CONFESSION OF FAITH


Paragraph I - The Scripture

We believe that the holy Bible as originally written was verbally inspired and the product of Spirit controlled men and therefore has truth without admixture of error for its matter. We believe that it is the true center of Christian union and the only infallible rule for all human conduct, creeds, and opinions. II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:19-21.

Paragraph II - The True God

We believe that there is only one living and true God, infinite in every excellence; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three personal distinctions, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one in substance and equal in every divine perfection. Exodus 20:2-3; I Corinthians 8:6; I John 5:7; Revelation 4:11.

We believe in the absolute Deity of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ; that He was divine as no other man can be, being very God of very God, and existing from all eternity co-equal with the Father and the Spirit; that He never ceased to be God for one instant and that His humiliation did not consist in laying aside His deity; that as a man He was miraculously begotten of the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary. John 1:1-2; I John 5:20; Matthew 1:20; Luke 1:26-38.

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, equal with the Father and Son, and of the same substance and nature; that He convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment, bears witness to the truth, is the agent of the New birth and that He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses to, sanctifies and helps the believer, indwelling every true child of God. II Corinthians 13:14; John 14:16-17; Romans 8:14-27; Matthew 28:19; Hebrews 9:14; John 14:26; Luke 1:35; Genesis 1:1-3; John 16:8-11; Acts 5:30-32; John 3:5-6; Ephesians 1:13-14; Mark 1:8; John 1:33; Acts 11:16; Luke 24:49.

Paragraph III - The Devil or Satan

We believe in the distinct personality of satan, that he is the god of this age, author of all the powers of darkness and sin, and is destined to the judgment of eternal justice in the lake of fire. Genesis 3:15; Job 1:6-7; Matthew 4:1-3; II Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 20:1-10.

Paragraph IV - The Creation

We believe that God created the heavens and the earth, including all life, “each after its own kind”, by direct act and not by the process of evolution. Genesis 1:1-2; Colossians 1:16-17; John 1:3.

Paragraph V - The Fall of Man

We believe that man, in the person of the first Adam, was created in innocence but by voluntary transgression fell into sin thus plunging the whole race into condemnation and death, so that now all mankind is born in sin and shapen in iniquity and become practical sinners with the first expression of personal choice, not by constraint, but by choice and so are without excuse before God. Genesis 3; Romans 5:10-19; Romans 1:18, & 32.

Paragraph VI - The Atonement for Sin

We believe that the only escape from the condemnation of sin is through the atonement wrought by Jesus Christ, when He voluntarily took upon Him a human body and nature, yet without sin, and by His suffering, death and resurrection made full satisfaction to the justice of God for the sin of man; that the blessings of this salvation are given on the grounds of grace to all who believe and confess and that it is the immediate duty of all to improve these offers of mercy. John 1:1-3 & 14; John 3:1-21; Hebrews 10:4-14; Acts 16:30-33.

Paragraph VII - Salvation by Grace

We believe that faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation from sin and that this salvation is wholly by grace; that no works however good, make that salvation more secure. Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-6; Romans 10:9-13.

We believe that all who take Christ as their Saviour are born from above and are eternally secure in Christ. John 10:28-29; Romans 8:35-39; Philippians 1:6.

Paragraph VIII - The Church

We believe that the church universal is a New Testament institution; unknown to the Old Testament prophets; established by Jesus Christ, Who is the sole Head; revealed through the Apostles; empowered and perpetuated by the Holy Spirit; composed of believers in Jesus Christ as Saviour, both Jew and Gentile, called out from the world and indwelt by the Holy Spirit; His "Body" for service and His “Bride" for glory. It began with the New Testament saints and will be consummated with the coming of Christ in the rapture. Matthew 16:18; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:1-13; Acts 2:41-47; Acts 15:14; Romans 16:26; I Corinthians 12:12-29; Ephesians 1:22-23; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Ephesians 3:21; Ephesians 5:23-33.

We believe that the church universal is manifest through the local church which is a congregation of immersed believers, associated by a covenant of faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws; exercising the gifts, rights and privileges invested in it by His Word; that its officers are bishops or pastors and deacons; that it has the absolute right of self-government directed by the Holy Spirit and it is answerable only to Christ and that in all matters of membership, policy, government, discipline and benevolence the will of the local church is final.
Matthew 18:15-17; I Corinthians 1:2; I Corinthians 6:4-5; I Corinthians 7:17; I Corinthians 11:16; I Timothy 3:1-15.

Paragraph IX - The Ordinances

We believe that there are two church ordinances; baptism and the Lord's Supper. Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water and is properly called "Believer's Baptism". It sets forth in a beautiful and solemn way our faith in a crucified, buried and risen Savior, with its effects in our lives of death to sin and resurrection to a new life. Baptism is a prerequisite to the privileges of local church relation. The Lord's Supper is the commemoration of the Lord's death until He comes and our continual fellowship with Him; should be preceded by baptism and always by careful self-examination. Acts 8:36-39; Romans 6:3-5; I Corinthians 11:23-32; John 3:23; Matthew 3:16; Colossians 2:12.

Paragraph X - The Righteous and the Wicked

We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that such only as through faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and sanctified by the Spirit of God, are truly righteous in God's esteem; while all such continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked and under the curse and that this distinction holds among men both in and after death, in the everlasting felicity of the saved and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost. Malachi 3:18; Romans 6:17-23; Matthew 25:34-41; Luke 6:25; John 8:21; John 3:18-21.

Paragraph XI - The Return of Christ

We believe in the bodily, personal and premillennial return of Jesus Christ; that He will come before the seven year tribulation period to catch away His Church, coming only in the air and that He will come with His Church at the close of the tribulation to judge the living nations and set up His Kingdom. I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 19:11-21.

Paragraph XII - The Resurrection

We believe in the resurrection of the bodies of the dead; that believers who sleep in Jesus will be raised at the coming of Christ for His Church and caught up with transformed living saints to meet the Lord in the air and that the wicked dead will be raised at the close of the Millennial Kingdom and stand in their bodies at the Great White Throne Judgment to receive their final doom. John 5:21-30; I Thessalonians 4:16; Revelation 7:9-17; Revelation 20:11-15.

Paragraph XIII - Civil Government

We believe that civil government is of divine appointment, for the interest and good order of human society; that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed, except in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only Lord of the conscience and the coming Prince of the Kings of the earth. Romans 13:1-7; II Samuel 23:3; Exodus 18:21-22; Acts 23:5; Matthew 22:21; Acts 5:17-33; Acts 4:19-20; Daniel 3:17-18.2.