Doctrinal Statement

A.  Each member of this church shall agree with the following doctrines of the Faith:

1.  The Holy Scriptures

The Bible is the verbally inspired infallible Word of God which has been written by godly men divinely appointed and carried along by the Holy Spirit.  It is the supreme authority in all matters.

2. The Godhead

God is triune; eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The three persons are co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and have the same attributes and perfections.

3. The Person and Work of Christ

The Lord Jesus Chris is the eternal Son of God.  He became man without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful man.

 

He lived a sinless life.  He performed miracles.  He voluntarily died on the cross and shed His blood as vicarious atoning sacrifice for sin.

 

He was physically resurrected from the dead.  He ascended to heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God as the High Priest and advocate of the believers.

4.  The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, off righteousness, and of judgment.  He is the supernatural agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them until the day of redemption.

 

He is the divine Teacher who guides believers into all truth.  He fills believers who are fully yielded to Him.

 

5. The Spiritual Condition of Mankind

Man was created in the image of God without sin.  When the first man Adam sinned, all mankind sinned in him, and thus condemnation and death passed upon all men.

 

Consequently, all men are by nature children of disobedience and wrath, are spiritually dead, separated from God by reason of sin, in need of reconciliation with God, and spiritually lost.  The total nature of man is corrupt, and of himself, man is utterly unable to remedy his lost condition.

 

6. Salvation

Salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace.  It is received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Man's works play no part in tne attaining of salvation, but are rather, an evidence of saving faith.

7. The Believer and Sin

Although believers are those who have renounced sin, they need to reckon themselves dead to sin because they still have a sin nature and are still susceptible to sin.  But believers need not sin for God has provided a means of victory through faith in the Lord Jesus Chris, the blood of Christ, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

 

Believers do not, and cannot live in uninterrupted practice of sin.  The consequences of sin in a believer's life is not condemnation but chastening.

 

8. Separation

The believer's walk should be separate from the world, should not be conformed to this world, and should deny worldly lusts.  Believers should also separate themselves from spiritual apostasy and error.

9. Missions

Believers are witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ in the world and have the responsibility to participate in the program of preaching the Gospel to every creature.

10. The Church

The church is composed of those who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ; that is, those who are saved, born-again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

The word "church" in the Scriptures is many times used in a universal sense to refer to all believers, and more often in a limited sense to refer to believers in a given locality.

11. Satan

Satan, also called the devil, is a person, the author of sin, the cause of the fall of man.  He is the enemy of God and the adversary of God's people.  He is a liar, a deceiver, and a tempter.  His final destiny shall be eternal torment in the lake of fire.

12.  Second Coming

There will be a literal second coming to earth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

13. The Eternal State

All men shall experience bodily resurrection and judgment.  The final destiny of the saved is eternal life in the presence of the Lord, and of the unsaved, eternal conscious shame and condemnation in the Lake of fire.

B. Each member of this church shall agree that nothing contrary to the following doctrines shall be taught by this church:

 

1. The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers

Those who are saved are given eternal life and shall never perish.  They are kept by God's power and thus are secure in Christ forever, for they cannot be removed from His protecting hand.  This assurance of eternal security cannot be used as an excuse for sin in the life of a believer.

2. Spiritual Gifts

God gives a spiritual gift or gifts to every believer.  These gifts are diverse and God distributes them to each believer as it pleases Him, as is appropriate to each one, and exclusive of any merit on their part.

 

The gifts are given for the benefit and service of others as a demonstration of the manifold grace of God.  God never regrets having given it.  Spiritual gifts are worthless if not administered with love.

         Tongues

The gift of tongues is not a spiritual gift that any or all believers should expect or be expected to experience.

 

Therefore, since all believers are baptized by the Spirit and all believers are commanded to be filled with the Spirit, speaking in tongues cannot be a sign of either activity of the Holy Spirit, and is indeed, not a sign to believers at all.

 

3. The Coming of Christ

All believers, living and dead, shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air before the great tribulation that is coming upon the earth.

 

The date of the Lord's coming is unknown, therefore believers should always live in readiness for that event.  following the "rapture" and the great tribulation, the Lord Jesus Christ shall return to the earth with the believers and shall establish His millennial kingdom.

 

4. Ordinances       

Every believer should be baptized by immersion as a testimony of his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Every believer should participate in the celebration of the Lord's Supper, the elements of which are symbols of the broken body and the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

 

C.  This church does not undervalue or set aside any doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures that is not mentioned in this Article, but does recognize that an agreement concerning doctrines that have been described is important to the effective working out of its aims.