The Scriptures
We believe the Bible, including the 39 books
of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament, to be the written very Word
of God. The Bible is the only essential and reliable (infallible) record of God’s speaking (self-disclosure) to mankind. It leads us to salvation through faith in Jesus
Christ. Being given by God, the Scriptures are both fully and verbally inspired
by God. Therefore, as originally given, the Bible is free of error in all it
teaches. Each book is to be interpreted according to its context and purpose
and in reverent obedience to the Lord who speaks through it in living power.
All believers are exhorted to study the Scriptures and diligently apply them to
their lives. The Scriptures are the authoritative and normative rule and guide
of all Christian life, practice, and doctrine. They are totally sufficient and
must not be added to, superseded, or changed by later tradition, extra-biblical
revelation, or worldly wisdom. Every doctrinal formulation, whether of creed,
confession, or theology must be put to the test of the full counsel of God in
Holy Scripture.
God is Triune
There is one God: infinite, eternal,
almighty, and perfect in holiness, truth, and love. In the unity of the godhead
there are three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, co-existent, co-equal,
co-eternal. The Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Holy Spirit, yet
each is truly Deity. One God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—is the foundation of
Christian faith and life.
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God the Father
God the Father is the Creator of heaven and
earth. By his Word and for his glory, he freely and supernaturally created the
world from nothing. Through the same Word he daily sustains all his creatures.
He rules over all and is the only Sovereign. His plans and purposes cannot be
thwarted. He is faithful to every promise, works all things together for good
to those who love him, and in his unfathomable grace gave his Son, Jesus
Christ, for mankind’s redemption. He made man for fellowship with himself, and
intended that all creation should live to the praise of his glory.
Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God,
was the eternal Word made flesh, supernaturally conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary. He was perfect in nature, teaching, and obedience. He
is fully God and fully man. He was always with God and is God. Through him all
things came into being and were created. He was before all things and in him
all things hold together by the word of his power. He is the image of the
invisible God, the first-born of all creation, and in him dwells the fullness
of the godhead bodily. He is the only Savior for the sins of the world, having
shed his blood and died a vicarious death on Calvary’s cross. By his death in
our place, he revealed the divine love and upheld divine justice, removing our
guilt and reconciling us to God. Having redeemed us from sin, the third day he
rose bodily from the grave, victorious over death and the powers of darkness,
and for a period of 40 days appeared to more than 500 witnesses, performing
many convincing proofs of his resurrection. He ascended into heaven where, at
God’s right hand, he intercedes for his people and rules as Lord over all. He
is the Head of his body, the Church, and should be adored, loved, served, and
obeyed by all.
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The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of
life, convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Through the proclamation
of the gospel he persuades men to repent of their sins and confess Jesus as
Lord. By the same Spirit a person is led to trust in divine mercy. The Holy
Spirit unites believers to Jesus Christ in faith, brings about the new birth,
and dwells within the regenerate. The Holy Spirit has come to glorify the Son,
who in turn came to glorify the Father. He will lead the Church into a right
understanding and rich application of the truth of God’s Word. He is to be
respected, honored, and worshiped as God the Third Person of the Trinity.
Man
God made man—male and female—in his own
image, as the crown of creation, that man might have fellowship with him. Tempted
by Satan, man rebelled against God. Being estranged from his Maker, yet
responsible to him, he became subject to divine wrath, inwardly depraved and,
apart from a special work of grace, utterly incapable of returning to God. This
depravity is radical and pervasive. It extends to his mind, will, and
affections. Unregenerate man lives under the dominion of sin and Satan. He is
at enmity with God, hostile toward God, and hateful of God. Fallen, sinful
people, whatever their character or attainments, are lost and without hope
apart from salvation in Christ.
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The Gospel
Jesus Christ is the gospel. The good news
is revealed in his birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension. Christ’s
crucifixion is the heart of the gospel, his resurrection is the power of the
gospel, and his ascension is the glory of the gospel. Christ’s death is a
substitutionary and propitiatory sacrifice to God for our sins. It satisfies
the demands of God’s holy justice and appeases his holy wrath. It also
demonstrates his mysterious love and reveals his amazing grace. Jesus Christ is
the only mediator between God and man. There is no other name by which men must
be saved. At the heart of all sound doctrine is the cross of Jesus Christ and
the infinite privilege that redeemed sinners have of glorifying God because of
what he has accomplished. Therefore, we want all that takes place in our
hearts, churches, and ministries to proceed from and be related to the cross.
Man’s
response to the gospel
Man’s response to the gospel is rooted and
grounded in the free and unconditional election of God for his own pleasure and
glory. It is also true that the message of the gospel is only effectual to
those who genuinely repent of their sins and, by God’s grace, put saving faith
in Christ. This gospel of grace is to be sincerely preached to all men in all
nations. Biblical repentance is characterized by a changed life, and saving
faith is evidenced by kingdom service or works. While neither repentance nor works
save, unless a person is willing to deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow
Christ, he cannot become his disciple.
