ARTICLES OF FAITH

I. ThE SCRIPTURES

We believe in the authority and sufficiency of the Holy Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, as originally written; that it was verbally and plenarily inspired and is the product of Spirit-controlled men, and therefore is infallible and inerrant in all matters of which it speaks. We believe the Bible to be the true center of Christian unity and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creed and opinions shall be tried (II Timothy 3:16-17;  II Peter 1:19-21).

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 Spirit, equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption (Exodus 20:2-3; I Corinthians 8:6;  Revelation 4:11).

III. The Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature; that He was active in 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; of righteousness and of judgment; that He bears witness to the truth of the gospel in preaching and testimony; that 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 28:19;  Hebrews 9:14;  John 14:26;  Luke 1:35;
Genesis 1:1-3;  John 16:8-11;  Acts 5:30-32;  John 3:5-6;Ephesians 1:13-14; 
Mark 1:8;  John 1:33;  Acts 11:16;  Luke 24:49; Romans 8:14, 16, 26, 27).

IV. The Devil, or Satan

We believe the reality and personality of Satan, the Devil; and that he was created by God as an angel but through pride and rebellion became the enemy of his Creator; that he became the unholy god of this age and the ruler of all the powers of darkness and is destined to the judgment of an eternal justice in the lake of fire
(Matthew 4:1-11;  II Corinthians 4:4;  Revelation 20:10).

V. Creation

We believe the Biblical account of creation if the physical universe, angels an man; that this account is neither allegory nor myth, but a literal, historical account of the direct, immediate creative acts of God without any evolutionary process; that man was created by a direct work of God and not from previously existing forms of life; and that all men are descended from the historical Adam and Eve, first parents of the entire human race
(Genesis 1, 2; Colossians 1:16-17;  John 1:3).

VI. The Fall of Man

We believe that man was created in innocence (in the image and likeness of God) under the law of his Maker, but by voluntary transgression Adam fell from his sinless and happy estate, and all men sinned in him, in consequence of which All men are totally depraved, and partakers of Adam`s fallen nature, and are sinners by nature and by conduct, and therefore are under just condemnation without defense or excuse (Genesis 3:1-6; Romans 3:10-19, 5;12, 19, 1:18,32).

VII. The Virgin Birth

We believe that Jesus was begotten of the Holy Spirit in a miraculous manner, born of Mary, a virgin, as no other man was ever born or can be born of woman, and that He is both the Son of God and God, the Son (Genesis 3:15;  Isaiah 7:14; 
Matthew 1:18-25;  Luke 1:35;  John 1:14).

VIII. Salvation

We believe that the salvation of sinners is divinely initiated and wholly of grace through the mediatorial offices of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who, by the appointment of the Father, voluntarily took upon Himself our nature, yet without sin, and honored the divine law by His personal obedience, thus qualifying Himself to be our Savior; that by the shedding of His blood in His death He fully satisfied the just demands of a holy and righteous God regarding sin; that His sacrifice 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 the Lord bearing our sins 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, compassionate and all-sufficient Savior. We believe that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition  of salvation.  Repentance is a change of mind and integral part of saving faith (Jonah 2:9;  Ephesians 2:8; Acts 15:11; Romans 3:24-25;  John 3:16;  Matthew 18:11;
Philippians 2:7-8;  Hebrews 2:14-17;  Isaiah 53:4-7;  I John 4:10;  I Corinthians 15:3; 
II Corinthians 5:21;  I Peter 2:24).

IX. Resurrection and Priesthood of Christ

We believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ and in His ascension into Heaven, where He now sits at the right hand of the Father as our High Priest interceding for us (Matthew 28:6-7; Luke 24:39;  John 20:27; I Corinthians 15:4;  Mark 16:6; 
Luke 24:2-6, 51; Acts 1:9-11;  Revelation 3:21;  Hebrews 8:6;  12:2;  7:25;
I Timothy 2:5;  I John 2:1;  Hebrews 2:17;  5:9-10).

X. Grace and the New Birth

We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be born again; that the new birth is a creation in Christ Jesus; that 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 receives eternal life, the free gift of God; that the new creation is brought about in a manner above our sovereign God in a manner above comprehension, solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary
obedience to the gospel; that its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance, faith and newness of life (John 3:3; II Corinthians 5:17;  I John 5:1; 
Acts 16:20-33; II Peter 1:4;  Romans 6:23;  Ephesians 2:1;  Colossians 2:13;  John 3:8).

