Basic Statement of Beliefs
1
There is one God, infinite Spirit, creator and sustainer of all things who exists eternally in three persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These three are one in essence but distinct in person and function. Jesus was conceived by the virgin Mary through a miracle of the Holy Spirit. He lives forever as perfect God and perfect man: two distinct natures inseparably united in one person.
2
All things were created by God. Angels were created as ministering agents, though some, under the influence of Satan, fell from their sinless state to become agents of evil. The universe was created in six historical days and is continuously sustained by God; thus it both reflect His glory and reveals His truth. Human beings were directly created, not evolved, in the very image of God. As reasoning moral agents, they are responsible under God for understanding and governing themselves in the world.
3
The Bible, both Old and New Testaments, though written by men, was supernaturally inspired by God so that all its words are the written true revelation of God; it is therefore inerrant in the originals and authoritative in all matters. It is to be understood by all through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, its meaning determined by the historical, grammatical, and literacy use of the author's language, comparing Scripture with Scripture.
4
Adam, the first man, willfully disobeyed God, bringing sin and death into the world. As a result, all persons are sinners from conception, which is evidenced in their willful acts of sin; and they are therefore subject to eternal punishment, under the just condemnation of a holy God.
5
Jesus Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice by the appointment of the Father. He fulfilled the demands of God by His obedient life, died on the cross in full substitution and payment for the sins of all, was buried, and on the third day He arose physically and bodily from the dead. He ascended into heaven where He now intercedes for all believers.
6
Each person can be saved only through the work of Jesus Christ, through repentance of sin and by faith alone in Him as Savior. The believer is declared righteous, born again by the Holy Spirit, turned from sin, and assured of heaven.
7
The Holy Spirit, who was sent to us from the Father, is equal to the Father and the Son. He is the Baptizer and Filler, Teacher and Comforter, He is the power in the life of the believer to fulfill the Great Commission and work of God on the earth until the return of Christ.
8
The church is the assembly of believers, under the discipline of the Word of God and the lordship of Christ, organized to carry out the commission to evangelize, to teach, and to administer the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's table. It functions through the ministry of gifts given by the Holy Spirit to each believer.
9
The return of Christ for all believers is imminent. Those who are not saved will be forever separated from God in hell. Those who are saved will live forever in heaven in fellowship with God.