I. The Bible

A. We believe the authority and sufficiency of the Holy Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments as originally written; that the Bible was verbally and plenarily inspired that the Bible is the product of Spirit-controlled and Spirit-directed men; that the Bible is without error in the original autographs; and that the Bible is authoritative, infallible, and inerrant in all matters of which it speaks.

B. We believe that the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1^st and 2^nd Samuel, 1^st and 2^nd Kings, 1^st and 2^nd Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1^st & 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1^st & 2^nd Thessalonians, 1^st & 2^nd Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1^st and 2^nd Peter, 1^st John, 2^nd John, 3^rd John, Jude, and Revelation.

C. We believe that the Bible is the true center of Christian unity and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creed and opinions shall be tried, because it is God’s Word.

D. We believe that the Bible is to be interpreted using a literal, grammatical, and historical hermeneutical methodology.

II. The One True God

We believe that there is one and only one living and true God, an 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.

III. The Virgin Birth

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

IV. The Resurrection and Priesthood of Christ

We believe the bodily resurrection of Christ and in His ascension into Heaven, where He now sits at the right hand of the Father as our High Priest interceding for us.

V. 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 Hi relation to the unbelieving world He restrains the evil one until God’s purpose is fulfilled; that He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment; 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, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies, fills, baptizes, comforts, and helps the believer.

VI. Creation

We believe the Biblical account of the creation of the physical universe, angels, and man; that this account is neither allegory nor myth, but a literal, historical account of the direct, immediate creative acts of God without any evolutionary process; that man was created by a direct work of God and not from previously existing forms of life; and that all men are descended from the historical Adam and Eve, first parents of the entire human race.

VII. The Devil or Satan

We believe the reality and personality of Satan, the Devil; and that he was created by God as an angel but through pride and rebellion became the enemy of his Creator; that he became the unholy god of this age and the ruler of all the powers of darkness and is destined to the judgment of an eternal justice in the lake of fire.

VIII. The Fall of Man

We believe that man was created in innocence (in the image and likeness of God) under the law of his Maker, but by voluntary transgression Adam fell from his sinless and happy state^l, and all men sinned in him, in consequence of which all men are totally depraved, are partakers of Adam’s fallen nature, and are sinners by nature and by conduct, and therefore are under just condemnation without defense or excuse.

IX. Grace and the New Birth

We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be born again; that the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus; that it is instantaneous and not a process; that in the new birth the one dead in trespasses and in sins is made a partaker of the divine nature and receives eternal life, the free gift of God; that the new creation is brought about by our sovereign God in a manner above our comprehension, solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the gospel; that its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance, faith and newness of life.

X. Salvation

A. We believe that the salvation of sinners is divinely initiated and wholly of grace through the mediatorial offices of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who, by the appointment of the Father, voluntarily took upon Himself our nature, yet without sin, and honored the divine law by His personal obedience, thus qualifying Himself to be our Savior; that by the shedding of His blood in His death He fully satisfied the just demands of a holy and righteous God regarding sin; that His sacrifice consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was a voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner’s place, the Just dying for the unjust, Christ the Lord bearing our sins in His own 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 in every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate and an all-sufficient Savior.

B. We believe that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation. Repentance is a change of mind and purpose toward God prompted by the Holy Spirit and is an integral part of saving faith.

XI. The Freeness of Salvation

We believe that the blessings of salvation are made free to all by the gospel; that it is the immediate duty of everyone to accept them in repentance and faith; and that nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth but his own inherent depravity and voluntary rejection of the gospel, which rejection involves him in an eternal condemnation and torment.

XII. Justification

We believe that justification is that judicial act of God whereby He declares the believer righteous upon the basis of the imputed righteousness of Christ that it is bestowed, not in consideration of any works of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in the Redeemer’s shed blood.

XIII. Sanctification

We believe that sanctification is the divine setting apart of the believer unto God accomplished in a threefold manner; first, an eternal act of God, based upon redemption in Christ, establishing the believer in a position of holiness at the moment he trusts the Savior; second, a continuing process in the saint as the Holy Spirit applies the Word of God to the life; and third, the final accomplishment of this process at the Lord’s return.

XIV. The Security of the Believer

We believe that anyone who is truly born again is kept by God the Father for Jesus Christ.

XV. The Righteous and the Wicked

We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that only those who are justified by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and sanctified by the Spirit of our God are truly righteous in His esteem; while all such as continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked, and under the curse; and this distinction holds among men both in and after death, in the everlasting joy of the saved and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost in the lake of fire.

XVI. The Church

A. We believe that a local church is an organized 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 officers are pastors and deacons, whose qualifications, claims and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures.

