1. Scriptures

We believe that the Scriptures (containing the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament) are without error and that they alone govern every aspect of life with absolute authority. This Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to all people. All Scripture is a testimony to Jesus Christ.

  2. God

There is one God. He is infinite, eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful, personal, and perfect in holiness, truth and love. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature or being.

 God the Father

God the Father is the all-knowing, all-loving, and all-wise Creator of heaven and earth. By His word and for the praise of His glory, He freely and supernaturally created the world out of nothing. Through the same word, He reigns with sovereign sustaining care over everything, at all times, according to the purposes of His grace. He desires for all people to live in fellowship with Him, but God is Father only to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ; however, He is fatherly in His attitude toward all people.

 God the Son

Jesus Christ, the one and only Son of God, is the fulfillment of God’s promised plan of redemption throughout the Old Testament. He is the eternal Word made flesh, supernaturally conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary. He is fully God and fully man, perfect in nature, in teaching, and in obedience to the Law even as He took on human nature with its demands and necessities. He is the image of the invisible God, the authority over all creation, and in Him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Through Him all things came into being and were created. In Him all things hold together by the word of His power. He is the only Savior for the sins of the world, and through His shed blood and substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of people from sin. On the third day, He rose bodily from the grave; then, after forty days, He ascended into heaven where, exalted at God’s right hand, He is the One Mediator who intercedes for His people and rules as Lord over all. One day He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to complete His redemptive mission.

 God the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment, and through illumination He enables people to understand the truths of God. Through the proclamation of the gospel, He calls people to the Savior Jesus Christ and leads them to trust in divine mercy. The Holy Spirit brings about the new birth, unites believers to Jesus Christ in faith, dwells within those who are born again, seals the believer unto the day of final redemption, and empowers the believer to obey God’s Word. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He will lead the church into a right understanding and growing application of the truth of God’s Word. He comforts believers and gives the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. The Holy Spirit has come to glorify the Son Who, in turn, came to glorify the Father.

3. Man*

God made man – male and female – in His own image, as the crown of creation so that man might glorify Him through enjoying fellowship with Him. Tempted by Satan, man chose to rebel against God by disobeying Him and thus fell from his original innocence. Being now separated from his Maker yet responsible to Him, he became subject to divine wrath, brought the effects of sin into the world, and, apart from a special work of grace, is incapable of returning to God. Man’s resulting sinful nature corrupts his mind, will and affections. Unregenerate man has been given over to and lives under the dominion of sin and Satan and is at enmity with God. Fallen, sinful people, whatever their character or attainments, are lost and without hope apart from salvation in Jesus Christ alone.

(*Scripture often uses the term “man” to represent the entire human race. This sense is intended here.)

4. The Gospel

The gospel is the good news that the just and gracious God of the universe looked upon hopelessly sinful people and sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, to live a perfectly sinless life, to bear God’s wrath for mankind’s sin through His substitutionary death on the cross, and to show His power over sin and death in His resurrection from the grave, so that all who trust in Jesus Christ and confess Him as Lord and Savior will be reconciled to God forever.

 5. Salvation

Salvation is the rescue from the guilt and the consequence of our sin, which is receiving God’s wrath for all eternity in hell. In the good news of the gospel, salvation is offered as a free gift to all who trust in Jesus Christ and confess Him as Lord and Savior. By shedding His own blood on the cross Jesus Christ brought salvation, which revealed divine love, upheld divine justice, removed our guilt, and reconciled us to God. By His resurrection He earned victory over death and the powers of sin and darkness in order to give us a living hope. There is no salvation from sin apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ.

 Salvation in its broadest sense includes election, regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification:

 Election

Election is God’s sovereign, gracious choice, from before the foundation of the world, of some persons unto eternal life. According to that choice they are also called, justified, and glorified. This choice is not because of any foreseen merit in them but of God’s mere mercy in Christ. Election is ultimately for His own pleasure and is the glorious display of His sovereign goodness, thus it excludes human boasting and promotes humility. Election does not contradict or negate a person’s responsibility to trust in Christ alone for salvation, which leads us to sincerely preach the gospel of grace to all people in all nations.

Regeneration

Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God's grace whereby a person believes in and becomes a new creation in Christ Jesus. It is a conversion of heart fashioned by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner is awakened to respond in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

  Justification

Justification is God’s gracious and full declaration of righteousness for all sinners who trust in Christ; it cannot be earned. In justification, the believer’s sin—past, present, and future—is forgiven and Christ’s righteousness is counted as his or her own. It reconciles the believer into a relationship of peace and favor with God, adopted as His child.

