1. The Holy Scriptures
The Bible is the verbally (Jeremiah. 1:9) inspired (II Timothy 3:16) infallible (John 17:17) Word of God (I Thessalonians 2:13) which has been written by godly men divinely appointed (Amos 7:14-15) and carried along by the Holy Spirit (II Peter 1:20-21). It is the supreme authority in all matters (II Timothy 3:16-17, Romans 3:4).
2. The Godhead
God is triune; eternally existing in three persons (John 1:1-2, Genesis 1:1-2, Hebrews 9:14), Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19, II Corinthians 13:14). The three persons are co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and have the same attributes and perfections (Deuteronomy 6:4, John 10:30, Acts 5:3-4).
3. The Person and Work of Christ
The Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God (John 1:1, 14, 18). He became man without ceasing to be God (John 1:14), having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary (Matthew 1:20-23) in order that He might reveal God (John 17:6) and redeem sinful man (Titus 2:14).
He lived a sinless life (I Peter 2:22). He performed miracles (Mark 2:8-12). He voluntarily died (John 10:18) on the cross (Philippians 2:8) and shed His blood (Luke 22:20) as a vicarious (Romans 5:6, 8) atoning (Romans 5:11) sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 9:26).
He was physically resurrected from the dead (I Corinthians 15:20, John 20:24-27). He ascended to heaven (Acts 1:9-11) and is now exalted (Philippians 2:9) at the right hand of God (Hebrews 10:12) as the High Priest (Hebrews 4:14) and advocate of the believers (I John 2:1).
4. The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is a person (I Corinthians 2:11, I Corinthians 12:11) who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment (John 16:7-11). He is the supernatural agent in regeneration (John 3:5-6, Titus 3:5), baptizing all believers into the body of Christ (I Corinthians 12:13, 27), indwelling (John 14:17, I Corinthians 3:16) and sealing them until the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30).
He is the divine Teacher who guides believers into all truth (John 16:13, I John 2:20). He fills believers who are fully yielded to Him (Ephesians 5:18, Acts 4:31).
5. The Spiritual Condition of Mankind
Man was created in the image of God (Genesis 2:26) without sin (Genesis 3:5). When the first man Adam sinned, all mankind sinned in him (Romans 5:12, 19), and thus condemnation (Romans 5:18) and death (I Corinthians 15:22) passed upon all men.
Consequently, all men are by nature children of disobedience and wrath (Ephesians 2:2, 3), are spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1, II Corinthians 5:14), separated from God by reason of sin (Isaiah 59:2), in need of reconciliation with God (II Corinthians 5:19), and spiritually lost (Luke 19:10, II Corinthians 4:3). The total nature of man is corrupt (Isaiah 1:5, 6, Romans 3:9-18), and of himself, man is utterly unable to remedy his lost condition (Romans 7:15-24).
6. Salvation
Salvation is the gift of God (Romans 6:23) brought to man by grace (Ephesians 2:8). It is received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8, Acts 16:31). Man’s works play no part in the attaining of salvation (Titus 3:5, Ephesians 2:9), but are rather, an evidence of saving faith (Ephesians 2:10, James 2:18).
7. The Believer and Sin
Although believers are those who have renounced sin (Romans 6:2), they need to reckon themselves dead to sin (Romans 6:11) because they still have a sin nature (I John 1:8) and are still susceptible to sin (I John 2:1b). But believers need not sin (I John 2:1a) for God has provided a means of victory (I Corinthians 10:13) through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (I John 4:4-5), the blood of Christ (Revelation 12:11), and the guidance of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16,18).
Believers do not, and cannot live in uninterrupted practice of sin (I John 3:9). The consequences of sin in a believers life is not condemnation (Romans 8:1, John 5:24) but chastening (Hebrews 12:5-8).
8. Separation
The believers walk should be separate from the world, for he has been saved out of the world (John 17:6), and although he is still in the world (John 17:11), he is not of the world (John 17:14).
Therefore, he should not love the world (I John 2:15), should not be conformed to this world (Romans 12:2), and should deny worldly lusts (Titus 2:12). Believers should also separate themselves from spiritual apostasy and error (II Timothy 3:1-5, II Corinthians 6:14 – 7:1, II John 9-11).
9. Missions
Believers are witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ in the world (Acts 1:8, John 17:18, 21, 23) and have the responsibility to participate in the program of preaching the Gospel to every creature (Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15, I Corinthians 15:34).
10. The Church
The church is composed of those who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 1:2); that is, those who are saved (Romans 10:13), born-again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12, Acts 16:31, John 1:12-13, John 3:3).
