Statement of Faith
STATEMENT OF FAITH AND COVENANT
The Church holds the following statement of faith as being a summary of Christian doctrine whose authority consists only in its agreement with the word of God.
SECTION 2.01 – STATEMENT OF FAITH(A) The Scriptures. We believe the Holy Bible, consisting of the Old and 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 any mixture of error for its matter; that it reveals the principles by which God will judge us, and therefore is, and shall remain, the true center of Christian union and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions shall be tried. This Bible is preserved for us without error in the King James Authorized Version of 1611. (Psalm 12:6,7; 119:89; Isaiah 8:20; 1 Thessalonians 2:13, 5:21; 2 Timothy 3:15,16)
(B) The True God. We believe that there is one, and only one, living and true God, an infinite, intelligent Spirit whose name is JEHOVAH, the Maker and Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth; that He is inexpressibly glorious in holiness and worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – equal in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption. (Exodus 15:11; Psalm 83:18; Matthew 28:19; Mark 12:30; John 1:1-3, 4:24, 10:30; Ephesians 2:18; 1 John 5:7)
(C) The Lord Jesus Christ. We believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, the manifestation of God in the flesh; conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of the virgin Mary, true God and true man. (Matthew 1:18-21; John 8:58, 10:30; 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 1:8)
(D) The Holy Spirit. We believe in the Holy Spirit of God; co-equal with God. He is a person, the third member of the Trinity. His present ministries include magnifying the Lord Jesus Christ, convincing the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, comforting and teaching believers, and edifying the Body of Christ. The present-day charismatic movement is a dangerous counterfeit of the real ministries of the Holy Spirit and we of the Church are totally opposed to it. (John 16:7-14; Acts 5:1-4)
(E) Man. We believe that man was created in the image of God, that he sinned and thereby incurred spiritual and physical death. We believe that without exception all men are sinners and have need of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Genesis 1:26, 2:7; Romans 5:12-18; 1 Corinthians 15:22)
(F) Salvation. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. He was, and is, our substitution and vicarious atonement for sin. We believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ; that He ascended bodily into heaven, is seated on the right hand of the Father, and ever liveth to make intercession for all born-again believers, thus making them eternally secure. (Isaiah 53; Acts 4:12; Romans 5:15-21, 8:33-39; 2 Corinthians 1:22-22; Ephesians 1:13; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 7:25)
(G) The Freeness of Salvation. We believe that the blessings of salvation are made free to all by the Gospel; that it is the immediate duty of all to accept them by a cordial, penitent, and obedient faith; and that nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner of earth but his own voluntary rejection of the Gospel, which rejection involves him in an aggravated condemnation. (John 3:19, 5:40; Romans 16:25-26)
(H) Justification. We believe that the great Gospel blessing, which Christ secures to such as believe in Him, is justification; that justification includes the pardon of sin and the promise of eternal life in principles of righteousness; that it is bestowed not in consideration of any work of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in the Redeemer’s blood, by virtue of which His perfect righteousness if freely imputed to us of God; that justification brings us into a state of most blessed peace and favor with God. (John 1:16; Acts10; 13:39; Romans 4:4-5, 5:1,2,9)
(I) 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. (1 Thessalonians 4:3; 1 John 2:29)
(J) Separation – Personal and Ecclesiastical. We believe the believer should be separated from the world while being present in the world; that he should abstain from all appearances of evil as a testimony to the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that the local church should maintain a position of separation from all forms of apostasy, modernism, ecumenism, and any other departure from the written principles of the word of God. We believe that II Corinthians 6:14-18 and II John 10 prohibits the joining together of believers with unbelievers in the Lord’s work, such as in ecumenical organizations or in cooperative evangelistic efforts. It shall continue to be free from any government outside of itself whatsoever, excepting legal requirements necessary to lawful operation not contrary to the nature of an independent Baptist Church. (1 Corinthians 10:20; 1 Thessalonians 5:22; 2 Timothy 2:15:18, 4:1-3; Titus 1:9-11, 2:10-15)
