What We Believe

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a
perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any
mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the
principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true
center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious
opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine
revelation.

There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the
Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other
perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past,
present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest
love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream
of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and
all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is
fatherly in His attitude toward all men.

Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself
human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet
without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on
the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a
glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion.
He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator,
fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return
in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all
believers as the living and ever present Lord.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures.
Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of
righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Saviour, and effects regeneration. At the moment
of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character,
comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He
seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that
God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the
believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.

The Bible is God's Holy Word.  It was written by men, divinely inspired, and is God's revelation of Himself to man.  It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction.  It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter.  Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy.  It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.

Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ
as Lord and Saviour, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest
sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation
apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.
A. Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God's grace whereby believers become new creatures in
Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the
sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are
inseparable experiences of grace.
Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and
commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Saviour.
B. Justification is God's gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners
who repent and believe in Christ. Justification brings the believer unto a relationship of peace and favor
with God.
C. Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God's
purposes, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual maturity through the presence and
power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate
person's life.
D. Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the
redeemed.

Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and
glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of man, and comprehends all the means in
connection with the end. It is the glorious display of God's sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise,
holy, and unchangeable. It excludes boasting and promotes humility.
All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His
Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end. Believers may fall into
sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, and bring reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on themselves; yet they shall be
kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized
believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two
ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them
by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates
under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation each member is
responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While
both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as
qualified by Scripture.
The New Testament speaks also of the church as the Body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed
of all the ages, believers from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation.

Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen
Saviour, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of
life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church
ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord's Supper.
The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of
the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second
coming.

It is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime.  It is God's unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.  The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God's image.  The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people.  A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church.  He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family.  A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ.  She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helpmeet in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.

From the moment of conception, children are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God's pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.