|
|
STATEMENT OF FAITH
Part 1
Part 2 & Part 3
(A) The Holy Scriptures
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the verbally and plenary inspired Word of God. The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible and God-breathed, and therefore are the final authority for faith and life. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament are the complete and divine revelation of God to Man. The Scriptures shall be interpreted according to their normal grammatical-historical meaning. The King James Version of the Bible shall be the official and only translation used by the church
(2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21)
(B) Dispensationalism
We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense reveal divinely determined dispensations or rules of life which define man's responsibilities in successive ages. These dispensations are not ways of salvation, but rather are divinely ordered stewardships by which God directs man according to His purpose. Three of these dispensations--the law, the church, and the kingdom--are the subjects of detailed revelation in Scripture
(Gen. 1:28; 1 Cor. 9:17; 2 Cor. 3:9-18; Gal. 3:13-25; Eph. 1: 1 0; 3:2-1 0; Col. 1:24,25, 27; Rev. 20:2-6).
(C) The Godhead
We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--each coeternal in being, co-identical in nature, coequal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections
(Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19: 2 Cor. 13:14; John 14:10, 26).
(D) The Person and Work of Christ
(1) We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and bom of the Virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men
(Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Luke 1: 35; John 1: 1-2, 14; 2 Cor. 5:19-2 1; Gal. 4:4-5; Phil. 2:5-8).
2) We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through his death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and, that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead
(Acts 2:18-36; Rom. 3:24-25; 1 Peter 2:24; Eph. 1:7; 1 Peter 1:3-5).
3) We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate
(Acts 1:9-1 0; Heb. 9:24; 7:25; Rom. 8:34; 1 John 2:1-2).
(E) The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
(1) We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and, that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption
(John 16:8-11; Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:12-14; 2 Cor. 3:6; Eph. 1: 13-14).
(2) We believe that He is the Divine Teacher who assists believers to understand and appropriate the Scriptures and that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit
(Eph. 1:17-18; 5:18; 1 John 2:20, 27).
(3) We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowal of spiritual gifts to every believer. God uniquely uses evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip believers in the assembly in order that they can do the work of the ministry
(Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Cor. 12:4-11, 28; Eph. 4:7-12).
(4) We believe that the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues and the gift of healing, were temporary. We believe that speaking in tongues was never the common or necessary sign of the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit and that ultimate deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection, though God frequently chooses to answer the prayers of believers for physical healing
(I Cor. 1:22; 13:8; 14:21-22).
(F) The Total Depravity of Man
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam's sin the human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and, that man is totally depraved, and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition
(Gen.- 1:26-27; Rom. 3:22-23; 5:12; 6:23; Eph. 2:1-3; 4:17-19).
(G) Salvation
We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins
(John 1:12; Eph. 1:7; 2:8-10; 1 Pet. 1:18-19).
Part 2 & Part 3
|
|
|