(K) The Return of the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe in Christ’s personal, imminent, pre-tribulation return for the church. This “rapture” removes the church before God’s wrath is poured out on the earth during the great tribulation. We also believe in the pre-millennial return of Christ after the tribulation to set up his 1,000-year reign on Earth. (John 14:1-3; Philippians 3:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
(L) Dispensations. We believe in the dispensational division of the Scriptures as a basis for study. (II Timothy 2:15)
(M) The Local Church. We believe that a visible church of Christ is a congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and the fellowship of the Gospel, observing 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 are bishops or pastors and deacons, whose qualifications, claims, and duties are defined in the epistles to Timothy and to Titus. This Church is an independent local autonomy, governed internally and responsible only to the Lord Jesus Christ. Its ministries include glorifying the Savior, edifying the saints, and evangelizing the world for Christ. (Matthew 16:18, 28:19-20; Acts 2:47, 14:23, 20:28; Romans 16:5; Ephesians 1:22, 5:23; 1 Timothy 3)
(N) Giving. We believe that every Christian, as a steward of that portion of God’s wealth entrusted to him, is obligated to support his local Church financially. We believe that God has established the tithe as a basis for giving, but that every Christian should also give other offerings sacrificially and cheerfully to the support of the Church, the relief of those in need, and the spread of the Gospel. We believe that a Christian relinquishes all rights to direct the ultimate use of the tithe or offering once the gift has been made. (Genesis 14:20; Proverbs 3:9-10; Acts 4:34-37; 1 Corinthians 16:2; 2 Corinthians 9:6-7; Galatians 6:6; Ephesians 4:28; I Timothy 5:17-18; 1 John 3:17)
(O) Missions. We believe that God has given the church a Great Commission to proclaim the Gospel to all nations so that there might be a great multitude from every nation, tribe, ethnic group, and language group who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As ambassadors of Christ we must use all available means to go to the foreign nations and not wait for them to come to us. Our ambassadorship must include an effort to win the lost locally as well. (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; 2 Cor. 5:20)
(P) Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion in water of a believer, in the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior with its effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life. We believe that the Lord’s Supper, in which the members of the church by the use of bread and new wine are to commemorate together the dying love of Christ, is to be preceded always with solemn self-examination. Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:41-42, 8:36-39; Romans 6:4-5; 1 Corinthians 11:26-28.
(Q) The Lord’s Day. We believe that the first day of the week is the Lord’s Day. It is to be kept sacred to Biblical practices, and is a day of spiritual activity to set the pace for the rest of the week. (Psalm 118:24; Acts 20:7; Hebrews 10:24-25)
(R) Civil Government. We believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the interests and good order of human society, and that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed, except only in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, as set forth in his word, who is the only Lord of the kings of the earth. (Matthew 22:21, 23:9-10; Acts 5:28-29; Romans 13:1-7)
(S) The Righteous and the Wicked. We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that such only as through faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and sanctified by the Spirit of our God are truly righteous in His esteem; that all such as continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked and under the curse; and that this distinction holds among men both in and after death and throughout all eternity. (Malachi 3:18; Luke 16:19-31; John 3:14-21, 36; Romans 1:17-18; 1 John 5:19)
(T) Human Sexuality.(1) We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between one naturally-born man and one naturally-born woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, pedophilia, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. We believe that God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one’s gender by surgery or appearance. (Gen. 2:24; Gen. 19:5, 13; Gen. 26:8-9; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom. 1: 26-29; 1 Cor. 5:1; 6:9; 1 Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4)
(2) We believe that the only Scriptural marriage is the joining of one naturally-born man and one naturally-born woman for life. (Gen. 2:24; Rom. 7:2; 1 Cor. 7:10; Eph. 5:22-23)
(U) Lawsuits Between Believers. We believe that Christians are prohibited from bringing civil lawsuits against other Christians or the Church to resolve personal disputes. We believe the Church possesses all the resources necessary to resolve personal disputes between members. We do believe, however, that a Christian may seek compensation for injuries from another Christian’s insurance company as long as the claim is pursued without malice or slander. (1 Cor. 6:1-8; Eph. 4:31-32; Matt. 18:15-17)