CONFESSION OF FAITH
A.
We believe that all Scripture, as originally written, was plenarily and
verbally inspired by God and is the product of holy men controlled by
the Holy Spirit, which truth is preserved without any mixture of error
in the Bible. The Bible contains 66 books; it is the only complete and
final revelation of the will of God for this age; it is the true center
of Christian union and the supreme standard for all human conduct,
creeds and opinions. (II Tim. 3:16-17; II Peter 1:19, 21; John 17:17;
Rom. 15:4; Rev. 22:19)
B.
We believe there is one and only one true and living God, infinite in
every excellence; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three
persons, coequal, coeternal in every perfection. These three are the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who execute different offices and
functions in the work of redemption. (Ex. 20:2-3; Matt. 28:19; I Cor.
8:6; II Cor. 13:14)
C. We believe that Jesus
Christ is true God and true man, having been conceived of the Holy
Spirit and born of a virgin, that He died on the cross as a sacrifice
for our sins, according to the Scriptures. We believe further that He
rose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, where at the right
hand of God the Father, He now is our High Priest and Advocate. We
believe He will return personally and bodily for His church before the
tribulation and will return with His saints at the end of the
tribulation to establish the throne of David and His earthly millennial
reign. (Matt. 1:24-25; John 1:14; Acts 1:9; I Cor. 15:3-4, 51-57; I
Thess. 4:13-18; Heb. 8:1; I John 2:1; Rev. 19:11-21, 20:6, 14)
D.
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, equal with God the
Father and God the Son; that He was active in creation; that He
convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment, bears witness to the
truth, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ; that He is the agent of the new
birth and that He seals, endues, baptizes, guides, teaches (witnesses
to), sanctifies, indwells and helps every believer for Godly living and
service. (Gen. 1:1-3; John 3:8, 14:16-17, 26, 16:8-11; Matt. 28:19;
Rom. 8:14-27; I Cor. 12:13; Titus 3:5)
E. We
believe in the distinct personality of Satan, that he is the unholy god
of this world, the author of all powers of darkness and sin, and is
destined to the judgment of an eternal justice in the lake of fire.
(Matt. 4:1-11; II Cor. 4:4; Heb. 2:14; Rev. 20:10)
F.
We believe in the literal Genesis account of creation: that God
created the heavens and the earth,
including all life, "each after its own kind,"
by direct act and not by process of evolution. (Gen. 1;
Ex. 20:11; Acts 4:24; Col.
1:16-17; John 1:3)
G. We believe that man, in
the person of Adam, was created in innocence; but by voluntary
transgression he fell into sin, thus plunging the whole race into
condemnation and death; so that all mankind is born in sin and shaped
in iniquity. (All men are sinners by choice in the first expression of
their will, and therefore are under just condemnation without defense
or excuse before God.) (Gen. 3:16, 24; Rom. 3:23, 5:10-19; Eph. 2:1-3;
Rom. 1:18; Gal. 3:22)
H. We believe that
salvation is by grace through faith in the finished work of the Lord
Jesus Christ on the cross, being His voluntary substitution in the
place of sinners, and that no works, however good, make that salvation
more secure; that this salvation is brought about apart from race or
human achievement, totally by the power of the Holy Spirit in
connection with divine truth; that the blessings of this salvation are
freely given on the grounds of grace through the gospel to all who
will, by penitent and obedient faith, believe in Jesus Christ as
personal Saviour and Lord. Those who believe in Christ are eternally
secure in Him. (Eph. 2:8-9; John 3:3; I Tim. 2:5; Heb. 10:4-18; John
1:13; Eph. 1:7; Acts 16:31; Rom. 10:9-13; John 5:24)
I.
We believe that the Church universal is the company of God’s
redeemed people, Christ being the head and the Church His body. Unknown
to the Old Testament prophets, the Church is a New Testament
institution, established by Jesus Christ at Pentecost and will be
consummated at the coming of Christ in the Rapture. This universal body
of Christ is visible in local congregations of baptized (immersed)
believers, associated by covenant of faith and laws, exercising the
gifts, rights, and privileges invested in it by His Word; that its
officers are pastors and deacons; that it has the absolute right of
self- government, directed by the Holy Spirit and answerable only to
Christ, and that in all matters of membership, policy, government, and
discipline, the will of the local church is final. (Matt. 18:15-17; I
Cor. 1:2, 6:4-5; I Tim. 3:1-16; Eph. 1:22, 4:11; Acts 20:17-28; Acts
6:1-7)
J. We believe that there are two church
ordinances: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism is the immersion of
a believer in water. It sets forth our faith in a crucified, buried and
risen Saviour, with the effects which faith produces, death to sin and
resurrection to a new life. Baptism is a prerequisite to the privileges
of church membership. The Lord’s Supper is a commemoration of our
Lord’s death until He comes and our continual fellowship with Him. It
should be preceded by obedience in baptism, and at every Lord’s Supper
a careful self-examination. (Acts 8:36-39; Rom. 6:3-5; I Cor. 11:23-32)
K.
We believe that there is a radical and essential difference
between the righteous and the wicked. All who, through faith, are
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and sanctified by the
Spirit of God are truly righteous in His esteem, while all who continue
in impenitence and unbelief are, in His sight, wicked and under the
curse. This distinction holds among men, both in life and after death,
in everlasting happiness of the saved and the everlasting conscious
suffering of the lost. (Mal. 3:18; Rom. 6:17-23; Matt. 25:34-46; John
8:21)
L. We believe in the resurrection of
physical bodies from the dead; the dead in Christ will be raised at the
coming of Christ for His Church, and the wicked dead will be raised at
the close of the Millennial kingdom and stand in their bodies at the
Great White Throne of Judgement to receive their final doom. (John
5:21-30; I Thess. 4:13-18; Rev. 20:11-15)
M.
We believe that the gifts such as tongues, healing and prophecy
were given as a sign to authenticate the message of the apostolic
church. The foundation has been laid, the Scripture completed,
therefore any revelatory sign would be contradictory to the established
Gospel. (I Cor. 12:11; Eph. 4:11; I Cor. 12:8, 28; II Cor. 12:12; I
Cor. 14:20-22; I Cor. 13)
N. We believe in separation of
the Church from state and from all forms of apostasy, from the
charismatic movement, and from secret societies. (Matt. 22:21; II Cor.
6:14-18; Eph. 5:11-12; I Cor. 13; II John 9-11; Matt. 10:26-27; Psalm
1; John 18:20; James 5:12)