The Bible
We believe the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, is a divine revelation. The original manuscripts were verbally inspired by the Holy Spirit. This divine, authoritative, inerrant, inspiration extends equally and fully to all parts of all 66 books as they appeared in the original manuscripts. God has supernaturally preserved the Bible and it is the sole and final authority for belief and practice. (2 Tim 3:16-17; 2 Pet 1:20-21)
God
We believe God is a person who has eternally revealed Himself as a trinity in unity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit – three persons and yet one God. Each member of the Trinity has precisely the same nature, attributes and perfections, and is worthy of precisely the same worship. (Dt 6:4; Mt 28:19; Jn 1:1,14 ; 10:30; I Co 8:6; 2 Co 13:14).
God the Father
We believe God the Father is the first person of the Trinity and is the eternal, unchanging, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-wise, all-loving, completely just and perfectly holy, sovereign Ruler and Sustainer of the universe. He is the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the Father of all true believers (Gen. 1:1; Eph. 4:6; Jn. 1:12-
13; 5:19-21; 17:1-5; Isa.40:21-28; 43:10-13;46:8- 11; Ro.8:14-16).
God the Son
We believe Jesus, the eternal Son of God, is Himself God. He came into this world that He might manifest God to humankind and be their redeemer. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. He received a human body and a sinless human nature. He was fully God and fully man. He was the “God-Man.” He diedon the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice for the sin of the whole world. He arose from the dead in the body in which He was crucified. He ascended into heaven in that body glorified, where He is now our interceding high priest. He will come to earth again personally and visibly to set up His kingdom and to judge the living and the dead. (Colossians 1:15; Philippians 2:5-8; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 24; Hebrews 4:14-16; 7:25; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18; Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 11:15-17; 20:4-6, 11-15.)
God the Holy Spirit
We believe the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity Who specially came into the world on the day of Pentecost to glorify Christ and to enable men to appropriate the salvation wrought by Christ. He is the primary agent for the conviction of sin and for regeneration. Simultaneously with salvation, the Holy Spirit imparts new life, baptizes the believer into the body of Christ (His church), permanently indwells the believer, and securely seals the believer unto the day of redemption. The Holy Spirit fills (controls) those believers who are yielded to Him, enables believers to bear fruit, and empowers believers to live a life free from sin’s dominion. We also believe the Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to believers for the purpose of edifying the church in accordance with the teachings of scripture (1 Co. 13:8; 14:22; Jn. 16:7-15; 1 Co. 6:19; 12:13; Eph. 1:13-14; 4:30; Gal. 5:16-17, 22-23; Ro. 8:5-13; 1 Pe. 4:10-11; Ro. 12:3-8).
Humankind
We believe human beings were originally created in the image of God and after the likeness of God. However, they fell into sin and as a consequence of that sin, lost their spiritual life, became dead in those sins and came under the power of the devil. This spiritual death, or total depravity of human nature, is the condition of all humankind. The retribution of human beings in this state, wicked and non-believing, is conscious and everlasting. (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:17; 6:5; Psalm 14:1-3; 51:5; Jeremiah 17:9; John 3:6; 5:40; 6:35; Romans 3:10-23; 8:6-7; Ephesians 2:1-3; 1 Timothy 5:6; 1 John 3:8) (Ge. 1:26; 2:6,17; 3:17-24; Isa. 59:1-2; Ro. 3:9-19, 23; 5:6-8; Lk. 18:26-27; Eph.2.1-3).
Satan
We believe Satan is a real spirit being, not simply the personification of evil. He is a fallen angel who is the instigator of evil. Under the sovereign permission of God he has been given temporary rulership of the earth. He was utterly defeated at the cross, but the execution of his judgment has been postponed by God until after the Millennial Kingdom when he will be cast into the eternal lake of fire. In the meantime, he deceives the world and seeks to establish his counterfeit kingdom on earth to discredit and blaspheme God and to tempt, accuse, attack and destroy believers. He can be resisted by the believer through faith and reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit (Ge. 3: 1-5; Isa. 14:12-17; Eze. 28:11-19 ; Job 1-2; 1 Jn. 5:19; 2 Co. 11:14; 1 Ti. 3:6; 1 Pe. 5:8-9; Jas. 4:7; Rev. 12:9; 20:1-3, 7-10).
