What We Believe

God the Son: Jesus Christ

We believe, according to the Scriptures, that Jesus Christ is the only begotten son of God, the Savior of the world, God incarnate, that He exists eternally with the Father, with the Holy Spirit, and that He is both true God and true man (Heb. 1:1-4).

a) His Incarnation:

We believe, according to the Scriptures, that Jesus Christ voluntarily laid aside His glory as God, took upon Himself the form of a servant and came to this earth and dwelt among man as both God and man (Heb. 2:14; Phil. 2:5-8).

b) His Virgin Birth:

We believe, according to the Scriptures, that Jesus was begotten of the Holy Spirit and was born of the Virgin Mary (Is. 7:14; Is. 9:6; Matt. 1:18-25).

c) His Death:

We believe, according to the Scriptures, that Jesus Christ was crucified on a cross at Calvary for the sins of the whole world, both past, present, and future. He who was sinless was made sin for the world and died in the sinner’s place. He offered Himself once for all without spot or blemish to God the Father as the complete offering for the penalty of the sins of fallen humanity (2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Cor. 15:3,4; John 3:16).

d) His Resurrection:

We believe, according to the Scriptures, that on the third day after His sacrificial death on the cross, He was miraculously raised bodily from the grave for our justification. This miracle signified God’s acceptance of Christ as payment for the sins of the world and assures eternal life and immortality to all who are saved by Him, being sealed by that Holy Spirit of promise (Eph. 1:13; Rom. 6:4).

e) His Ascension:

We believe, according to the Scriptures, that after His resurrection, He ascended back to God the Father in heaven, where He is today, exalted at the right hand of God the Father. (1 Peter 3:22; Acts 1:9-11; Heb. 2:9).

f) Return of Christ

We believe, according to the Scriptures, that Jesus Christ will bodily and personally return in like manner as He ascended (Acts 1: 9-11). His first return, known as the Rapture, will be in the clouds to resurrect the bodies of the dead saints, and to also catch away all the living saints (I Thess. 4:16-18); in which our current earthly bodies will be changed into glorified bodies (I Co. 15:50-54; Eph. 3:20,21). We will then spend all eternity in Heaven with the Lord Jesus Christ (I Thess. 4:17). Some of the more important events to follow the Rapture of the Church will be as follows:

(1) His second coming will be after the seven years of Tribulation here on earth (Dan. 9:27; Is. 2:12; Rev. 6, 8, 9, 16).

(2) He will then set up the Millennial Kingdom in which He will reign for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-4).

(3) At the end of the Millennium there will be one final rebellion against God by Satan and his armies, in which the Lord Jesus Christ will be victorious.

(4) At this time there will be the Great White Throne Judgment in Heaven in where God will Judge everyone who did not accept Jesus Christ as their Savior while on earth (Rev. 20:11-15).

(5) God will then cast Satan, his angels, and all those who did not accept Jesus Christ as their Savior into Hell for all eternity (Rev. 19:11-20:15).

(6) There will then be a revealing of a new heaven and a new earth (Rev. 21).

g) His Advocacy:

We believe, according to the Scriptures, that Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and men, and that He is constantly at the right hand of God the Father making intercession for His people (Heb. 10:12, 1 Tim. 2:15).

God the Holy Spirit

We believe, according to the Scriptures, that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the GODHEAD, possessing all the attributes of God (Acts 5:3-4). His work is to convict the unregenerate man of sin (John 16:8-11), to perform the operation of regeneration (Titus 3:5,6), and to seal the believer (Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:13), unto the day of redemption. The Holy Spirit indwells the believer at conversion to teach the Truth of the Scriptures and to ever exalt Christ, seeking to conform the believer to the image of Christ (Eph. 1:13-14).

Salvation

We believe, according to the Scriptures, that there is only one way to be saved, and that every person is a totally depraved, hell bound sinner (Rom. 3:23, 25). The guilt of their sin must be confessed to God in repentance. Jesus Christ must personally be received as Savior for forgiveness of their sin (Rom. 10:10-13). Salvation is by grace and is the gift of God, received by faith, purchased by the blood of Christ, and cannot be obtained in any other way (Eph. 2:8, 9). This experience constitutes the new birth, and from that moment the individual is born of the spirit of God into the family of God for time and eternity. From that moment the believer is a new creation created to continually worship and serve God (Eph. 2:10; 2 Cor. 5:17).