  Sanctification

While standing perfectly righteous in Christ, sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God's purposes, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him or her. Growth in Christlikeness should continue throughout the regenerate person's life, and all believers are exhorted to persevere in the faith.

  Glorification

Glorification is the completion of salvation in the presence of God, where believers are delivered from the very presence of sin and are completely and finally sanctified.

 6. Perseverance of the Saints

All the redeemed—those whom God has justified in Christ and sanctified by His Spirit—will never fall away from salvation but shall persevere to the end. These saints may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their fellowship with God, bring disgrace on the cause of Christ, lose eternal rewards, and suffer the earthly consequences of their sin; yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. It is the privilege of true believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, which, however, forbids the use of Christian liberty as an excuse for sinful and irresponsible living.

 7. The Church

A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local body of baptized believers, associated by covenant* in the faith and fellowship of the gospel. The church is to observe the two ordinances of Christ and to equip its members to exercise the gifts and the power of the Holy Spirit to love each other and to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each church operates under the Lordship of Christ and His Word, and each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. The church’s scriptural offices are elders and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of elder or pastor is limited to men that meet the qualifications in Scripture. The New Testament speaks also of the Church as the Body of Christ including all of the redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation.

 8. The Ordinances of the Church: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper

Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is a one-time act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior—the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby followers of Christ memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine. This ordinance symbolizes the breaking of Christ’s body and the shedding of His blood on our behalf, and it is to be observed repeatedly throughout the Christian life.

 9. The Family

God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption. God’s exclusive model for marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique gift to illustrate the union between Christ and His Church. Marriage provides the framework for intimate companionship, sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race; and it is God’s foundation for the family. The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God's image, but He has ordained complementary roles for each. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the Church. A wife is to submit herself to the leadership of her husband. Also, God has called some to singleness, either by choice or circumstances beyond their control, and we encourage them to follow the Lord in all godliness and sexual purity. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate and teach their children God's pattern for life and are to be their primary spiritual influencers. Children are to honor and obey their parents.

 10. The Kingdom

The Kingdom of God includes both His general sovereignty and authority over the universe and His particular kingship over a people and its society who willfully acknowledge Him as King. Particularly the Kingdom regards the realm of salvation into which people enter by trustful, childlike commitment to the resurrected Jesus Christ as King. The Church ought to pray and to labor that the Kingdom may come and God’s will be done on earth—for the good of others and the world. The full completion of the Kingdom awaits the return of Jesus Christ and the end of this age.

11. Last Things

God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; souls will be reunited with bodies; and Christ will judge all people in righteousness. Those not clothed in the righteousness of Christ will be thrown into the place of everlasting and continual destruction (hell), away from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His might. Those clothed in the righteousness of Christ, in their resurrected and glorified bodies, will receive their reward and will dwell forever in the new heavens and the new earth with the Lord.

Scripture References:

(ff. means “and following”)

 Scriptures

Exodus 24:4; Deuteronomy 4:1–2; Psalm 19:7–11; 119:89,105,151; Matthew 5:17–18; Luke 24:44–46; John 5:39; 17:17; Acts 2:16ff.; 17:11; Romans 15:4; 16:25–26; 2 Timothy 3:15–17; Titus 1:9; Hebrews 1:1–3; 4:12–13; 2 Peter 1:19–21.

 God the Father

Genesis 1:1; 2:7; Exodus 3:14; 6:2–3; 15:11ff.; 20:1ff.; Leviticus 22:2; Deuteronomy 6:4; 32:6; 1 Chronicles 29:10–11; Psalm 19:1–3; Isaiah 43:3,15; 64:8; Jeremiah 10:10; 17:13; Matthew 6:9ff.; 7:11; 23:9; 28:19; Mark 1:9–11; John 4:24; 5:26; 14:6–13; 17:1–8; Acts 1:7; Romans 8:14–15; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 4:6; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 11:6; 12:9; 1 Peter 1:17; 1 John 5:7.

