Doctrine of the Church

1. THE HOLY SCRIPTURES

We believe the Holy Scriptures to be the verbal, inspired Word of God; authoritative, and without error in the original manuscripts. We further believe that the Scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments were given by God for our gain and betterment. (II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:21)

2. THE GODHEAD

We believe that the Godhead eternally exists in three persons —the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit — and that these three are one God. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Genesis 1:26; Matthew 28:19)

3. THE PERSON AND WORK OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God, came into the world that He might manifest God to men, fulfill prophecy, and become the Redeemer of a lost world. To this end, He was born to the Virgin Mary, received a human body and a sinless human nature without ceasing to be God. (Luke 1:30-35; John 1:1, 14, 18; Hebrews 4:15, Philippians 2:5-11)

We believe that, in infinite love for the lost, He voluntarily accepted his Father’s will and became the divinely provided sacrificial Lamb and took away the sins of the world. (Romans 3:25-36; II Corinthians 5:14; Hebrews 10:5-14)

We believe that He arose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He had lived and died, and that His resurrected body is the pattern of the body, which ultimately, will be given to all believers. (John 20:20; Philippians 3:20-21)

4. THE HOLY SPIRIT

We believe that the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, dwells in every believer immediately after he places his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that God provides through the Holy Spirit the power to live the Christian life. (Romans 5:5, 8:1-9; Galatians 5:16-25)

We believe that every believer receives grace from God in the form of a spiritual gift which enables him to function as a member of the Body of Christ. (Romans 12:6; I Corinthians 12-7; Ephesians 4:7)

5. THE PERSONALTY OF SATAN

We believe that Satan, the devil, is the prince of demons and is the declared adversary of God and man. However, when the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, He limited the power of the devil and guaranteed the ultimate triumph of God. (Ephesians 2:2; I Peter 5:8; Revelation 20:10; Colossians 2:13-15)

6. SALVATION

We believe that no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless born again spiritually, and that the new birth of the believer comes only through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We believe, also, that our redemption has been accomplished by the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and that this redemption is by the grace of God, an unmerited gift, given in love by God and not the result of any human works. (John 3:7-18; II Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13; Romans 4:4-5)

We believe that upon receiving the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, the believer passes immediately out of spiritual death into spiritual life and into fellowship with God (John 1:12, 5:24)

We also believe that once this salvation is accomplished, we and all believers everywhere, shall be kept saved forever. (John 10:28-29; Romans 3:24; 8:35-39; II Timothy 2:11-13; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:5, 8-9)

7. THE CHURCH

We believe that all who are united to the risen and ascended Son of God are members of the church which is the Body of Christ. (I Corinthians 12:12-27; Acts 2:42-47)

We believe that the explicit message of our Lord Jesus Christ to those whom He has saved is to make Christ known to the whole world and that is the purpose of the Church through the individuals within it. (Matthew 28:18-19; Acts 1:8; II Corinthians 5:11-21)

We believe that on departing from the earth, He was accepted by His Father and that the Father’s acceptance is a final assurance to us that Christ’s redeeming work was perfectly accomplished (Hebrews 1:3)

We believe that He became HEAD over all things to the church, which is His body, and in ministry He does not cease to intercede and to be an advocate for the saved. (Luke 1:35; I Corinthians 15:1-3; Ephesians 1:23; Philippians 2:6-8; I Timothy 2:5; I John 2:1-2)