What we believe

The HOly Scriptures - the bible

       The Bible is God's written revelation to mankind and the inspired Word of God. It consists of thirty-nine books of the Old Testament and twenty-seven books of the New Testament. It is equally inspired in all parts, authoritative, inerrant in its original autographs, and God-breathed (Matthew 5:18; John 16:12-13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21). Therefore, the Scriptures embody the very speaking of God and are the all-sufficient rule of faith and practice and are His power (Hebrews 4:12) and are binding on the consciences of all men.

       The Scriptures were spirit breathed to human authors. Through their individual personalities and different writing styles, they recorded God's Word (2 Peter 1:20-21) without error in the whole or in the part (Matthew 5:18; 2 Timothy 3:16) as guided by the Holy Spirit.

God

     There is but one living and true God (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5-7; 1 Corinthians 8:4), an infinite, all knowing Spirit (John 4:24), perfect in all His attributes, one in essence, eternally coexisting in three distinct Persons-- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14)-- each equally deserving worship and obedience. God is completely unique; He is unlike anyone or anything else in all the universe. God has all power, all knowledge, all wisdom, and is due all glory, honor, and praise. As the only absolute and omnipotent Ruler in the universe, He is sovereign in creation, providence, and redemption, and everything that comes to pass does so at His decree (Psalm 103:19; Romans 11:36). All things will, in the end, result in the glory of God (Isaiah 46:5; Ephesians 1:10-14).

       God created the universe, and everything in it, out of nothing (ex nihilo), by the word of His power in six literal twenty-four hour days (Genesis 1:31; Hebrews 11:3; Exodus 31:17). Having no deficiency in Himself, nor moved by any incompleteness in His self-sufficiency, God was pleased to display His glory to all mankind through His creation (Genesis 1; Psalm 19:1; Exodus 3:12-14; Psalm 50:9-15; Acts 17:25; Romans 1:20).

God the father

     God the Father, the first Person of the Trinity, orders and disposes all things according to His own purpose and grace (Psalm 145:8-9; 1 Corinthians 8:6). He is the Creator of all things (Genesis 1:1-31; Ephesians 3:9). His fatherhood involves both His designation within the Trinity and His relationship with mankind. He is Creator of all men but is spiritual Father only to believers (Romans 8:14; 2 Corinthians 6:18). He has decreed for His own glory all things that come to pass (Ephesians 1:11).

god the son

     ​Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Trinity, possesses all the divine excellencies, and in these He is coequal, consubstantial, and coeternal with the Father (John 10:30, 14:9).

           Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation, and by Him all things were created that are in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, and that He sustains all creation (John 1:3; Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:2).

         Jesus Christ, in His incarnation, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant being made in the likeness of men. Jesus Christ perfectly represents humanity and deity in indivisible oneness (Micah 5:2; John 5:23, 14:9-10; Philippians 2:5-8; Colossians 2:9).

         Our Lord Jesus Christ was virgin born (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23, 25; Luke 1:26-35); He was and still is God incarnate (John 1:1, 14); and the purpose of the incarnation was to reveal God, redeem men, rule over God’s kingdom, and fulfill all righteousness (Psalm 2:7-9; Isaiah 9:6; John 1:29; Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 7:25-26; 1 Peter 1:18-19).

    Our Lord Jesus Christ perfectly accomplished our redemption through the shedding of His blood and sacrificial death on the cross and His death was voluntary, vicarious, substitutionary, propitiatory, and redemptive (John 10:15; Romans 3:24-25, 5:8; 1 Peter 2:24).

       Our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead and He is now seated at the right hand of the Father, where He mediates as our Advocate and great High Priest (Matthew 28:6; Luke 24:38-39; Acts 2:30-31; Romans 4:25, 8:34; Hebrews 4:14, 7:25, 9:24; 1 John 2:1).

      In the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave, God confirmed the deity of His Son and gave proof that God has accepted the atoning work of Christ on the cross. Jesus’s bodily resurrection is also the guarantee of a future resurrection life for all believers (John 5:26-29, 14:19; Romans 1:4, 4:25, 6:5-10; I Corinthians 15:20, 23).
     Jesus Christ will return to gather His elect which is the Body of Christ and establish a new Heaven and new Earth wherein righteousness dwells (Acts 1:9-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 Peter 3:9-13; Revelation 20).

       The Lord Jesus Christ is the One through whom God will judge all mankind (John 5:22-23; 1 Corinthians 3:10-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 20:11-15).