 God the Son

Genesis 18:1ff.; Psalms 2:7ff.; 110:1ff.; Isaiah 7:14; 53; Matthew 1:18–23; 3:17; 8:29; 11:27; 14:33; 16:16,27; 17:5; 27; 28:1–6,19; Mark 1:1; 3:11; Luke 1:35; 4:41; 22:70; 24:46; John 1:1–18,29; 10:30,38; 11:25–27; 12:44–50; 14:7–11; 16:15–16,28; 17:1–5, 21–22; 20:1–20,28; Acts 1:9; 2:22–24; 7:55–56; 9:4–5,20; Romans 1:3–4; 3:23–26; 5:6–21; 8:1–3,34; 10:4; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2:2; 8:6; 15:1–8,24–28; 2 Corinthians 5:19–21; 8:9; Galatians 4:4–5; Ephesians 1:20; 3:11; 4:7–10; Philippians 2:5–11; Colossians 1:13–22; 2:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:14–18; 1 Timothy 2:5–6; 3:16; Titus 2:13–14; Hebrews 1:1–3; 4:14–15; 7:14–28; 9:11–15,24–28; 12:2; 13:8; 1 Peter 2:21–25; 3:22; 1 John 1:7–9; 3:2; 4:14–15; 5:9; 2 John 7–9; Revelation 1:13–16; 5:9–14; 12:10–11; 13:8; 19:16.

 God the Holy Spirit

Genesis 1:2; Judges 14:6; Job 26:13; Psalms 51:11; 139:7ff.; Isaiah 61:1–3; Joel 2:28–32; Matthew 1:18; 3:16; 4:1; 12:28–32; 28:19; Mark 1:10,12; Luke 1:35; 4:1,18–19; 11:13; 12:12; 24:49; John 4:24; 14:16–17,26; 15:26; 16:7–14; Acts 1:8; 2:1–4,38; 4:31; 5:3; 6:3; 7:55; 8:17,39; 10:44; 13:2; 15:28; 16:6; 19:1–6; Romans 8:9–11,14–16,26–27; 1 Corinthians 2:10–14; 3:16; 12:3–11,13; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:13–14; 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; 1 Timothy 3:16; 4:1; 2 Timothy 1:14; 3:16; Hebrews 9:8,14; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 John 4:13; 5:6–7; Revelation 1:10; 22:17.

 Man

Genesis 1:26–30; 2:5,7,18–22; 3; 9:6; Psalms 1; 8:3–6; 32:1–5; 51:5; Isaiah 6:5; Jeremiah 17:5; Matthew 16:26; Acts 17:26–31; Romans 1:19–32; 3:10–18,23; 5:6,12,19; 6:6; 7:14–25; 8:14–18,29; 1 Corinthians 1:21–31; 15:19,21–22; Ephesians 2:1–22; Colossians 1:21–22; 3:9–11.

 The Gospel

Isaiah 43:6–7; John 3:14–16; 10:27–30; Romans 1:16–25; 2:1–16; 3:9–26; 4:22–25; 5:6–10,18; 6:11–14,23; 8:1–4,10–11; 10:9–15; 1 Corinthians 15:1–4; Ephesians 2:8–9; 1 Timothy 1:16–17; Hebrews 9:12; 1 John 5:11–13.

 Salvation

Genesis 1; 3:15; 12:1–3; Exodus 3:14–17; 6:2–8; 19:5–8; 1 Samuel 8:4–7,19–22; Isaiah 5:1–7; 55:6–9; Jeremiah 31:31ff.; Matthew 1:21; 4:17; 16:18–26; 21:28–45; 24:22,31; 25:34; 27:22–28:6; Luke 1:68–79; 2:28–32; 19:41–44; 24:44–48; John 1:11–14,29; 3:3–21,36; 5:24; 6:44–45,65; 10:9,27–29; 15:1–16; 17:6,12,17–18; Acts 2:21; 4:12; 15:11; 16:30–31; 17:30–31; 20:32; Romans 1:16–18; 2:4; 3:23–25; 4:3ff.; 5:8–10; 6:1–23; 8:1–18,28–39; 9; 10:9–15; 11:5–7,26–36; 13:11–14; 1 Corinthians 1:1–2,18,27–30; 6:19–20; 15:10,24–28,42–44; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 5:1–8,17–21; Galatians 2:20; 3:13; 5:22–25; 6:15; Ephesians 1:4–23; 2:1–22; 3:1–11; 4:11–16;  Philippians 1:6; 2:12–13; Colossians 1:9–22; 3:1ff.; 1 Thessalonians 5:23–24; 2 Thessalonians 2:13–14; 2 Timothy 1:12; 2:10,19; Titus 2:11–14; Hebrews 2:1–3; 5:8–9; 9:24–28; 11:1–12:8,14; James 1:12; 2:14–26; 1 Peter 1:2–23; 2:4–10; 3:18; 1 John 1:6–2:11,19; 3:2; Revelation 3:20;

21:1–22:5.

