What We Believe

The Holy Scriptures

We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the verbally and plenary inspired Word of God. The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible and God-breathed and, therefore, are the final authority for faith and life. All Scripture is in all ways sufficient and necessary for the Christian life. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament are the complete and divine revelation of God to Man. God has preserved His Word from generation to generation. We do not just have a Bible that contains the Word of God, but it is the very Words of God. The Scriptures shall be interpreted according to their normal grammatical-historical meaning. The King James Version of the Bible shall be the official and only translation used by the church. (Psalm 12:6-7; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21)


The Godhead

We believe in one triune God, eternally existing in three persons-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit-each co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, coequal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections. (Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; John 14:10, 26; 2 Cor. 13:14)


The Person and Work of Christ

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men. (Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-2, 14; 2 Cor. 5:19-21; Gal. 4:4-5; Phil. 2:5-8)We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and, that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead. (Acts 2:18-36; Rom. 3:24-25; Eph. 1:7; 1 Pet. 2:24; 1 Peter 1:3-5)We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate. (Acts 1:9-10; Rom. 8:34; Heb. 9:24; 7:25; 1 John 2:1-2)


The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and, that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption. (John 16:8-11; Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:12-14; 2 Cor. 3:6; Eph. 1:13-14)We believe that He is the divine Teacher who assists believers to understand and appropriate the Scriptures and that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit. (Eph. 1:17-18; 5:18; 1 John 2:20, 27)We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowal of spiritual gifts to every believer. God uniquely uses evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip believers in the assembly in order that they can do the work of the ministry. (Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Cor. 12:4-11, 28; Eph. 4:7-12)


The Fall of Man

We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God; but that in Adam's sin the human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God. Man is depraved and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition. However, man's depravity does not mean that he has no free will of accepting Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour. Depravity lies in the fact that he cannot save himself. (Gen. 1:26-27; Rom. 3:22-23; 5:12; 6:23; 10:9-13; Eph. 2:1-3; 4:17-19; Tit. 3:5)


Salvation

We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins. We believe that all sins, except blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, are forgivable. (Matt. 12:31-32; John 1:12; Eph. 1:7; 2:8-10; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; 1 John 1:9)We believe that God's desire is for all of mankind to be saved, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for the sins of the whole world. Nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth, but his own inherent depravity and voluntary rejection of the Gospel of Christ. (John 3:16; 6:37; Tit. 2:11; 2 Pet. 3:9, 1 John 2:1-2)We believe that Salvation is a free gift to man, that it is plus nothing, minus nothing. The condition of salvation is Repentance and Faith. (Mark 1:15; Luke 12:8; 18:13, Acts 2:37-38; 20:21; Rom. 6:23; 10:9-13; Eph. 2:8-9; Tit. 3:5)
The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers

We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God's power and are thus secure in Christ forever. (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Rom. 8:1; 38-39; 1 Cor. 1:4-8; 1 Pet. 1:4-5)We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God's Word, which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh. (Rom. 13:13-14; Gal. 5:13; Titus 2:11-15)


The Church

We believe that the church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is solely made up of born-again persons. (1 Cor. 12:12-14; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 1:22-23; 5:25-27)We believe that the local church is an organized group of baptized believers who have voluntarily joined themselves together to carry out the Great Commission. (Matt. 28;19; Acts 2:41, 47; 5:14; 11:24) We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures, and it is the churches duty to start other local churches. (Acts 14:27; 20:17, 28-32; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11)We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority or control. (Acts 13:1-4; 15:19-31; 20:28; Rom. 16:1, 4; 1 Cor. 3:9, 16; 5:4-7, 13; 1 Pet. 5:1-4)We recognize water baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper as the Scriptural ordinances of obedience for the church in this age. (Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; 8:36-38; 1 Cor. 11:23-26)


Separation

We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord. God commands His people to separate from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices, and associations, and to refrain from all immodest and immoderate appearances, piercings, and bodily markings. (Lev. 19:28; Rom. 12:1-2; 14:13; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; 1 John 2:15-17; 2 John 9-11)We believe that Separation is a true mark of a fundamental Baptist. That Separation identifies those that are living holy lives before the Lord, and is a line of separation itself. Those that are not separated in personal and Ecclesiastical separation are to be separated from. Believers are to not only live separated from the lost, but from believers who are living in disobedience, which includes not being separate in their walk. To the disobedient believer, separating from them is a design from God to bring them to repentance of their sin. The Brethren are to separate from them, but not count them as an enemy, but admonish them as brethren. (Rom. 12:1-2; 16:17; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1; 2 Thess.3:6,14-15; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; 1 John 4:1)


The Second Advent of Christ

We believe in that blessed hope, the personal, imminent return of Christ, Who will rapture His church prior to the seven-year tribulation period. At the end of the Tribulation, Christ will personally and visibly return with His saints, to establish His earthly Messianic Kingdom which was promised to the nation of Israel. (Ps. 89:3-4; Dan. 2:31-45; Zech. 14:4-11; 1 Thess. 1:10, 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; Rev. 3:10; 19:11-16; 20:1-6)


The Eternal State

We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment. (Matt. 25:46; John 5:28, 29; 11:25-26; Rev. 20:5-6, 12-13)We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord. (Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; 3:21; 1 Thess. 4:16-17; Rev. 20:4-6)We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious punishment and torment in Hell until the second resurrection, when with soul and body reunited, they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment and torment. (Matt. 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; 2 Thess. 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Rev. 20:11-15)


The Personality of Satan

We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the cause of the Fall of Man; that he was once holy, and enjoyed heavenly honors; but through pride and ambition to be as the Almighty, fell and drew after him a host of angels; that he is now the malignant prince of the power of the air, and the unholy god of this world; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man, man's great tempter, the accuser of the saints, the author of all false religions, the chief power back of the present apostasy; the lord of the antichrist, and the author of all the power of darkness; and that he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire. (Job 1:6-7; Isa. 14:12-17; Ezek. 28:14-17; Matt. 4:2-11; 13:39; 25:41; Mark 13:21-22; Luke 22:3-4; John 14:30; 2 Cor. 11:13-15; Eph. 2:2; 1 Thess. 3:5; 2 Thess. 2:8-11; 1 Peter 5:8; 2 Peter 2:4; 1 John 2:22; Jude 6; Rev. 12:7-9; 13:13-14; 19:11,16,20; 20:1-3, 10)


Creation

We believe that God created the universe in six literal, 24-hour periods. We reject evolution, the Gap Theory, the Day-Age Theory, and Theistic Evolution as unscriptural theories of origin. (Gen. 1-2; Ex. 20:11)


Civil Government

We believe that God has ordained and created all authority consisting of three basic institutions: 1) the home, 2) the church, and 3) the state. Every person is subject to these authorities, but all (including the authorities themselves) are answerable to God and governed by His Word. God has given each institution specific Biblical responsibilities and balanced those responsibilities with the understanding that no institution has the right to infringe upon the local church.