B. We believe that the true mission of the church is the faithful witnessing of Christ to all men as we have opportunity. 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; that it is Scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the gospel; that each local church is the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation, that on all matters of membership, of polity, of government, of discipline, of benevolence, the will of the local church is final.

C. We believe the unity of all New Testament believers in the Church which is the Body of Christ.

XVII. Ordinances

A. We believe that there are two ordinances: baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

B. We believe that Christian baptism is the single immersion of a believer in water to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our identification with the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, through Whom we died to sin and rose to a new life; that baptism is to be performed under the authority of the local church; and that it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership.

C. We believe that the Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of His death until He comes again, that it is for believers only, and should always be preceded by solemn self-examination.

XVIII. Separation

We believe that God’s call to holiness includes both personal and ecclesiastical separation. We believe separation from joint ministry with unbelief and apostasy. We believe separation also should be exercised from heretical believers and disobedient brethren who hold peculiar opinions and practices which are divisive, including, but not limited to: unsound Bible interpretations which promote false doctrine; faulty practices inconsistent with clear Bible teachings; worldly or immoral lifestyles contrary to the principles of holiness; and a sectarian spirit destructive to Christian unity.

XIX. Marriage

We believe that God established marriage as a lifelong relationship between one man and one woman for the purposes of fellowship and mutual aid, reproduction and sexual intimacy. The marriage relationship between man and woman is to reflect the spiritual relationship that exists between Christ and His Church.

XX. Civil Government

We believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the interests and good order of human society; that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed, except in those things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the only Lord of the conscience and the coming King of Kings.

XXI. Last Things

A. Concerning Death. We believe that physical death involves no loss of our immaterial consciousness, that the soul of the redeemed passes immediately into the presence of Christ, that there is a separation of soul and physical body, and that, for the redeemed, such separation will continue until the rapture when our soul and resurrected body will be reunited to be glorified forever with our Lord. Until that time, the souls of the redeemed in Christ remain in joyful fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ.

We believe the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment.

We believe that the souls of the unsaved at death are kept under punishment until the second resurrection, when the soul and the resurrection body will be united¹⁰. They shall then appear at the Great White Throne Judgment¹¹ and shall be cast into hell, the lake of fire¹², cut off from the life of God forever¹³.

B. Concerning the Rapture of the Church. We believe the personal, bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ before the tribulation that will translate His church from this earth. Between this event and His glorious return with His saints, He will reward believers according to their works.

C. Concerning the Tribulation Period. We believe that immediately following the removal of the church from the earth the righteous judgments of God will be poured out upon an unbelieving world, and that these judgments will be climaxed by the return of Christ in glory to the earth. At that time the tribulation saints will be raised and the living will be judged. This period includes the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophecy.

D. Concerning the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and His Millennial Reign. We believe that after the tribulation period, Christ will come to earth to occupy the throne of David and establish His messianic kingdom for 1,000 years on the earth. During this time the resurrected saints will reign with Him over Israel and all the nations of the earth.

We believe that this reign will be preceded by the overthrow of the Antichrist and the False Prophet, and by the removal of Satan from the world.

We believe that the kingdom itself will be the fulfillment of God’s promise to Israel to restore them to the land that they forfeited through their disobedience. The result of their disobedience was that Israel was temporarily set aside, but will again be awakened through repentance to enter into the land of blessing.

We believe that this time of our Lord’s reign will be characterized by harmony, justice, peace, righteousness, and long life, and will be brought to an end with the release of Satan¹⁰.

E. Concerning the Judgment of the Lost. We believe that following the release of Satan after the 1,000-year reign of Christ, Satan will deceive the nations of the earth and gather them to battle against the saints and the beloved city, at which time Satan and his army will be devoured by fire from heaven.

We believe that following this event Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, whereupon Christ, who is the Judge of all men, will resurrect and judge the great and small at the Great White Throne Judgment.

We believe that this resurrection of the unsaved dead to judgment will be a physical resurrection, whereupon receiving their judgment they will be committed to an eternal conscious punishment in the lake of fire.

F. Concerning Eternity. We believe that after the closing of the millennium, the temporary release of Satan, and the judgment of unbelievers, the saved will enter the eternal state of glory with God, after which the elements of this earth are to be dissolved and replaced with a new earth, wherein only righteousness dwells. Following this, the heavenly city will come down out of heaven and will be the dwelling place of the saints, where they will forever enjoy fellowship with God and one another.

We believe that our Lord Jesus Christ, having fulfilled His redemptive mission, will then deliver up the kingdom to God the Father, that in all spheres the triune God may reign forever and ever.