Statement of Faith:
The Word of God
We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men supernaturally inspired and that it has truth without any admixture of error for its matter; and therefore is, and shall remain to the end of the age, the only complete and final revelation of the will of God to man; the true center of Christian union and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions should be tried.
The Triune God
We believe that there is one, and only one, living and true God, and infinite, intelligent Spirit, and the maker and supreme ruler of heaven and earth, inexpressibly glorious in holiness and worthy of all possible honor, confidence and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.
The Work of the Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature; that He was active in the creation; that in His relation to the unbelieving world He restrains the evil one until God’s purpose is fulfilled; that He convicts of sin, of judgment, and of righteousness; that He bears witness to the Truth of the Gospel in preaching and testimony; that He is the agent in the New Birth; that He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies, and helps the believer.
Creation
We believe in the Genesis account of creation, and that it is to be accepted literally, and not allegorically or figuratively; that man was created directly in God’s own image and after His own likeness; that man’s creation was not a matter of evolution or evolutionary changes of species, or development through interminable periods of time from lower to higher forms; that all animal and vegetable life was made directly, and God’s established law was that they should bring forth only “after their kind.”
Original Sin
We believe that man was created in innocence under the law of His maker, but by voluntary transgression fell from his sinless and happy state, in consequence of which all mankind are now sinners, not by constraint, but of choice and therefore under just condemnation without defense or excuse.
The Virgin Birth
We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten of the Holy Ghost in a miraculous manner; born of Mary, a virgin, as no other man was ever or can ever be born of woman; and that He is the Son of God, and God the Son.
Atonement for Sin
We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace. Through His office as our mediator, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, by the appointment of the Father, freely took upon Himself our nature, yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and by His death made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins. His atonement consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was the voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner’s place, the Just dying for the unjust, Christ, the Lord, bearing our sins in His own body on the tree. Having risen from the dead, He is now enthroned in heaven and uniting in His wonderful person the most tender compassion with divine perfection. He is in every way qualified to be a suitable, compassionate and all-sufficient Savior.
Regeneration/Salvation
We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be born again; that the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus; that it is instantaneous and not a process; that in the new birth the dead in trespasses and in sins are made partakers of the divine nature and receive eternal life, the free gift of God. This new creation is brought about in a manner above our comprehension, not by culture, not by character, nor by the will of man, but wholly and solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the gospel. Evidence of regeneration appears in the holy fruits of repentance and faith and newness of life.
Repentance and Faith
We believe that Repentance and Faith are solemn obligations, and also inseparable graces, wrought in our souls by the quickening Spirit of God; thereby, being deeply convicted of our guilt, danger, helplessness, and of the way of salvation by Christ, we turn to God with unfeigned contrition, confession, and supplication for mercy; at the same time heartily receiving the Lord Jesus Christ and openly confessing Him as our only and all-sufficient Savoir.
Eternal Security
We believe that such only are real believers as endure unto the end, that their persevering attachment to Christ is the grand mark which distinguishes them from superficial professors, that a special Providence watches over their welfare, and that they are kept by the power of God through faith unto eternal salvation.
The Church
We believe that a church of Christ is a congregation of baptized believers associated together by a covenant of faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the ordinances of our Savior; governed by His laws; and exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word. Its officers of ordination are pastors or elders and deacons whose qualification, claims, and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures.
Autonomy of the Church
We hold that the local church has the absolute right of self-government, free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals organizations; and that the one and only superintendent is Christ through the Holy Spirit. It is Scriptural for churches to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and the furtherance of the gospel. Each church is the sole judge of the measure and methods of its cooperation and on all matters of membership, of policy, of government, of discipline, of benevolence. The will of the local church is final. We also believe that a congregation of believers has liberty to follow God’s direction apart from the supervision or mandates of any denominational or hierarchical structures.
Ordinances of the Church
We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion in water of a believer in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost with the authority of the local church to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior with its effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life. It is a prerequisite to the privileges of a church membership and to the Lord’s Supper in which the members of the church, by the sacred use of the bread and the cup, are to commemorate together the dying love of Christ, preceded always by solemn self-examination.
Return of Christ
We believe in and accept the sacred Scriptures upon these subjects at their face and full value. Of the Resurrection, we believe that Christ rose bodily “the third day according to the Scriptures;” that He ascended “to the right hand of the throne of God;” that He alone is our “merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God;” “that this same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven” – bodily, personally and visibly; that the “dead in Christ shall rise first;” that the living saints “shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump;” “ That the Lord shall give unto Him the throne of His Father David;” and that “Christ shall reign a thousand years in righteousness until He hath put all enemies under His feet.”