What We Believe

1. Scripture as found in the 66 books of the Canon is the verbal disclosure of the mind and will of God, containing every word we need from God on every area of life, entirely sufficient to equip us to know Him, serve Him, and do His will. Scripture is God-breathed and inerrant in the original text (2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21). What Scripture says, God says; and God has spoken in Scripture fully and finally (Hebrews 1:1-2; 2:1-4).

2. God is the font of holiness, wisdom, righteousness and love; He is sovereign creator and Lord of all. God is eternally one as to His essence and three as to His persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:18-20; John 1:1; Acts 6:3-5).

3. Man was created in God’s image but Adam’s rebellion brought sin, death, misery and hopeless brokenness to all mankind, so that all men suppress God’s truth until a work of sovereign grace brings them to repentant faith and life (Genesis 1:26-28; Romans 1:18-32; Ephesians 2:1).

4. Jesus Christ is eternal God who took on a human nature to be the believer’s perfect prophet, priest and king. He laid down His holy and righteous life, and shed His blood, fully to satisfy God’s justice and absorb the wrath of God for the sake and in the stead of of His people. He rose bodily from the dead, ascended to the Father’s right hand, and will return one day personally to establish His kingdom on earth (Matthew 20:28; John 1:1, 14; Romans 3:21-31).

5. Salvation is a work of God’s sovereign grace in which God freely gives spiritual life to dead sinners. By means of the Gospel, God brings elect sinners to repentant faith in Christ alone by grace alone, transferring them to His family and holding them forever so that no thing and no one can separate them from His love (John 6:37, 44; Romans 1:16; 8:28-39; Ephesians 2:1-10).

6. The universal Christian church is comprised of all who since Pentecost have come to saving faith in Christ. Local churches are Christ’s agents in communicating the Gospel and discipling believers. They are led by elders, and centrally focus on the preaching, teaching and obeying of God’s Word, observing Christ’s commands of water immersion of all converts and regular enjoyment of Communion (Matthew 16:18; 28:18-20; Acts 2:38, 41-42; 1 Corinthians 11:20-34).

7. The Holy Spirit is poured out richly on every believer, each of whom is baptized in the Spirit into Christ’s body. The Spirit — God’s seal of ownership — indwells us. The Spirit glorifies Christ, leading us to live according to God’s Word and building Christ’s character in us (1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 5:22-23; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30; Titus 3:5-6).

8. Spiritual gifts are part of the bounty of Christ’s work on the Cross, by which He gives every believer at least one special enablement for service within the local church. Revelatory and attesting gifts — such as unlearned languages (tongues) and direct words from God (prophecy) — fulfilled their purpose, leaving a completed Bible and a host of ongoing gifts for service until Christ comes for His church (Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12-14; Ephesians 4:11 and following.; Hebrews 2:1-4).