We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men supernaturally inspired; that it is truth without any admixture of error; and therefore is, and shall remain to the end of the age, the only complete and final written revelation of the will of God to man; the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions should be tried.

 

1. By “the Holy Bible” we mean that collection of sixty-six books, from Genesis to Revelation, which, does not only contain and convey the Word of God, but is the very Word of God.

 

2. By “inspiration” we mean that the books of the Bible were written by holy men of old, as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, in such a definite way that their writings were supernaturally and verbally inspired and free from error, as no other writings have ever been or ever will be inspired.

 

3. We further believe that the texts which are closest to the original autographs of the Scriptures are the Traditional Masoretic Text for the Old Testament, and the Received Text (known as the Textus Receptus) for the New Testament.

 

II Tim. 3:16-17; II Peter 1:19-21; Ps. 119:105,130,160; John 17:17; Ps. 119:89; Prov. 30:5-6I Peter 1:23; Rev. 22:18-19; John 12:48; John 5:39; Mt. 24:35; Ps. 12:6-7

 

II. Of The True God

We believe that there is one, and only one, living and true God, an infinite, intelligent Spirit, the maker and supreme ruler of heaven and earth; inexpressibly glorious in holiness and worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.

 

Gen. 1:26; Is. 43:10; I Cor. 8:6; Eph. 4:6; John 4:24; Ps. 147:5; Ps. 83:18; Psa. 90:2; Jer. 10:10; Rev. 4:11; I Tim 1:17; Mark 12:30; Matt. 28:19; John 15:26; I Cor. 12:4-6;    I John 5:7; John 10:30; John 17:5; I Cor. 2:10-11; Phil 2:5-6; Eph. 2:18.

III. Of the Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person; equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature; that He was active in the Creation; that in His relation to the unbelieving world He convicts of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; that He bears witness to the truth of the Gospel in preaching and testimony; that He is the agent in the New Birth; that He seals, empowers, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies and helps the believer.  We further believe that the sign gifts of the Spirit, such as speaking in tongues, faith healing, and receiving new revelation from God, were temporary, and that God planned them to cease when His written word was complete. We reject the excesses of the modern-day Charismatic movement.  Tongues were real, understandable languages, and speaking in tongues is no longer the sign of baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit.  We do not rule out that God, with His miracle-working power, might occasionally allow manifestations of sign gifts, but that is the exception and not the rule.

 

John 14:16-17; Mt. 28:19; John 14:26; Gen.1 :1-3; John 16:8-11; John 15:26-27; John 3:5-6; Eph. 1:13-14; Lk. 24:49; John16:13; Rom. 8:16; I Cor. 13:8-10; Acts 2:4-11;  II Thess. 2:13; I Peter 1:2; Rom. 8:26-27

 

We believe that Satan once enjoyed heavenly honors, but through pride and ambition to be as the Almighty, fell and drew after him a host of angels; that he is now the malignant prince of the power of the air, and the unholy “god of this world.” We hold him to be man’s great tempter, the enemy of God and His Christ, the accuser of the saints, the author of false religions, the chief power behind the present apostasy; the lord of the antichrist, and the author of all the powers of darkness—destined however to final defeat at the hands of God’s own Son, and to the judgment of an eternal justice in hell, a place prepared for Satan and his angels.

 

Is. 14:12-15; Ezek. 28:14-17; Rev. 12:9; Jude 6; II Peter 2:4; Eph. 2:2; John 14:30; I Thess. 3:5; Mt. 4:1-3; I Peter.5:8; I John 3:8; Mt. 13:39; Rev. 12:10; II Cor. 11:13-15; II Thess. 2:8-11; Rev. 19:11-20; Rev. 12:7-9; Rev. 20:1-3,10; Mt. 25:41.

 

We believe in the Genesis account of creation and that it is to be accepted literally, and not allegorically or figuratively; that man was created directly in God’s own image and after His own likeness; that man’s creation was not a matter of macro-evolution or evolutionary change of species, or development through periods of time from lower to higher forms; that all animal and vegetable life was made directly by God to bring forth only “after their kind.” Since God created mankind in genders distinctly male and female, we believe that the only legitimate marriage is that between a genetic man and a genetic woman. Though government bodies may recognize “same-sex marriages,” this church does not regard those relationships as true marriages, and the persons involved as being married in the eyes of God or the church.  God has commanded that no sexual activity be engaged in outside of marriage. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, group sex, polygamy, fornication, adultery, or pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. We believe that God rejects any attempt to alter one’s gender by surgery or appearance, and this church considers anyone genetically born a male to be male, and genetically born a female to be female, regardless of any personal and/or legal declaration to the contrary.