The word church in the Scriptures is many times used in a universal sense to refer to all believers (Colossians 1:18, 24), and more often in a limited sense to refer to believers in a given locality (Colossians 4:15-16).
11. Satan
Satan, also called the devil (Revelation 12:9), is a person (II Corinthians 11:14, John 8:44), the author of sin (I John 3:8), the cause of the fall of man (Genesis 3:1-6, Genesis 3:13-16, Revelation 12:9). He is the enemy of God (Matthew 13:39) and the adversary of God’s people (I Peter 5:8). He is a liar (John 8:44), a deceiver (Revelation 12:9), and a tempter (Mark 1:13, I Corinthians 7:5). His final destiny will be eternal torment in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10).
12. The Eternal State
All men will experience bodily resurrection (John 5:28) and judgment (Romans 14:10-12, II Corinthians 5:10, Revelation 20:11-13). The final destiny of the saved is eternal life in the presence of the Lord (Daniel 12:2, John 5:29, I Thessalonians 4:17), and of the unsaved, eternal conscious shame and condemnation in the lake of fire (Daniel 12:2, John 5:29, Revelation 20:14-15). Believers who die pass immediately into the presence of the Lord (II Corinthians 5:1-8, Philippians 1:23).
13. The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers
Those who are saved (John 10:7, 9, 14) are given eternal life and will never perish (John 10:27-28). They are kept by Gods power (I Peter 1:5) and thus are secure in Christ forever, for they cannot be removed from His protecting hand (John 10:28-29). This assurance of eternal security cannot be used as an excuse for sin in the life of a believer (Romans 13:13-14, Romans 14:16, Titus 2:11-15).
14. Spiritual Gifts
God gives a spiritual gift or gifts to every believer (I Corinthians 12:7,11, I Peter 4:10). These gifts are diverse (I Corinthians 12:4, Romans 12:6) and God distributes them to each believer as it pleases Him (I Corinthians 12:11), as is appropriate to each one (I Corinthians 12:11), and exclusive of any merit on their part (Romans 12:6).
The gifts are given for the benefit (I Corinthians 12:7) and service (I Peter 4:10a) of others as a demonstration of the manifold grace of God (I Peter 4:10b). God never regrets having given it (Romans 11:29). Spiritual gifts are worthless if not administered with love (I Corinthians 13:1-2). The health of the church depends on each member of the body using their gifts in a Christ-like manner.
Tongues
The gift of tongues is not a spiritual gift that any or all believers should expect or be expected to experience (I Corinthians 12:8-30).
Therefore, since all believers are baptized by the Spirit (I Corinthians 12:13) and all believers are commanded to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), speaking in tongues cannot be a sign of either activity of the Holy Spirit, and is indeed, not a sign to believers at all (I Corinthians 14:1-5, 19, 22-25, 28).
15. The Rapture of the Church
At the Rapture, all believers, living and dead will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air (I Thessalonians 4:13-18). The date of the Lord’s coming is unknown (Matthew 24:36, Matthew 25:13), therefore believers should always live in readiness for that event (Matthew 24:42, 44). We believe that this event will happen at some point before the millennial reign of Jesus Christ (Matthew 24:21, Revelation 7:14, I Thessalonians 5:9, Revelation 3:10).
16. Second Coming of Jesus Christ
There will be a literal second coming to earth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Following the rapture and the great tribulation, the Lord Jesus Christ will return to the earth with the believers (I Thessalonians 5:6, James 5:8, Acts 1:11, Jude 14, Revelation 19:15, Revelation 20:6) and will establish His millennial kingdom (Revelation 19:15, Revelation 20:6).
17. Ordinances
Every believer should be baptized (Matthew 28:19) by immersion (Mark 1:10, Acts 8:36-39) as a testimony of his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 19:4-5). Every believer should participate in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:27, I Corinthians 10:16-17, I Corinthians 11:28), the elements of which are symbols of the broken body and the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 11:24-26).
18. Marriage
Marriage is the fundamental human relationship in the created order. It is defined as a committed one-flesh union between one biological male and one biological female for life (Genesis 2:23-24; Matthew 19:3-6). We believe that marriage was given by God as part of His common grace, and that it has no meaning other than what He has revealed (Genesis 2:18–25). We believe that God instituted monogamous marriage between male and female as the foundation of the family and the basic structure of human society. Marriage is subject to the curse of the Fall (Genesis 3:16) but believers, living in obedience to the Scripture and under the control of the Holy Spirit, can experience peaceful, productive, and fulfilled marriages as God intended (Ephesians 5:22-33; I Peter 3:1-7).