We exist to faithfully declare and demonstrate the power and preeminence of the Word of God, in our church family, in our community, and around the world.

1. THE SCRIPTURES: We believe in the verbal plenary inspiration of the Scriptures, including both Old and New Testaments, which are composed of sixty-six (66) books, by which we understand that the Holy Spirit not only inspired the thoughts of the writers but also formulated the very word structure into which the thoughts were cast in the original documents. God’s Word has God Himself for its author and God’s glory in the redemption of the cosmos for its chief end, without any mixture of error in the original autographs. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. We believe in the supreme authority of the Bible and accept it as our only rule of faith and practice (Exodus 24:4; Deuteronomy 4:1–2; 17:19; Joshua 8:34; Psalms 19:7–10; 119:11, 89, 105, 140; Isaiah 34:16; 40:8; Jeremiah 15:16; 36:1–32; Matthew 5:17–18; 22:29; Luke 21:33; 24:44–46; John 5:39; 16:13–15; 17:17; Acts 2:16; 17:11; Romans 15:4; 16:25–26; 2 Timothy 3:15–17; Hebrews 1:1–2; 4:12; 1 Peter 1:25; 2 Peter 1:19–21).

2. THE GODHEAD: We believe in one triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; eternal in being; identical in nature; equal in power and glory; and having precisely the same attributes and perfections. God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving, and all-wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ (Genesis 1:1; 2:7; Exodus 3:14; 6:2–3; 15:11; 20:1; Leviticus 22:2; Deuteronomy 6:4; 32:6; 1 Chronicles 29:10; Psalm 19:1–3; Isaiah 43:3, 15; 64:8; Jeremiah 10:10; 17:13; Matthew 6:9; 7:11; 23:9; 28:19; Mark 1:9–11; John 4:24; 5:26; 14:6–13; 17:1–8; Acts 1:7; Romans 8:14–15; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 4:6; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 11:6; 12:9; 1 Peter 1:17; 1 John 5:7).

3. MAN’S CREATION AND FALL: We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but through Adam’s sin, fell into condemnation, inheriting a sin nature and consequent alienation from God, coming under the judicial sentence of death (Genesis 1:26–30; Romans 1:19–32; 3:10–18, 23; 6:6, 23; Ephesians 2:1–22; Colossians 1:21–22).

4. THE PERSON AND WORK OF CHRIST: We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man without ceasing to be God, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary in order that He might reveal God’s redemptive purposes and deliver sinful man from eternal damnation. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a propitiatory and substitutionary sacrifice, and that our redemption is made sure to us by His resurrection from the dead in the identical, though glorified, body in which He was crucified. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is now in heaven exalted at the right hand of God where, as High Priest for His people, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate (Genesis 1:26–30; Romans 1:19–32; 3:10–18, 23; 6:6, 23; Ephesians 2:1–22; Colossians 1:21–22).

5. THE HOLY SPIRIT: We believe that the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Godhead, in the present age indwells all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, baptizes them into the Body of Christ, and seals them unto the day of redemption. Through illumination, the Spirit enables men to apply God’s truth, exalts Christ alone, and convicts men of sin. His effectual ministry remains calling sinners to the Savior and bringing about the total regeneration of their souls. We believe that every believer is commanded of God to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:2; Judges 14:6; Job 26:13; Psalms 51:11; 139:7; Isaiah 61:1–3; Joel 2:28–32; Matthew 1:18; 3:16; 4:1; 12:28–32; 28:19; Mark 1:10, 12; Luke 1:35; 4:1, 18–19; 11:13; 12:12; 24:49; John 4:24; 14:16–17, 26; 15:26; 16:7–14; Acts 1:8; 2:1–4, 38; 4:31; 5:3; 6:3; 7:55; 8:17, 39; 10:44; 13:2; 15:28; 16:6; 19:1–6; Romans 8:9–11, 14–16, 26–27; 1 Corinthians 2:10–14; 3:16; 12:3–11, 13; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:13–14; 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; 1 Timothy 3:16; 4:1; 2 Timothy 1:14; 3:16; Hebrews 9:8, 14; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 John 4:13; 5:6–7; Revelation 1:10; 22:17).

6. SALVATION: We believe that salvation is the free gift of God brought to man by grace and received through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; and that this faith is manifested in works pleasing to God (Ephesians 2:8–10; Titus 2:11–14).

7. ETERNAL SECURITY: We believe that since salvation is a work of God for man, and not a work of man for God, salvation cannot be lost. Once a sinner believes on Jesus as Savior, he is secure in Jesus forever (John 3:16; 5:24; 10:27–28; Romans 8:35–40; 1 Peter 1:5).

