Scripture (Bible)

We believe the Scriptures contained in the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally inspired word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible, and God-breathed. We also believe that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the central theme of the Scriptures and is the key for understanding all of the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments. 

God

We believe that there is one true and living God, eternally existing in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The three persons of this “trinity” are co-eternal in being, co-eternal in nature, co-equal in power and glory, having the same attributes and perfections. We believe that God is both the creator and sustainer of the heavens and the earth (spiritual and physical universe). All of creation was made to give glory to God. We believe that God is the sovereign ruler of all things, spiritual and physical, and so ordains and governs all things, including the existence of galaxies, the forces of nature, the establishment of human rulers, the events of nations, and the secret acts of solitary persons. God sovereignly rules all things according to His own eternal wisdom and for the ultimate purpose to glorify Himself. 

Jesus Christ

We believe that Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, identified with mankind by becoming a 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 man. We believe that Jesus Christ accomplished the redemption of man through His sinless life on earth and His death on the cross as man’s representative. His death was a vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice, that satisfied God’s just and wrathful punishment for the sinful man. Also, our redemption is made sure by Jesus’ literal, physical resurrection from the dead. Jesus’ substitutionary death and subsequent resurrection are the only means of providing reconciliation, justification, propitiation, redemption, sanctification, and glorification of man. We believe that Jesus Christ ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God the Father where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry as Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate. We believe in the imminent return of Jesus Christ, personally and visibly, who is coming again to judge the living and the dead and to establish His kingdom in the new heavens and the new earth. 

Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is an eternal part of the Godhead, who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He is the supernatural agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption We believe that the Holy Spirit works progressively to transform genuine believers into the image of Christ. The Holy Spirit empowers believers for worship, witness, and service. In addition, the indwelling Holy Spirit gives supernatural fruit and gifts for the building up of the Body of Christ (the church) and for the effective witness of the Gospel to the world. 

Humanity

We believe that mankind was created, male and female, in the image and likeness of God, with the purpose to enjoy a relationship with God and to give glory to God in everything. We believe that through Adam’s sin the whole human race fell into condemnation and judgment, and inherited a sinful nature that pervades all aspects of who we are and what we do. This sinful nature and subsequent acts of sin are essentially prideful rebellion against God. This resulted in every person’s ongoing conflict with and alienation from God, their true self, other people, and the physical world (nature). We believe that, in their sinful state, every person is totally depraved, completely unable to change their lost condition, resolve the conflict, or heal the alienation that permeates and plagues their life.

Salvation

We believe that a person is “saved” (rescued) from the just condemnation and wrathful punishment of God, reconciled to God, given the righteousness of Christ, and delivered from the bondage of sin solely through the gift of God brought to them by grace and received by personal repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. All aspects of salvation are provided for and result from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe that the divine act of regeneration precedes the human act of faith. If God does not change a person’s heart and draw them to Himself, they are incapable of coming to God. We believe that Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and humanity. There is no other god, person, religion, or philosophy by which a person, any person, can be “saved”. 

Security and Assurance of Believers

We believe that all true believers in Christ, saved by the power of the Gospel, are kept by the same power of God and are thus secure in Christ forever. God does not change His mind. Nor can a true believer sin in such a way that is not covered by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word and the evidence of growth in holiness in their life. 

Church

We believe that the “church” is the divine gathering of believers in the Gospel of Christ in joint worship, service, and mission. We believe that the Biblical metaphors of the church as the Body of Christ and the Bride of Christ, point to the unity, diversity, intentionality, love, and devotion that are to characterize the gathering of true believers in Christ. We believe in the one “universal church”, which is composed of all those, in every time and place, who are chosen in Christ and united in Christ through repentance and faith. We believe that the “local church” is the expression of God’s universal church in a specific time, place, and culture. We believe that each local church should be autonomous and responsible to function according to Biblical integrity and faithfulness to the Gospel of Christ. We believe that it is God’s design that all believers in Christ submit to and participate in the life of a local church. Involvement in a local community of believers is an essential means by which all believers draw closer to God; grow in spiritual, relational, and personal health; and bear witness to the redeeming love of God in Christ to a lost world. 

Baptism

We believe that water baptism is an act of obedience to Christ’s command by which those who have repented and come to faith express their union with Christ in His death and resurrection by being immersed in water. It signifies that their former way of life has been put to death and depicts their release from the mastery of sin. Baptism is also a public testimony to a person’s now belonging to the people of God. 

Lord’s Supper (Communion) 

We believe that the Lord’s Supper is an ordinance that symbolizes the breaking of Christ’s body and the shedding of his blood on the believer’s behalf, and is to be observed repeatedly as a sign of continued participation in the atoning benefits of Christ’s death. As we partake of the Lord’s Supper in the context of a local church, it is to be done with an attitude of faith and self-examination, trusting in the ongoing grace provided in the death of Christ, and signifying our unity with other members of Christ’s body.