Our Beliefs
(All Scripture references are from the NASB unless otherwise noted. ASV abbreviates American Standard Version 1901.)
HOLY SCRIPTURES
We believe that the Bible, both and only the Old and New Testaments, is the verbally, fully, and infallibly inspired Word of God without error in the original manuscripts and are the supreme and final authority for what to believe and how to live.
We believe in normal interpretation, that is, the literal, historical, grammatical approach to understanding the Scriptures (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pt. 1:20-21; Mt. 5:18). This method of interpretation leads us to believe that God has divided time into well-defined periods. These periods are termed “dispensations.” These dispensations are divine testing periods in which the failure of man is consistently seen. Although these dispensations span the entire history of mankind, three of them are the subject of extensive revelation in Scripture, namely, the past Dispensation of the Mosaic Law, the present Dispensation of Grace, and the future Dispensation of the Millennial Kingdom (Ex. 19-20; Is. 11:6-9; 65:19-25; 61:1-2; Cp. Lk. 4:16-21; 1 Cor. 9:17; Eph. 1:10; 3:2; 3:9, ASV; Col. 1:25; 1 Tim. 1:4, ASV; Rev. 20:1-10).
GODHEAD
We believe in one God, the Creator, who exists eternally in three equal persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who are the same in essence, but distinct in function, each possessing equally all of the attributes of deity and elements of personality, which are mind, emotions, and will (Dt. 6:4; Ps. 90:2; Mt. 28:19; Acts 5:3-4; 2 Cor. 13:14; Ti. 2:13; Rev. 1:4-6).
GOD THE FATHER
We believe in only one living and true God as the infinite, perfect, and eternal spirit. It is in Him that all things have their origin, support, and end. The Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem sinful mankind (Jn. 3:16; 4:24; Eph. 4:6; 1 Jn. 4:14; Gen. 1:1; Acts 17:28).
LORD JESUS CHRIST
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man without ceasing to be God, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful man; that He purchased our redemption through His death on the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice; and that our redemption is made sure to us by His literal bodily resurrection. He is presently exalted, seated at the right hand of the Father, and He is interceding on our behalf (Jn. 1:1-2, 14, 18; Lk. 1:35; Rm. 3:24, 25; 8:34; 1 Pt. 1:3-5; Ti. 2:14; Heb. 7:25; 10:10-14).
HOLY SPIRIT
We believe in the Holy Spirit who is the third person of the Trinity (Mt. 28:19; Acts 5:3-4). We believe that He convicts the world of sin and restrains the man of lawlessness. We believe that He regenerates, indwells, seals, and baptizes every believer in Jesus Christ and intercedes on their behalf. He also endeavors to empower, guide, and teach every believer (Jn. 3:5-8; 16:8-11; 2 Th. 2:3-6; 1 Cor. 6:19, 12:13; Eph. 3:16; 4:30; Rm. 8:9, 11, 14, 26; 2 Tim. 1:14; Ti. 3:5; 1 Jn. 2:27).
MAN
We believe in the creation and fall of man; that he was the direct creation of God, soul and body, not in any sense the product of materialistic evolution, but made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-28, 2:7, 18-24; Mt. 19:4). By disobedience to the command of God, man became a sinful creature. Adam’s descendants inherited a sin nature, are naturally separated from God, and are unable to save themselves (Gen. 3:1-7; Ps. 51:5; Gal. 3:21-22; Eph. 2:1-3, 8-9; Rm. 3:20, 23, 5:12).
SALVATION
We believe that salvation is the free gift of God brought to man by grace alone and through faith alone in Christ alone, who gave His life that we might have life (Eph. 1:7, 2:8-10; Jn. 1:12; 10:10-11).
This life does not at all depend on repentance, baptism, communion, confirmation, perseverance in the faith, or any other good work or works, and, therefore, the one who has it can never lose it and is thus eternally secure; he has eternal life.
It follows that all believers should enjoy certain knowledge of their salvation based on the promise of God alone. Nothing motivates Christian living more than this knowledge. Indeed without this knowledge it is impossible to please God (Jn. 3:16; 10:27-29; Rm. 8:31-39; Eph. 4:30; Heb. 12:28).
SATAN
We believe that Satan is a powerful fallen angel with mind, emotions, and will. We believe that he is the enemy of God and man, and the god of this present world; that he was defeated at the cross, and his eternal doom is sealed (Mt. 4:1-11; Rev. 12:9, 10, 20:10; Jn. 12:31, 16:11; 2 Cor. 4:3-4; Eph. 2:1-2; 6:12; Col. 2:15; Heb. 2:14; 1 Jn. 5:19; Rev. 12:3-17; Cf. Ez. 28:11 ff.).
THE CHURCH
We believe that the church, which is the body and bride of Christ, is composed of all believers in Jesus from Pentecost to the rapture, and is a spiritual organism and organization; that all believers of this dispensation have been baptized into this body of Christ by the Holy Spirit, and that this church is to be growing into the mature body that God wants it to become (Mt. 3:11; 16:18; Acts 1:4; 2:1-4; 11:16; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:11-16; 5:25-27; 1 Cor. 12:12-14; 14:26-33; 1 Th. 4:13-18; Heb. 10:25).
FUTURE EVENTS
We believe that the next event in God’s great prophetic program will be the personal, imminent, pre-tribulational, and pre-millennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His church, commonly known as the rapture of the church (1 Cor. 15:51-57; 1 Th. 4:13-18; 5:6, 9; 2 Th. 2:1-12; Ti. 2:13; 1 Jn. 3:2; Rev. 3:10b).
1. We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to eternal judgment and everlasting punishment (Dan. 12:2; Mt. 25:46; Jn. 5:28-29, 11:25-26; 1 Th. 4:16; Rev. 20:4-15).
2. We believe that the souls of the saved are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, awaiting the resurrection at which time the soul will be reunited with the glorified body, thus to be with Him forever (Lk. 23:43; Rev. 20:4-6; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; 3:21; 1 Th. 4:13-18).
3. We believe that after death, the souls of the unsaved remain in conscious misery until their appearance, body and soul, at the Great White Throne Judgment, after which they will be cast into the lake of fire, where there will be everlasting conscious punishment (Lk. 16:19-26; Mt. 25:41-46; 2 Th. 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Rev. 20:11-15).