 

Gen. 1.1; Ex. 20:11; Acts 4:24; Col. 1:16-17; John 1:3; Rev. 10:6; Rom. 1:20; Acts 17:23-26; Neh. 9:6; Gen. 1:26-27; Gen. 2:21-23; Gen. 1:11; Gen. 1:24; Mt. 19:4-6; I Cor. 7:1-4; Lev. 20:13; Rom. 1:26-27; Deut. 22:5

 

We believe that man was created in innocence under the law of his Maker, but by voluntary transgression fell from his sinless and happy state, in consequence of which all mankind are now sinners, not by constraint, but of choice; and therefore under just condemnation without defense or excuse.

 

Gen. 3:1-6, 24; Rom. 5:12,19; Rom. 3:10-19,23; Eph. 2:1-3; Rom. 1:18; Ezek.18:19-20; Rom. 1:20, 28,32; Gal. 3:22

VII. Of the Virgin Birth

We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten of the Holy Spirit in a miraculous manner; born of Mary, a virgin, as no other man was ever born or can ever be born, and that He is both the Son of God, and God, the Son.

 

Gen 3:15; Is. 7:14; Mt. 1:18-25; Lk. 1:35; Mk. 1:1; John 1:14; Psa. 2:7; Gal. 4:4; I John 5:20

VIII. Of the Atonement For Sin

We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace; through the Son of God, Who by appointment of the Father freely took upon Him our nature, yet without sin, honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and by His death made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins; that His atonement consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was the voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner’s place, the Just dying for the unjust, Christ, the Lord, bearing our sins in His own body on the tree; that, having risen from the dead, He is now enthroned in heaven with divine perfection; He is in every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate and an all-sufficient Savior.

 

Eph. 2:8; Acts 15:11; Rom. 3:24; John 3:16; Mt. 18:11; Phil. 2:7-8; Heb. 2:14; Is. 53:4-6; Rom. 3:25; I John 4:10; I Cor. 15:3; II Cor. 5:21; John 10:18; Gal. 1:4; I Pet. 2:24; I Pet. 3:18; Isa. 53:11-12; Heb. 12:2; I Cor. 15:20; Heb. 9:12-15; Heb. 7:25; I John 2:2

 

We believe that in order to be saved, all sinners must be born again; that the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus; that it is instantaneous and not a process; that in the new birth the one dead in trespasses and in sins is made a partaker of the divine nature and receives eternal life, the free gift of God; that the new creation is brought about in a manner above our comprehension, not by the will of man, but wholly and solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in conjunction with our voluntary belief of the Gospel; that its proper evidence appears in the fruit of the Spirit and newness of life.

 

John 3:3-7; II Cor. 5:17; I John 5:1; Acts 2:41; II Pet. 1:4; Rom. 6:23; Eph. 2:1; Col. 2:13; John 1:12-13; Gal. 5:22-24

 

We believe that Jesus died for all people, and that He bore the sins of the whole world; that the blessings of salvation are made free to all by the Gospel; that it is the immediate duty of all to accept Jesus Christ by faith, and that nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth but his own voluntary rejection of the Gospel, which subsequently condemns the unbeliever to an eternal experience of God’s wrath in the Lake of Fire.

 

I John 2:2; II Cor. 5:15; Mt. 11:28; Is. 55:1; Rev. 22:17; Rom. 10:13; John 6:37; Is. 55:7; John 3:15-16; I Tim. 2:4; Eph. 2:4-5; John 5:40; John 3:18; John 3:36; Rev. 21:8

 

We believe that the great Gospel blessing which Christ secures to such as believe in Him is Justification; that Justification includes the pardon of sin and the gift of eternal life; that it is bestowed not in consideration of any works of righteousness which we have done; but solely through faith in the Redeemer’s blood, His righteousness is imputed unto us.

 

Acts 13:39; Is. 53:11, Rom. 8:1; Rom. 5:1,9; Titus 3:5-7; Gal. 3:11; Rom. 4:1-8,22-24

XII. Of Sanctification

We believe that sanctification is the divine setting apart of the believer.  This is accomplished in a threefold manner: First, an eternal act of God based upon redemption in Christ, establishing the believer in a position of holiness at the moment he or she trusts the Savior; second, a continuing process in the saint as the Holy Spirit applies the word of God to the life; third, the final accomplishment of this process at the Lord’s return.

 

Heb. 10:10-14, 3:1; John 17:17; II Cor. 3:18; I Cor. 1:30; Eph. 5:25-26; I Thes. 4:3-4, 5:23-24; Eph. 5:27; I John 3:2; Jude 24-25; Rev. 22:11

XIII. Of Repentance and Faith

We believe that repentance and faith are solemn obligations, and also inseparable graces, wrought in our souls by the Spirit of God; thereby, being deeply convicted of our guilt, danger, and helplessness, and of the way of salvation by Christ, we turn to God with unfeigned contrition, confession, and supplication for mercy; at the same time heartily receiving the Lord Jesus Christ and openly confessing Him as our only and all-sufficient Savior.