 Perseverance of the Saints

Genesis 12:1–3; Exodus 19:5–8; Joshua 1:5; 1 Samuel 8:4–7,19–22; Psalm 37:23–24,28,31; 51; Proverbs 2:8; Isaiah 5:1–7; 43:6; 59:1–2; Jeremiah 31:31ff.; 32:40–41; Matthew 16:18–19; 21:28–45; 24:22,31; 25:34; Luke 1:68–79; 2:29–32; 24:44–49; John 1:12–14; 3:16; 5:24; 6:37–40,44–45,65; 10:27–30; 15:16; 17:6,12,17–18; Acts 20:32; Romans 5:9–10; 6:1–22; 8:1,28–39; 10:12–15; 11:5–7,26–36; 13:13–14; 1 Corinthians 1:1–2,4–9; 3:10–15; 15:24–28; Galatians 5:13,25–26; Ephesians 1:4–23; 2:1–10; 3:1–11,4:30; Colossians 1:12–14; 2 Thessalonians 2:13–14; 2 Timothy 1:12; 2:10,19; Titus 2:11–14; Hebrews 6:11–12; 7:25; 10:35; 11:39–12:2; 13:5; James 1:12; 1 Peter 1:2–5,13; 2:4–10; 1 John 1:7–9; 2:19; 3:2; Jude 24.

 The Church

Matthew 16:15–19; 18:15–20; Acts 2:41–42,47; 5:11–14; 6:3–6; 13:1–3; 14:23,27; 15:1–30; 16:5; 20:28;  Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 3:16; 5:4–5; 7:17; 9:13–14; 12; Ephesians 1:22–23; 2:19–22; 3:8–11,21; 4:11–16; 5:22–32; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 2:9–14; 3:1–15; 4:14; Titus 1:5–9; Hebrews 11:39–40; 1 Peter 5:1–4; Revelation 2–3; 21:2–3.

 The Ordinances of the Church: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper

Matthew 3:13–17, 26:26–30, 28:19–20; Mark 1:9–11, 14:22–26; Luke 3:21–22, 22:19–20; John 3:23; Acts 2:41–42, 8:35–39, 16:30–33, 20:7; Romans 6:3–5; 1 Corinthians 10:16,21, 11:23–29; Galatians 3:27; Colossians 2:12.

 The Family

Genesis 1:26–28; 2:15–25; 3:1–20; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 6:4–9; Joshua 24:15; 1 Samuel 1:26–28; Psalms 51:5; 78:1–8; 127; 128; 139:13–18; Proverbs 1:8; 5:15–22; 6:20–22; 12:4; 13:24; 14:1; 17:6; 18:22; 22:6,15; 23:13–14; 24:3; 29:15,17; 31:10–31; Song of Solomon 1–8; Ecclesiastes 4:9–12; 9:9; Malachi 2:14–16; Matthew 5:31–32; 18:2–5; 19:3–9; Mark 10:6–12; Luke 1:41–42; Acts 21:9; Romans 1:18–32; 1 Corinthians 7:1–16,27–29,32; Ephesians 5:21–33; 6:1–4; Colossians 3:18–21; 1 Timothy 5:8,14; 2 Timothy 1:3–5; Titus 2:3–5; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 3:1–7.

 The Kingdom

Genesis 1:1; Isaiah 9:6–7; Jeremiah 23:5–6; Matthew 3:2; 4:8–10,23; 5:20; 6:10,33; 7:21; 12:25–28; 13:1–52; 25:31–46; 26:29; Mark 1:14–15; 9:1; Luke 4:43; 8:1; 9:2; 12:31–32; 17:20–21; 22:24–30; 23:42; John 3:3; 18:36; Acts 1:6–7; 17:22–31; Romans 5:17; 8:19; 1 Corinthians 15:24–28; Colossians 1:13; Hebrews 11:10,16; 12:28; 1 Peter 2:4–10; 4:13; Revelation 1:6,9; 5:10; 11:15; 21–22.

 Last Things

Isaiah 2:4; 11:9; 61:10; Zechariah 3:3–5; Matthew 16:27; 18:8–9; 19:28; 24:27,30,36,44; 25:31–46; 26:64; Mark 8:38; 9:43–48; Luke 12:40–48; 16:19–26; 17:22–37; 21:27–28; John 14:1–3; Acts 1:11; 17:31; Romans 10:3; 14:10; 1 Corinthians 3:11–15; 4:5; 15:24–28,35–58; 2 Corinthians 5:10,21; Philippians 3:20–21; Colossians 1:5; 3:4; 1 Thessalonians 4:14–18; 5:1ff.; 2 Thessalonians 1:7ff.; 2; 1 Timothy 6:14; 2 Timothy 4:1,8; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 9:27–28; James 5:8; 2 Peter 3:7ff.; 1 John 2:28; 3:2; Jude 14–16; Revelation 1:18; 3:11; 20:1–22:13.