Doctrinal Beliefs

The Bible

We believe the Bible to be the revealed Word of God, fully and verbally inspired of God. We believe the Scriptures are the inerrant, infallible Word of God as found within 66 books, from Genesis to Revelation. We believe God not only inspired every word but has preserved His Word through the ages. We believe the King James Version is the preserved Word of God for English-speaking people (Psalm 12:6-7; II Timothy 3:15-17; I Peter 1:23-25; II Peter 1:19-21).

God

We believe in one God, eternal, self-existent, infinite, and immutable. We believe He has one nature, one essence, and one substance, yet manifests Himself in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Deuteronomy 6:4; I Timothy 1:17; James 1:17; I John 4:4).

God the Son

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one and only Son of God and Savior of all mankind. He is eternally God, possessing all the attributes of Deity. We believe that Jesus was born of a virgin as God incarnate. The purpose of the incarnation was to reveal God, to redeem mankind, and to rule over God’s kingdom. We believe Jesus Christ never relinquished any attributes of His Deity, but merely veiled them. We believe He lived a perfect, sinless life and was offered for all mankind as a substitutionary sacrifice for our sin, providing a just payment to God for the forgiveness of sin at the moment of His death, made evident by the shedding of His blood on the Cross.  Christ’s sacrifice was accepted by God upon His resurrection. We believe He ascended into Heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father, waiting to receive His church at the Rapture, and returning seven years later to rule and reign on earth as King for 1,000 years (Psalm 2:7-9; Isaiah 7:14, 9:6, 43:11; Micah 5:2; Matthew 1:25; Luke 1:26-35; John 1:1, 1:3, 14, 18, 29; Romans 3:19-25; Romans 5:6-15; Philippians 2:5-11; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Timothy 2:5; I Timothy 3:16; Titus 2:10-15; Hebrews 7:26, 9:24-28; I Peter 1:19, 2:2; I John 1:3; Revelation 20:1-6).

God the Holy Spirit

We believe the Holy Spirit of God is a person with a personality and all the attributes of Deity. We believe the Holy Spirit has always been involved in the affairs of mankind. However, He has a special ministry which began at Pentecost and will continue until the Rapture. This ministry includes convicting the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. The Holy Spirit was also sent to regenerate, sanctify, seal, and fill all who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ (John 3:5-6; John 14:16; Acts 1:5; Acts 11:15; I Corinthians 3:16; I Corinthians 6:19-20; I Corinthians 12:13).

Sin and Salvation

We believe all mankind is born with a sin nature inherited from Adam. We believe that because of our nature we are sinners by choice, totally incapable of reform or of ceasing from sin by our own power. We believe our only hope of deliverance is a total change of mind concerning our sinful condition and turning to Jesus Christ as our only Savior.
We believe that only through the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ on the Cross can we be delivered from our sin. We believe that all those who reject Jesus Christ as their Savior are condemned to an eternity in the Lake of Fire (Genesis 5:1-5; Acts 4:19; Acts 16:31; Romans 3:10-23; Romans 5:6-12; Romans 6:23; Romans 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-6; Revelation 20:11-14).

The Church

We believe the church was formed with the calling out of the twelve apostles by Jesus Christ and became functional on the day of Pentecost through the Holy Spirit’s empowering. We believe the local church is God’s only institution to carry out His work today. We believe the local church is comprised of members who have been saved and baptized according to the command of Christ and have voluntarily united together for the purposes of worship, fellowship, service, and communion at the Lord’s Table. We believe all true believers will be “caught up”, just prior to the Tribulation (Matthew 16:16-18; Acts 1:15; Acts 2:41-43; Acts 11:15; Acts 20:28; I Corinthians 15: 51-58; Ephesians 1:12-14; Ephesians 5:25-30; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Timothy 3:4-15).

The End Times

We believe in the literal interpretation of the Scriptures in their grammatical and historical context. Thus, we believe in the pre-tribulation Rapture of the church saints, followed by a seven-year period of Tribulation. We believe in the pre-millennial return of Christ and His literal rule of one thousand years on earth. A Great White Throne judgment follows this thousand-year period after which a new Heaven and new Earth is established (I Corinthians 15:51-58; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Thessalonians 5:1-9; Revelation 19-22).