Doctrinal Statement

A. The Scriptures

We believe that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God," (II Tim. 3:16 KJV) by which we understand the whole Bible is inspired in the sense that holy men of God "were moved by the Holy Spirit" (II Pet. 1:20-21 KJV) to write the very words of Scripture. We believe that there was a progressive revelation from God; this divine inspiration extends equally and fully to all parts of scriptures---historical, poetical, doctrinal, prophetical and to the smallest word and inflection of a word as appeared in the original manuscripts. We believe that the whole Bible in the originals is therefore without error.

We believe that all Scriptures focus on the Lord Jesus Christ in His person and work in his first and second coming, and hence that no portion, even of the Old Testament, is properly read or understood until it leads to Him. We also believe that all the Scriptures were designed for our practical instruction. (Acts 1:16, 17:2-3; 18:28, 26:22-23, 28:23; I Cor. 2:13, 10:11; John 5:39;10:11; Luke 24:27, 44; Matt. 5:18; Mark 12:26, 36, 13:11; Rom 15:4; II Pet. 1:20-21, II Tim. 3:16 KJV)

B. The Godhead

We believe that the Godhead eternally exists in three persons---the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit---and that these three are one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes and perfections, and worthy of precisely the same homage, confidence and obedience. (Acts 5:3-4; II Cor. 13:14; Heb. 1:1-3; John 1:1, 2, 14, Mark 12:29; Matt. 28:18-19; Rev. 1:4-6 KJV)

C. Man Created and Fallen

We believe that man was created by God as a human being. We believe that man was originally created in the image and after the likeness of God, and that he fell through sin and as a consequence of his sin, lost his spiritual life becoming dead in trespasses and sins, and that he became subject to the power of the devil. We also believe that his spiritual death, or totally depraved human nature, has been transmitted to the entire human race of man, the Man Christ Jesus alone being excepted, and hence that every child of Adam is born into the world with a nature which not only possesses no spark of divine life, but is essentially and unchangeably bad apart from the divine grace of God the Father through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Eph. 2:1-3; Gen. 1:26, 2:17, 6:5; Jer. 17:9; John 3:6, 5:40, 6:53; I John 3:8 ; Psalm 14:1-3, 51:5; Rom. 3:10-19, 8:6, 7; I Tim. 5:6 KJV)

D. The First Advent (The First Coming of Christ)

We believe that, as provided and purposed by God and as pre-announced in the prophecies of the Scriptures, the eternal Son of God came into this world that He might manifest God to men, fulfill prophecy and become the Redeemer of a lost world. To this end He was born of the virgin and received a human body and a sinless human nature. (Heb. 4:15 John 1:18, 3:16; Luke 1:30-35 KJV)

We believe that on the human side, He became and remained a perfect man, sinless throughout his life, yet He retained His absolute deity being at the same time very God and very man, and that His earth life sometimes functioned within the sphere of that which was human and sometimes within the sphere of that which was divine. (John 1:1,2; Luke 2:40; Phil. 2:5-8 KJV)

We believe that in fulfillment of prophecy, He came first to Israel as her Messiah and being rejected, He according to the eternal counsels of God, gave His life as a ransom for all. (Acts 2:22-24; John 1:11; I Tim. 2:6 KJV)

We believe that in infinite love for the lost, He voluntarily accepted his Father’s will and became the divinely provided sacrificial Lamb and took away the sin of the world, bearing the holy judgments against sin which the righteousness of God must impose. His death was therefore substitutionary in the most absolute sense---the just for the unjust– and by his death, He became the Savior of the lost. (II Cor. 5:14; Heb. 10:5-14; John 1:29; I Pet. 3:18; Rom.3:25,26 KJV)

We believe that according to the Scriptures, He arose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He had lived and died, and that his resurrection body is the pattern of that body which ultimately will be given to all believers (John 20:20; Phil. 3:20-21 KJV)

We believe that on departing from the earth, Jesus was accepted of His Father, seated on the right hand of authority, and that His acceptance is a final assurance to us that His redeeming work was perfectly accomplished. (Heb. 1:3 KJV)

We believe that He became Head over all things to the church which is His body, and in this ministry He ceases not to intercede and advocate for the saved. (Eph. 1:22,23; Heb. 7:25; I John 2:1 KJV)

E. Salvation Only Through Christ

We believe that owing to universal death through sin, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless born again, and that no degree of reformation, however great, no attainments in morality, however high, no culture, however attractive, no baptism or other ordinance, however administered, can help the sinner to take even one step toward heaven, but a new nature imparted from above, a new life implanted by the Holy Spirit through the Word, is absolutely essential to salvation and only those thus saved are sons of God. We believe also that our redemption has been accomplished solely by the blood of our Lord.Jesus Christ, who was made to be sin and was made a curse for us, dying in our stead; and that no repentance, no feeling, no faith, no good resolutions, no sincere efforts, no submission to the rules and regulations of any church, nor all the churches that have existed since the days of the apostles, can add in the very least degree to the finished work wrought for us by Him who united in his person true and proper deity and perfect and sinless humanity. (II Cor. 5:21; Eph. 1:7; Gal. 3:13, 6:15; Isa. 64:6; James 1:18; John 3:7-18; Lev. 17:11; Matt. 26:28; I Pet. 1:18,19, 23; Phil. 3:4-9; Rom. 5:6-9; Titus 3:5 KJV)

