ARTICLES OF FAITH

I.    THE SCRIPTURES

            We believe that the Holy Bible in the original manuscripts of the sixty-six canonical books was verbally inspired of God, and the product of Spirit-controlled men. We believe that the Bible is truth in its entirety and speaks without error and with complete authority on any topic it presents. We believe the Bible to be the center of Christian fellowship and the final and supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions shall be tried.

            Matthew 5:18, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, and 2 Peter 1:19-20

II.    THE TRUE GOD

            We believe there is one and only one living and true God, an infinite Spirit, the Maker and Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth; 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 Ghost, equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.

            Exodus 20:2-3, 1 Corinthians 8:6, Revelation 4:11, and 1 John 5:7

III.    JESUS CHRIST

            We believe the whole substance and strength of the Christian Faith centers in Jesus Christ, who in the beginning was, who was with God, and who is God. We believe that all things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. We believe that in Him was and is and shall be life eternal. We believe that Jesus, the preexistent Son of God, was begotten of the Holy Ghost in a miraculous manner, born of Mary, a virgin, as no other man was ever born or can ever be born of a woman, and that He is both the Son of God and God the Son. In thus being born of a woman, Jesus Christ became humanity’s son by a human birth. We believe Jesus Christ to have been tempted in all points like we are, and yet without sin. We believe the miracles of Christ were literally accomplished as revealed in the Scriptures, the proper insignia of His royalty and divinity. We believe that He died for our sins, was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. We believe this man, the Lord Jesus Christ, because He ever lives, has an unchangeable priesthood, wherefore He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever lives to make intercession for them.

John 1:1-4, Matthew 1:18-25, John 1:14, Acts 13:23, Romans 1:3, Galatians 4:4, Hebrews 4:15, Acts 2:22-24, 1 Corinthians 14:1-4, and Hebrews 7:24-25

IV.    THE HOLY SPIRIT

            We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature; that He was active in the 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, righteousness, and of judgment; He is the agent in the New Birth; that He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies and helps the believer.

  John 14:16-17, Matthew 23:19, Hebrews 9:14, John 14:26, Luke 1:35, Genesis 1:1-3, John 16:8-11, Acts 5:30-32, John 3:4-6, Ephesians 1:13-14, Mark 1:8, John 1:33, Acts 11:16, Luke 24:49, and Romans 8:14, 16, 26, & 27

V.    SATAN

            We believe in the personality of Satan, that he is the unholy god of this age, the open and declared enemy of God and man, and the author of all the powers of darkness, and is destined to the judgment of eternal justice in the lake of fire.

            Matthew 4:1-11, 2 Corinthians 4:4, and Revelation 20:10

VI.    CREATION

            We accept the Genesis account of Creation in six consecutive, literal, twenty-four hour days and believe that man came by direct creation of God and not by evolution.

             Genesis 1 & 2, Colossians 1:16-17, and John 1:3

VII.    FALL OF MAN

            We believe that man, in the person of the first Adam, was created in innocence but by voluntary transgression fell into sin thus plunging the whole human race into condemnation and death, so that now all mankind is born in sin and shaped in iniquity and become willful sinners with first expression of personal choice not by constraint, but by choice and are so without excuse before God.

             Genesis 3, Romans 5:10-19, Romans 1:18 & 32, and Psalm 51:5

VIII.    ATONEMENT FOR SIN

            We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace; through the mediatorial offices of the Son of God, who by the appointment of the Father, freely took upon Him our nature, yet without sin, honored the Divine Law by His personal obedience, and by His death made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins; that His atonement consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was a voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner’s place, the Just dying for the unjust; Christ, as Lord, bearing our sin in His own body on the tree; that having risen from the dead, He is now enthroned in heaven, and uniting in His wonderful person the tenderest sympathies with divine perfection, He is in every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate and an all-sufficient Savior.

            Ephesians 2:8, Acts 15:11, Romans 3:24-25, John 3:16, Matthew 18:11, Philippians 2:7, Hebrews 2:14, Isaiah 53:4-7, 1 John 4:10, 1 Corinthians 15:3, 2 Corinthians 5:21, and 1 Peter 3:18

IX.    THE NEW BIRTH

            We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be born again, that the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus, that it is instantaneous and not a process; that in the new birth the one dead in trespasses and in sins is made a partaker of the divine nature and received eternal life, the free gift of God; that the new creation is brought about in a manner above our comprehension, solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with Scripture so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the Gospel; that its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance and faith and newness of life.

             John 3:3, John 3:6-8, 2 Corinthians 5:17-19, 1 John 5:1, Acts 16:30-33, 2 Peter 1:4, Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:1, and Colossians 2:13

X.    JUSTIFICATION

            We believe that the great gospel blessing which Christ secures to such as believe in Him is justification.

             A. That justification includes the pardon of sin and the gift of eternal life on principles of righteousness, the end result being, “Just as if I’d never sinned.”

             B. That it is bestowed not in consideration of any works of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in the Redeemer’s blood, His righteousness is imputed to us.

