|
What We Believe and Teach
The Bible
We
believe in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, and these
Scriptures alone, as being the verbally
inspired
Word of God,
infallible, and completely inerrant in the original writings, and of
supreme and final
authority
in faith and life. (Ps 19:7-14; Ps 119; Matt 5:17-20; Jn 17:17; 1Thess
2:13; 2 Tim 3:16-17; Heb 1:1;
2
Pt 1:20-21)
God
We
believe in one God, eternally existing in three co-equal persons:
Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit – each equally
deserving
worship and obedience. (Gen 1:26; 3:22; Deut
6:4-5; Ps 90:2; Matt 1:23; Jn 1:1; 2 Cor 3:16-18)
God the Father
We believe that God the Father created all
things out of nothing, solely by the power of His spoken word.
In His
goodness,
wisdom, and power, He was and is sovereign in all of creation,
providence*, and salvation.
He is the
spiritual
Father of those who believe in Christ Jesus, Who also, in love, adopts
them into His family.
(Gen
1:1-31; 1 Cor 8:6; Ps 103:19; Rom 11:36; Rom 8:14-15; Jn 1:12-13; Eph
1:4-6)
* Definition:
Omnisciently directing the universe and the
history/affairs of humankind with wise benevolence.
God the Son
We
believe that Jesus Christ, through whom and for whom all things were
created, is the eternal Son of God
who
also sustains that which He has created; who was begotten by the Holy
Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, and
is
true God and
true man. (Jn 1:1-3, 14; Col 1:16,17; Matt 1:18-25; Rom 8:3; Gal
4:4-5; Heb 2:17-18;
Phil
2:6-8)
God the Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that
He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ.
He convicts the world of sin,
righteousness,
and judgment.
He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are
baptized into union with Christ.
He
also
indwells, illuminates, guides, equips, and empowers believers for
Christ-like living and service.
(Jn 16:14;
Jn
16:8-11; Jn 3:3-8; Rom 8:9; 1 Cor 12:13; Jn 14:26; Jn 16:13; Eph 5:18;
Acts 1:8; 2 Cor 3:18)
The Nature of Man
We believe that man was created by God, in
the image of God; that he sinned after being tempted by that fallen
angel
Satan, and thereby incurred not only physical death, but also spiritual
death which is separation from, and
under
the wrath of, a just and holy God.
In union with Adam, all human beings are
sinners by nature and by
choice.
(Gen 1-3; Is 59:2; Ps 51:5; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 5:12-21; Luke 13:34; Eph.
2:1-3; Jn 3:36; Ps 14:1-3;
Jer
17:9; Rom 3:9-18; 1 Cor 15:21-22, 45)
The Work of Christ
We
believe that God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love for us,
gave His only begotten Son; and that
this
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, died according to the Scriptures as the
only, perfect, all sufficient representative
and
substitutionary sacrifice for our sins; and that all who believe in Him,
and Him alone, are justified on the
basis
of His shed blood by God’s initiating grace alone to the glory of God
alone. (Rom 3:21-5:3;
1 Cor 15:3;
2
Cor 5:20-21; Heb 2:9; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Jn 3:16; Jn 1:12-13; 6:44, 65; Eph
2:8-9; Phil 1:29; 2:12-13)
The Resurrection
We
believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord, in His
ascension into heaven, and in His present
life
there for us, as High Priest and Advocate. (Matt 28; Mark 16; Luke 24;
Jn 20; Acts 1:3, 9-11; Rom 8:34;
Heb
7:25; 9:24; 1 Jn 2:1)
Salvation
We believe that all who receive the Lord
Jesus Christ by faith, and faith alone, have been born of God and
granted
the repentance that leads to life.
Having believed, they are free from divine
condemnation, and are
adopted
as children of God, a relationship in which they are kept eternally
secure by God. (Jn 1:12-13; 3:16;
Eph
2:1-10; I Jn 5:1; Titus
3:3-7; Rom 8:1; Eph 1:5; Rom 8:15, 23; Gal 4:4-5; Rom
8:28-38; 1 Cor 1:8;
Eph 1:13-14; Phil 1:6; 1 Pet 5:10-11; Jude 24-25; Acts
11:18; 2 Tim 2:25; Jn 17:11-12)
Christian Living
We believe salvation in
Christ will prove to be genuine in the believer (child of God) by a
progressively
maturing, supreme love
for and delight in God, a faithful obedience to His commands, and
sacrificial love for
others.
This is a confirmation of God’s
working in the life of the believer as He conforms the child of God more
and more into the image
of Christ. (Eph 4:1, 6, 17; 5:2, 8, 15; Jn 15:1-17; Col 1:28-29; Rom
8:29; 12:1-2;
1 Jn 5:1-5; James
2:14-26; Titus 2:11-14; 2 Pt 1:3-11; Gal 5:22-25)
The Second Coming of Christ
We believe in “the blessed Hope,” the
personal and imminent return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
(Matt
24-25; John 14:1-6; Acts 1:11; Col 3:1-4; 1 Th 4:13-18; Titus 2:11-13; Rev
2:5, 16; 3:11)
Eternal Destiny
We
believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and unjust, the
everlasting blessedness of heaven in the
unveiled
presence of God for the saved (those who have believed in Christ), and
everlasting conscious
punishment
of the lost (those who have rejected Christ). (Matt 25:31-46; Jn
5:24-29; Rom 1:18-23;
2
Thess 1:6-10; Rev 20:11-22:21)
February 25, 2010
|
