DECLARATION OF FAITH
This church holds the following statement of faith as being a summary of Christian Doctrines whose authority consists only in its agreement with the Word of God.
1. SCRIPTURES
We believe that the Holy Bible, consisting of the Old Testament and the New Testament Scriptures, was written by men divinely inspired and is a perfect treasure of Heavenly instruction; that it has God for its Author, salvation for its end, and truth without mixture of error for its matter; that it reveals the principles by which God will judge us and therefore is and shall remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds and opinions should be tried. We reject all modern versions and insist on the KING JAMES VERSION 1611 being used in all services.
(2nd Tim. 3:16-17, 1st Thes. 5:21)
2. GOD
We believe in the triune God, the Creator, Preserver and ruler of all things; eternally existing in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost; these three are one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes and perfections.
(Gen. 1:1, 26; Deut. 6:4: Matt. 28:19-20; John 1:1-2; 10:30)
3. The Lord Jesus Christ
We believe in: a) His eternal existence as God: b) His incarnation by means of the virgin birth; c) His death on the cross as the substitutionary atonement for sin; d) His literal bodily resurrection from the dead; e) His present ministry of intercession in heaven; f) His personal return to earth.
(Heb. 1:8; Isa. 7:14; Luke 1:35; Rom. 3:25; Heb. 9:14; Luke 24:36-43; Acts 10:40-41; Heb. 8:1-2; I John 2:1; Acts 1:11; 1st Thess. 4:16)
4. The Holly Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person; equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature; that He was active in creation; that in His relation to the unbelieving world He restrains the evil one until God's purpose is fulfilled; that He convicts of sin, of judgment and of righteousness; that He bears witness to the Truth of the Gospel in preaching and testimony; that He is the agent in the New Birth; and that He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies, indwells and helps the believer.
(Gen. 1:1; Matt. 28:19; Luke 1:35; John 3:5-6; John 14:16-17; John 14:26; John 15:26-27; John 16:7-8; Acts 1:8; Acts 5:30-32; Rom. 8:9, 14, 16, 26, 27; 1st Cor. 6:11; Eph. 1:13-14: 2nd Thess. 2: 7)
5. Man
We believe that; a) God created man in His own image and in a state of innocency; b) Man fell through the sin of disobedience; c) because of this all men are corrupted in body, mind, and soul; d) all men are in the need of redemption.
(Gen. 1:26-27; Rom. 5:19; 5:12; Eph. 2:3)
6. Salvation
We believe; a) that salvation is soley by grace through faith in the sacrificial death of our Lord Jesus Christ and His resurrection from the dead; b) that all who repent and receive Jesus are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and become children of God; c) that all who are truly saved are kept forever by the power of God.
(Eph. 2:8-9; John 1:12; 1st Peter 1:5)
7. Repentance
We believe the Bible teaches repentance is a must for salvation. Repentance is to have a change of mind and to turn to Christ. A change of mind about self, sin, and Jesus.
(Matt. 21:28,32; Acts 3:19; Acts 2:38; Acts 17:30; Mark 1:15)
8. Justification
We believe Justification is being accounted righteous before God. The sinner accepts the righteousness of Jesus Christ by faith and God see's him perfect in the righteousness of Christ. Justification is the judicial act of God, whereby those who put their faith in Christ are declared righteous in His eyes, free from guilt and punishment.
(Rom. 5:1,2,9)
9. Sanctification
We believe that sanctification is the process by which, according to the will of God, we are made partakers of His holiness; that it is a progressive work; that it is begun in regeneration; and that it is carried on in the hearts of believers by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, the Sealer and Comforter, in the continual use of the appointed means, especially the Word of God, self-examination, self-denial, watchfulness, and prayer.
(1st Thess. 4:3; 1st John 2:29; Rom. 8:5; Phil. 2:12-13)
10. Eternal Security
We believe once a person has truly become a child of God that he/she is eternally secure and that they will forever be a child of God. They are kept secure by the promise and power of God.