 

Acts 20:21; Mk. 1:15; Acts 2:37-38; Lk. 18:13; Rom. 10:13; I Kings 8:47; Ps. 51:1-4; Is. 55:6-7; Lk. 12:8; Rom. 10:9-11

XIV. Of the Local Church

We believe that a Baptist church is a congregation of baptized believers, associated by a covenant of faith and fellowship of the Gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws; exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word; that its officers of ordination are pastors and deacons, whose qualifications, claims, and duties are clearly defined in the scriptures.  We believe that men and women are spiritually equal in position before God, but that God has ordained distinct and separate spiritual functions of men and women in the home and in the church. The husband is to be the leader of the home and men are to hold the leadership positions (pastors and deacons) in the church. Accordingly, only men are eligible for licensure and ordination by the church.

 

We believe the true mission of the church is found in the Great Commission: first, to make individual disciples; second, to baptize new believers; third, to teach and instruct as He has commanded. We hold 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 Head of the church is Christ through the Holy Spirit; that it is scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other in the furtherance of the Gospel; that every church is the sole and only judge of the measure and method of its cooperation; on all matters of membership, of policy, of government, of discipline, of benevolence, the will of the local church is final.

 

Acts 2:41-42; 1 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 1:22-23; Eph. 4:11;  Acts 14:23; Acts 6:5-6; I Tim. 3:1-13; Mt. 28:19-20; Col. 1:18; Eph. 5:23-24; I Cor. 16:1-3; I Cor. 6:1-3; I Cor. 5:11-13

We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion in water of a believer, in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, with the authority of the local church, to show forth in a solemn and beautiful picture our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, that it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership.  We reject any teaching that water baptism takes away sins.  We believe that the only other ordinance is the Lord’s supper, in which the members of the church, by the sacred use of bread and the fruit of the vine, are to commemorate together the dying love of Christ; preceded always by solemn self-examination.

 

Acts 8:36-39; John 3:23; Rom. 6:3-5; Mt. 3:16; Acts 2:41-42; Mt. 28:19-20; Rev. 1:5; I Cor. 11:23-28

XVI. Of Eternal Security

We believe that only real believers endure unto the end; that salvation, the gift of God, cannot be lost; that all genuine believers are kept by the power of God through faith unto eternal salvation.

 

Mt. 13:19-23; I Peter. 1:3-5; Phil. 1:6; John 10:28-29; Rom. 8:35-39

XVII. Of the Righteous and the Wicked

We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that only those who are justified by faith in the name of the Lord Jesus, and sanctified by the Spirit of our God, are truly righteous in His esteem; while all such as continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked, and under the curse, and this distinction holds among men both in and after death, in the everlasting joy of the saved and the everlasting suffering of the lost.

 

Mal. 3:18; Gen. 18:23; Rom. 6:17-18; I Cor. 15:22; John 3:36; I John 2:29; I John 5:19; Rom. 6:23; Prov.14:32; Lk. 16:25; Mt.25:34-46; John 8:21; Mt.7:13-14

XVIII. Of Civil Government

We believe that civil government is of divine appointment, for the interests and good order of human society; that government officials are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed; except only in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ; who is the only Lord of the conscience, and the coming Prince of the kings of the earth.

 

Rom. 13:7; Mt. 22:21; Titus 3:1; I Peter 2:13-17; Acts 4:19-20; Dan. 3:17-18; Mt. 23:10; Phil. 2:10-11; Psa.72:11

XIX. Of the Resurrection and Return of Christ and Related Events

We believe in and accept the sacred Scriptures upon these subjects at their face and full value. Of the Resurrection, we believe that Christ rose bodily “the third day according to the Scriptures”; that He ascended “to the right hand of the throne of God”; that He alone is our “merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God”; “that this same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven,” bodily, personally, and visibly.  We further believe Scripture teaches:

 

1. That the “dead in Christ shall rise first” and the living saints “changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,” during an event commonly called the Rapture.

 

2. That this Rapture shall be followed by a seven year period of Great Tribulation on the earth.

 

3. That following the Great Tribulation, Christ shall reign on earth a thousand years in righteousness, until He has put all enemies under His feet.  Christ’s one thousand year reign will be a time of perfect peace, perfect justice, and perfect prosperity on earth.

 

4. And that finally God will bring all believers into “a new heaven and a new earth,” into a city called “The New Jerusalem.”