The Scriptures

We believe that all Scripture is given by the inspiration of God.  We believe that the Holy Ghost gave the very words of the sacred writings to holy men of old.  II Tim. 3:16,17; II Pet. 1:21; I Cor. 2:13; Mar. 12:26,36; 13:11.

The True God

We believe there is one and only one living and true God, an infinite Spirit, the Maker and Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth; inexpressibly glorious in holiness, and worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, equal in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.  Ex. 20:2,3; I Cor. 8:6; Eph. 4:6; John 1:1,4; 4:24.

Jesus and the Virgin Birth

We believe that Jesus was begotten of the Holy Ghost in a miraculous manner, born of Mary, a virgin, as no other man was ever born or can ever be born of woman, and that He is both the Son of God, and God, the Son.  Gen. 3:15; Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:18-25; Luke 1:35, John 1:14.

The Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature; that He was active in creation that in His relation to the unbelieving world He restrains the evil one until God’s purpose is fulfilled; that He convicts of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; that He bears witness to the Truth of the Gospel in preaching and testimony; that He is the agent of the New Birth; that He seals, endures, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies, and helps the believer.  We believe that the Holy Spirit has several manifestations for gifts that He imparts to the believers.  Some of these manifestations are abiding to the present hour and some have ceased as they were doubtless related to the introduction rather than the continuation of the work of the Holy Spirit in this age.  John 14:16,17; Matt. 28:19; Heb. 19:14; John 14:26; Luke 1:35, Acts 5:30-32, 11:16.

The Devil, or Satan

We believe in the personality of Satan, that he is the unholy god of this age, and the author of all the powers of darkness, and is destined to the judgment of an eternal justice in the lake of fire.  Matt. 4:1-3; II Cor. 4:4; Rev. 20:10.

Creation

We accept the Genesis account of creation and believe that man came by direct creation of God and not by evolution.  Gen. 1&2; Col. 1:16,17; John 1:3.

The Fall of Man

We believe that man was created in the image of God, that he sinned by voluntary transgression, fell from his sinless and happy state, and that, thereby, he incurred not only physical death, but also that spiritual death which is separation from God; and that all human beings are born with a sinful nature, and, in the case of those who reach moral responsibility, become sinners in thought, word, and deed and are, therefore, under just condemnation without defense or excuse.  Gen. 3:1-6; Rom. 1:18, 32; 5:10-19.

Salvation

We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of Grace, through the mediatorial office of the Son of God, Who by the appointment of the Father, freely took upon Himself our nature, (yet without sin) honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and by His death made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins; that His atonement was a voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner’s place, the just dying for the unjust; Christ the Lord, bearing our sins in His own body on the tree; that having risen from the dead, He is now enthroned in heaven and uniting in His wonderful person the tenderest sympathies with divine perfection; He is in every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate and an all-sufficient Savior.  Eph. 2:7-9; Acts 15:11; Rom. 3:24, 25; John 3:16; Matt. 18:11; Phil 2:7; Heb. 2:14; Isa. 53:4-7; I John 4:10; I Cor. 15:3; II Cor. 5:21.

• Necessity of New Birth

We believe that, owing to the universal depravity and death in sin, no one can enter into the kingdom of God unless born again; and that no degree of reformation, however great, no attractive, no humanitarian and philanthropic schemes and society, however useful, no baptism or other ordinance, however ministered, can help the sinner to take even one step toward heaven; but a new life implanted by the Holy Ghost through the Word of God, is absolutely essential to salvation.  Isa. 64:6; John 3:5, 18; Gal. 6:16; Phil. 3:4-9; Titus 3:5; James. 1:18; I Pet. 1:23.

• Means of New Birth

Salvation by Blood

We believe that our redemption has been accomplished solely by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who was made to be sin, and made a curse for us, dying in our room and stead; and that no repentance, no feeling, no faith, no resolutions, no sincere efforts, no submissions to the rules and regulations of any church or of all the churches that have existed since the day of the Apostles, can add in the very least to the value of that precious blood, or to the merit of that finished work, wrought for us by Him Who united in His person true and proper deity with perfect sinless humanity.  Lev. 17:11; Matt. 26:28; Roman. 5:6-9; II Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13; Eph. 2:1-10; I Pet. 1:18, 19.

