We believe the Bible teaches the following important truths:
I. The God of the Bible is the one and only true God. He is the creator of all things, infinitely perfect (Titus 1:2), and eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each partakes of the same nature, attributes, and perfection (Gen. 1:1, 26; Matt. 3:16; Deut. 6:4; John 12:28, 14:16, 17:5; Acts 5:3-4; Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 8:6; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 2:18; Heb. 1:8).
II. God the Father is perfect in holiness, infinite in wisdom, measureless in power (Deut. 32:4; 2 Chron. 16:9; Rom. 11:33). He is the head of all in heaven and earth (Eph. 3:15), the supreme authority both in the Godhead (John 8:29) and in the church (1 Cor. 11:3).
III. Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God, which is to say, He is Himself very God (Heb. 1:3). He became perfect man, being conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, yet not relinquishing His divine nature. He died upon the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice for the sin of the world. He arose from the dead in the body in which He was crucified. He ascended into Heaven in that body, which was glorified, where He is now our interceding High Priest. He will come again personally and visibly and in His own body to set up His Kingdom and to judge the living and the dead (Col. 1:15; Phil. 2:5-8; Matt. 1:18-25; I Peter 2:24, 25; Luke 24; Acts 1:9-11; I Thess. 4:16-18; Matt. 25:31-46; Rev. 11:15-17; Rev. 20:4-6; Rev. 20:11-15).
IV. The Holy Spirit’s ministry is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ as His representative on earth (John 14:16, 26) and to teach us the truth of God’s Word by convicting of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8-11) and illuminating God’s Word to the believer (John 16:13; 1 Cor. 2:10-14). He is the Person of the Godhead who imparts a new nature to those who believe in the atoning work of Christ and places them into Christ’s body, the Church, by an act of spiritual baptism (Rom. 6:3-4; Titus 3:5; 1 Cor. 12:13). This spiritual baptism is not necessarily accompanied by any outward evidence nor is it an experience subsequent to conversion but occurs at the moment of conversion. He permanently indwells and seals all believers unto the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30) and fills and empowers them as each believer’s will is yielded to the Spirit. This empowerment is evidenced in righteous living (Eph. 4:30; 5:9). He gives to each believer a spiritual gift or gifts as He wills for the purpose of building up the Church, no particular gift or gifts being indicated as a requirement for all believers (Rom. 12:6-8; 1 Cor. 12:11, 28).
V. Man was created in the image of God and by the direct act of God (Gen. 1:26-27). However, through Adam’s sin the entire human race became sinners and all are therefore alienated from God and in total depravity (Rom. 3:10, 23).
VI. Salvation is given when the individual responds to the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit with faith in the sacrificial atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, His burial, and His resurrection. Each person receives, at the moment of thus trusting, eternal salvation only as a free gift from God (John 3:16; John 1:12). The salvation thus received is a sovereign gift of God, entirely apart from human effort to add to or detract from the saving efficacy of Christ’s atonement (Eph. 2:8, 9). This salvation, once received, guarantees true, complete, and eternal salvation and, upon the end of life here on earth, an eternity in the presence of God (Gal. 2:16; Titus 3:5; 1 Thess. 4:13-18).
VII. Heaven is the place of God’s dwelling, in which Christ has prepared a place for those who are believers in His atoning work (John 14:1-6). It is the place of the Christian’s inheritance and eternal dwelling in the presence of God and of the Lamb (Rev. 22:3; Rom. 8:17). For those who have not believed in the atoning work of Christ, eternal, conscious punishment will be their reward, with Satan and all the fallen angels who followed Satan in his rebellion against God (Rev. 20:11-15).
VIII. The Bible, consisting of sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, is the verbally inspired Word of God, without error in the original writings. It is the only infallible rule for faith and practice (Heb. 4:12). No other writings are similarly inspired (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21). By God’s sovereign grace, the manuscripts which are accepted by orthodox Christianity have been preserved to this day without substantial error, so that the Scriptures available to the believer today may be relied upon to be God’s Word (Rev. 22:18-19).
IX. The Church is composed of all people who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. It began at Pentecost (Acts 2). All these who have thus believed are baptized by the Holy Spirit into one Body, the Church, of which Christ is the Head (1 Cor. 12:12-13). The mission of the Church is, through local bodies of believers, to equip its members, the saints, to do the work of the ministry, and by this means to make known the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a dying world (Eph. 4:11-12; Acts 1:8;) and to promote the maturing of individual believers through mutual support, love, and sound biblical teaching (Eph. 4:13-16; Gal. 5:21- 6:5).
X. Future events are taught in Scripture. These events include the imminent return of Christ for His Church prior to the time commonly known as the Tribulation (1 Thess. 4:16-18; 1 Cor. 15:52-53), the purging of Israel and judgment of the nations during the seven-year period immediately following the rapture of the Church (Ezek. 20:33-38; Isaiah 27:12; Isaiah 13-23), and the establishing of the literal earthly kingdom of Christ for one thousand years as promised to the nation Israel (Isaiah 24:23; Zech. 14:4: Rev. 20:4), followed by the resurrection and judgment of the unrighteous and the ushering in of the eternal state (Rev. 20:7-15; Rev. 21).
