Foundational Documents

I. The Bible
We believe that the Bible is God’s verbally inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word – therefore, authoritative and sufficient.  (Psalm 19:7-9; John 10:35; 2 Timothy 3:16-17)

II. God
We believe that God is One, eternally existing in three equally divine persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who know, love, and glorify one another.  (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 43:10-12; Matthew 28:19; John 17)

III. The Father
We believe that God the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit, in His infinite power and wisdom, created the world, rules over it, and reconciles all things to Himself through the gospel.  (Genesis 1; Isaiah 46:10-11; Colossians 1:16-20)

IV. The Person of Christ
We believe that Jesus, the eternal Son of God, became a man, without ceasing to be God, was conceived by the Holy Spirit, was born of the virgin Mary, to save His people from their sins.  (Matthew 1:21-23; John 1:1,14; 8:58; Philippians 2:6-11)
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V. The Work of Christ
We believe that Jesus, moved by love and in obedience to His Father, lived, died, and rose again for sinners, and thus satisfying God’s righteous requirements, propitiating His wrath, and securing salvation for all who believe.  (Matthew 3:15-17, 5:17-18; John 8:29, 10:15-18, 27-29; Romans 3:24-26, 5:19, 8:29-39; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 2:17)

VI. The Person of the Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit as the third person of the Trinity is co-equal with the Father and the Son and therefore He possesses all of the divine attributes.  (Matthew 3:13-17, 28:18-20; 2 Corinthians 3:18, 13:14)

VII. The Work of the Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit sovereignly executes the will of God in history expressly promoting the glory of God in Christ through such works as the creation of the world, the inspiration of Scripture, and the regeneration, salvation, sanctification, and glorification of believers.  (Genesis 1:1-2; John 3:3-8, 16:7-14; Romans 8:11; Ephesians 4:30; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; Titus 3:4-6; Hebrews 9:14; 2 Peter 1:20-21)

VIII. The Creation
We believe that God created the universe out of nothing in six days by the word of His power for His pleasure and glory.  (Colossians 1:16-17; Hebrews 11:3; Genesis 1-2; Psalm 104; Revelation 4:11)
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IX. Angels, Satan, and Demons
We believe that angels are spiritual beings created by God to execute His purposes in worship and service. Yet one chief angel, Satan, led numerous angels in rebellion against the Creator, and continues in opposition against Christ and His people until the day of judgment when Satan, along with his demons, are cast into the lake of fire, according to God’s purpose through the triumphant cross-work of Jesus Christ.  (Job 1-2; Ezekiel 28:14-15; John 8:44; Romans 16:20; 2 Corinthians 4:4, 11:3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 2:14-15; 1 Peter 5:8; 1 John 3:8, 4:4; Jude 6; Revelation 12, 19, 20)

X. Humanity
We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image in holiness, righteousness, and dignity to bring God glory by reflecting Him in dominion over creation, in all relationships, and in every aspect of life.   (Genesis 1:26-28; Psalm 8:4-8; Ecclesiastes 7:29a; James 3:9)

XI. Human Rebellion
We believe that every human being, having been represented by Adam who rebelled, is by nature and by choice in a state of defiance against God, the sovereign creator, and consequently under God’s just condemnation and is neither willing nor able to achieve reconciliation with God.  (Genesis 3; 1 Kings 8:46; Psalm 58:3; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Jeremiah 17:9; Matthew 15:18-19; Romans 3:10-18, 23, 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-4; Colossians 1:21; Hebrews 2:14-15; 1 John 1:8-10)
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XII. Salvation
We believe that God, according to His elective purpose, saves sinners from His just condemnation unto eternal life, applying the substitutionary work of Jesus to all who believe in Him and repent of their sin, so that through saving faith God credits the sinner with the righteousness of Christ and grants forgiveness of sin and brings freedom from the bondage of sin and the promise of glorification.   (Ephesians 1:4-5; 2:1-10; Mark 10:45; Genesis 15:6; Acts 3:19; Colossians 1:14; Romans 3:21-4:5; 5:8; 6:1-11; 8:29-30)

XIII. Sanctification
We believe that all who have believed in Christ for justification will go on to experience spiritual growth through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and by God’s grace they will work out their salvation through the Word, the gospel, prayer, service, and the ordinances, having confidence that God works all things together for their good.  (Romans 16:25; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; John 17:17; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 5:22-23; Philippians 2:12-13; Colossians 1:3-6; Hebrews 4:16; 1 Peter 4:10-11)

XIV. Security and Assurance
We believe that everyone who is saved by the finished work of Jesus will be kept by God unto glorification and, therefore, all those who are born again can be assured of salvation and will persevere until the end.  (Isaiah 53:10-11; John 5:24, 10:27-29; Romans 8:1,16, 37-39; 1 John 3:14; 1 Peter 1:4-5; Hebrews 3:14, 7:25; Revelation 3:5)
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XV. The Church
We believe that the Church: is the spiritual body of Christ comprised of those who have been redeemed and united with Christ by the baptism of the Spirit; was inaugurated at Pentecost; is manifested in local churches; is equipped by Christ with gifts of the Holy Spirit; is led by biblically-qualified leadership; and is commissioned with the proclamation of the gospel for the glory of Christ through preaching, evangelism, prayer, fellowship, service, and the ordinances.  (Matthew 16:18; Acts 1:8, 2:1-23; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:15-23, 3:1-12, 4:1-16, 5:23-32; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; 2 Timothy 4:1-5; Titus 1:5-9)

XVI. Ordinances
We believe that water baptism and the Lord’s Supper were given to the church by the Lord Jesus in order to identify believers with the person and work of Christ, and, respectively, baptism is administered to all who have trusted in Christ for salvation, and the Lord’s Supper is the symbolic proclamation of the Lord’s saving work.  (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:41; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34; Mark 14:22-25)

XVII. The Second Coming of Christ
We believe that Jesus will return to earth bodily in order to rescue his people; to execute judgment upon all who have not obeyed the gospel; to consummate His kingdom as promised to Abraham, Israel, and the church; and to reconcile all things in heaven and earth, having made peace by the blood of His cross.  (Genesis 12:1-3; 17:1-8; 2 Samuel 7:12-13; Ezekiel 37:1-14; Matthew 24-25; Luke 1:68-79; John 14:3; Acts 1:11; 3:13-26; Colossians 1:20; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10; Titus 2:12-13; Revelation 1:7; 20:1-10)

XVIII. The Eternal State
We believe that by the power of Christ, the souls of those who die having believed in the gospel of Christ pass immediately into everlasting life in heaven until His return, when body and soul will be reunited and be glorified forever in the presence of our Lord; while the souls of those who die apart from Christ are immediately condemned to conscious punishment in hell until His return, when body and soul will be reunited, cast into the lake of fire, and endure everlasting punishment from God.  (Daniel 12:2; Matthew 10:28; 25:41-46; John 5:25-29; Philippians 1:21-24; Hebrews 9:27; 2 Peter 2:4; Revelation 7:9, 20:10-15, 21:4, 22:5)