What We Teach

  1. The Doctrine of Scripture

    We believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration by God of all sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments as originally written. Thus the Bible is without error and our only authority for faith and practice. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21; John 17:17; Luke 6:46)

  2. The Doctrine of God

    a. The Trinity—We believe in one God who exists in three distinct persons who are co-equal and co-eternal: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God is one in relation to nature (essence and attributes) and three in relation to persons. (Genesis 1:26; Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19)

    b. The Father—We believe that God is the Father of all those who trust in Him. As our Father, He presently indwells us, answers our prayers, forgives our sins, chastens us, and is the giver of every good and perfect gift. (1 John 3:1-2; John 14:23, 16:23; 1 John 1:9; Hebrews 12:5-15; James 1:17)

  3. The Doctrine of Christ

    We believe that Jesus Christ is co-eternal and co-equal with the Father; that He was God manifest in the flesh, His humanity being conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin; that, being sinless, He died for our sins and rose bodily from the dead; and that He ascended to heaven where He is now our advocate and Great High Preist. (John 5:18; Philippians 2:6; 1 Timothy 3:16; Matthew 1:20-25; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Corinthians 15:1-6; 1 John 2:1; Hebrews 4:14)

  4. The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit

    We believe that the Holy Spirit is co-equal and co-eternal with the Father; that He convicts and regenerates the believer; that He baptizes, seals, indwells all believers at the point of salvation; and that He fills, teaches, and guides all obedient Christians. (Matthew 28:19; John 16:7-11, 3:1-7; Galatians 3:26-27; Ephesians 1:13; Romans 8:9; Ephesians 5:18; John 14:26, 16:13)

  5. The Doctrine of Angels

    a. The Holy Angels—We believe that there is an innumerable host of personal, spirit beings, who were created by God and who minister to God and believers. (Hebrews 12:22; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:14; Revelation 5:11-13)

    b. The Fallen Angels—We believe that Satan and the demons are created, spirit beings who have sinned against God, who are actively working against Christ and believers, and who will ultimately be cast into the eternal Lake of Fire. (Ezekiel 28:14-15; Revelation 12:4; Ephesians 6:12; Matthew 25:41)

  6. The Doctrine of Creation and Man

    We believe that the whole universe, including man, was created by a direct act of God and not by evolution; and that man was created in the image and likeness of God. (Genesis 1)

  7. The Doctrine of Sin

    We believe that all men are totally depraved and without the ability in themselves to come to God. As sinners, they are enemies of God, separated from God, children of Satan, under condemnation, and without excuse. (John 6:44; Romans 3:9-12; Colossians 1:21; Ephesians 2:1-3; John 8:44, 3:18; Romans 1:18-23)

  8. The Doctrine of Salvation

    We believe that salvation is by grace through faith and not of works. All three members of the Trinity are involved in our salvation. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

    a. God the Father planned it as He sovereignly chose some, apart from any foreseen human merit or response, to be recipients of His grace from before the foundation of the world. God’s election does not negate man’s responsibility to believe, the Christian’s responsibility to freely offer the gospel to every person, or the fact that God desires the salvation of all men. (John 1:12-13, 6:37, 6:44, 6:65; Acts 13:48; Ephesians 1:3-5; 1 Timothy 1:9, 2:3-4)

    b. God the Son provided it by His substitutionary death for our sins and His resurrection from the dead. As a result, God has been propitiated and the believer is redeemed and reconciled. (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 3:25; Ephesians 1:7; 2 Corinthians 5:18-21)

    c. God the Holy Spirit applies it by convicting men of sin, by giving them faith to believe, and by causing them to be born again. (John 16:7-11; Ephesians 2:8-9; John 3:1-7)

    Since salvation is by grace, it is impossible for any believer to lose his salvation. (John 10:27-29; Ephesians 1:13-14; 1 Peter 1:3-5; Romans 8:35-39)

  9. The Doctrine of the Church

    a. The Universal Church—We believe that the Universal Church, the Body of Christ, is comprised of all believers from the day of Pentecost to the Rapture. At the point of salvation, every believer was baptized into the Body of Christ and received spiritual gifts for service. (Acts 1:5, 2:33-47; 1 Corinthians 12:11-13)

    b. The Local Church—The Local Church is an organized group of baptized believers in a particular place who meet to observe the ordinances, to worship God, to edify the saints, and to fulfill the Great Commission. The ordinances are Baptism by single immersion and the Lord’s Supper, both of which are symbolical. Every believer is responsible to use his spiritual gifts to edify the Body of Christ. (Acts 2:41-42, 8:35-39; 1 Corinthians 11:23-34; Ephesians 4:11-16)

  10. The Doctrine of Future Events

    We believe that the Rapture of the Church is imminent and Pretribulational and that after the Tribulation, Christ will return to the earth to reign over all nations for 1,000 years. The Church will be judged after the Rapture; Israel will be judged at the end of the Tribulation; and all unsaved men will be resurrected after the Millennium and cast into the eternal Lake of Fire. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:29-31; Revelation 20:1-6; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Ezekiel 20:37-38; Revelation 20:7-15)