What We Believe

“On this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it“

 

Mathew 16.18

1. We believe the Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:16, 17; 2 Peter 1:20, 21; 1 Thess. 2:13 and Matt. 24:35).

2. We believe that there is one God (Deut. 6:4). We believe that He has revealed Himself not only as the Father of all creation, but He has also been revealed through His only begotten Son Jesus (Col. 1:15; John 1:1, 14; Jude 25). And He continues to reveal Himself through His Holy Spirit (John 15:26; Acts 5:3-4).

3. We believe that these three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – make up what the Bible calls, “The Godhead” (Col. 2:9) and we believe that the full comprehension of this wonderful union is a mystery (Mark 4:11; Rom. 16:25; Col. 1:26).

4. We believe that Jesus was both fully human, and fully God (Phil. 2:5-8; Heb. 4:15). That he is the expressed “image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15). That he is to be worshipped, praised and adored (along with the Father) not only for what He has done, but for who He is – the Son of God and God the Son (Rev. 5:8-9).

5. We believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one in substance and purpose, but are different in position and authority (John 14:28; 16:7). We do not believe that the Father and the Son are the same person or that the Holy Spirit is just the force of God – for we see that the Bible makes clear distinctions between each of them, and they are eternally three different wonderful revelations of the one true and living God. Therefore, we adhere with all our hearts to what Bible historians have called, “the Doctrine of the Trinity” (Matt. 28:19; Luke 3:22).

6. We believe that Jesus was born when “the Word became flesh”, and that He was born to a virgin – to one who had never known a man (John 1:14; Matt. 1:18).

7. We believe that He completely fulfilled all righteousness and the Law, that He was tempted but never once yielded and never sinned (Mall. 3:15; 5:17; 4:1; Heb. 4:15).

8. We believe that men rejected Him, and therefore rejected His Father (Luke 10:16), and the forgiveness His Father offered (John 3:18-19). We believe that He suffered a cruel and horrible death by crucifixion on a cross and that He became the great sacrifice of God “to take away the sins of the world” (John 1:29).

9. We believe that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, “(I Cor. 15:3-4), that He “bore our sins in His own body on the tree” (2 Peter 2:24), and when the great work of atonement was done on the cross He cried out “It is finished” (John 19:30), and dismissed His spirit (Luke 23:46; John 10:17-18).

10. We believe that He rose from the tomb on the third day in triumph over Satan, hell and death, winning the position and name above all others, so that no one can be saved by any other way, or by any other name other than Jesus’ (Phil. 2:9-11; Acts 4:12).

11. We believe that salvation is a free gift by God’s grace (but that this gift although free, is not cheap – for it cost God the life of His own beloved Son (John 3:16; Eph. 2:8; I John 1:9).

12. We believe that one is saved only by faith in Jesus’ finished work on the cross, and that if this faith is real it will produce repentance – which is a change of mind and heart concerning sin and everything not pleasing to God – that results in a total change of actions and deeds (Acts 2:37-38; Matt. 3:8; James 2:14,26). We believe that repentance is not optional, but necessary proof that one has true “faith that leads to eternal life” (Luke 13:1-5).

13. We believe that Jesus appeared to over 500 witnesses at once, and then ascended to the right hand of the Father to make constant intercession for His Chosen ones (I Cor. 15:6; Mark 16:9; Heb. 7:25).

14. We believe that He promised and sent into the world the Holy Spirit, to both convict the world of sin, and to empower true believers to be good and faithful witnesses to His glory and purpose (John 16:8; Isa. 43:10; Acts 1:8)

15. We believe that every believer needs to be empowered by this same Holy Spirit every day, and that without this Spirit we can never have the greatest gift of God to every believer (after salvation) – holiness (Heb. 12:14; I Peter 1:16).

16. We believe that the true evidence of “the baptism of the Spirit” spoken of in Acts, is holiness and love (Acts 15:8-9; I Cor. 13:1-3).

17. We believe that God has appointed a day of judgment and wrath called, “the great and terrifying day of the Lord” (Isa. 2:12; Mal. 4:5). We believe that this judgment “begins with the house of God” (I Peter 4:1 7-18).

18. We believe that marriage is a holy institution created by God as a union between one man and one woman according to the Bible (Genesis 2:23, 24).

19. We believe that Jesus Christ will physically again return to the earth “coming on the clouds with great power and glory along with great multitudes of His saints” (Matt. 24:27, 30; I Thess. 4:14-17). This time, though, He will not be coming to save the world but He will be coming to judge the world for their sins and avenge the blood of those who have been slain for the testimony of Jesus and for the Word of God (Rev. 6:9-10; 19:11-16; 20:4).