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Our Beliefs

Bible

  • We believe the Bible to be the complete Word of God.
  • We believe the 66 books of the Old and New Testament were inspired by the Spirit of God as originally written.
  • We believe the Bible is the complete, infallible, inerrant, authoritative Word of God.
  • We believe the Bible is exactly what it claims to be--the Word of God, the revelation of God's grace and truth to man. The Holy Spirit guided the human authors of Scripture to ensure that it was recorded without error in the original manuscripts.  (1 Corinthians 2:10:  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit:  for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God)..
  • We believe the Bible is the final authority in all matters of faith and conduct.  (2 Timothy 3:16:  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness].
 

God

  • We believe in the only one true and living God, Creator of all, holy, sovereign,  eternal, and self-existent.  (Genesis 1:1:  In the beginning God . . . Romans 1:20:  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse).
  • We believe  God exists eternally in three equal Persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  These three are one in essence but distinct in person and function.  (John 14:10:  Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?  the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself:  but the Father that dwellest in me, he doeth the works.  John 14:26:  But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said to you).   
  • We believe the foundation of loving God and worshipping Him goes back to Genesis 1.  From the Creation account we learn that God is personal, Spirit, perfect, immutable, omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent. 
  • We believe God created us to glorify and honor Him and for His pleasure.  He created us to love Him, worship Him, fellowship with Him, and serve Him.  (Revelation 4:11:  Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power:  for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created).    

Jesus Christ

  • We believe in His work of creation.  
  • We believe the eternal Son became flesh in the virgin birth and continues forever as both true God and true man--one Person with two natures. (Colossians 2:9:  For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily).  Jesus was tempted in all points as we are yet without sin.  He gave Himself in death on the cross in full substitution and payment for the sins of all, was buried, and on the third day triumphantly arose physically from the dead and was glorified.  He ascended into Heaven there to appear before the face of God as our Advocate and Intercessor.   (Galatians 4:4-5:  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.  1 John 3:5:  And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sin; and in him is no sin.  Hebrews 10:12:  But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God).
  • We believe in the pretribulational, premillennial rapture of the church.  (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17:  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first.  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air:  and so shall we ever be with the Lord).  
  • We believe in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ--His personal, visible return to earth to establish a theocratic kingdom for 1,000 years. (Revelation 20:4:  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them:  and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years).    

The Holy Spirit

  • We believe that the Holy Spirit is the Person who reproves the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, indwelling all believers and sealing them unto the day of redemption (John 16:8-11; II Corinthians 3:6; Romans 8:9; Ephesians 1:13-14).
  • 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 prayer of believers for physical healing. (II Corinthians 12:12; I Corinthians 13:8; Hebrews 2:3-4; Mark 16:17-20; I Corinthians 1:22, 14:21-22).

Mankind

  • We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam's sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and therefore man is totally depraved, and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition (Genesis 1: 26- 27; Romans 3: 2 2-23; Ephesians 2: 1-3, 12).
  • The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image and is mindful of him, and in that Christ died for man; therefore, every individual possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love. (Romans 8:4-9; Colossians 3:9-11).
  • We believe that the only marriage recognized by Scripture is the joining of one man and one woman. (Genesis 2:24; Romans 7:2; 1 Corinthians 7:10; Ephesians 5:22-23)
  • We believe that God expressly forbids intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between one man and one woman.
  • We believe that, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are perversions of God's intended purposes and therefore, sin.
  • We believe that God forbids any attempt to alter one's God-given gender identity by any means, including surgery or appearance. (Genesis 2:24; Genesis 19:5, 13; Genesis 26:8-9; Leviticus 18:1-30; Romans 1:26-29; 1 Corinthians 5:1, 6:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4)

satan

  • We believe Satan is a fallen angel--a real spirit being--who has been given temporary rulership on the earth by the sovereign God.  He is the enemy of God and man and deceives the world.
  • We believe Satan will be bound for a thousand years (Revelation 20:1-3:  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.   And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled:  and after that he must be loosed a little season).
  • We believe Satan will be released at the end of the 1,000-year reign to be cast into the Lake of Fire.  (Revelation 20:10:  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever).

Salvation

  • We believe that the clear message of salvation is “repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21).
  • We believe that salvation is “by grace” plus nothing minus nothing. We believe that Jesus Christ died for every man, and that each individual chooses to accept or reject the grace of God (Hebrews 2:9; I John 2:2).
  • We believe that men are justified by faith alone and are accounted righteous before God only through the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12; I Peter 1:18-19)
  • We believe that all the redeemed, once saved are kept by God's power and are thus secure in Christ forever. We believe that eternal life is the present possession of every believer (John 6:37-40, 10:27-30; Romans 8:1, 38-39; I Corinthians 1:4-8; I Peter 1:4-5; Jude 1, 2).

Heaven and Hell

  • We believe in the eternal blessedness of the saved in a literal place called Heaven.  The saved go immediately to Heaven when they die and will be judged in the relationship of rewards following the rapture of the church [BEMA].
  • We believe at death the unsaved are held in Hell until the time of the Great White Throne judgment when they will be raised in bodily form and cast into the Lake of Fire for final and everlasting punishment.
  • Matthew 25:46:  And these shall go away into everlasting punishment:  but the righteous into life eternal.

The Great Commission

  • We believe in Matthew 28:19-20:  Jesus' Commission:  "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.  Amen."  
  • We believe Jesus' last words on earth before He ascended to heaven was His command:  Set your mind to sharing the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We believe that Jesus Christ commissioned His disciples to GO and preach the Gospel to every creature. 

