WHAT WE BELIEVE
THE BIBLE
The Bible is God’s Word to us, written by human authors under divine inspiration. In their original manuscripts the 66 books are without error. We believe the Bible to be eternal and applicable to all times and circumstances of human history as our only infallible rule of faith and practice. The books of the Bible include history, poetry, and prophetic literature along with moral and practical truths which provide direction to believers. We interpret any passage from its grammatical, literal and historical meaning unless the grammar or context of a given passage indicates it should be taken figuratively. Scripture interprets scripture; an interpretation of one passage cannot contradict other passages.
THE TRINITY
God is three Persons in One—eternal, omnipresent and omniscient. He is holy and utterly separate from sin.
God the Father is the “God whom no man has seen”. He is the author of Creation, which was brought forth from nothing. He has no beginning or end; all creation is by His plan and purpose, by which He established the earth and mankind and purposed to redeem them by sending His Son.
God the Son is co-eternal with the Father, the Word of God who became flesh as the historical person known as Jesus the Christ. His incarnation was a joining of two natures, the human and the divine, each fully expressed without diminishing the other. He lived a sinless human life, overcoming temptation; He revealed the Father, acknowledging that He and the Father were one; He declared the kingdom of God as having come in His own person. He voluntarily submitted Himself as a one-time perfect substitutionary atoning sacrifice for the sins of mankind, with the shedding of His blood becoming a perfect sacrifice for man’s sin. That His sacrifice was complete and acceptable to God was confirmed and established by His being raised from the dead on the third day after His death. He now sits at the right hand of God the Father, enthroned as King, and will one day return to earth visibly and in power to judge the earth and rule it.
God the Holy Spirit is one with the Father and the Son. He is the Comforter whom Jesus promised would come once He went away. He is the One who convicts men of sin through the gospel and brings them to repentance by regeneration. He indwells all believers, empowering them to resist and overcome sin. He seeks to glorify Christ, not Himself, and gives gifts to men to equip them to serve God and God’s Kingdom.
CREATION
God authored the creation, speaking it into existence. He formed the man’s body from the dust of the ground, breathing into it the breath of life, which distinguishes man from all other animals and created beings. He created man male and female from the beginning with the intent they would multiply and exercise dominion over the earth and all its creatures.
FALL
Man by direct disobedience to God’s command and wishing to determine good from evil by himself rather than by the word of God sinned and fell short of God’s glory. In doing so man brought death, destruction, sickness and all evil into the world. Adam’s fall resulted in his descendants all being spiritually dead and under the dominion of sin. That he was created in the image and likeness of God accounts for anything good in the human condition, but sin ultimately controls mankind apart from God’s grace intervening in salvation
SALVATION
Man in his native state of depravity has no capability to eradicate sin, to approach God in holiness, to fulfill God’s moral law or to live uprightly before God. He is dead and must be called to life and saved from his natural condition. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, which He did by His atoning death on the cross. Man can be saved only by the work of the Holy Spirit convicting of sin through the preaching of the gospel and bringing him to repentance, trusting in Christ alone as his Savior and acknowledging Him as his Lord.
THE CHURCH
The church is that body of believers throughout the ages who have trusted in God’s saving work through Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. When the Holy Spirit brings them to faith, they are baptized into Christ’s body. Each believer has a role to play in the work of God’s Kingdom through the church, which will grow and in maturity act as the Bride of Christ.
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
When regenerated, the believer is “in Christ” and as such is seen by the Father as having Christ’s righteousness. He is blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ and seated in Him in heavenly places. This is our justification, that we are from the moment of conversion the sons of God.
At the same time, man’s sinful nature remains and will do so until the manifestation of a future resurrection body. Accordingly, in each believer the Holy Spirit works to effect growth in grace, a process of conforming the believer more and more to the image of Jesus Christ. This is our sanctification, a forming of “Christ in” us, to the glory of God.
