What We Believe

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The Scriptures

We believe in the authority and sufficiency of the Holy Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, as originally written; that it was verbally and plenarily inspired, the product of Holy Spirit controlled men, and therefore is infallible and inerrant in all matters of which it speaks.

We believe the Bible to be the true center of Christian unity and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creed, and opinions shall be tried.

The True God

We believe there is one and only one living and true God, and 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 Spirit, equal in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.

The Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person equal with God the Father and God the Son, and of the same nature;  that He was active in the 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 judgment, and of righteousness; that He bears witness to the Truth of the Gospel in preaching and testimony; that He is the agent in the new birth; that He seals, baptizes into the body of Christ, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies, and helps the believer.

And the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance) is the evidence of His indwelling, rather than the speaking in tongues and other spectacular demonstrations.

The Fall of Man

We believe that man was created in innocence under the law of his Maker, but by voluntary transgression fell from his sinless and glorious state, in consequence of which, all mankind are now sinners, not only by constraint, but of choice, and therefore under just condemnation without defense or excuse.

The Virgin Birth

We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten of the Holy Ghost in a miraculous manner; born of Mary, a virgin, as no other man was ever born or ever can be born of woman; and that He is both the Son of God and God the Son.

The Lord Jesus Christ

We believe in the absolute Deity of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that He was divine as no other man can be, being very God of very God existing from all eternity, co-equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, that He never ceased to be God for one instant and that His humiliation did not consist in laying aside His deity. That as a man He was miraculously begotten of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. We believe He lived a life of absolute sinlessness and in His death He made a full vicarious atonement for our sins, dying not a martyr’s death, but as a voluntary substitute in the sinner’s place. He rose again from the dead on the third day and ascended bodily into heaven. He is coming again to this world to establish His kingdom and to set up the throne of David. His coming will be personal and is imminent and pre-millennial.

The Atonement for Sin

We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace; through the mediatorial offices of the Son of God, Who by appointment of the Father, freely took upon Him our nature yet without sin, honored the divine law by His personal obedience and by His death made a full vicarious atonement for our sins; that His atonement consisted not in setting an example by His death as a martyr, but was the voluntary substitute of Himself in the sinner’s place, the Just dying for the unjust, Christ the Lord, bearing our sins in His 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 every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate, and an all sufficient Savior.

The Local Church

We believe that Christ’s church is a congregation of immersed believers associated by a covenant of faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, baptism and the Lord’s Supper; governed by His laws; and exercising the gifts, rights, and the privileges invested in them by His Word; that its Scripturally designated officers are pastors (bishops, elders) and deacons, whose qualifications, claims, and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures. We believe the true mission of the church is found in the great commission: first, to make individual disciples; second, to baptize them; third, to teach and instruct as He commanded. We do not believe in the reversal of this order;  we hold that the local church has the absolute right of self-government, free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations, and that the one and only superintendent is Christ, through the Holy Spirit; and that it is Scriptural for true churches to co-operate with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the gospel; that every church is the sole judge of the measure and method of co-operation; on all matters of membership, of polity, of government, of discipline, of benevolence, the will of the local church is final.

The Return of Christ

We believe in the bodily, personal, pre-millennial return of Jesus Christ; that He will come in the air before the seven year tribulation period to catch away His church and that He will come with His church at the close of the tribulation to judge the living nations and set up His kingdom on earth.