; Eph 4:30, 5:18; 1Th 5:19).

SPIRITUAL GIFTS
God the Holy Spirit, in grace and apart from human merits, administers a spiritual gift to believers in the Church. Permanent spiritual gifts in existence today include pastor/teachers, evangelists, administrators, and others. The temporary spiritual gifts ceased with the completion of the canon of scripture. These temporary gifts were apostleship, prophecy, speaking in tongues, interpreting tongues, healing, and working of miracles (1Co 12:13, Eph 4:7-12, Rom 12:4-8). Though spiritual gifts of miracles and healing have ceased, God may, and does, heal and miraculously intervene by His direct action (Isa 46:10, Mat 28:18, Jam 5:16).