The Bible
We believe the Scripture in the original languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, both Old and New Testaments, to be the inerrant and complete Word of God. The Bible (66 books) is God’s complete and connected thought to mankind and every word is inspired by Him (2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Matthew 5:18; John 16:12-13). God the Holy Spirit supernaturally directed the human writers of scripture. His complete and coherent message to mankind was recorded with perfect accuracy in the original languages of Scripture, the very words bearing the authority of divine authorship. It was done without waiving the human authors’ intelligence, vocabulary, individuality, literary style, personality, personal feelings, or any other human factor. Therefore, the Bible is the final authority in all matters about which it speaks. Further, we believe the Bible is to be interpreted in a normal and literal way consistent with the historical, grammatical principle of hermeneutics under the filling of God the Holy Spirit (John 10:35; Matthew 5:18; 1 Corinthians 2:14-16).
God
We believe in one God, Who is sovereign, righteous, just, eternal, love, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, immutable, veracious, merciful, good, infinite, and gracious in His essence. He exists in three persons; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All three persons of the Godhead are co-equal, co-eternal, and possess the same divine attributes. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; Acts 5:3-5; John 10:30; Psalm 22:1; Matthew 3:16; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Genesis 48:15-16; 2 Samuel 23:2-3; Genesis 1:26)
God, the Father: God the Father is the first person of the Godhead and is the Father, architect, and planner of all creation (Malachi 2:10; Acts 17:29; Jeremiah 33:27; 1 Corinthians 8:6). The relationship between God the Father and God the Son did not have a beginning but has existed from eternity past.
God, the Son: The Second Person of the Trinity, the Son, has been the primary point of contact with the human race and is the Creator (Colossians 1:16). He agreed to carry out the Father’s plan and became true humanity without ceasing to be God. The Son’s humanity was conceived by God the Holy Spirit, and born unto the virgin Mary as Jesus (Christ) of Nazareth (Matthew 1:21-25; Luke 1:35). Lacking a human father, Jesus Christ did not inherit Adam’s sinful nature and remained without sin His entire life. He suffered a spiritual death on the cross as He paid the price of separation from God the Father on behalf of every sinner in human history (1 Corinthians 15:3; 1 Peter 1:18-19). He subsequently died a physical death and His body was placed in a tomb. Three days later His body was raised from the grave and He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father. He is currently the interceding High Priest and Advocate for all Church Age believers. (1 Peter 3:18; Acts 1:9-11; Hebrews 7:25; 9:24; 1 John 2:1-2; Romans 8:34)
God, the Holy Spirit: The third Person of God convicts the world concerning the sin of unbelief, the absolute righteousness of God, and the judgment of Christ as our substitute (John 16:8-11). His ministry is one of a teacher to believers (I Corinthians 2:13). The Holy Spirit indwells all believers, baptizes them into the body of Christ, and He seals them until the day of redemption (Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; Ephesians 1:13-14). It is the duty of every believer to be filled with the Spirit through confession of sin (1 John 1:9) and thus fulfill the command to be “filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18) and “walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:18).
Fall and Depravity of Man:
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God but that in Adam’s sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, became alienated from God, and is totally unable to retrieve his lost condition (Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 3:22-23; 5:12; Ephesians 2:12). God’s perfect justice has no choice but to condemn mankind and bring him to judgment (Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 20:11-15).
Salvation
We believe that Jesus came to redeem mankind from this judgment (I Peter 1:18-19) through His substitutionary, spiritual death on the cross (II Corinthians 5:21; I Peter 2:21-24; Isaiah 53:10-12). In the Hebrew of Isaiah 53:9 and the Greek of Colossians 2:12 two deaths are mentioned:
His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His DEATHS,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth. Isaiah 53:9
The first death of the Savior was spiritual as darkness descended upon the cross and the Father poured out our sins upon Him and then judged Him. The great violence of this activity was hidden from the eyes of all; He suffered alone in the darkness. Upon completion of His work, He said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). He then dismissed His own spirit to the Father (John 10:17-18; Luke 23:46) and died physically.
So, Jesus Christ did all the work; the Holy Spirit made it clear to us, and our role is to simply believe in Jesus Christ. There is no work that mankind can do to add to His work or take away from it. All that we have to do is believe in Him as our personal Savior to receive eternal life (John 3:15-18; Acts 16:31; Romans 1:16; 5:9; 10:4; Ephesians 2:8,9; I Peter 1:18,19)
The Spiritual Life
We believe that all believers are called into a life of Biblical study and mental separation from the views of the world system. There is no agreement between the righteousness of God and the unrighteousness of the world, between God’s light and the world’s darkness, between belief and unbelief (II Corinthians 6:11-14).
