WHAT WE BELIEVE
This Church body holds the Bible as its authority in matters of faith and practice. This Church's understanding of Christian truth as contained therein is in essential accord with historic Baptist distinctives.
DECLARATION OF FAITH
We believe that God's Word teaches...
Verbal Inspiration of the Bible
We believe the Holy Scriptures, consisting of the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament, to be verbally inspired by God and inerrant in the original documents. We hold them to be God-breathed, infallible, and the perfect rule and final authority in all matters upon which they speak, encompassing not only faith, doctrine, and practice but every area of life and knowledge addressed within its pages (II Timothy 3:16-17; I Corinthians 2:13; II Peter 1:16-21)
The Trinity
We believe in the Holy Trinity; that there are three distinct persons in one Godhead. The Trinity of God in His triune existence as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19, Matthew 3:13-17)
God the Father
We believe that God is an eternal person, having no beginning and no ending, and that He is Creator of all, infinite and infallible (John 4:24, Luke 3:22)
God the Son
We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and God the Son. (Matthew 3:16-17)
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He is the only Savior of mankind (Acts 4:10-12, John 3:16)
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He is God incarnate in human flesh (Romans 8:3)
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He is the Creator, for whom and by whom, all things were created (Colossians 1:16)
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He is the only mediator between God and men (I Timothy 2:5)
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We believe in His virgin birth (Matthew 1:18-25), His holy sinless life (II Corinthians 5:21), His vicarious death (Romans 3:25, Hebrews 9:28) and His bodily resurrection (I Corinthians 15:3-4, 20), His ascension to Heaven and His intercession for all believers (John 20:17, Acts 1:9)
God the Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the very essence of God (Matthew 28:19); that He baptizes all believers into the body of Christ (I Corinthians 12:13); that He indwells all believers (Romans 8:9); that He fills the obedient believer by grace through faith (Colossians 2:6, Ephesians 2:8-9) and is the believers guide into the truth (John 16:7-15); and that He furnishes the gifts of the Spirit for the edifying of the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12). We believe the Sign Gifts (I Corinthians 14:20-22, Hebrew 2:3-4, Revelations 22:18-19) and the Revelatory Gifts (I Corinthians 13:8-10) were temporary and are no longer given by the Holy Spirit.
Man
We believe that man was created in the likeness and image of God (Genesis 1:27). Through the sin of Adam, man fell from his sinless state (Romans 5:12), is born totally depraved (Psalm 51:5) and is alienated from God (Isaiah 53:6, Romans 3:23). Yet, all men can exercise saving Faith (Ephesians 2:8-9, John 10:9)
Salvation
We believe that man is justified by faith in the shed blood of Christ, unlimited in its ability to save all men, yet is only effective for those who believe (Romans 5:1-19, Hebrews 9:22, I John 1:7); and that he is born again by grace through faith, apart from works (Ephesians 2:8-9, Galatians 2:16)
The Devil, 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 eternal justice in the lake of fire (Matthew 4:1-3, II Corinthians 4:4, Jude 6, Revelation 20:10)
Creation
We believe the Genesis account of creation and believe that man came by direct creation of God and not by evolution. We believe that all things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being (John 1:3). (Also Genesis 1 and 2, Colossians 1:16-17)
Heaven and Hell
We believe that Heaven is a place prepared for all born-again believers (John 14:1-6). We believe also that Hell is a place prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41) and those who die in unbelief (Luke 16:19-31, Revelation 21:8)
Baptism and Communion
We believe that baptism by immersion is the only Scriptural mode. We believe that baptism does not save. It is an act of obedience to the command of Christ and is a testimony to the world of the believer's faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Romans 6:3-5, Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 8:36-39)
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We believe that communion (the Lord's Supper) is a symbolic ordinance, picturing Christ's body broken for our sins and His blood shed for our redemption. It is not a saving ordinance, but helps us remember His death, and inspires us while looking forward to His coming (I Corinthians 11:23-28). It is to be observed by regenerate, obedient believers.
Eternal Security
We believe that once a person is born again, he cannot lose his salvation, that he is eternally secure in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 3:15-16, John 6:37-40, John 10:27-29, Romans 8:38-39, Colossians 3:3, Ephesians 4:30)
The Church
We believe in the universal Church, the Body of Christ, which is composed of all born again believers of this age and that Christ is the only head of that Church (Colossians 1:18, I Corinthians 12:13, Ephesians 4:15-16).
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We believe local churches are organized manifestations of the universal Church, (Galatians 1:2, I Corinthians 1:2). We believe that a local church is a congregation of immersed believers associated by covenant of 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 overseeing body are its Elders (1 Peter 5;1-3, Acts 20:28), whose qualifications and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures; and we believe the true mission of the church is the faithful witnessing of Christ to all men as we have opportunity.
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We hold that the local church has the absolute right of self-government; that it is scriptural for evangelical churches to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and for furtherance of the Gospel; and that each local church is the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation.
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We believe that civil government is of divine appointment, and that governors of states and nations should be obeyed when the civil laws they seek to enforce are not in conflict with the Bible (Romans 13:1-7, Matthew 22:21, Acts 4:19-20).
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On all matters of membership, policy, government, discipline, and benevolence, the will of the local church is final (Matthew 18:17, Acts 2:41-42, Acts 20:17-28, I Corinthians 11:2, Ephesians 1:22-23, 4:11, 5:23-24, I Timothy 3:1-13).
Second Coming of Christ
We believe in the rapture: that His return from Heaven will be personal, visible, and glorious, the time being unrevealed but always imminent; that when He comes He will remove from the earth His Church. "The dead in Christ will rise first and then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord" (Thessalonians 4:16b-17). He will then pour out the righteous judgments of God upon the unbelieving world. Afterwards He will descend with His Church and establish His glorious and literal kingdom over all the nations for a thousand years (John 14:3, Acts 1:11, Revelation 20).
Resurrection
We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust (John 5:28-29, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Revelation 20:11-15, Job 19:25-27).