The Church

We believe, according to the Scriptures, that the Church of Jesus Christ is composed of:

a) The Local Church:

The local church is an organization composed of born again believers in Jesus Christ who have been scripturally baptized, and observe the ordinances as outlined in God’s Word, and who meet in a definite place or location (Acts 2:41,46; Rev. 2; Heb. 10:24,25) for the purpose of fulfilling the great commission (Matt. 28: 19-20).

b) The Universal Church:

The true church of Jesus Christ, in its spiritual form, is composed of all born again believers, whether living or dead, with Christ Himself being the chief “Corner stone” and supreme Head. This group composes the Body of Christ, which is also the Bride of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12-14; Eph. 5:23-24).

The Ordinances

We believe, according to the Scriptures, that Jesus Christ commanded the observance of two ordinances before He ascended unto His Father in Heaven, namely, baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

a) Baptism:

We believe that all born again believers are to follow the Scriptural example of baptism of Jesus. We believe that He was immersed, so we conclude that we are to be immersed after His example. Although salvation is not contingent upon baptism, we believe that every born again believer is commanded to follow the Lord in Scriptural baptism as soon after conversion as possible (Matt. 28:19-20). This is a public confession of the salvation experience, a commitment to break with all sin and the world, and a sinner’s intent to reckon oneself dead unto sin and alive unto God (picture of Romans 6, Col. 2:12). This ordinance openly signifies that the believer is crucified with Christ and buried with Him, being dead to sin and resurrected with Him by the power of God to newness of life through Him.

b) The Lord’s Supper:

The Lord’s Supper consists of the eating of the bread symbolizing Christ’s body which was broken for us and the drinking of the cup symbolizing His blood which was shed for us. The fellowship of this table belongs to all born again children of God and will be observed by this assembly regularly. Each believer should make a careful examination of their heart before partaking, for the unworthy partaker of the Lord’s Supper brings damnation upon himself (1 Cor. 11:23-30).

Angels

We believe, according to the Scriptures, angels are spirit beings created by God, with specific personal traits, types, and ministries.

There are two major groups of angels divided by the fall of some angels (one third) due to their rebellion and sin against God. Unfallen angels fulfill the plan of God as God’s messengers, worshiping God, and ministering to believers.

Lucifer (Satan) was created as the highest angel, but was filled with pride and rebelled against God and lead a large number of angels with him when he was cast out of heaven. These fallen angels are called demons. They are involved in a spiritual warfare against God and His people. Although Satan and his hosts have great power and influence they are already doomed to eternal punishment and will be cast into the lake of fire forever (Col. 1:16,17; 2 Peter 2:11; Is. 6:3; Eph. 6:12; Rev. 10:10).

Heaven

We believe, according to the Scriptures, that Heaven is a literal reality that Christ is preparing now for all those who possess Him as personal Savior (John 14:1-3), that it is the abode of God, and that all born again believers shall, at God’s appointed time, ascend to this perfect blissful paradise of God to abide there for eternity with God and with Christ (1 Thess. 4:17).

Heaven is the present site of the New Jerusalem, the Holy City of God (Rev. 21).

Hell

We believe, according to the Scriptures, that Hell is a physical place of literal misery, fire and torment (Luke 16:19-31).

It was created to be the abode of Satan and the fallen angels. Because of sin, those who are not saved in Christ will reside in hell, until the Judgment Day, when they, along with Satan, will be cast into the Lake of Fire with all unrighteous persons for eternity.

The direct cause of men going to Hell is their sin (Rom. 3:23; Rev. 20:10-15).

The Christian Life

We believe, according to the Scriptures, that every born again believer is a new creation in Christ set apart for God’s glory. Christian growth will produce evidence of a new biblical change in attitude toward life (Eph. 4) as a result of their conversion.

They should shun all evil influence and affiliation; joyfully forsake the further partaking of all sinful habits in order to glorify Jesus Christ in their new life (Rom. 6:1-4). They will furthermore, worship, serve, and honor God as Lord of their life and in all things give our Savior the preeminence (Col. 1:18).