Doctrine Statement
We affirm our belief in one God, infinite Spirit, Creator, and Sustainer
of all things, who exists eternally in three Persons, God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These three are one in essence but distinct
in person and function. We affirm that the Father is the first person of the Trinity and the
source of all that God is and does. From Him the Son is eternally generated
and from Them the Spirit eternally proceeds. He is the Designer of creation,
the Speaker of revelation, the Author of redemption, and the Sovereign
of history.
We affirm that the Lord Jesus Christ is the second Person of the Trinity,
eternally begotten from the Father. He is God. He was conceived by virgin
Mary through a miracle of the Holy Spirit. He lives forever as perfect
God and perfect man: two distinct natures inseparably united in one
person.
We affirm that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity,
proceeding from the Father and the Son and equal in deity. He is the
giver of all life, active in the creating and order the universe; He
is the agent of inspiration and the new birth; He restrains sin and
Satan; He indwells and sanctifies all believers.
We affirm that all things were created by God. Angels were created
as ministering agents, though some, under the leadership of Satan, fell
from their sinless state to become agents evil. The universe was created
in six historical days and is continuously sustained by GOd; thus it
both reflects His glory and reveals His truth. Human beings were directly
created, not evolved, in the very image of God. As reasoning moral agents,
they are responsible under God for understanding and governing themselves
and the world.
We affirm that the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, though written
by men, was supernaturally inspired by God so that all its words are
the written true revelation of God; therefore inerrant in the originals
and authoritative in all matters. It is to be understood by all through
the illumination of the Holy Spirit, its meaning determined by the historical,
grammatical, and literary use of the author's language, comparing Scripture
with Scripture.
We affirm that Adam, the first man, willfully disobeyed God, bringing
sin and death into the world. As a result, all persons are sinners from
conception, which is evidenced in their willful acts of sin; and they
are therefore subject to eternal punishment, under the just condemnation
of a holy God.
We affirm that Jesus Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice by the appointment
of the Father, fulfilled the demands of God by His obedient life, died
on the cross in full substitution and payment for the sins of all, was
buried, and on the third day He arose physically and bodily from the
dead. He ascended into heaven where He now intercedes for all believers.
We affirm that each person can be saved only through the work of Jesus
Christ, through repentance of sin and by faith alone in Him as Savior.
The believer is declared righteous, born again by the Holy Spirit, turned
from sin, and assured of heaven.
We affirm that the Holy Spirit indwells all who are born again, conforming
them to the likeness of Jesus Christ. This is a process completed only
in Heaven. Every believer Is responsible to live in obedience to the
Word of God in separation from sin.
We affirm that a church is a local assembly of baptized believers,
under the discipline of the Word of God and the Lordship of Christ,
organized to carry out the commission to evangelize, to teach, and to
administer the ordinances of believer's baptism and the Lord's table.
Its offices are pastors and deacons, and it is self-governing. It functions
through the ministry of gifts given by the Holy Spirit to each believer.
We affirm that the return of Christ for all believers is imminent.
It will be followed by seven years of great tribulation, and then the
coming of Christ to establish His earthly kingdom for a thousand years.
The unsaved will then be raised and judged according to their works
and separated forever from God in hell. The saved, having been raised,
will live forever in heaven in fellowship with God.

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