8. THE SECOND COMING: We believe that God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. At a time that only He knows, according to His promise, His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, will return personally and visibly in the clouds to reclaim His Church before the period of judgment on Israel and the Gentile Nations known as the Tribulation; and that seven years later, He will return to the earth and reign from Jerusalem for one thousand years (Daniel 7—9; Zechariah 14:4–11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18; Revelation 20:6).

9. THE CHURCH: We believe that the Church is a spiritual organism composed of born again believers, past and present, who are placed into one body at the time of salvation by the Holy Spirit. The spiritual, universal Church constitutes the Body of Christ, which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation. The Church is, furthermore, represented individually in an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers who assemble to rejoice in the covenant of faith and fellowship in the gospel because of the sovereign work of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Church’s one Head and only Authority. We believe the local church is commanded by God to gather regularly for worship, which includes the observation of the two Ordinances of Christ (Article III) and the proclamation of the Word of God; the exercise of the congregant’s spiritual gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by God’s Word; and the collective endeavor to bear a faithful witness to the blessed testimony of the power of God unto salvation for all who would believe. We believe that the local church has the absolute right of self-government, free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations; and that the one and only superintendent is the Lord Jesus Christ, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. It is biblical for local assemblies to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and furtherance of the gospel, as circumstances allow, and that each local church is the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation. On all matters of membership, polity, government, discipline, and benevolence, the will of the local church is final (Matthew 16:15–19; 18:15–20; Acts 2:41–42, 47; 5:11–14, 29; 6:3–6; 13:1–3; 14:23, 27; 15:1–30; 16:5; 20:28; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 11:2; 3:16; 5:4–5; 7:17; 9:13–14; Ephesians 1:22–23; 2:11, 19–22; 3:8–11, 21; 5:22–32; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 2:9–14; 3:1–15; 4:14; Hebrews 10:23; 11:30–40; 1 Peter 5:1–4; Revelation 2—3; 21:2–3).

10. SATAN: We believe that Satan, a fallen angel, is the god of this age, the adversary of Christ and His Church, and is the author of all the powers of darkness, and is destined to the judgment of eternal punishment in the lake of fire (Matthew 4:13; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 20:10).

11. THE FINAL STATE: We believe that the condition and retribution of the lost and also the salvation and blessedness of the saved are conscious and everlasting (Mark 9:43–48; John 10:27–29; Romans 8:38–39; 2 Corinthians 5:6–10; 1 Thessalonians 4:17; Revelation 14:11; 20:3–5, 11).

12. SPIRITUAL GIFTS: We believe that the Holy Spirit bestows special gifts to every believer to do the work of the ministry. These gifts are given for the express purposes of glorifying God and strengthening the Body of Christ, the Church. We believe that the sign gifts, including tongues, prophecies, signs and wonders, and apostleship are not normative in the church today and are not practiced at will or with regularity. We believe that all gifts should be exercised with the spirit, warnings, and guidelines specified in 1 Corinthians 12 through 14, and not for prideful gain (Romans 12:3–8; 1 Corinthians 12—14; Ephesians 4:7–16; James 5:14).

13. MORAL CONDUCT: We believe that Christians are to abide by the preeminent Word of God when seeking to judge matters of morality and conduct. As such, we believe that God’s Word prohibits drunkenness and discourages the careless consumption of alcoholic beverages and mind-altering substances. We, furthermore, believe that marriage is and always will be a union between one man and one woman, according to God’s design. We believe that all forms of sexual immorality, including premarital promiscuity, adultery, homosexuality, and pornography are sinful and, therefore, untenable with faithful Christian living. We believe that all forms of gender augmentation are sinful because they are perversions of God’s divine design. We profess that these and other sins of morality, as delineated in God’s Holy Word, are to be resisted in faith and humility through the power of God’s Holy Spirit (Genesis 2:18–24; Leviticus 20:10–21; Deuteronomy 27:20–23; Proverbs 20:1; Matthew 19:4–6; Romans 1:18–32; 1 Corinthians 6:9–10; 1 Timothy 3:3; Hebrews 13:4).

14. HUMAN LIFE: We believe that human life is a gift from God that begins at the moment of conception. We believe that all human life is sacred and that every human being’s life, including that belonging to the unborn, the terminally ill, and the aged, is to be protected against any effort to terminate it. We believe both abortion and euthanasia are sinful and ought not to be practiced by those within the Church (Genesis 1—2; Exodus 21:22–25; Leviticus 19:32; Psalms 127; 139; Proverbs 23:22).

15. CONCLUSION: We do not only believe that this body of doctrine is merely a sacred trust to be preserved and taught in its purity, but we believe that it teaches a life to be lived and a gospel to be preached.