F. The Extent of Salvation

We believe that when an unregenerate person exercises that faith in Christ which is illustrated and described as such in the New Testament, he passes immediately out of spiritual death into spiritual life and from the old creation into the new; being justified from all things, accepted before the Father according as Christ His Son is accepted, loved as Christ is loved, having his place and portion linked to Him and one with Him. Though the saved one may have occasion to grow in the realization of his blessings and to know a fuller measure of divine power through the yielding of his life more fully to God, he is, as soon as he is saved, in possession of every spiritual blessing and absolutely complete in Christ. (Acts 13:39; Col. 1:19-23, 2:10; I Cor. 3:21-23, 6:19; Eph. 1:3, 4:30;; Heb. 3:6-14, 6:4-6, 7:25, 10:26; John 5:24, 10:28, 13:1, 14:16, 15:1-6, 17:11,23; I John 2:1-2, 4:17, 5:11-13; Jude 24; Luke 9:61-62; II Pet. 2:20, 21, 3:13-17 KJV)

G. Sanctification

We believe that sanctification, which is a setting apart unto God, is three fold. It is already complete for every person because his position toward God is the same as Christ position. Since the believer is in Christ, he is set apart unto God in the measure in which Christ is set apart unto God. We believe, however, that he retains his sin nature, which cannot be eradicated in this life. Therefore, while the standing of the Christian in Christ is perfect, his present state is no more perfect than his experience in daily life. There is therefore a progressive sanctification wherein the Christian is to "grow in grace" and to "be changed" by the unhindered power of the Holy Spirit. We believe also that the child of God will yet be fully sanctified in his state as he is now sanctified in his standing in Christ when he shall see his Lord and shall be like Him. (II Cor. 3:18, 7:1; Eph. 4:24, 5:25-27; Heb. 10:10, 14, 12:10 John 17:17; I ; Thess. 5:23 KJV)

H. Assurance

We believe it is the privilege, not only of some, but of all who are born again by the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ as revealed in the Scriptures, to be assured of their salvation from the very day they take Him to be their Savior, and that this assurance is not founded upon any fancied discovery of their own worthiness or fitness, but wholly upon the testimony of God in His written word, exciting within His children love, gratitude and obedience (II Cor. 5:1, 6-8; Eph. 4:30; Heb. 10:22; I John 5:13 Luke 10:20, 22:32; Rom. 8:15,16; II Tim. 1:12 KJV)

I. The Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the blessed Trinity, though omni-present from all eternity, took up His abode in the world in a special sense on the day of Pentecost according to the divine promise, dwells in every believer and, by His baptism, unites all to Christ in one body and that He, as the indwelling One, is the source of all power and all acceptable worship and service. We believe that He never takes His departure from his church, but is ever present to testify of Christ, seeking to occupy believers with Him and not with themselves nor with their experiences. We believe that His abode in the world in this special sense will cease when Christ comes to receive His own at the completion of the church. (I Cor. 6:19; Eph. 2:22; John 14:16-17, 16:7-15; II Thess. 2:7 KJV)

We believe that in this age based on that which the Holy Spirit is to the believer, the Holy Spirit has certain well defined ministries, and that it is the duty of every Christian to understand what the Holy Spirit is to him and does to him, and to be rightly adjusted to the Holy Spirit in his own life and experience. We believe that the Holy Spirit, as a special provision of God is an anointing (II Cor. 1:21; I John 2:20-27 KJV), a seal (II Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13-14, 4:30 KJV), and an earnest (II Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:14 KJV). His ministries to the Christian are the restraining of evil in the world to the measure of the divine will, the convicting of the world respecting sin, righteousness and judgment; the regenerating of all believers, the indwelling of all who are saved whereby they are sealed unto the day of redemption and anointed of God for service, the baptizing into the one body of Christ of all who are saved, and the continued filling for power, witnessing, teaching, leading and service of those among the saved who are yielded to Him and who are subject to His will. (Acts 1:8; I Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:30, 5:18; John 3:6, 16:7-15; I John 2:20-27; Rom. 8:3-14; II Thess. 2:7; KJV)

J. The Church, A Unity of Believers

We believe that the church is composed of believers united by the Holy Spirit to the risen and ascended Son of God, that by the same Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, and thus being members one of 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. (Acts 2:22-27, 41-47; Col. 3:14-15, I Cor. 12:12-27; Eph. 1:20-23, 4:3-10; Heb. 10:24-25; Matt. 16:16-18; Rom. 12:5; KJV)

K. The Ordinances of the Church

We believe that Christ, the head over all things to the church (Eph. 1:22 KJV) has commanded us to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost (Matt. 28:19 KJV), and to partake at his table. "For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread. And when He had given thanks, he brake it and said, Take, eat: this is my body which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he comes". (I Cor. 11:23-34 KJV)

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