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Man’s inheritance through the gospel
Salvation, the free gift of God, is
provided by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone, for the
glory of God alone. Anyone turning from sin in repentance and looking to Christ
and his substitutionary death receives the gift of eternal life and is declared
righteous by God as a free gift. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to him.
He is justified and fully accepted by God. Through Christ’s atonement for sin
an individual is reconciled to God as Father and becomes his child. The believer
is forgiven the debt of his sin and, via the miracle of regeneration, liberated
from the law of sin and death into the freedom of God’s Spirit.
Sanctification
The Holy Spirit is the active agent in our
sanctification and seeks to produce his fruit in us as our minds are renewed
and we are conformed to the image of Christ. Though indwelling sin remains a
reality, as we are led by the Spirit we grow in the knowledge of the Lord,
freely keeping his commandments and endeavoring to so live in the world that
all people may see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven. All
believers are exhorted to persevere in the faith, knowing they will have to
give an account to God for their every thought, word, and deed. The spiritual
disciplines, especially Bible study, prayer, worship and confession, are a
vital means of grace in this regard. Nevertheless, the believer’s ultimate
confidence to persevere is based in the sure promise of God to preserve his
people until the end, which is most certain.
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Empowered
by the Spirit
In addition to effecting regeneration and
sanctification, the Holy Spirit also empowers believers for Christian witness
and service. While all genuine believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit at
conversion, the New Testament indicates the importance of an ongoing,
empowering work of the Spirit subsequent to conversion as well. Being indwelt
by the Spirit and being filled with the Spirit are theologically distinct
experiences. The Holy Spirit desires to fill each believer continually with
increased power for Christian life and witness, and imparts his supernatural
gifts for the edification of the Body and for various works of ministry in the
world. All the gifts of the Holy Spirit at work in the church of the first
century are available today, are vital for the mission of the church, and are
to be earnestly desired and practiced.
The Church
God by his Word and Spirit creates the
Church, calling sinful men out of the whole human race into the fellowship of
Christ’s Body. By the same Word and Spirit, he guides and preserves that new
redeemed humanity. The Church is not a religious institution or denomination.
Rather, the Church universal is made up of those who have become genuine
followers of Jesus Christ and have personally appropriated the gospel. The
Church exists to worship and glorify God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It
also exists to serve him by faithfully doing his will in the earth. This
involves a commitment to see the gospel preached and churches planted in all
the world for a testimony. The ultimate mission of the Church is the making of
disciples through the preaching of the gospel. When God transforms human
nature, this then becomes the chief means of society’s transformation. Upon
conversion, newly redeemed men and women are added to a local church, in which
they devote themselves to teaching, fellowship, the Lord’s Supper, and prayer.
All members of the Church universal are to
be a vital and committed part of a local church. In this context they are
called to walk out the New Covenant as the people of God, and demonstrate the
reality of the kingdom of God. The ascended Christ has given gift ministries to
the church (including apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers)
for the equipping of Christ’s body that it might mature and grow. Through the
gift ministries, all members of the Church are to be nurtured and equipped for
the work of ministry. Women play a vital role in the life of the church, but in
keeping with God’s created design they are not permitted “to teach or to
exercise authority over a man” (1 Timothy 2:12 ESV). Leadership in the church
is male. In the context of the local church, God’s people receive pastoral care
and leadership and the opportunity to employ their God-given gifts in his
service in relation to one another and to the world
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Sacraments
of the Church
Water baptism is intended only for the
individual who has received the saving benefits of Christ’s atoning work and
become his disciple. Therefore, in obedience to Christ’s command and as a
testimony to God, the Church, oneself, and the world, a believer should be
immersed in water in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Water baptism
is a visual demonstration of a person’s union with Christ in the likeness of
his death and resurrection. It signifies that his former way of life has been
put to death, and vividly depicts a person’s release from the mastery of sin.
As with water baptism, the Lord’s Supper is
to be observed only by those who have become genuine followers of Christ. This
ordinance symbolizes the breaking of Christ’s body and the shedding of his
blood on our behalf, and is to be observed repeatedly throughout the Christian
life as a sign of continued participation in the atoning benefits of Christ’s
death. As we partake of the Lord’s Supper with an attitude of faith and
self-examination, we remember and proclaim the death of Christ, receive
spiritual nourishment for our souls, and signify our unity with other members
of Christ’s body.
The Completion
The Completion or Consummation of all things includes the
visible, personal and glorious return of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the
dead and the translation of those alive in Christ, the judgment of the just and
the unjust, and the fulfillment of Christ’s kingdom in the new heavens and the
new earth. In the Consummation, Satan with his hosts and all those outside
Christ are finally separated from the benevolent presence of God, enduring
eternal punishment, but the righteous, in glorious bodies, shall live and reign
with him forever. Married to Christ as his Bride, the Church will be in the
presence of God forever, serving him and giving him unending praise and glory. Then
shall the eager expectation of creation be fulfilled and the whole earth shall
proclaim the glory of God who makes all things new.
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nd giving him unending praise and glory.
Then shall the eager expectation of creation be fulfilled and the whole earth
shall proclaim the glory of God who makes all things new.