Believers are to maintain spirituality by confession of sins (I John 1:9) for the filling of the Holy Spirit, which enables the Holy Spirit to lead the believer into Biblical truth. The filling of the Spirit is not an emotional or ecstatic experience. It has nothing to do with speaking in tongues, seeing visions, or hearing voices. The believer submits to God and is able to reject Satanic viewpoint, human good, human arrogance, sin patterns, cults and religious trends (James 4:4; I John 2:15-17; Romans 6:13; II Timothy 2:3-4, 14-26; II Thessalonians 3:6; Hebrews 13:13; Romans 16:17-18; II Corinthians 6:11-12; Proverbs 1:10-19).
We believe that all spiritual gifts were given by Christ during His ascension (Ephesians 4:8) and that the Holy Spirit assigns as He desires (I Corinthians 12:13). There are temporary and permanent spiritual gifts. The temporary gifts ceased in 96 AD with the completion of the Canon of Scripture. The documentation for these ceasing of temporary gifts is found in I Corinthians 13:8 where the word “perfect” is in the neuter gender which refers to the completion of the Bible. In James 1:25 the Bible is referred to as the “perfect law of liberty”. The gifts that ceased were: Apostle, prophecy, wisdom, knowledge, miracles, healings, tongues, interpretation of tongues, distinguishing of spirits, and the gift of faith. Anyone claiming to have any or all of these gifts today is misinformed and into false doctrine.
The permanent spiritual gifts still in use after A.D. 96 are: Evangelist, pastor-teacher, teacher, administration, exhortation, financier or giving, counseling or showing mercy, helps for men, helps for women. The purpose of these permanent gifts is to ensure the cooperation and smooth function of the body of Christ. (I Corinthians 12:27-31; Romans 12).
We believe that each believer must grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. The believer’s daily life must be consistent with the Lord’s plan and will. This brings glory to the Lord (II Peter 3:18).
Every believer is responsible to be an ambassador for Christ which means witnessing to the lost when the opportunity arises (II Corinthians 5:17-21).
Every believer is a royal priest and therefore responsible to function in prayer for himself and others (I Peter 2:5,7,9). The believer priest will offer spiritual sacrifices to the Lord in order to fulfill his priesthood (Hebrews 13:10-18).
We believe in the divine institution of marriage between one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24; Hebrews 13:4).
Every believer is responsible to fulfill the laws of divine establishment, nationalism, and patriotism to his country. We are told to pay our taxes and uphold the laws of the land (Romans 13:1-8; I Peter 2:13-20). Believers are told to be submissive to the government and laws of the land (I Peter 2:13-20; I Timothy 2:1,2). In application of this principle we honor and respect the Constitution of the United States, the three branches of government, the laws of the land, and we pray for those who have promised to protect and serve the people of this land.
History
We believe in a literal interpretation of God’s creation, and reject any notion of evolution, even one directed by God. We believe in distinct divisions of time, in which God uniquely reveals His plan and purpose to mankind, but in each of which salvation is provided through faith in Jesus Christ:
- Age of the Gentiles
- Age of Israel
- Incarnation, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ
- The Church Age (present time, ending with the rapture)
- The Tribulation (has not yet occurred)
- The Millennium (has not yet occurred and ends with the Great White Throne Judgment)
We believe that the Church is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again persons of this age irrespective of their affiliation with Christian organizations (Ephesians 1:22,23; 5:25-27; I Corinthians 12:12-14). The local church is a body of believers in Christ who assemble for face to face teaching and fellowship with God, which consists in prayer and the Lord’s Table (Acts 2:42). The local church is to protect the Word of God through sound Bible based teaching from the original languages. The local church is also the base from which missionaries are sent forth to teach the gospel (Acts 1:8,20:1ff; Hebrews 10:25). We believe the Bible teaches that the offices of Pastor and Deacons are to be filled by males only. We do not believe in females holding the position of Pastor or Deacon. Any other office in the church may be held by an appointed man or woman (I Timothy 3:1-16; Acts 6: 1-6, I Timothy 2:12; Ephesians 4:11-16; Titus 1:6-9; I Peter 5:1-5).