Doctrinal Statement
We accept the following as
a
statement of our faith in the great fundamental doctrines of the
Christian religion.
- We believe in the
Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as
fully inspired of God and inerrant in the original writings, and as of
supreme and final authority in faith and life.
- We believe in one God,
eternally existing in three persons:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
- We believe in God the
Father, perfect in holiness, infinite in
wisdom, measureless in power. We rejoice that He concerns Himself
mercifully in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayer, and
that He saves from death and hell all who come to Him through Jesus
Christ.
- We believe in Jesus Christ,
the only begotten Son of God, who
was born of the Virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, and laid down His
life upon the cross to make atonement for our sins. We believe in His
bodily resurrection for the dead, His ascension into heaven, His
constant intercession for His people, and His imminent, personal,
visible return to the earth according to His promise.
- We believe in the Holy
Spirit who came forth from God to convict
the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, and to regenerate,
sanctify, and comfort those who believe in Jesus Christ.
- We believe that man was
created in the image of God, in
innocence and with the possibility of acquiring holiness and
immortality through obedience, but that man fell into sin and that the
wages of sin is death, and so natural man is born corrupt, early falls
into active sin, and is destined for death and hell unless he receives
the Savior. We believe that whosoever believes in Jesus Christ,
accepting him for his personal Savior and confessing Him before men is
saved from hell, being born again into life eternal and then prepared
for an eternity of blessedness in the presence of God in Heaven.
- We believe that when our
Lord Jesus Christ returns, those who
are asleep in Jesus will arise in new, glorious, spiritual bodies, and
that saints who are alive will be changed, and so we shall be always
with the Lord.
- We believe that the wicked
dead shall later rise to be judged
for their sins before the great white throne of God, and those who are
not found written in the book of life will be cast into the lake of
fire.
- We believe in the church as
one living spiritual body of which
Jesus Christ is the head and of which all regenerate persons are
members. We believe that a church is a company of professed believers
in Jesus Christ associated for fellowship, worship and service. We
believe that persons should be permitted to church membership only
after credible confession of their faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and
baptism. (“Baptism” with us has its original
meaning,
immersion.)
- We believe that God has
committed to these churches the
ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, the task of
preaching the Gospel to every creature, and the glorious hope of the
return of the Lord like a bridegroom coming for his bride.
- We believe that every human
being has a direct relationship with
God, and is responsible to Him alone in all matters of faith, though
the Church through its officers and members should exert all possible
pastoral and brotherly care for the erring brethren. We believe that
each church is independent and completely autonomous and not rightly
subject to interference by any ecclesiastical or political authority;
and that therefore, Church and State should be kept separate as having
distinct function, each fulfilling its duties free from dictation or
patronage from the other.
