Faith Statement

OUR FAITH STATEMENT

We accept the Scriptures as the revealed Will of God, the all sufficient rule of faith and practice, and for the purpose of maintaining general study, adopt these Statements, Truths and Doctrine:

1: The Scriptures Inspired. The Bible is the inspired Word of God, a revelation from God to man, the infallible rule of faith and conduct, and is superior to conscience and reason, but not contrary to reason (II Tim. 3:15-17; I Peter 1:23-25; Heb. 4:12)

2: The One True Godhead. The triune Godhead is comprised of 3 separate and distinct personalities. The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit, Who are eternally self-existent, self-revealed and function as one entity. Jesus Christ, Who is God manifested in the flesh is the second member of the Godhead, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and The Holy Spirit.

3: Man, His Fall and Redemption. Man was created good and upright, for God said “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness”. Seeing that man should not live alone, God created Woman from one of Adam’s ribs to be a help-mate for him and called them, “One flesh.” But, man, by voluntary transgression, fell and his only hope is in Jesus Christ the Son of God. (Gen. 1:26-31; 3:1-7; Gen. 2:18-24, Mk. 10:6-9; Rom. 5:12-21;)

4: The Salvation of Man.

(a) Man’s only hope of redemption is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. On the cross Jesus Christ became sin and sickness providing both salvation and divine healing for all mankind (Psa. 103:3), being justified freely by His Grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. For by grace we are saved through faith. “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart; that is the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” (Rom. 3:24; Eph. 2:8; Rom. 10:8-10)

(b) The evidence of Salvation. The inward evidence of the believer of his salvation, is the direct witness of the Spirit (Rom. 8:16). The outward evidence to all men is a life of righteousness and true holiness. “And this Is His commandment that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, Just as He commanded us” (1 John 3:23)

(c) Faith and Works. Salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ and not by human works; however, our works will determine the reward in eternity (Rom. 10:9-10; II Cor. 5:10)

5: Baptism in Water. The ordinance of baptism by a burial with Christ should be observed as commanded in the Scriptures by all who have really repented and in their hearts have truly believed on Christ Jesus as Savior and Lord. In so doing, they declare to the world that they have died with Jesus and that they have also been raised with Him to walk in newness of life. (Matt. 28:19; Acts 10:47; Rom. 6:4)

6: The Lord’s Supper. “And when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same way also the cup saying ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood, Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (I Cor. 11:24, 25, 28).

7: The Promise of the Father. All believers are entitled to, and should ardently expect and earnestly seek, the promise of the Father, the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, according to the command of our lord Jesus Christ. This was the normal experience of all the early Christian church and important for the present church. With it comes the endowment of power for life and service, the bestowment of the gifts and their uses in the work of the ministry. (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-8, 1 Cor. 12:1-31). This wonderful experience is distinct from and subsequent to the experience of the new birth (Acts 2:4; 10:44-46; 11:14-16; 15:7-9).

8: The Evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. The full consummation of the Baptism of believers in the Holy Spirit is generally evidenced by the initial physical sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance, and by the subsequent manifestation of spiritual power in public testimony and service (Acts 2:4; 10:44-46; 19:2,6 1:8)

9: The Church. The Church is the body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit, with divine appointments for the fulfillment of her great commission. Each believer, born of the Spirit, is an integral part of the general assembly and church of the first born, which are written in heaven.(Eph. 1:22; 2:19-22; Heb. 12:23)

10: Total Prosperity.

(a) Spiritual. (John 3:3, 11: II Cor. 5:17-21; Rom. 10:9-10)

(b) Mental. (II Tim. 1:7; Rom. 12:2; Isa. 26:3)

(d) Financial. (III John 1:2; Mal. 3:10; Luke 6:38; II Cor. 9:6-15; Deut. 28:1-14)

(e) Social. (Prov. 3:4)

11: Blessed Hope. Jesus is coming again to gather all His Saints to ever be with Him. (I Cor. 15:51-52; I Thess. 4:16-17; II Thess. 2:1)

12: The Lake of Fire. Those who have not accepted the redemptive work of Jesus Christ will suffer eternal separation from the Godhead. The devil and his angels, the beast and the false prophet, and anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life, shall be consigned to everlasting punishment in the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. This is the second death, the lake of fire. (Rev. 19:20; 20:10-15)

13: The Millennial Reign of Jesus. The return of our Lord Jesus Christ with His saints from Heaven to rule an reign for one thousand years on earth as the Scriptures promises (Rom. 11:25-27; II Thess. 1:7; Rev. 19:11-16; 20;1-7) After this, there shall be a new heaven and a new earth.

14: How we walk out our beliefs. As we are the present day disciples of Jesus, we answer the call to, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.¹⁶Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. ¹⁷And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” (Mark 16:1-18). As Jesus did, we have compassion upon the poor (in spirit and in truth) and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we will walk and serve in righteousness, love, mercy and forgiveness with all.

STATEMENT ON THE SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE:

We believe that all human life is sacred and created by God in His image. Human life is of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including pre-born babies, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other state or condition from conception through natural death. We are therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life. (Psalm 139)

STATEMENT ON MARRIAGE & SEXUALITY:

We believe that God wonderfully and immutably created each person as either male or female, and that these two distinct, complementary sexes together reflect the image and nature of God. We believe that God created marriage to be exclusively the union of one man and one woman, and that intimate sexual activity is to occur exclusively within that union.