WHAT WE BELIEVE
SCRIPTURES
We believe that the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, are the inspired Word of God,
both infallible and inerrant, the complete revelation of his will for the salvation of mankind, and the final authority for all Christian faith and life (Matthew 5:18; John 10:35; 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
GOD
We believe that there is but one living and true God, an infinite, all-knowing, perfect in all His
attributes, one in essence, eternally existing in three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit each equally deserving worship and obedience. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5-7; 1 Corinthians 8:4; John 4:24; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14)
GOD THE FATHER
We teach that God the Father, the first Person of the Trinity, orders and disposes of all things
according to His own purpose and grace. He is the Creator of all things. As the only absolute and omnipotent Ruler in the universe, He is sovereign in creation providence, and redemption. His fatherhood involves both His designation within the Trinity and His relationship with mankind.
As Creator, He is Father to all men, but He is spiritual Father only to believers. He has decreed
for His own glory all things that come to pass. He continually upholds, directs, and governs all
creatures and events. In His sovereignty He is neither the author nor approver of sin nor does He
abridge the accountability of moral, intelligent creatures. He has graciously chosen from eternity
past those whom He would have as His own; He saves from sin all who come to Him through
Jesus Christ; He adopts as His own all those who come to Him; and He becomes, upon adoption,
Father to His own. (Psalm 145:8-9; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Genesis 1:1-31; Ephesians 3:9; Psalm
103:19; Romans 11:36; Ephesians 4:6; Romans 8:14; 2 Corinthians 6:18; Ephesians 1:11; 1
Chronicles 29:11; Habakkuk 1:13; John 8:38-47; 1 Peter 1:17; Ephesians 1:4-6; John 1:12;
Romans 8:15; Hebrews 12:5-9)
GOD THE SON
We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, that he was conceived by
the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, and offered himself as a substitutionary
sacrifice for sinners. By the blood of His cross, he satisfied the wrath of God, obtained for us
eternal redemption, the forgiveness of sins, spiritual adoption as sons and daughters, life
everlasting, and defeated the powers of darkness. He was raised bodily on the third day and
ascended to the right hand of the Father, there to make intercession for the saints.
(John 1:1-18; Romans 8:34; 1 Corinthians 15:1-28; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:10-14; Ephesians 1:7;
Philippians 2:6-1; Colossians 1:15-23; 2:15; Hebrews 7:25; 9:13; 10:19; 1 Peter 2:21-25; 1 John 2:1-2; 3:8)
GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit is fully God, equal with the Father and Son. The primary
ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit also convicts
unbelievers of their need for Christ and imparts spiritual life through regeneration (the new
birth). The Spirit indwells, sanctifies, leads, illuminates, and graciously empowers for godly
living and service all who come to faith in Christ. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ baptizes
believers in the Holy Spirit, in whom also we are sealed for the day of redemption. Subsequent to
conversion the Spirit desires to fill, empower, and anoint believers for ministry and witness.
(Matthew 3:11; John 1:12-13; 3:1-15; 15:26-27; 16:7-15; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13; 2
Corinthians 1:21-22; Ephesians 1:13-14; 5:18)
THE GOSPEL
We believe that the gospel is the good news of what God has accomplished for sinners through
the life, death, and resurrection of his Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. The gospel is centered in
Christ and is not proclaimed if his death and resurrection are not the focus of our message. The
church is responsible for the declaration of this good news and the defense of it against all who
would seek to distort or re-define its core truths. The gospel is the foundation for the life of the
Church and our only hope for eternal life. The Gospel is not only the means by which people are
saved, but also the means by which people are sanctified. The truth of the Gospel enables us to
genuinely and joyfully do that which is pleasing to God and to grow in progressive conformity to
the image of Christ (Mark 1:1; Luke 24:46-47; John 3:16-18; Romans 1:16-17; 1 Corinthians
1:18-25; 2:2; 15:1-4; 2 Corinthians 4:1-6; 9:13; Galatians 1:6-9; 2 Timothy 1:8-14; Jude 3:4)
MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT/GIFTS
We believe that the ministry of the Spirit in signs and wonders continues to be as broad,
tangible, and powerful among believers today as it was in the early church. We also believe that
all the biblical gifts of the Spirit continue to be distributed by the Spirit today; that these gifts are
divine provisions central to spiritual growth and effective ministry; and that these gifts are to be
eagerly desired, faithfully developed, and lovingly exercised according to biblical guidelines.