Salvation
We believe unless a person is born again, they cannot see the kingdom of God. Salvation is by grace through faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Repentance is a vital part of believing, and is in no way, in itself, a separate and independent condition of salvation; nor are any other acts, such as baptism, prayer, or faithful service, to be added to believing as a condition of salvation. The reward of those who have been born again of the Spirit, the righteous and believing, is conscious and everlasting. (Matthew 25:46; John 1:12; 3:3, 16-18, 36; 5:24; 6:29; Acts 13:38-39; 4:12; 16:31; Romans 1:16-17; 3:22, 26; 4:5; 10:4; 2 Corinthians 5:1; Galatians 3:22; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-17.) (Eph. 1:7, 13-14; Jn. 1:12-13; 3:1-7, 14-16; 2 Co. 5:17; Ro 1:16; 10:9-10; Eph 2:8-10 ; Ro 8:14-17, 31-39; Jn 10:27-29 ; 14:6; Ac 26:20; 1 Pe 1:3-5).
The Church
We believe the Church is an elect assembly of believers baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit indwells each believer. All who have believed in our Lord Jesus Christ for salvation are part of the church which is the body of Christ. Being members one of another, we have been called to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, rising above all differences, loving one another with a pure heart fervently. The church began at Pentecost. Its mission is to witness concerning its head, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The church is to preach the gospel among all nations. The church will be caught up to meet our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the air when He appears in the clouds. (Matthew 16:16-18; 28:19-20; Acts 1:6- 8; 2:41-47; 15:13-17; Romans 8:9; 12:5; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Ephesians 1:3-6, 20-23; 4:3-10; Colossians 3:14-15; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 earth (Ac. 1:8; 1 Co. 12:12-27; Eph. 1:20-23; 4:1-6, 4:12-16; Mt. 28:18-20; Jn. 17; Col. 1:24-29).
The Ordinances
We believe the only two ordinances of the church recognized by Scripture are water baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Water baptism by immersion is an act of obedience following salvation which symbolically pictures the believer’s death to sin, burial of the old life, and resurrection to new life. The Lord’s Supper celebrates fellowship and communion with Christ, symbolically commemorates His death, and anticipates His second coming (Mt. 28: 19; Ac. 10:47-48; Lk. 22:19-20; 1 Co. 11:23-28; Ro.6:3-4).
The Eternal Destiny of Mankind
We believe at death every believer consciously and immediately enters into the presence and fellowship of the Lord to wait for the physical resurrection and glorification of his body at Christ’s return. The believer will thus enjoy life eternal with God – fellowshipping, serving and worshipping Him forever (2 Co. 5:6; 1 Co. 15: 12-58; Lk. 23:39-43; 1 Th. 4:13-18; Jn. 3: 16; Rev. 21-22). We believe at death every non-believer consciously and immediately enters into separation from the Lord to wait for the physical resurrection of his body to everlasting condemnation, judgment and punishment (Lk. 16:19-31; Jn. 3:18, 36; Rev. 20:5, 11-15; 2 Th. 1:5-10).
Future Things
We believe the next prophetic event will be the rapture of the Church when the Lord Jesus Christ will return in the air to receive unto Himself all Church Age believers (Jn. 14:1-3; Tit. 2:11-14; 1 Co. 15:51-52; 1 Th. 4:13-18; Php. 3:20-21 ). The rapture of the Church will be followed by the seven-year Great Tribulation period in fulfillment of Dan. 9:24-27 and as described in Rev. 6:1-19:21 during which Israel will be purified, the whole world tested, and the wrath of God poured out against sin (Jer. 30:7; Mt. 24; Rev. 3:10; 1 Th. 5:9-11). We believe at the end of the Great Tribulation the Lord Jesus Christ in His second coming will personally and physically return to the earth just as He ascended with great power and glory to execute judgment and usher in the Millennial Kingdom, during which He will reign on earth for 1000 years with righteousness, justice and peace to fulfill God’s covenant promise to Israel (Ac. 1:8-11; Rev. 19: 11-21; Eze. 37:21-28 ; Isa. 11:9; Rev. 20:1-6). We believe the 1000-year reign of Christ on earth will be followed by the final judgment of Satan when he is cast into the lake of fire forever; the Great White Throne Judgment and bodily resurrection for unbelievers; the creation of a new heaven and new earth; and the eternal state (Re 20-22; 2 Pe 3:1-14).