XI. Justification

We believe that justification is that judicial act of God whereby He declares
the believer righteous upon the basis of the imputed righteousness of Christ;
that it is bestowed not in consideration of any works of righteousness  which
we have done; but solely through faith in the Redeemer`s shed blood
(Romans 3:24;  4:5; 5:1, 9;  Galatians 2:16;  Philippians 3:9).

XII. Sanctification

We believe that sanctification is the divine setting apart of the believer unto God accomplished in a threefold manner; first, an eternal act of God, based upon redemption in Christ, establishing the believer in a position of holiness at the moment he trusts the Savior; second, a continuing process in the saint as the Holy Spirit
applies the Word of God to the life; third, the final accomplishment of this process at the Lord`s return (Hebrews 10:10-14;  3:1;  John 17:17;  II Corinthians 3:8;  I Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 5:25-27;  I Thessalonians 4:3, 4; 5:23-24;  I John 3:2;
Jude 24-25;  Revelation 22:11).

XIII. The Security of the Saints

We believe that all who are truly born again are kept by God the Father for Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6;  John 10:28-29;  Romans 8:35-39; Jude 1).

XIV. The Church

We believe that the local church is an organized congregation of immersed believers associated by 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 that 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 absolute right of self-government free from the interference of any hierarchy of 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, that on all members of membership,
of policy, of government, of discipline, of benevolence, the will of the local
church is final (I Corinthians 11:2;  Acts 20:17-28;  I Timothy 3:1-7; Acts 2:41-42).
We believe in the unity of all New Testament believers in the church which
is the body of Christ (I Corinthians 11:2; Colossians 1:18;
Ephesians 1:22-23;  3:1-6;  4:11;  5:23;  Acts 15:13-18).

XV. Baptism and the Lord`s Supper

We believe that Christian baptism is the single immersion of a believer in water to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our identification with the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, through Whom we died to sin and rose to a new life; that baptism is to be performed under the authority of the local church; and that  it is a prerequisite to the privileges of church membership. We believe that the Lord`s supper is the commemoration of His death until He come and should be preceded always by solemn
self-examination.  We believe that the Biblical order of the ordinances is baptism first and then the Lord`s Supper, and that participants in the Lord`s Supper should be immersed believers (Acts 8:36, 38, 39;  John 3:23;  Romans 6:3-5;  Matthew 3:16;
Colossians 2:12;  I Corinthians 11:23-28;  Matthew 28:18-20;  Acts 2:41-42).

XVI. Separation

We believe in obedience to Biblical commands to separate ourselves unto God from worldliness and ecclesiastical apostasy (II Corinthians 6:14-7:1;  I Thessalonians 1:9-10;  I Timothy 6:3-5; Romans 16:17;  II John 9-11).

XVII. Civil Government

We believe that 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 King of kings
(Romans 13:1-7; II Samuel 23:3;  Exodus 18:21-22;  Acts 13:5;
Matthew 22:21; Acts 5:29;  4:19-20;  Daniel 3:17-18).

XVIII. Israel

We believe in the sovereign selection of Israel as God`s eternal covenant people, that she is now dispersed because of her disobedience and rejection of Christ, and that she will be regathered in the Holy Land and, after completion of the Church, will be saved as a nation at the second advent of Christ
(Genesis  13:14-17;  Romans 11:1-32;  Ezekiel 37).

XIX. Rapture and Subsequent Events

We believe in the pre-millennial return of Christ, an event which can occur at any moment, and that at that moment the dead in Christ shall be glorified bodies, and the living in Christ shall be given glorified bodies without tasting death, and shall be caught
up to meet the Lord in the air before the seven years of the Tribulation
(I Thessalonians 4:13-18;  I Corinthians 15:42-44, 51- 54; 
Philippians 3:20-21;  Revelation 3:10).
We believe that the Tribulation, which follows the rapture of the Church, will be culminated by the revelation of Christ in power and great glory to sit upon the throne of David and to establish the millennial kingdom (Daniel 9:25-27;  Matthew 24:29-30;  Luke 1:30-33;  Isaiah 9:6-7;  11:1-9;  Acts 2:29-30;  Revelation 20:1-4, 6).

XX. The Righteous and the Wicked

We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that only those who are justified by faith in our 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 His curse; and this distinction holds among men both in and after death, in the everlasting felicity of the saved and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost in the lake of fire
(Malachi 3:18;  Genesis 18:23;  Romans 6:17-18;  I John5:19; Romans 7:6;  6:23;  Proverbs 14:32;  Luke 6:25;  Matthew 25:34-41; John 8:21;  Revelation 20:14, 15).