(John 14:12; Acts 2:14-21; 4:29-30; Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:7-11; 12:28-31; 14:1-33;
Galatians 3:1-5)
MAN
We believe that man was directly and immediately created by God in His image and likeness.
Man was created free of sin with a rational nature, intelligence, volition, self-determination, and
moral responsibility to God. We believe that God’s intention in the creation of man was that man
should glorify God, enjoy God’s fellowship, live his life in the will of God, and by this
accomplish God’s purpose for man in the world. We believe that in Adam’s sin of disobedience
to the revealed will and Word of God, man lost his innocence, incurred the penalty of spiritual
and physical death, became subject to the wrath of God, and became inherently corrupt and
utterly incapable of choosing or doing that which is acceptable to God apart from divine grace.
With no recuperative powers to enable him to recover himself, man is hopelessly lost. Man’s
salvation is thereby wholly of God’s grace through the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ
We teach that, because all men were in Adam, a nature corrupted by Adam’s sin has been
transmitted to all men of all ages, Jesus Christ being the only exception. All men are thus sinners
by nature, by choice, and by divine declaration. (Genesis 2:7; 15-25; 2:16-17; James 3:9; Isaiah
43:7; Colossians 1:16; Revelation 4:11; John 3:36; Romans 3:23; 6:23; 1 Corinthians 2:14;
Ephesians 2:1-3; 1 Timothy 2:13-14; 1 John 1:8; Psalm 14:1-3; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:9-18;
23; 5:10-12)
SALAVATION
We believe that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world and will, through the
work of the Holy Spirit, draw the elect to faith in his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. We are
therefore justified by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. No ordinance, ritual,
work, or any other activity on the part of man is required in order to be saved. This saving grace
of God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, also sanctifies us by enabling us to do what is
pleasing in God’s sight in order that we might be progressively conformed to the image of
Christ. All who have genuinely been saved by faith in Christ Jesus are preserved and protected
by God and therefore can neither lose nor forfeit their salvation. All of the elect are eternally
secure. (John 1:12-13; 6:37-44; 10:25-30; Acts 13:48; 16:30-31; Romans 3:1-31; 4:1-25; 5:6-11;
8:1-17; 31-39; 9:1-23; 10:8-10; 1 Corinthians 1:7-9; Ephesians 1:4-5; 2:8-10; Philippians 1:6;
2:12-13; 2 Timothy 1:12; 2:19; Titus 3:3-7; 1 Peter 1:3-5; 1 John 1:7-9; Jude 1; Revelation 13:8)
MARRIAGE + SEXUALITY
We believe that God’s original creative design, as set forth in Scripture, is for complete fidelity
(physically, emotionally, and spiritually) within a heterosexual and monogamous marriage.
Regardless of one’s marital status, we believe that Christians should pursue purity and abstain
from sexually immoral practices such as adultery, premarital sex, and pornography. (Matthew
19:4-6; Romans 1:18-32, 13:13-14; 1 Corinthians 6:9-20, 10:8; Ephesians 5:3-14; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; 1 Timothy 1:8-10; Hebrews 13:4).
ABORTION + RACISM
We believe that God has created all of humanity in his image as male and female and that they
are, therefore, of equal moral and spiritual value and must be treated with the utmost dignity and
respect. We believe that life begins at the moment of conception in the womb and that the willful
termination of a pregnancy for any reason other than an unavoidable threat to the life of the
mother is prohibited by Scripture. We should remember that the sin of abortion is not unique,
but, as is the case with all sin, can be forgiven because of Christ’s saving work on the cross. We
also believe that all ethnicities/races of mankind equally bear the image of God and should be
treated with the same dignity and love, regardless of national identity, language, skin
pigmentation, or gender. Any expression of systemic racism, racial supremacy, or hatred of a
person of a different ethnicity is forbidden by Scripture. Abortion and racism, therefore, are
denials of the creative design of God and must be regarded as heretical deviations from the truth
of Scripture regarding the nature and value of all human life. (Genesis 1:28; Psalm 139; Acts
17:22-31; Galatians 3:25-29; Ephesians 2:11-22; James 2:1; Revelation 5)