Statement of Faith
The statement of faith is an outline of Bible teaching commonly held by this Church. It is not binding as is the Scripture. The statement may be revised to update the wording. It is not to be thought of as regimenting our people, but should encourage a continuing investigation of Scripture teaching.
- We believe that the Bible is God’s Word in its entirety. The original manuscripts are God-breathed and without error (11 Timothy 3:16) The Bible has been divinely preserved so that today we have an all-sufficient and unique guide for faith and practice. We believe that the one true God has revealed Himself in three equal but distinct persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each is God and has particular areas of responsibility (1 John 5:7) God has revealed Himself through creation by oral revelation through the prophets, through His Son Jesus Christ, and through the written Word.
- We believe that God the Father is Spirit, is eternal, and is self-existent. He is unchangeable and absolutely sovereign in His will and power. He is all-knowing, all powerful, and everywhere present. He is holy, just, loving, merciful, and gracious. He is the Creator, and He involves Himself in the affairs of men.
- We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal and only begotten Son of God, and that He became a man by the virgin birth. He is fully man and fully God. He is the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament. He is the perfect Lamb of God who gave His life on the cross for the sin of mankind. He was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven in His glorified body and is the believers’ High Priest at the right hand of the Father. He will return to earth in the same manner by which He left.
- We believe that the Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He regenerates those whom the Father from eternity past has sovereignly and graciously elected unto salvation and eternal life thereby giving them the overwhelming desire to respond to His effectual call by God’s gifts of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior. The Holy Spirit indwells, baptizes, seals, empowers, guides, teaches, sanctifies, and gives gifts to God’s children. He may be grieved and quenched.
- We believe that God created the angels as spirit beings who have great power, even being able to take the form of man. When Satan fell into sin, many angels followed him and are destined for judgment. Some angels are bound for judgment and others are actively opposing God’s purposes and His people. The holy, unfallen angels are presently involved in worshiping God, ministering to and protecting the saints, and will be used of God as agents of judgment.
- We believe that Satan is an angel created by God, beautiful and of great power. Through pride, he fell and became the enemy of God. He is wicked, an adversary, an accuser, a slanderer, and a tempter. He is very powerful and is called the “Prince of the power of the air” and “the god of this world.” He has been judged at the Cross, but the sentence has not yet been carried out. At the Second Coming of Christ, Satan will be bound for 1,000 years, then loosed for a short time and will be finally cast into the lake of fire to “be tormented”day and night forever and ever.
- We believe that man is the direct creation of God (body, soul, spirit), that he was created immediately and without any evolutionary process. Adam and Eve, given limits by God, violated those limits in yielding to the temptation of Satan. That sin involved all men from that time on and the death penalty of that sin affects all men. Man has great value because he is created in the image of God.
- We believe that the Bible describes sin as missing the mark and a lack of conformity to the will of God. It is also to err, a failing, iniquity, perversion, transgression, rebellion, and disobedience. Sin had its origin with Satan as he rebelled against God. The human race was initially affected by sin when Adam and Eve decided not to obey God. All mankind participated in that act of disobedience and therefore are guilty of sin and are condemned to eternal death. Moreover, all inherit a sin nature, which prompts all to do acts of sin. Sin also affects the human race by pain, suffering, and a cursed earth.
- We believe God has graciously provided for the eternal well-being of all who come to Him through His Son Jesus Christ. This salvation is necessary because of man’s sin and is possible only on the merits of Christ’s death on the Cross. It is a gift of God and is received solely on the basis of repentance and faith. God the Father chose before the foundation of the world those to whom He would grant the gift of salvation. God the Son provided salvation by His death on the Cross. God the Spirit implements salvation in the life of one who believes and seals him unto the day of redemption. Those who God has chosen will persevere to enter Heaven. Nothing can enter in to take away the gift of eternal life from those who have been truly born again.
- We believe that the Church has been established by Christ as His agency in the world today. It is composed of all those who have believed in Christ and have been baptized into His Body by the Holy Spirit. The Church had its beginning at Pentecost and will be completed at the Rapture. Local churches have been known since apostolic times and are organized assemblies of believers that meet together for worship, education, fellowship, and the carrying out of the ordinances and the Great Commission.
- We believe that Christ has given the Church two ordinances. These have been commanded by Him and the Church is responsible to perform them. The first is immersion in water of believers. This rite of baptism is administered to those who have trusted Christ as Savior, as a public testimony of their identification with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. It also signifies their desire to leave the old life behind and live a new life for Christ. A believer should be baptized before becoming a member of a local Church. The second ordinance is the Lord’s Supper wherein believers gather to partake of the bread and the cup of remembrance of Christ’s death. This ceremony is repeated in the life of the Church, the frequency not being stated in Scripture. The elements of the bread and the cup are symbols only; they remind us of the body and blood of Christ. The ordinances in no way contribute to salvation. They are simply given to the Church as matters of obedience.
- The pastor’s task is to shepherd, teach and rule, while the elders and deacons are to help serve in the Church so the pastor is freed for ministry of the Word. We hold to what is commonly known as “Baptist Distinctives” as follows:
1. The Bible is the sole authority for faith and practice.
2. The local Church is autonomous and subject to no other power than Christ.
3. Each believer is a priest before God, and is individually responsible before God.
4. The local Church has two ordinances: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
5. Only baptized believers are to be admitted to the membership of a local Church.
6. The Church is separate from the state.
- We believe that in history, God is working out His purposes and that the present order of things as we now see them will be concluded with certain events as described in the Scriptures.
- We believe that the first event, the Rapture of the Church, could happen at any time. Believers who have died will be resurrected and those living will be taken by Christ immediately to heaven. Every believer will then appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ to be judged for his works. Jesus Christ will be the Judge and He will determine what works are worthy of reward. The marriage Supper of the Lamb follows this Judgment.
- We believe that the Tribulation commences after the Church is removed from the earth. This is a period of God’s judgment on unbelievers climaxed by the Second Coming of Christ in power and judgment. Satan is bound for 1,000 years and Christ will rule on the earth during this time called the “Millennium.”
- We believe that at the end of the Millennium, Satan is loosed and gathers forces against God. They are destroyed; Satan is cast into the lake of fire and the unrighteous dead are raised for judgment as that Great White Throne. The wicked are judged according to their works and cast into the lake of fire. The eternal state of the righteous is in a new heaven and a new earth.