No hidden surprises here on what we believe! There is a battle going on for the Truth of our Lord Jesus Christ and we willingly go into battle to share His Truth.
Our Beliefs
I. We believe in the:
1. Authority of the Bible. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are the verbally inspired Word of God; they were without error in the original writings; and for the church, they are the complete, sufficient and final written revelation of God (Matthew 5:18; John 17:17; II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:19-21; Revelation 22:18-19).
2. Triunity of God. There is only one God, eternally existent in three Persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – who are coequal in their essential nature, attributes and perfection; and each of whom is to be honored and worshipped as God (Genesis 1:1; Deuteronomy 6:4; Psalm 18:30-31; 147:5; Matthew 28:19; Mark 12:29; Luke 3:22; John 4:24; 5:23; 10:30; 14:9; Acts 5:3-4; II Corinthians 13:14; Hebrews 1:1-3).
3. Person of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God the Son, the promised Messiah, begotten in the flesh by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, without sin, true God and true man, the only Savior and the only Mediator between God and man (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6-7; Matthew 1:18-25; John 1:1-3, 14, 29; 5:18; 14:6; Acts 4:12; II Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:15; 2:9; I Timothy 2:5; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:2-9; 2:14-15; I John 5:20).
4. Work of Jesus Christ. The death of Jesus Christ paid for all sin, completely satisfied the righteous wrath of God against sin, and provided redemption and forgiveness for all who believe. After His death, Jesus Christ arose bodily from the dead, was seen by many during a period of forty days, and then ascended into Heaven to appear before God as our Advocate and Intercessor from which place He will someday return to establish His Kingdom on earth (Isaiah 53:5-6; Luke 24:36-43; John 1:18; 3:16; 20:25-28; Acts 1:3, 6-11; Romans 3:21-26; I Corinthians 15:3-8, 20-23; Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:13-14; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; I Peter 1:18-19, 2:24; I John 2:1-2; Revelation 20:6).
5. Ministry of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is that Person of the Triune Godhead who convicts men of sin, causes spiritual birth, indwells, seals, sanctifies, guides, equips with spiritual gifts, teaches, fills the believer so that he may walk in obedience to God in His Word, and with whom Christ baptizes all believers into the body of Christ at the moment of salvation (John 3:5, 14:16-17, 26, 15:26-27, 16:7-11; Acts 1:8, 5:3-4; Romans 8:9, 14; I Corinthians 2:10-11, 6:11, 19, 12:4-13; II Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 5:16-18, 22-23; Ephesians 1:13-14, 4:30, 5:18-21).
6. Creation and Fall of Man. The physical and material universe was created by God. Man was created by God in His own image, but sinned through his personal disobedience to the revealed will of God; and as a result, all mankind is sinful in nature and practice, is unable to save itself and faces eternal separation from God (Genesis 1:1, 26-28, 2:7, 18-24; 3:1-24, 9:6; Matthew 19:4; Mark 7:21-23; John 8:42-44; Romans 1:18; 3:10, 23; 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3).
7. Salvation of Man. Salvation from sin, death and hell is eternal; is the free gift of God’s grace; and is based upon God’s choice and received by man’s personal faith and belief in Jesus Christ. This salvation is not received by, nor based on any sacrament, merit or good work on our part (John 1:11-13, 3:16, 5:24, 10:28-30, 14:6; Acts 16:31; Romans 3:23-26, 5:8, 6:23, 10:9-10; Galatians 1:3-4; Ephesians 2:8-10; II Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5-7; Hebrews 7:24-25; I Peter 1:18-19; I John 5:11-13).
8. Destiny of Man. All believers will be resurrected to spend eternity in a new heaven and on a new earth. All nonbelievers will be resurrected to stand before God’s throne of judgment where they will be sentenced to everlasting punishment and separation from God (Matthew 25:46; John 3:16, 5:24, 10:27-30; Romans 5:1, 6:23; I Thessalonians 1:9-10, 4:13-18; II Thessalonians 1:7-10; I John 5:13; Revelation 20:11-15, 22:3-4).
9. Future Plans of God. Jesus Christ is coming back before the Tribulation to remove His Church to heaven. Following the Tribulation period of seven years, He will return to this earth with His saints and angels to rule and reign for 1,000 years after which “eternity future” follows (Daniel 9:24-27; Matthew 24:15-31; I Thessalonians 1:10, 4:13-18, 5:1-9; II Thessalonians 1:7-10; Revelation 3:10, 19:11-16, 20:4-6, 21-22).
II. We reject:
1. Any philosophy or theology which denies that human freewill can be exercised in the receiving of Christ’s free gift of salvation; specifically, we reject the belief that Jesus’ atonement was limited in its extent. Instead, we believe that He died for all unrighteous people and that any perceived limitation rests in one’s free rejection of Christ’s finished work of atonement. We reject the assertion that God’s wooing grace cannot be resisted or that He has elected some people to go to hell. Instead, we believe that anyone who wills to come to Christ may do so freely as a result of the Holy Spirit’s conviction and wooing persuasion of the heart; (Job 15:3, Proverbs 10:19, Isaiah 1:18, Luke 5:22, John 6:37,39,44, Romans 9:21-23, 1 Corinthians 1:17, 2 Thessalonians 2:11,13, etc.)
2. “Positive confession,” (i.e., the Faith Movement, that views faith as a force that can create one’s own reality or that God can be commanded to heal or work miracles according to man’s will and faith); (Matthew 19:17, Phillipians 2:13)
3. Human psychology, philosophy, or even prophecy that supersedes or is contrary to Scripture; (2 Corinthians 10:3-5, Colossians 2:8, 1 Timothy 6:20-21 and Titus 1:14-16, 2:1).
4. The “Emergent Church” movement insofar as it departs from historic orthodox Christian doctrines in favor of postmodernism; (John 17:17, 2 Timothy 3:13-17, 2 Timothy 4:2-4)
5. Replacement theology that teaches that the church “replaces” Israel in fulfillment of end times prophecy; (Genesis 12:1-3, Psalm 105:8-10)
6. “Universalism” which teaches that all people are ultimately saved from the eternal fire; and, (Isaiah 66:24, Daniel 12:2, Matthew 25:31-46, John 5:28-29, 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10)
7. The overemphasis of spiritual gifts, experiential signs and wonders to the exclusion of biblical teaching. (Acts 20:26-32, 2 Timothy 4:1-5)