I. The God of the Bible is the one and only true God. He is the creator of all things, infinitely perfect (Titus 1:2), and eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each partakes of the same nature, attributes, and perfection (Gen. 1:1, 26; Matt. 3:16; Deut. 6:4; John 12:28, 14:16, 17:5; Acts 5:3-4; Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 8:6; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 2:18; Heb. 1:8).
II. God the Father is perfect in holiness, infinite in wisdom, measureless in power (Deut. 32:4; 2 Chron. 16:9; Rom. 11:33). He is the head of all in heaven and earth (Eph. 3:15), the supreme authority both in the Godhead (John 8:29) and in the church (1 Cor. 11:3).
III. Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God, which is to say, He is Himself very God (Heb. 1:3). He became perfect man, being conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, yet not relinquishing His divine nature. He died upon the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice for the sin of the world. He arose from the dead in the body in which He was crucified. He ascended into Heaven in that body, which was glorified, where He is now our interceding High Priest. He will come again personally and visibly and in His own body to set up His Kingdom and to judge the living and the dead (Col. 1:15; Phil. 2:5-8; Matt. 1:18-25; I Peter 2:24, 25; Luke 24; Acts 1:9-11; I Thess. 4:16-18; Matt. 25:31-46; Rev. 11:15-17; Rev. 20:4-6; Rev. 20:11-15).
IV. The Holy Spirit’s ministry is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ as His representative on earth (John 14:16, 26) and to teach us the truth of God’s Word by convicting of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8-11) and illuminating God’s Word to the believer (John 16:13; 1 Cor. 2:10-14). He is the Person of the Godhead who imparts a new nature to those who believe in the atoning work of Christ and places them into Christ’s body, the Church, by an act of spiritual baptism (Rom. 6:3-4; Titus 3:5; 1 Cor. 12:13). This spiritual baptism is not necessarily accompanied by any outward evidence nor is it an experience subsequent to conversion but occurs at the moment of conversion. He permanently indwells and seals all believers unto the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30) and fills and empowers them as each believer’s will is yielded to the Spirit. This empowerment is evidenced in righteous living (Eph. 4:30; 5:9). He gives to each believer a spiritual gift or gifts as He wills for the purpose of building up the Church, no particular gift or gifts being indicated as a requirement for all believers (Rom. 12:6-8; 1 Cor. 12:11, 28).
V. Man was created in the image of God and by the direct act of God (Gen. 1:26-27). However, through Adam’s sin the entire human race became sinners and all are therefore alienated from God and in total depravity (Rom. 3:10, 23).
VI. Salvation is given when the individual responds to the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit with faith in the sacrificial atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, His burial, and His resurrection. Each person receives, at the moment of thus trusting, eternal salvation only as a free gift from God (John 3:16; John 1:12). The salvation thus received is a sovereign gift of God, entirely apart from human effort to add to or detract from the saving efficacy of Christ’s atonement (Eph. 2:8, 9). This salvation, once received, guarantees true, complete, and eternal salvation and, upon the end of life here on earth, an eternity in the presence of God (Gal. 2:16; Titus 3:5; 1 Thess. 4:13-18).
VII. Heaven is the place of God’s dwelling, in which Christ has prepared a place for those who are believers in His atoning work (John 14:1-6). It is the place of the Christian’s inheritance and eternal dwelling in the presence of God and of the Lamb (Rev. 22:3; Rom. 8:17). For those who have not believed in the atoning work of Christ, eternal, conscious punishment will be their reward, with Satan and all the fallen angels who followed Satan in his rebellion against God (Rev. 20:11-15).
VIII. The Bible, consisting of sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, is the verbally inspired Word of God, without error in the original writings. It is the only infallible rule for faith and practice (Heb. 4:12). No other writings are similarly inspired (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21). By God’s sovereign grace, the manuscripts which are accepted by orthodox Christianity have been preserved to this day without substantial error, so that the Scriptures available to the believer today may be relied upon to be God’s Word (Rev. 22:18-19).
IX. The Church is composed of all people who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. It began at Pentecost (Acts 2). All these who have thus believed are baptized by the Holy Spirit into one Body, the Church, of which Christ is the Head (1 Cor. 12:12-13). The mission of the Church is, through local bodies of believers, to equip its members, the saints, to do the work of the ministry, and by this means to make known the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a dying world (Eph. 4:11-12; Acts 1:8;) and to promote the maturing of individual believers through mutual support, love, and sound biblical teaching (Eph. 4:13-16; Gal. 5:21- 6:5).
X. Future events are taught in Scripture. These events include the imminent return of Christ for His Church prior to the time commonly known as the Tribulation (1 Thess. 4:16-18; 1 Cor. 15:52-53), the purging of Israel and judgment of the nations during the seven-year period immediately following the rapture of the Church (Ezek. 20:33-38; Isaiah 27:12; Isaiah 13-23), and the establishing of the literal earthly kingdom of Christ for one thousand years as promised to the nation Israel (Isaiah 24:23; Zech. 14:4: Rev. 20:4), followed by the resurrection and judgment of the unrighteous and the ushering in of the eternal state (Rev. 20:7-15; Rev. 21).
