Statement of Faith

(A) The Holy Scriptures
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally and plenarily inspired Word of God. The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible and God-breathed, and therefore are the final authority for faith and life. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are the complete and divine revelation of God to Man. The Scriptures shall be interpreted according to their normal grammatical-historical meaning. The King James Version of the Bible shall be the official and only translation used by the Church (II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:20-21).

(B) Dispensationalism
We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense reveal divinely determined dispensations or rules of life, which define man's responsibilities in successive ages. These dispensations are not ways of salvation, but rather are divinely ordered stewardships by which God directs man according to His purpose. Three of these dispensations--the age of law, the age of the Church, and the age of the kingdom--are the subjects of detailed revelation in Scripture (Genesis l:28; I Corinthians 9:17; II Corinthians 3:9-18; Galatians 3:13-25; Ephesians 1:10; 3:2-10; Colossians 1:24-25, 27; Revelation 20:2-6).

(C) The Godhead
We believe in one God who is perfect, eternally existing in three persons--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28.19; II Corinthians 13:14; John 14:10, 26).

(D) The Person and Work of Christ
(1) We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God, and redeem sinful men (Isaiah 7.-14; 9.6; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-2, 14; II Corinthians 5:19-21, Galatians 4:4-5; Philippians 2:5-8).

(2) We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through his shed blood and death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and, that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Acts 2:18-36; Romans 1:4; Romans 3:24-25; I Peter 2:24; Ephesians 1:7; I Peter 1:3-5).

(3) We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate (Acts 1:9-10; Hebrews 12:2; Hebrews 9:24; 7:25-27; Romans 8:34;1 I John 2:1-2)

(E) The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
(1) We believe that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and, that He is the supernatural agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ at the moment of salvation, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption (John 16;8-11; 1Romans 8:9; I Corinthians 12-12-14; II Corinthians 3:6; Ephesians 1:13-14).

(2) We believe that He is the divine teacher who assists believers to understand and appropriate the Scriptures and that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 1:17-18; 5:18; 1 John 2:20, 27).

(3) We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowal of spiritual gifts to every believer. God uniquely uses evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip believers in the church in order that they can do the work of the ministry (Romans 12:3-8; I Corinthians 12: 4-11, 28; Ephesians 4:7-12).

(4) We believe that the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit, such speaking in tongues and the gift of healing, were temporary, and that speaking in tongues was never the common or necessary sign of the baptism or the filling of the Holy Spirit. We believe that the ultimate deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection, though God frequently chooses to answer the prayers of believers for physical healing (I Corinthians 1:22; 13:8; 14:21-22). We further believe that the office of Apostle no longer exists. The qualification of Apostleship was to have seen the risen Christ (I Corinthians 9:1)

(F) The Total Depravity of Man
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam's sin the human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and, that man is totally depraved, and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition (Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 3:22-23; 5:12; 6:23; Ephesians 2:1-3; 4:17-19).

(G) Salvation
We believe salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace, and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on the cross of Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins (John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-10; I Peter 1:18-19).

(H) The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers
(1) We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God's power and are thus secure in Christ forever (John 6:37-40; 10:27- 30; Romans 8:1, 38-39; I Corinthians 1:4-8; I Peter 1:4-5)

(2) We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God's Word, which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh (Romans 13:13-14, Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11-15; I John 5:9-13).

(I) The Church
(1) We believe that the church is solely made up of born-again persons (I Corinthians 12-12-14; II Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 1:22-23; 5:25-27).

(2) We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:27; 20:17, 28-32; I Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11).

(3) We believe in the autonomy of the local church free from any external authority or control (Acts 13:1-4; 15:19-31; 20:28; Romans 16:1, 4; I Corinthians 3:9, 16; 5:4-7, 13; 1 Peter 5:1-4).

(4) We recognize baptism by immersion in water and the Lord's Supper as the only Scriptural ordinances of obedience for the Church in this age (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; 18:18; 1 Corinthians ll:23-26).

(J) Separation
We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord; and, that separation from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful practices and associations is commanded of God (Romans 12:1-2; 14:13; II Corinthians 6:14-7:1; II Timothy 3:1-.5; I John 2:15-17; II John 9-11).

(K) The Second Advent of Christ
We believe that the Second Advent of Christ has two distinct and separate parts

(1) We believe in that "blessed hope", the personal imminent return of Christ Who will rapture His Church prior to the seven-year tribulation period.

(2) At the end of the Tribulation, Christ will personally and visibly return, with His saints, to establish His earthly Messianic Kingdom which was promised to the Nation of Israel (Psalm 89:3-4; Daniel 2:31-45; Zechariah 14:4-11; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; Revelation 3:10; 19:11-16; 20:1-6).


(L) The Eternal State
(1) We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46; John 5:28, 29; 11:25-26; Revelation 20:5-6, 12-13).

(2) We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord (Luke 23:43; II Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; 3:21; I Thessalonians 4:16-17; Revelation 20:4-6).

We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious punishment and torment until the second resurrection, when with soul, spirit, and body reunited they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment and torment (Matthew 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; II Thessalonians 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Revelation 20:11-15).

(M) The Personality of Satan
We believe that Satan is a created being and became the author of sin and the cause of the Fall of Man. He is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and, he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire (Job 1:6-7; Isaiah 14:12-17; Matthew 4:2-11; 25:41; Rev. 20:10).

(N) Creation
We believe that God created the universe in six literal, 24-hour periods. We reject the theory of evolution, the Day-Age Theory, and Theistic Evolution and believe they are unscriptural theories of origin (Genesis 1:2, Exodus 20:11).

(O) Civil Government
We believe that God has ordained and created all authority, consisting of three basic institutions: 1) the home; 2) the Church; and 3) the state. Every person is subject to these authorities, but all (including the authorities themselves) are answerable to God and governed by His Word. God has given each institution specific Biblical responsibilities and balanced those responsibilities with the understanding that no institution has the right to infringe upon the other. The home, the Church, and the state are equal and sovereign in their respective Biblically assigned spheres of responsibility under God. In any instance where there is conflict between these authorities, we will obey God rather than man (Acts 5:29; Romans 13:1-7; Ephesians 5:22-24; Hebrews 13:17; 1 Peter 2:13-14).