ARTICLE FOUR – The Doctrinal Basis
(1)The Holy Scriptures.
We believe the Bible is the verbally inspired Word of God, His revelation to man, inerrant in the original writings, and is, therefore, the supreme and final authority in all matters of doctrine, faith, and life. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
(2) The Trinity of the God-Head.
We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19)
(3) The Pre-existence, Deity, and Incarnation of Jesus Christ.
We believe that Jesus Christ ever existed with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and that in His incarnation, He was begotten by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and is true God and true man. (John 1:1-19; and 1 Timothy 3:16)
(4) The Creation of Man.
We believe that God created man and woman in His own image and that God has ordained marriage, consisting of one man and one woman, to be the foundation of the family and to be the only Biblical expression of sexuality. (Gen. 2:21-24)
(5) The Fall of Man.
We believe that man sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death which is separation from God and eternal punishment in the lake of fire, and that all human beings are born with a sinful nature, are totally depraved and become sinners in thought, word, and deed, and that they must be born again to be accepted of God. (Rev. 20:15; Romans 5:12; Romans 3:10; 3:23; John 3:1-21)
(6) The Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ.
We believe Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice and that all who believe in Him are justified on the grounds of His shed blood. We believe He arose bodily from the dead on the third day in the same body He suffered and died in. We also believe that our Lord ascended into Heaven; He is now seated at the Father’s right hand and is our High Priest and Divine Advocate with the Father. We believe that by His finished work of the Cross and His unceasing ministry of intercession in Glory, that Jesus Christ has procured for every believer Eternal Redemption, Eternal Salvation, and Everlasting Life. (1 Cor. 15:3-4; Romans 5:9; John 20:27; Mark 16:19; Heb. 7:25 & 8:1; 1 John 2:1; Heb. 9:12; Heb. 5:9; John 3:16)
(7) The personality and ministry of the Holy Spirit.
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person, that He convicts the world of sin, of righteousness and judgment, that He regenerates the sinner by the Word of God, that He permanently indwells the body of each believer, that He seals, enlightens, instructs, and guides every born again person, and that He is the efficient power for godly living, Christian service, and spiritual worship. We believe He is the Divine Teacher who guides believers into all truth and that it is the privilege and duty of all saved to be filled with the Spirit. (John 16:7-15; John 3:5-7; 1 Peter 1:23; Eph. 4:30; John 14: 16, 17 & 26; 1 Cor. 2:9-11; Heb. 2:4; John 16:13; 1 John 2:20, 27; Eph. 5:18).
(8) The Nature of the Church.
We believe that the Church of Jesus Christ is composed solely of born again people who have been called out from among the Jews and Gentiles to become the Body and Bride of our Lord. Christ glorified in Heaven is its Head, and the Holy Spirit on earth is the active agent of the God-head who ever seeks to bring about within its ranks conformity and obedience to the Word of God and the Will of God. The one body unites believers to each other, and all to Christ; its chief purpose of existence is to evangelize the world and complete itself through the winning of lost souls to Christ. (Romans 1:16; Romans 8:28-30; Acts 15:14; Eph. 5:23-32; Eph. 1:4-14; 1 Cor. 12:12-13; 2 Cor. 5:18-21.)
(9) The Christian Ordinances.
We believe that Christians are commanded to observe two ordinances: Water Baptism and Communion Service. While recognizing that Water Baptism has no saving merit, it is our conviction that after one is saved, Baptism is the next step in order to portray to the world the believer’s union with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. It is our conviction that the scriptural method of Water Baptism is immersion. We believe Jesus Christ instituted the Communion Service to commemorate His death until He comes. We further believe that Water Baptism by immersion is observed but only once, and it is a sign of identification and a testimony to newness of life. The Communion Service is commemorative and is to be observed often as a memorial of the Broken Body and the Shed Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ till He comes. (Romans 6:4; Col. 2:9-13; 1 Cor. 11:23-33.)
(10) Our Lord’s Second Advent.
We believe in the imminent return of Christ for His church and a literal future millennial kingdom. (Titus 2:13; 1 Thess. 4:13-17; John 14:3; Revelation 19:11-21; Revelation 20:1-6.)
(11) The Intermediate State.
We believe that those who die in Christ before the resurrection of the dead are absent from the body and consciously present with the Lord in bliss. Those who die apart from Christ before the resurrection of the dead are in conscious torment. (2 Corinthians 5:8; Luke 23:43; Luke 16:19-31)
(12) The Resurrection of the Dead.
We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just at the Rapture (1 Thess. 4:16-17; 1 Cor. 15:51-57) and of the unjust at the end of time. (Rev. 20:11-15; John 5:28-29)
(13) The Eternal State of the Saved and the Lost.
We believe in a Heaven and a Hell. Heaven is the place of eternal joy for all who receive Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Hell is the place of eternal conscious punishment in the Lake of Fire for all who reject Jesus Christ and die in their sin. (John 14:1-6; Psalm 16:11; Phil. 1:21 & 23; Psalm 9:17; 2 Thess. 1:7-9; Rev. 20:10-15; Col 3:4; Eph. 2:6-7)
(14) The Personality of Satan.
We believe that Satan is a personal being, a fallen angel, prince of demons, the god of this age, the great enticer and deceiver, the adversary of Christ and His People, whose end is the Lake of Fire. (Isaiah 14:12- 15; Ezekiel 28:12-19; 2 Cor. 4:3-4; 1 Peter 5:8; Rev. 12:9-10; Matthew 25:41; Rev. 20:10)
(15) Separation and Sanctification.
We believe that the Scriptures clearly teach nonconformity to the world for every believer; that born again people should be separated from the world unto Christ; that it is clearly commanded of God to all believers to live lives of separation from all worldly and sinful practices and to be holy as He is holy. We believe that positional sanctification occurs at the moment of regeneration and that practical sanctification is to be progressive throughout the entire lifespan of a believer here on earth. God’s provision for holy living is in the believer’s identification with Christ in His death, resurrection, and ascension; the indwelling person and power of the Holy Spirit and the believer’s yieldedness to Him; and by the powerful Word of God. (Col. 3:1-4; 2 Cor. 6:14-17; Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 1:14-16; Col. 1:13; Heb. 10:1 & 14; 2 Cor. 7:1; 2 Cor. 3:18; 2 Peter 3:18; Romans 6:1-14; Eph. 1:15, 2:6; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; Gal. 5:16-23; John 17:17; Heb. 4:12; Eph. 5:25-27)