             Romans 4:24-25, Isaiah 53:11, and Zechariah 13:1

XI.    FAITH AND SALVATION

            We believe that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation.

             Acts 16:31, John 3:16 & 36, John 5:24, and Ephesians 2:8-9

XII.    THE LOCAL CHURCH

            We believe that a local church is an organized congregation of immersed believers associated by a covenant of faith and 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 officers are pastors and deacons whose qualifications, claims, and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures. We believe the true mission of the church is the faithful witnessing of Christ to all men as we have opportunity. We hold that the local church has the absolute right of self-government free from interference of any hierarchy or individuals or organizations and that the one and only superintendent is Christ through the Holy Spirit; that it is Scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the Gospel; that each local church is the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation; on all matters of membership, of policy, of government, of discipline, and of benevolence, the will of the local church is final.

             Acts 2:41-43, 1 Corinthians 11:2, Ephesians 1:22-23, Ephesians 4:11-12, Acts 20:17-28, 1 Timothy 3:1-6, and Colossians 1:18

XIII.    BAPTISM AND THE LORD’S SUPPER

            We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of the believer in water to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, with its testimony of our death to sin and resurrection to a new life, and that it is prerequisite to the privileges of a church relation. We believe that the Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of His death until He comes and should be preceded always by solemn self-examination.

            Acts 8:26-40, John 3:23, Romans 6:3-5, Matthew 3:16, Colossians 2:12, and 1 Corinthians 11:23-28

XIV.    SECURITY OF THE SAINTS

            We believe that all who are truly born again are kept by God the Father for Jesus Christ.

            John 10:28-29, Romans 8:35-39, 1 Peter 1:3-6, and Jude 1

XV.    THE RIGHTEOUS AND WICKED

            We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that only such as through faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and sanctified by the Spirit of our God are truly righteous in His esteem; while all such as continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked, and under the curse; and this distinction holds among men both in and after death, in the everlasting happiness of the saved, and in the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost.

            Romans 6:17-18, 1 John 5:19, Romans 6:23, Proverbs 14:23, Matthew 25:24-41, John 8:21, and Psalms 1:6

XVI.    CIVIL GOVERNMENT

            We believe that the civil government is of divine appointment for the interests and good order of human society; that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored, and obeyed except in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only Lord of the conscience and the coming Lord of Lords and King of Kings.

            Romans 13:7, 2 Samuel 23:3, Exodus 18:21-22, Acts 23:5, Matthew 22:21, Acts 5:29, Acts 4:19-20, Daniel 3:17-18, 1 Peter 2:13-18, and Revelation 17:14

XVII.    THE FAMILY

             We believe that marriage was divinely ordained to be the lifelong and exclusive union of one man and one woman, and we affirm that the Scriptures command that sexual intimacy be reserved for this Biblical marital relationship alone, condemning all other forms as sexual immorality.

            Genesis 2:24, Leviticus 18:6-20, and Romans 1:26-27

            We believe that God created both male and female, and that He designed gender distinctions between men and women, including the Biblically-defined and distinctive roles of husband and wife. Since gender distinctions are rooted in divine order, changing or disguising one’s inherited sex (and correlated gender) reflective of this order transgresses God’s design.

            Genesis 1:26, 27

XVIII.    THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST

            We believe that Jesus Christ arose from the dead physically in a literal body of flesh and bone. A belief in the resurrection of Christ is essential to one’s salvation.  After His resurrection, Christ ministered to the disciples for forty days and appeared unto many. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the Father’s right hand.

             Luke 24:39-40; Romans 10:9; 1 Corinthians 15:17; 1 Corinthians 15:4-8; Acts 1:4; Mark 16:19; Luke 24:51; Acts 1:9-11; Hebrews 10:12, 12:2

XIX.    THE HEAVENLY MINISTRY OF CHRIST

            We believe that Christ in His heavenly ministry is our High Priest and helper. He pleads our case before God and serves as the only mediator between God and man.

            Hebrews 5:9-10; Hebrews 2:17; Hebrews 4:14; 1 John 2:1; Hebrews 7:24; Hebrews 8:6; 1 Timothy 2:5

XX.    THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH

            We believe in the return of Christ for His saints before the tribulation, at which time the dead saints shall be raised, and we shall be changed. Following the rapture we will give account of our service and receive our rewards.

            1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 2 Thessalonians 2:6-8, John 14:3, Hebrews 9:28, James 5:8, 1 John 3:1-3, Philippians 3:20-21, and 1 Corinthians 15:51-53, 3:12-15

XXI.    THE MILLENIAL REIGN OF CHRIST

            We believe Scripture reveals that the Lord will come at the end of the tribulation period, in power and great glory. He shall set up a world-wide rulership of absolute authority and righteousness with saints, and every knee shall bow.

            Matthew 24:29-30; Revelation 19:11-14; Revelation 10:4, 19:15, Hebrews 10:12-13, 1 Corinthians 15:25, and Philippians 2:9-11