Our Beliefs

Our beliefs center around three foundations: who God is and what He has done, the Person and work of Jesus, and the authority and infallibility of the Bible. For a more in-depth look at the beliefs we hold see our more complete doctrinal statement.

Eight Key Truths:

1. The Triune God:

We believe in the one, unique Creator-God, who eternally exists in three distinct but equal persons--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--all three having the same nature and perfections and worthy of the same homage (Deut 4:39; 6:4; 32:39; John 1:1-3; 5:18; 8:58; 2 Pet 1: 1; Heb 1:8; Acts 5:3-4; Matt 3:16-17; Luke 1:35; Matt 28:19; 2 Cor 13:14; Isa 48:16). As Creator, our God sovereignly controls history and works all things for His purposes. The gods of other religions are nothing and all humanity must account to the one Creator-God (Ps 33:11; 115:3; Isa 40:21 - 26: Dan 4:35; Acts 17:24-31; Eph 1:11).

2. Jesus Christ:

Jesus is God in human form. We believe that God the Son became a man in the person of Jesus Christ, who was begotten of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, and who is true God and true man. God entered into time and space as the man, Jesus, who has two distinct natures (divine and human) united in one person (John 1:14; Phil 2:5-11; Matt 1:18-25-. 1 Tim 2:5-, Heb 2:14; 1 John 4:2-3).

Jesus is the only Savior. We believe that Jesus Christ died in our place to pay the penalty for our sins, and that all who believe in Him are declared righteous on the basis of His shed blood and apart from any human merit (Mark 10:45; 2 Cor 5:14, 21; 1 Pet 3:18; Rom 5:8-9; 1 Cor 15:3; Rom 3:21-28; Gal 2:16; Eph 2:8-9).

Jesus is the living King. We believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ, His ascension to heaven, and we await His glorious return to earth to consummate His kingdom and judge the living and the dead (1 Cor 15:3-8; Rom 1:4, John 20.25-27; Acts 1:9-11; Heb 1:1 -13; John 5:25-29; Rev 19--21). Jesus now serves in heaven as High Priest, intercessor, and advocate on our behalf with the Father (1 John 2:1; Heb 4:14-16; 7:25).

3. The Holy Spirit:

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person, possessing all the divine attributes. He is God. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. He regenerates, seals, and sets apart the believer to a holy life. At regeneration He baptizes the believer into the body of Christ and comes to indwell him permanently (Acts 5:3-4; 1 Cor 2:10-11; Isa 40:13-14; Ps 139:7; Titus 3:5; John 3:5-7; 14:16-17; 16:8; 2 Thes 2:13; 1 Cor 12:13; Rom 8:9).

4. Scripture and Truth:

We believe the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, is the written word of God, true and infallible in whatever it affirms, and therefore, of supreme authority in all matters about which it speaks (2 Tim 3:16; 2 Pet 1:20-21; 1 Cor 2:13: Matt 5:18; John 10:35: 17:17). The Bible must be interpreted according to the intentions of the inspired authors and in accord with the unified testimony of the whole of Scripture. Through the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit creates faith and provides a sufficient doctrinal and moral guide for the church. We affirm that God the Creator is the source of truth and the ground of unity of all truth. While humanity knows only in part, God knows all things absolutely and truly (Jer 10:6-16; John 14:6: Titus 1:2).

5. Creation and Salvation:

We believe God created heaven and earth; and He made human beings, both male and female, in His image as stewards of creation. God upholds all things by His providence and endows every person with dignity from the conception of life until God withdraws that life at death. When Adam and Eve sinned, they experienced not only physical death, but also spiritual death. The guilt of this sin is upon the entire human race and its consequences have twisted God's design for the whole of creation. All human beings are born with a sinful nature and sin in thought, word, and deed (Gen 1:1, 26-27; 2:15- 17; 3:6, 24; Ps 8-, Acts 17:24-28; Rom 5:12-19; 8*20; Eph 2:1-3; 4:18; Mark 7:20-23; 1 John 1:10; Ecc 7:20).

We believe that whoever by faith trusts Jesus Christ as Savior receives forgiveness of sins and eternal life (John 1:12; 3:16, 36; 20:30-31; Eph 2:8- 9; 1 John 5:13). Believers are kept eternally secure by the power of God through the new birth, the indwelling and sealing of the Holy Spirit, and the intercession of Christ (John 10~28-30; 14:16-17; 17:1-26; 1 Pet 1:23; Eph 1:14; 4:30; 1 John 2:1: Rom 5:1 -11; 8:38-39). We await the restoration of all creation at the coming of Christ (Isa 11; Rom 8:18-21; Rev 21--22).

6. The Christian Life:

While all believers still possess a sinful nature in this life, we believe God has made full provision for believers to live for God through submission to the indwelling Holy Spirit, who leads the believer into Christlikeness. All believers are responsible to nurture their walk with Christ through attention to worship, fellowship, and service in the body of Christ and in the community. We believe that the Holy Spirit has distributed spiritual gifts to each believer, to edify and build up the whole church (Rom 8:1-17; Gal 5:16-25; 1 Pet 2:1-3; Heb 6:1; 10:22-25; Rom 12:1-8~ 1 Cor 12-14; Eph 4:7-13).

7. The Church:

We believe that all who have faith in Christ are united with Him as members of His Church universal, which is His Body. The unity of the Body of Christ transcends local church or denominational affiliation; and believers are to rise above sectarian differences to love one another in humility and peace. (Matt 16:15-18; Eph 1:22-23; 1 Cor 12:12-13; Eph 4:1-6; Rom 15:1-13). Christ ordained water baptism for all who confess faith in Him; and He instituted celebration of the Lord's Table until He returns (Matt 28:19; Acts 2:41;Luke 22:14-20-1; 1 Cor 11:23-26).

We believe that the purposes of the church are worship, edification, and evangelism, that is, celebrating our relationship with God through Christ, nurturing one another toward Christlikeness, and proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ to a fallen world. Every member of the Body shares in these purposes. In relation to the church, believers are to be equipped for the work of the ministry. In relation to the world, believers are sent by Christ to communicate to unsaved people that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ (Ps 33:1-3: 100:1-5; Heb 10:22-25; Eph 4:11-16; Matt 28:18-20; John 17:18-21; Acts 1:8; 2 Cor 5:18-19; Gal 2:10; Mic 6:8).

8. Future Things:

We teach the imminent, pre-tribulational, invisible return of Christ for the Church (1 Thes 4:13--5:11 -1 1 Cor 15:51-53-, 1 Thes 1:10-1 Rev 3:10). After a period of tribulation on the whole earth, Jesus Christ will return visibly and in glory to establish His kingdom over all the earth in which He will reign forever in righteousness and peace (Acts 1:11; Matt 24:30; Rev 20:4-6; lsa 9:6-7; 11:1- 10). We believe in the bodily resurrection of all humanity. Believers are resurrected to enjoy eternal life with God. Unbelievers are resurrected to experience judgment and then eternal suffering apart from God. We long for Christ's return and His restoration of the created order in the New Heavens and New Earth (Dan 12:2; John 5:28-29-1 1 Cor 15:51-52: 1 Thes 4:16; Rev 20:4-6, 12-15; 21:1-8).