(Eph. 1:13; Phil. 1:6; John 10:28-29; John 3:16,36)
11. Church
We believe that the Lord's church is a visible body of scripturally baptized believers who can trace a succession of churches of like faith and order clean back to the days of Christ, and who are associated together by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the Gospel, obwerving the ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, and exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word; that its only Scriptural officers and bishops or pastors and deacons, whose qualifications, claims and duties and defined in the Epistles to Timothy and Titus.
(Matt. 18:17; 28:20; 1st Cor. 1:1-13; 11:2; Acts 2:41-42; 1st Tim. 3)
12. Baptism (Ordinance)
We believe that Scriptural Baptism is done by the authority of a New Testament Baptist Church and is immersion in water of a believer, in the name of the Faher, the Son, and the Holy Ghost to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Saviour with its effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life.
(Matt. 3:13; 28:19)
13. The Lord's Supper (Ordinance)
It was left to us as an ordinance by the Lord Himself for a memorial of His death, resurrection and return. This should not be taken inadvisably but after examination of one's relationship and attitude toward this ordinance.
(Mark 14:22-24; 1st Cor. 11:23-25)
14. The Lord's Day
We believe that the first day of the week is the Lord's Day and is to be kept sacred to religious purposes by abstaining from all secular labor, except works of mercy and necessity; by the devout observance of all means of grace, both private and public; and by preparation for that rest which remaineth for all the people of God.
(Acts 20:7; Heb. 10:24-25; Beb. 4:3-11; Psalms 118:24; Isa. 58:13-14)
15. Heaven
We believe in a literal place called Heaven where God's immediate presence is manifested, from whence Christ descended and to which He ascended again, where He now makes intercession for the Saints, who will ultimately dwell there with Him.
(John 14:1-3; Rev. 21:1-2)
16. Hell
We believe in a literal hell, the lake of fire, which shall be a place of eternal punishment for Satan, the fallen Angels, and all the unbelieving dead.
(John 14; Acts 1:11; 1st Cor. 15:51-58; 1st Thess. 4:5; Rev. 4:1-2; 19:11-16; 20:1-6; 19:20; 20:10,15; 21:8)
17. Seperation
We believe a Christian will desire to please Christ in all areas of his life, which now belongs to Christ because He purchased it with His own blood. Who should therefore separate ourselves from worldly practices by following Christ in self-denial and living wholly for Him.
(Rom. 12:1-2; 1st John 2:15-17)
18. Missions
Because all men everwhere without Christ are lost and bound for eternal punishment, and because men cannot believe in Him of whom they have not heard, we believe we are debtors to all men to present them with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God commanded all Saints to witness for Him, to faithfully carry out this command we must witness by out life and by word to all we come in contact with and that we must support by prayer and finances those who go out under sound missionary agencies to represent us in other parts of the world.
(Rom. 1:18-20; 10:14; Acts 1:8; Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15)
19. Return of Christ
We believe that the next coming of our Lord Jesus will be two-fold. He will come in the air and every believer, both living and dead will be caught up to meet Him, receiving their resurrection bodis and will appear before the judgment seat of Christ, to be judged not for salvation but for rewards. Following this catching away (rapture) there will be a seven-year period of judgment and great tribulation on the earth in which the wrath of God will be poured out on unsaved man because of their rejection of God and Christ. Then Christ shall come to the earth in power, and glory to reign for a thousand years.
(John 14:1-3; Rev. 20:1-6; 1st Thess. 4:13-18)
20. The Last Things
At the end of the millennium, the unsaved then will be raised then, judged according to their works separated from God forever in the Lake of Fire. Satan, whose a real personality and the source of all evil in the universe, will also be consigned forever to the Lake of Fire. Those who are saved will live forever in the presence of Christ, enjoying the fellowship for which they were created and which was secured for them through the reconciling work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
(Rev. 19:7,8,20; Rev. 20:7-15; Rev. 22:11-12; John 14:1-4)
