What We Believe & Why We Believe It
 
1. We believe in one God, who is eternal, all-powerful, and absolutely Holy; Who has revealed Himself to man as existing in three distinguishable expressions of His essential being: The Father, Jesus Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19; II Corinthians 13:14; John 14:15-17 

2. We believe that the Bible, composed of the Old and New Testaments (the accepted canon of Holy Scripture), is God’s eternal, inspired and infallible Word in its entirety; and is the supreme standard and final authority for all conduct, faith and doctrine. II Timothy 3:16, 17; I Corinthians 2:13; I Peter 1:19-21

3. We believe in the creation, test and fall of man as recorded in Genesis; and man’s total spiritual depravity and inability to attain to divine righteousness. Romans 3:23; 5:12,18; 6:23; 7:18,21-25; 8:1-9 

4. We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of men, conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, very God and very man. Luke 1:26-35; John 1:18, Isaiah 7:14 

5. We believe Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again the third day and personally appeared to His disciples. I Corinthians 15:1-6,9; Romans 4:25  

6. We believe in the bodily ascension of Jesus to heaven and His exaltation as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. John 14:1-3; Philippians 2:9-11; Revelation 17:14; 19:11-17 

7. We believe in Christ’s personal, literal return (second coming) for the church.
 I Timothy 6:14-16; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 24:30-31, 42, 44 

8. We believe in the salvation of sinners by grace, through repentance and faith in the perfect and sufficient work of the cross of Calvary by which we obtain remission of sins. Ephesians 2:8-9; Hebrews 9:12-15; Romans 5:11 

9. We believe in the necessity of water baptism by immersion in the name of the Eternal Godhead in order to fulfill the command of Christ. Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:34-36; 19:1-6 

10. We believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit as a spiritually empowering experience subsequent to salvation, and in the scriptural experience of speaking in other “tongues” (languages) as the Spirit enables. Acts 2:1-4; 8:14-17; 10:44-46, Galatians 3:14-15; Romans 8:26-27; I Cor 14 

11. We believe in the operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit as manifested in the Early Church. I Corinthians 12-14

12. We believe in the Spirit-filled life, a life of separation from the world and perfecting of holiness in the fear of God, as an expression of Christian faith. Ephesians 5:18; II Corinthians 6:14; 7: 1

13. We believe in deliverance from demonic oppression and harassments, and in the healing of the body by Divine Power (or “Divine healing”) in its many and varied aspects as practiced in the Early Church. Acts 4:30; Romans 8:11; I Corinthians 12:9; James 5:14

14. We believe in the table of the Lord, commonly called “Communion” or “the Lord’s Supper,” for believers as a memorial celebration of the fellowship of the Body of Christ and our redemption through His blood. I Cor. 11:28-32

15. We believe in eternal life for believers and eternal punishment for unbelievers. John 3:16,36; 5:24; Mark 9:43-50; II Thessalonians 1:9; Revelation 20:10-15

16. We believe in the reality and personality of Satan and of his angels (demons), of their malicious and unredeemable state and of their eternal judgment. Matthew 25:4; Revelation 20:10-15

In addition to these basic fundamentals...

17. We believe that the Biblical form of church government is a plural eldership with a governing (“senior”) minister, all of whom qualify on the basis of Scripture in their spiritual lives, character, domestic lives, governing abilities and pastoral grace. I Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; II Timothy 4:1-2; I Peter 5:1-2

18. We believe that the church of Jesus Christ is the last instrument that God is using to extend His kingdom prior to the second coming of Christ. Ephesians 3:8-11; Matthew 6:18; Ephesians 1:20-22

19. We believe that the local church is completely autonomous – that is, it is self-governing, self-supporting and self-propagating – in its mature state. Acts 13:1-3

20. We believe that every believer in Christ must be subject to God’s authority in a specific local church for spiritual protection and long-term fruitfulness. Hebrews 13:17