What We Believe

THE TRIUNE GOD (Deut. 6:4; Exod. 20:2-3; Matt. 28:19; 1 Cor. 8:6; 2 Cor. 13:14; Rev. 4:11)

We believe there is one living and true God, the sovereign Creator and Ruler of heaven and earth. He is infinite, holy, and worthy of all worship, trust, obedience, and love. The one God exists eternally in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who are equal in divine perfection, one in essence, and work together in perfect unity in creation, providence, and redemption.

GOD THE FATHER (Deut. 32:6; Ps. 103:13; Isa. 63:16; Isa. 64:8; Mal. 2:10; Matt. 6:9; John 1:14, 18; John 3:16; John 5:17-26; John 6:37-44; John 14:6-11, 26; John 17:1-5; 1 Cor. 8:6; Eph. 1:3-11; Eph. 4:6; Heb. 12:5-11; 1 John 3:1)

We believe that God the Father is fully God, equal with the Son and the Holy Spirit, and eternally Father of the Son. He is the Father from whom all things exist and for whom we exist, who sovereignly works all things according to the counsel of His will. In love, the Father sent His Son for our salvation, gives His Spirit to His people, draws sinners to Christ, adopts believers as His children, and cares for them with fatherly love, discipline, and faithfulness.

JESUS CHRIST (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:18-25; Luke 1:35; Luke 24:39; John 1:1-14; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Rom. 3:24-25; 1 Cor. 15:3-4; 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 2:5-11; Heb. 1:1-8; Heb. 2:14-17; Heb. 4:14-16; 1 Tim. 2:5; 1 Pet. 3:18; 1 John 2:1)

We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, and is fully God and fully man. Jesus lived without sin, obeyed the Father perfectly, and died on the cross as our substitute, bearing the judgment our sins deserve. His death is the full and sufficient atonement for sin, and all who trust in Him are saved. He rose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, and now ministers at the right hand of the Father as our High Priest, Advocate, and only Mediator between God and man.

THE HOLY SPIRIT (Gen. 1:1-3; John 3:5-8; John 14:16-17, 26; John 15:26; John 16:8-11, 14; Acts 1:8; Acts 5:3-4; Rom. 8:14-16, 26-27; 1 Cor. 6:19; 2 Cor. 3:17-18; Eph. 1:13-14; Heb. 9:14)

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, fully God, equal with the Father and the Son. He was active in creation, glorifies Christ, convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment, bears witness to the truth of the gospel, and gives new birth to sinners. The Holy Spirit indwells, seals, guides, teaches, sanctifies, empowers, and helps believers.

THE SCRIPTURES (Ps. 19:7-11; John 17:17; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:3, 19-21)

We believe the Holy Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testaments, is God’s written Word, breathed out by God and without error in the original manuscripts. The Bible is our final and sufficient authority for faith, doctrine, worship, conduct, and all of life.

SIN AND THE FALL (Gen. 3:1-24; Rom. 1:18-32; Rom. 3:10-23; Rom. 5:12-19; Eph. 2:1-3)

We believe that Adam and Eve were created without sin and in right relationship with God. Adam voluntarily disobeyed God, and through him sin entered the human race. As a result of the fall, human nature is corrupted by sin in every part, leaving sinners unable to save themselves. All people are sinners by nature and by choice, and therefore stand under God’s just condemnation apart from His saving grace in Jesus Christ.

SALVATION (John 3:3-8; Acts 11:18; Acts 16:31; Acts 20:21; Rom. 10:9-13; 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:1-10; Phil. 1:29; Titus 3:5; 2 Pet. 1:4)

We believe that salvation is wholly by God’s grace through the person and work of Jesus Christ. It is not earned by works or human merit, but is received through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. All who are saved have been born again by the Holy Spirit. In salvation, God graciously gives spiritual life to those who were dead in sin and grants repentance and faith, which are inseparably joined. Repentance is a Spirit-given turning from sin toward God, and faith is resting in Jesus Christ alone for salvation.

JUSTIFICATION, ADOPTION, AND SECURITY (John 10:28-29; Acts 13:38-39; Rom. 3:24-26; Rom. 5:1, 9; Rom. 8:1, 15-17, 29-39; 2 Cor. 5:18-21; Gal. 4:1-7; Eph. 1:5, 13-14; Phil. 1:6; 1 Pet. 1:3-5; 1 John 3:1-2; Jude 1, 24-25)

We believe that God justifies all who trust in Jesus Christ, declaring them righteous in His sight. Justification is God’s legal declaration, resting entirely on Christ’s atoning death and His righteousness credited to believers. It includes the forgiveness of sins, is bestowed by grace, and is received through faith alone. God adopts believers as His children, giving them the privileges and hope that belong to His family. All who are truly born again are kept by God’s power for Jesus Christ through the faith He sustains, and He will bring them safely to final glory.

SANCTIFICATION (John 17:17; Rom. 6:1-14; 1 Cor.d purpose toward God prompted by the Holy Spirit; that it is characterized by godly sorrow for sin as offensive to God and ruinous to the soul; and that true repentance is inseparably related to true faith (Luke 13:1 3; 15 7; Acts 8:22; Rom. 2:4; 2 Cor. 7:10; Acts 20:21).

Faith and Salvation
We believe that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation (Acts 16:3l). 

Grace in the New Creation
We believe that in order to be saved, 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 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 by our sovereign God in a manner above our comprehension, solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the gospel; that its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance, faith and newness of life (John 3:3; 2 Cor. 5:17; 1 John 3:6,7; Acts 16:30 33; 2 Pet. 1:4; Rom. 6:23; Eph. 2:1,5; 2 Cor. 5:19; Col. 2:13; John 3:8).

CREATION AND HUMAN DIGNITY (Gen. 1:1-2:25; John 1:3; Acts 17:24-26; Rom. 5:12-19; Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 11:3)

We believe that God created all things, visible and invisible, out of nothing and by His Word, and that the Genesis account of creation is true and historical. Adam and Eve were real people, the first human beings, created personally by God in His image, male and female. Mankind did not descend from nonhuman life, and all human beings descend from Adam and Eve. Because every person is made in the image of God, every person has God-given dignity and worth.