Christ Received by Faith

We believe that Christ, in the fullness of the blessings He has secured by His obedience unto death, is received by faith alone, by the free will of man, and that they very moment we trust in Him as our Savior, we pass out of death into everlasting life, being justified from all things, accepted before the Father according to the measure of His protion, as linked to Him and one with Him forever.  John 5:24; 17:23; Acts 13:39; Rom.  5:1; Eph. 2:4-6; I John 4:17; 5:11,12.

The Church

• Universal Church

We believe that the church is composed of all who are united by the Holy Spirit to the risen and ascended Son of God, and that by the same Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jew or Gentile, and thus being members of one another, we are responsible to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, rising above all sectarian prejudices and denominational bigotry, and loving one another with a pure heart fervently.  Matt. 16:16-18; Acts 2:32-47; Rom. 12:5; I Cor. 12:12-27; Eph. 1:20-23; 4:3-10; Col. 3:14, 15.

• Local Church

We believe that a local church is a congregation of immersed believers, associated by      covenant in faith and fellowship of the Gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws; and exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word; that its officers, whose qualifications, claims and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures.  We believe that the true mission of the church is the faithful witnessing of Christ to all men as we have opportunity.  We hold that the local church has the absolute right to self-government, free from the inheritance of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations; and that the one and only superintendent is Christ, through the Holy Spirit; that it is Scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherances of the Gospel; that each local church is the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation; on all matters of membership, of policy, of government, of discipline, of benevolence, the will of the local church is final.  I Cor. 11:2; Eph. 1:22, 23; Col. 1:18; Eph. 4:11; Acts 20:17, 18; I Tim. 3:17; Eph. 5:23, 24; Acts 15:13-18.

Ordinances of the Church

• Baptism

We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, with its effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life; that it is prerequisite to the privileges of a local church membership.  Acts 8:36-39; John 3:23; Rom. 6:3-5; Matt. 3:16; Col. 2:12.

• Lord’s Supper

We believe that the Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of His death til He comes, and should be preceded always by solemn self-examination.  I Cor. 11:23-28.

Life after Death

We believe that the souls who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation do, at death, immediately pass into His presence and there remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the body at His coming, when soul and body reunited shall be forever with Him in Glory; but the souls of the unbelievers remain after death in conscious misery until the final judgment of the Great White Throne at the close of the Millennium, when soul and body reunited shall be cast into the lake of fire, not to be annihilated, but to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power.  Matt. 25:34-41; Luke 16:19-26; 23:43; II Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; II Thess. 1:7-9; Jude 6, 7; Rev. 20:11-15.

Resurrection and the Second Coming of Christ

We believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ; that He ascended to the right hand of the Majesty on High; that as our High Priest, He is Mediator between God and man.  We believe in the literal, personal, bodily, and imminent return of our Lord; that He will raise the righteous dead; transform the living in Christ; and, with them, succeed to the throne of David; subdue and rule the world in righteousness and peace for 1,000 years; at the end of which time He will raise and judge the unrighteous and, completing His world supremacy, turn over the Kingdom of God to the Father, that God may be all in all.  Matt. 28:6, 7; Luke 24:51; John 20:27; I Cor. 15:4; Acts 1:9,11; I Thess. 4:16, 17; Heb. 8:1; 12:2; James 5:8; Rev. 3:21.

Civil Government

We believe that civil government is of divine appointment, for the interest and 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 conscience and the coming Prince of the kings of the earth.  Ex. 18:21,22; II Sam. 23:2,3; Daniel 3:17,18; Matt. 22:21; Acts 4:19,20; 5:20; 23:25; Rom. 13:17.

Human Sexuality

We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity should be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman.  We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex.  Gen. 2:24; 19:5,13; 26:8-9;  Lev. 18:1-30; Rom. 1:26-29; I Cor. 5:1; 6:9; I Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4.

Abortion and Sanctity of Life

We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being.  Abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused taking of unborn human life.  Abortion is murder.  Because we hold highly the Biblical teaching of the Sanctity of Life, we also believe that euthanasia, that is, the taking of the aged and sick is murder and totally wrong.  Job 3:16; Psalms 51:5; 139:14-16; Isa. 44:24; 49:1; Jer. 1:5; 20:15-18; Luke 1:44.