STATEMENT OF FAITH

 

The Scriptures Inspired

 

We believe in the verbal and plenary (full) inspiration of the Bible. The Bible is the inerrant Word of God, free from any error in its original form, and is the final authority in matters of faith and life (II Timothy 3:16-17).

 

The One True God

 

We believe that there is one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Jeremiah 10:10; 1 John 5:20; Matthew 3:16-17).

 

The Deity of Christ

 

We believe in the deity and the humanity of Jesus Christ. He is very perfect man and perfect God, hence fully God and fully man; that Christ is the only begotten Son of God, and born of the virgin Mary; that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and raised from the dead and that He ascended to heaven and is today at the right hand of the Father as our intercessor (Luke 1:35a; John 1:31-34; Matthew 11:19; Luke 9:22).

 

The Fall of Man

 

We believe that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” and that repentance is necessary for the forgiveness of sins (Romans 3:23; Romans 5:12-19).

 

The Salvation of Man

 

We believe that justification is by faith alone, and that regeneration or the new birth through faith in the blood of Christ is absolutely essential (Psalms 51:3, 4, 17; Romans 4:25; 5:1-2; 10:9, 10; Ephesians 2:13; John 3:3).

 

Sanctification

 

We believe that sanctification is subsequent to regeneration and is a second definite instantaneous  work  of  grace, obtained  by faith  on  the  part  of  the  fully justified  believer.

 

Sanctification in a word is the love of God made perfect in the heart of the believer. This is perfection in quality (initially and definitely), but not quantity. The latter comes by progressive growth (Romans 6:6; Hebrews 10:20; Ephesians 4:20-24; Titus 3:5-7).

 

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit

 

We believe that the Pentecostal Baptism of the Holy Spirit is an endowment of power for those who have clean hearts, and the initial evidence of the reception of this experience is speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives the utterance (Acts 2:1-8).

 

The Ordinances of the Church

 

Baptism in Water

 

We believe that the saved should receive water baptism, in the name of the Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as a testimony to the world that he/she has accepted Christ as Savior and Lord (Matthew 28:19; Colossians 2:12).

 

Holy Communion

 

We believe in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper as commemorating Christ’s death and anticipating His second coming (Matthew 26:26-28).

 

Feet Washing

 

We believe feet washing is a sacred ordinance of humility, instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ and enjoined upon His Disciples as a duty to be observed by them. In this He set the example (Matthew 28:19, 20; John 13:1-17).

 

Divine Healing

 

We believe that healing provided in the atonement is both spiritual and physical (Isaiah 53:4, 5; Matthew 8:16, 17). Sin is directly or indirectly responsible for sickness. The same Christ who can deliver from sin can, if it pleases Him, deliver from sickness. We do not believe that there is anything morally wrong with taking medicine or receiving human aid. Healing is God’s promise to receive, rather than a command that must be obeyed (James 5:14, 15).

 

The Creation

 

We believe in the literal Genesis account of creation. We believe that the first eleven chapters of Genesis are the literal and historical accounts of God’s creation of all things and that man was created by God in His image and not the product of some process of evolution (Genesis 1:11).

 

The Second Coming of Christ

 

We believe in the personal premillennial, second coming of Jesus; first, to resurrect the righteous dead and to carry away the living saints to meet Him in the air; second, to reign with His saints on earth a thousand years followed by the eternal state of the righteous (Acts 1:11; I Thessalonians 4:16; Revelation 20:4-6).

 

Satan

 

We believe in the existence of a personal devil who at one time was holy and honored in heaven, but through pride fell from his lofty estate and is now completely evil, unholy, anti-God and is now the power and the prince of the air (Isaiah 14:11-15). The devil, the fallen angels and the unbelievers of all ages shall be banished to an eternity in hell (2 Peter 2:4).

 

Final Judgment, and Reward

 

We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the saved and the lost; the saved to life eternal and the lost to everlasting punishment (Acts 24:15, 17:31; II Corinthians 5:10; Luke 22:36).