The Church

  • We believe Christ is the only head of the church.  
  • We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority or control.  Its offices are pastor and deacon.  (Ephesians 1:22:  And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all).
  • We believe the New Testament Church is a local assembly of baptized believers who have voluntarily joined themselves for worship, prayer, teaching, and fellowship.
  • We believe in two scriptural ordinances for the church in this age:  (1) Water baptism by immersion.  The prerequisite to baptism is the new birth.  Baptism does not provide salvation.  Baptism is identification with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection and not a means of grace.  (2) The Lord's Super as a memorial and not a means of grace.  (Matthew 28:19:  "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."  1 Corinthians 11:24-25:  And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat:  this is my body, which is broken for you:  this do in remembrance of me.  After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood:  this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me).
  • We believe God has given the church the great commission to proclaim the Gospel to all nations.  [Matthew 28:19-20]    

Fundamentalism

  • We affirm without apology the doctrines frequently identified as the “Fundamentals of the Faith,” which include the deity, virgin birth, sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, and imminent return of Jesus Christ.
  • We believe that a Fundamentalist is defined by their adherence to orthodox theology, orthodox methodology, and will only fellowship with those who do the same.

Israel

  • We believe the church came into being on the day of Pentecost and will continue until it is taken to Heaven at the Rapture. 
  • We believe the church has not replaced Israel in God's plan.  God will one day restore Israel as a nation.  (God's covenant with Israel:  Romans 

11:25-29:  For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.  And so all Israel shall be saved:  as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.  For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.  As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes:  but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes.  For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance).

Baptist Distinctives

  • We believe that the strict, literal interpretation of the Bible makes us Baptists. The Baptist Distinctives are easy to remember using the acronym B.A.P.T.I.S.T.S. Many Christians believe some of these distinctives, but true Baptists believe them all. The Baptist distinctives are listed below:

Bible is the Authority

The Bible is our sole authority for faith and practice. It is the final authority on all matters of faith, practice, and polity. The tradition of men, human opinion, false science, religious creeds, nor popular opinion override the plain teaching of God's Word. The Bible is inspired and preserved by God and carries His absolute authority. Baptists believe the Bible and strive to live according to its teaching. It is the Divine Revelation of God to man and is the complete and infallible guide to faith and life. (Psalm 12:6-7; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:20-21)

Autonomy of the Local Church

Each local church is an independent body accountable to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Head of the church. Each church is autonomous, or self-governing, and contains all human authority for leadership within its congregation. No denomination, governmental body, or religious hierarchy may dictate the church's beliefs or practices. A Baptist church may choose to associate with other churches of like faith around mutual interests or ministry opportunities, but one church cannot exert authority over another. (Colossians 1:18; Matthew 18:15-20; Acts 15:22-21; 2 Corinthians 8:1-5, 19, 23)

Priesthood of the Believer

All born-again believers have the privilege of direct access to God. Jesus Christ is the mediator between God and man. We need no other human agent or spiritual mediator. As God's priests, we can study His Word, pray for our needs, intercede for others, offer worship, and serve in His work. Every child of God has equal access to their Heavenly Father. (1 Timothy 2:1-6; 1 Peter 2:5,9; Revelation 5:9,10)

Two Ordinances

The local church is mandated by God to practice two ordinances. 1. Baptism of believers by immersion in water symbolizes sincere faith in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection with the desire to walk in newness of life. 2. The Lord's Supper, or Communion, commemorates Christ's broken body and shed blood giving each believer an opportunity for self-examination and rededication. These are not sacraments to earn salvation, but privileges granted by grace. (Matthew 28:19-20; Romans 6:4; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32)

Individual Soul Liberty

Every individual, believer and unbeliever, possesses the God-given privilege of free will having the liberty to choose what to believe.  No one should be forced to any belief against his or her will.  God speaks to individuals through His Word and His Spirit.  Every person is individually responsible to God and will be judged according to the beliefs and practices he or she freely chooses.  Freedom of choice demands personal responsibility. (John 3:36; Romans 14:4-12; 2 Corinthians 4:2; Titus 1:9)

Saved Church Membership

Local church membership is restricted to individuals who give a believable testimony of personal faith in Christ and have publicly identified with Him in believer's baptism. Church membership is a necessary privilege for believers who follow Christ.  Fellowship, guidance, and encouragement of the local church family are essential for believers to maintain an unwavering testimony and a meaningful life of service. (Acts 2:41-47; 1 Corinthians 12:12,18; 2 Corinthians 6:14; Hebrews 10:23-25)

Two Offices

Scripture mandates two offices for the local church: Pastor and Deacon.  The Pastor leads, feeds, guides, and guards the church at the direction of Christ. The Bible terms “pastor,” “elder,” and “bishop” refer to different responsibilities for the same office. Deacons help the pastor care for the flock so he can give priority to prayer and the ministry of the Word.  The Bible gives qualifications for each office. (1 Timothy 3:1-13; Acts 6:1-7; Philippians 1:1)

Separation of Church and State

God established both civil and local church governments.  They have distinct responsibilities and operations. Neither should control the other. Believers in a free society should influence government toward righteousness, but should not make an unholy alliance for control, influence, or favors.  No government should interfere with the local church's preaching, activities, and ministry. (Matthew 22:15-22; 28:19-20; Romans 13:1-7)