Confession of Faith

We believe in the Holy Bible, as originally written, was verbally inspired, and the product of Spirit-controlled men, and therefore has truth without admixture of error for it’s matter.  We believe that it is the true center of Christian union and the only infallible rule for all human conduct, creeds, and opinions.  II Timothy 3:16&17;  II Peter I:19-21.

We believe that there is only one living and true God, infinite in every excellence; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three personal distinctions, –the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, –one in substance and equal in every divine perfection.  Exodus 20:2&3;  I Corinthians 8:6;  I John 5:7.

We believe in the absolute Deity of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ; that He was Divine as no other man can be, being very God, existing from all eternity co-equal with the Father and the Spirit, that He never ceased to be God for one instant, and that His Deity, that as man He was miraculously begotten of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.  Matthew1:20;  Luke 1:26-38;  John 1:1&2;  Philippians 2:5-8;  I John 5:20.

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person, equal with the Father and the Son, and of the same substance and nature, that He convicts of sin, righteousness, and of judgment; bears witness to the truth, in the Agent of the New Birth, and that He seals, guides, teaches, witnesses to, sanctifies, and helps the believer, indwelling every true Child of God.  II Corinthians 13:14;  John 14:16&17;  Romans 8:14-27.

We believe in the distinct personality of Satan, that he is the god of this age, the author of all the powers of darkness and sin, and is destined to the judgment of an eternal justice in the lake of fire.  Matthew 4:1-3;  II Corinthians 4:4;  Revelation 20:10.

We believe that God created the Heavens and the earth, including all life, “Each after its own kind,” by direct creative act, and not by the process of evolution.  Genesis 1&2;  John 1:3;  Colossians 1:16&17.

We believe that Man, in the person of the first Adam, was created in innocence, but by voluntary transgression fell into sin, thus plunging the whole race into condemnation and death, so that now all mankind is born in sin, and shaped in iniquity, and become practical sinners with the first expression of personal choice not by constraint, but by choice, and so are without excuse before God.  Genesis 3;  Romans 5:10-19.

We believe that the only escape from the condemnation of sin is through the atonement wrought by Jesus Christ, when He voluntarily took upon Him a human body and nature, yet without sin, and by His suffering, death, and resurrection made full satisfaction to the justice of God for the sin of man; that the blessings of this salvation are given on the grounds of grace to all who believe and confess, and that it is the immediate duty of all to prove these offers of mercy.  There is unlimited atonement, sufficient for all.  John 3:1-7;  Acts 16:30-33;  Romans 10:9-13.

We believe that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation, that no works, however good, make that salvation more secure.  Acts 16:31;  Titus 3:5-7.

We believe that a local church is a congregation of immersed believers, associated by covenant of faith and fellowship of the Gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws; exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in it by His Word; that its officers are bishops or pastors, and deacons; that it has the absolute right of self-government directed by the Holy Spirit and it is answerable only to Christ, and that in all matters of membership, policy, government, discipline, and benevolence, the will of the local Church is final.   Acts 2:41&42;  I Corinthians 11:2;  Ephesians 1:22&23;  4:11;  5:23&24;  Colossians 1:18;  I Timothy 5:17.

We believe that there are two Church Ordinances: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water, and is properly called Believers Baptism.  It sets forth in a beautiful and solemn way our faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, with its effects in our lives of death to sin and resurrection to a new life.  Baptism is prerequisite to the privileges of Church relation.  The Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of our Lord’s death until He comes and our continual fellowship with Him, it should be proceeded by salvation, by baptism, and always by careful self-examination.  Acts 8:36-39;  Romans 6:3-5;  I Corinthians 11:23-32.

We believe that all who take Christ as Saviour are born from above, and are eternally secure in Christ; being sanctified by the Holy Spirit.  John 10:28&29;  Romans 8:35-39;  Philippians 1:6.

We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that such only as through faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and sanctified by the Spirit of God, are truly righteous in His esteem; while all such who continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked, and under the curse; and that this distinction holds among men both in and after death, in the everlasting felicity of the unsaved, and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost.  Malachi 3:18;  Matthew 25:34-41;  Luke 6:25;  John 8:21;  Romans 6:17-23.

We believe that in the resurrection the bodies of men after death return to dust and see corruption, but their souls neither die nor sleep, but return immediately to God who gave them; the souls of the righteous being then made perfect in holiness are received into heaven where they are with Christ and behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies: the souls of the wicked are cast into hell where they remain in torment and utter darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day.  Besides these two places of abode for the souls separated from their bodies, the scriptures know nothing at all.

At the return of Christ at the last Day such of the saints as are found alive shall not die but be changed, and all the dead saints shall be raised up with glorious bodies, and none other, which shall be united again to their souls forever to be with the Lord.  The bodies of the unjust shall, by the power of Christ, be raised to dishonor: the bodies of the just, by His Spirit, unto honor shall be raised and be made conformable to His own glorious body.  Genesis 3:19;  Acts 13:36;  Eccl. 12:7;  II Cor. 5:1,6,8;  Phil. 1:23;  Heb. 12:23;  Jude 6,7:  I Peter 3:19;  Luke 16:19-31;  I Thes. 4:13-18;  I Cor 15:35-38, 42-44, 51, 52;  Acts 24:15;  John 5:28,29; 6:39,40;  Phil. 3:21.

We believe that in the last judgment God has appointed a Day wherein He will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ to Whom all power and judgment is given of the Father; in that day all persons who have ever lived upon earth shall appear before the judgment seat of Christ to give account of the thoughts, words, and deeds, and to receive according to what they have done in body whether good or evil.  Acts 17:31;  John 5:22,27;  II Cor. 5:10,11;  Matt. 12:36, 25:31-46:  Romans 14:10-12;  II Timothy 4:8;  II Thes. 1:5-10.

We believe in the Second Coming of Christ; as Christ arose from the grave on the third day and ascended to the right hand of God the Father, this same Jesus will one day come again a He went away- bodily, personally, and visibly- to raise and judge the living and the dead.  As Christ would have us to be certainly assured that He will truly come again to deter all men from sin and for greater consolation of the godly in their adversity, so will He have that Day unknown to men that they may shake off all carnal security and be always watchful, since they know not the hour the Lord will come.  Matt. 28:6,7;  Mark 16:19;  I Tim. 2:5;  Acts 1:9,11;  John 14:3;  Heb. 9:28;  II Cor. 5:10,11;  II Thes. 1:5-7;  Mark 13:35-37;  Luke 17:26-30;  Rev. 22:20.

We believe in Biblical Separation: personally, that all the believers should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Saviour and Lord, and that separation from all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices, and associations is commanded of God; and ecclesiastically, that the believers and the local Church should remain separate from all religious apostasy, and from any move toward ecumenicism, always standing firm for the Truth as revealed in the Word of God.  Romans 12:1&2;  14:13;  II Corinthians 6:14-7:1;  II Timothy 3:1-5;  I John 2:15-17;  II John 9-11.

We believe that it is the obligation of the saved to witness by life and by word to the truth of the Holy Scriptures and to seek to proclaim the Gospel to all mankind.  Matthew 28:19&20;  Mark 16:15;  Acts 1:8;  II Corinthians 5:19&20.