Christian Doctrinal Statement of Faith

   The Bible, the Word of God

    We believe that the Bible, in its sixty-six (66) canonical books, is a divine revelation. It is inspired, infallible Word of God. (Ps. 119:89; Prov. 30:5-6; John 10:35, 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:20-21).

    The Triune God

    We believe in One Triune God existing in three Persons—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, each Person of the Trinity being equal in essence and authority and each One possessing all the same attributes (Deut. 6:4; 2 Cor. 13:14).

    The Depravity and Inability of Man

    We hold that man was created in the image of God but through Adam's sin, the entire human race fell and received a sin nature. As a result, man became alienated from God and is therefore incapable of retrieving his lost condition (Gen. 1:26-27; Rom. 3:22-23; 5:12, Eph. 2:12).

    The Person and Work of Christ

    We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became Man while retaining His essential deity. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin, Mary in order to reveal God, redeem man and resolve the invisible struggle among the angels by the total defeat of the devil, Satan. We believe that He fully accomplished our redemption through His substitutionary, sacrificial death on the Cross, and that the Father accepted totally the pouring out of His soul unto death (Isa. 53:9-12) as the propitiation for sins, and that the Father's acceptance of His death was dramatized and realized by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Luke 1:35; John 1:1, 14; Rom. 3:24-26; 1 Cor. 15:1-4; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 9:22; 13:20-21; 1 Pet. 1:3-5, 18-20; 2:24; 3:18). Furthermore, we believe that even now the Lord Jesus Christ is in Heaven, having been supereminently exalted by God the Father to sit at His right hand where He fulfills the ministry of Great High Priest, Intercessor and Advocate for His people, where He is the indisputably acknowledged Head of the Church which is His Body and from which place He will return for the crushing of all the enemies of God (Rom. 8:34; Eph. 1:19-23; Heb. 7:25-27; 10:12-13; 1 John 1:1-2).

    The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit

    We hold that the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Blessed Trinity, is a Person, not a force, and that He convicts the world of the sin of unbelief, restrains evil from its ultimate manifestation, glorifies Christ and guides believers into all truth (John 16:7-14). We believe that at the point of personal faith in Jesus Christ, the Spirit baptizes each individual into indissoluble union with Christ and permanently indwells, seals and regenerates each believer. Therefore, it is the duty of each believer to walk by means of the Spirit and be filled by Him (Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:12, 13; Gal. 3:26-29; 5:16; Eph. 1:12-14; 4:30; 5:18; Titus 3:5, 6).

    Salvation

    We believe that eternal salvation is the gift of God received upon the sinner's meritless faith in Jesus Christ whose accomplished redemption on the Cross provided man's reconciliation to God (John 3:15-16; 5:24; 6:40, 47; 20:31; Acts 16:31; Rom. 3:24-25; 5:11, 16; 2 Cor. 5:18-21; Eph. 2:8-9).

    The Eternal Security of Believers

    We hold that all believers are kept secure forever and each has the right to personal assurance of this eternal security (John 10:27-30; Rom. 8:1, 38, 39; 1 Cor. 1:4-8; 1 Thess. 5:23, 24; Heb. 10:14; 1 John 5:1, 13).

    The Church

    We hold that the Church, which is Christ's body, is made up of all born-again persons of this present age, and that it is a spiritual organism and all believers are in union with Christ irrespective of secondary affiliation with Christian denominations or organizations (1 Cor. 12:12-14; Eph. 1:22, 23).

    Satan

    We believe in the personality of Satan who is the openly declared adversary of God and man (Job 1:6, 7; Isa. 14:12-17; 1 Pet. 5:8).

    The Blessed Hope

    We believe that the next great event in the fulfillment of prophecy will be the Exit-Resurrection when the Lord Jesus Christ returns in the air to receive to Himself the dead in Christ and believers who are alive at His coming. This event is also known as the Rapture (1 Cor. 15:51-57; Phil. 3:11, 20-21; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; Titus 2:11-14).

    The Tribulation

    We believe that the Exit-Resurrection of the Church will be followed by the fulfillment of Israel's seventieth week, the latter half of which is the time of Jacob's trouble, the GreatTribulation (Jer. 30:7; Dan. 9:27; Matt. 24:15-21; Rev. 6-19).

    The Second Coming of Christ

    We believe that the Great Tribulation will be climaxed by the (premillennial) return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth to set up His kingdom (Zech. 14:4-11; Matt. 24:15-25; 2 Thess. 1:7-10; Rev. 20:6).

    The Eternal State

    We believe that at death, a believer's soul and human spirit pass immediately into God's presence and there he remains in conscious bliss until Christ's appearing at the Exit-Resurrection. At that time, his soul, human spirit and body will be reunited in association with the Lord forever in glory. But at the death of an unbeliever, his soul will remain in conscious misery until the final judgment of the Great White Throne at the close of the Millennium. At that time, his soul and body will be reunited and cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to be punished with everlasting destruction, banished from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His power for all eternity (Luke 16:19-26 & 23:43; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; 2 Thess 1:7-9; Jude 6, 7; Rev. 20:11-15).

    Responsibility of the Believer

    Once born-again, the believer is to desire the sincere milk of the Word so that continually nourished by it, he may grow spiritually in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. This believer's life comes into adjustment with God's purpose, plan and will, thus bringing both blessing to himself and honor to the Lord (Rom. 12:1,2; 2 Cor. 13:9; 1 Tim. 4:6; 1 Pet. 2:2; 2 Pet. 3: 18).

    Church Ordinances

    We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Lord's Supper to be observed until His return (1 Cor. 11:23-26).

    Sovereignty

    We believe that God, existing as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is sovereign, and exercises supreme and absolute rule over all creation as a part of and consistent with the essence and attributes of Deity (1 Chron. 29:11,12; Dan. 4:35; Ps. 24:1; Eph. 1:11; 1 Tim. 6:15).

    Spirituality

    Though salvation is a result of one decision to believe, spirituality is the result of continuous decisions to perceive, assimilate and apply Bible doctrine in the filling of the Spirit. The believer is mandated not to 'squelch' or to 'grieve' the Spirit by personal sin and by rejection of His Word and His grace. The spiritual life of a believer can only be fulfilled by the power of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:16; Eph. 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thess. 5:19).

    Spiritual Gifts

    We believe that God the Holy Spirit, in grace and apart from human merit, sovereignly bestows spiritual gifts to believers in this dispensation. Some of the permanent spiritual gifts which exist today are pastor-teacher, evangelist, helps, and administration. We further believe that the temporary spiritual gifts of apostleship, prophecy, speaking in tongues, interpreting tongues, and working of miracles and healings ceased with the completion of the Canon of Scripture (1 Cor. 12-13; Eph. 4:7-12; Rom. 12:4-8). Though spiritual gifts of miracles and healing have ceased, God may, and does, heal and miraculously intervene by His own direct action.