What We Believe
As disciples dedicated to following Christ Jesus, there are certain tenets
that we hold fast - unashamed and unwaivering.
THE SCRIPTURES
The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is
the record of God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of
divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and
truth, without any mixture or error, for its matter. It reveals the principles
by which God judges us; and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the
world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which
all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. The
criterion by which the Bible is to be interpreted is Jesus Christ.
GOD
There is one and only one living and true God. He is an
intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver,
and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other
perfections. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The
eternal God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with
distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or
being.
God the Father
God as Father reigns with providential care over His
universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according
to the purpose of His grace. He is all powerful, all loving, and all wise. God
is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus
Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men.
God the Son
Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus
Christ, he was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin
Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself the
demands and necessities of human nature, and identifying Himself completely
with mankind, yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal
obedience, and in His death on the cross He made provision for the redemption
of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body, and
appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His
crucifixion. He ascended into Heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of
God where He is the One Mediator, partaking of the nature of God and of man,
and in whose Person is effect the reconciliation between God and man. He will
return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemption
mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever-present Lord.
God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. He inspired holy men of
old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand
the truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts of sin, of righteousness, and of
judgment. He calls men to the Savior, and effects regeneration. He cultivates
Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by
which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of
final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the assurance of God to
bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens
and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.
MAN
Man was created by the special act of God, in His own image,
and is the crowning work of His creation. In the beginning, man was innocent of
sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice,
man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation
of Satan, man transgressed the command of God and fell from his original
innocence; whereby, his posterity inherits a nature and an environment inclined
toward sin, and as soon as they are capable of moral action, become
transgressors, and are under condemnation. Only the grace of God can bring man
into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God.
The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His
own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore, every man possesses
dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.
SALVATION
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is
offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His
own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense,
salvation includes regeneration, sanctification, and glorification.
Regeneration
Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God’s grace,
whereby, believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of
heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner
responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace.
Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the acceptance of
Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Savior.
Justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His
righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. Justification
brings the believer into a relationship of peace and favor with God.
Sanctification
Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration,
by which the believer is set apart to God’s purposes, and is enabled to
progress toward moral and spiritual perfection through the presence and power
of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. Growth in grace should continue throughout
the regenerate person’s life.
Glorification
Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the
final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed.
GOD’S PURPOSE OF GRACE
Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which
He regenerates, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the
free agency of man, and comprehends all the means in connection with the end.
It is a glorious display of God’s sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise,
holy and unchangeable. It excludes boasting and promotes humility.
All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has
accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the
state of grace, but shall persevere to the end. Believers may fall into sin
through neglect and temptation, whereby, they grieve the Spirit, impair their
graces and comforts, bring reproach on the cause of Christ, and temporal
judgments on themselves, yet they shall be kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation.
THE CHURCH
A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a local
body of baptized believers who are associated by covenant in the faith and
fellowship of the gospel, observing the two ordinances of Christ, committed to
His teachings, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in the by
His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. The New
Testament speaks also of the church as the body of Christ, which includes all
of the redeemed of all the ages.
BAPTISM AND THE LORD’S SUPPER
Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in
the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience
symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the
believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to
walk in the newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in
the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is a
prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper.
The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience, whereby,
members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the
vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.
THE LORD’S DAY
The first day of the week is the Lord’s Day. It is a
Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of
Christ from the dead and should be employed in exercises of worship and
spiritual devotion, both public and private, and by refraining from worldly
amusements, and resting from secular employments, work of necessity and mercy
only being excepted.
THE KINGDOM
The Kingdom of God
includes both His general sovereignty over the universe and His particular
kingship over men who willfully acknowledge Him as King. Particularly, the
Kingdom is the realm of salvation into which men enter by trustful, childlike
commitment to Jesus Christ. Christians ought to pray and labor that the Kingdom
may come and God’s will be done on earth. The full consummation of the Kingdom
awaits the return of Jesus Christ and the end of this age.
LAST THINGS
God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the
world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will
return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised;
and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be
consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous, in their
resurrected and glorified bodies, will receive their reward and will dwell
forever in Heaven with the Lord.
EVANGELISM AND MISSIONS
It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and
of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all
nations. The new birth of man's spirit by God's Holy Spirit means the birth of
love for others. Missionary effort on the part of all rests thus upon a
spiritual necessity of the regenerate life, and is expressly and repeatedly
commanded in the teachings of Christ. It is the duty of every child of God to
seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by personal effort and by all other
methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ.
STEWARDSHIP
God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual;
all that we have and are we owe to Him. Christians are therefore under
obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions; and
should recognize all these as entrusted to them for use for the glory of God and
for helping others. According to Scriptures, Christians should contribute of
their means cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and
liberally for the advancement of the Redeemer's cause on earth