      As the Mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5), the Head of His Body the church (Ephesians 1:22, 5:23; Colossians 1:18) and the coming universal King, who reigns on the throne of David (Isaiah 9:6; Luke 1:31-33), He is the final Judge of all who fail to place their trust in Him as Lord and Savior (Matthew 25:14-46; Acts 17: 30-31). On the basis of the efficacy of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, the believing sinner is freed from the punishment, the penalty, the power, and one day the very presence of sin; and he is justified, given eternal life, and adopted into the family of God (Romans 3:25, 5:8-9; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15; 1 Peter 2:24, 3:18).

God the holy spirit

     ​The Holy Spirit is the third divine Person of the Trinity, and that He is eternal, underived, possessing all the attributes of personality and deity including intellect (1 Corinthians 2:10-13), will (1 Corinthians 12:11), eternality (Hebrews 9:14), omnipresence (Psalm 139:7-10), omniscience (Isaiah 40:13-14), omnipotence (Romans 15:13), and truthfulness (John 16:13). In all the divine attributes and personhood He is coequal and consubstantial with the Father and the Son (Matthew 28:19; Acts 5:3-4; 28:25-26; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6; 2 Corinthians 13:14; and
Jeremiah 31:31-34 with Hebrews 10:15-17).

     It is the work of the Holy Spirit to execute the divine will with relation to all mankind. We recognize His sovereign activity in creation (Genesis 1:2), the incarnation (Matthew 1:18), the written revelation (2 Peter 1:20-21), and the work of salvation (John 3:5-7).

      The work of the Holy Spirit in this age began at Pentecost when He came from the Father as promised by Christ (John 14:16-17; 15:26) to initiate and complete the building of the Body of Christ, which is His church (1 Corinthians 12:13). The broad scope of His divine activity includes convicting the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ and transforming believers into the image of Christ (John 16:7-9; Acts 1:5; 2:4; Romans 8:29; 2Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 2:22).

     The Holy Spirit is the supernatural and sovereign Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13). The Holy Spirit also indwells, sanctifies, instructs, empowers them for service, and seals them unto the day of redemption (Romans 8:9; 2Corinthians 3:6; Ephesians 1:13).

       The Holy Spirit was the divine agent who guided the apostles and prophets ensuring that all Scripture was His God-breathed revelation.

​      Every believer possesses the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit from the moment of salvation, and it is the duty of all those born of the Spirit to be filled with (controlled by) the Spirit (John 16:13; Romans 8:9; Ephesians 5:18; 2 Peter 1:19-21; 1 John 2:20-27).

        The Holy Spirit administers spiritual gifts to the church. The Holy Spirit glorifies neither Himself nor His gifts by ostentatious displays, but He does glorify Christ by implementing His work of redeeming the lost and building up believers in the most holy faith (John 16:13-14; Acts 1:8; 1Corinthians 12:4-11; 2 Corinthians 3:18).

      In this respect, God the Holy Spirit is sovereign in the bestowing of all His gifts for the perfecting of the saints today and that speaking in tongues (known human languages, Acts 2) and the working of sign miracles in the beginning days of the church were for the purpose of pointing to and authenticating the apostles as revealers of divine truth, and were never intended to be normative in the lives of believers (1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 13:8-10; 2 Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 4:7-12; Hebrews 2:14).

Man

      Adam was created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26) from the dust of the ground. Eve was created from the side of Adam and both were created free of sin with moral responsibility. They were created spiritually alive and through one act of personal sin acquired a sin nature and died spiritually, being totally alienated from God (Genesis 2:17).  Since Adam’s sin, every member of the human race, excluding the Lord Jesus Christ, is born into a state of total depravity. (Isaiah 64:6; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:10-17; 5:12, 18-21; 6:23). This state of depravity leaves man helpless to have a relationship with God apart from faith in His grace provision; the saving work of Christ on the cross. (Isaiah 64:6; John 3:16, 18, 36; Acts 4:12; Ephesians 2:8-9).

The Gospel

> There is a God.

There is a God. There is only one God. Our conscience and
instinct bear witness of this. God is not a concept conceived by
men. He is not a vague and unknowable higher power, or life force
that is impersonal or amoral. Genesis 1:1, John 1:1-3

God is the sovereign creator of everything that exists – and He has
created man in His own image. Genesis 1:27

God has revealed Himself to us in creation, in His recorded Word
(the Bible), and in the person of His Own Son.
Romans 1:20, II Peter 1:20-21, Hebrews 1:1-2

> There is a problem.

In revealing Himself to us, God has demonstrated to us that He is
set apart from us to an extent that is difficult for us to comprehend.
God is good in every way – and in the fullest sense. God cannot be
approached by those who have been tainted by evil – no matter
how insignificant it may seem to us. He is intrinsically, and infinitely
holy (set apart from sin).
Because of God’s absolute purity, He cannot compromise His
character by tolerating sin to any extent. Exodus 33:19-20

Sin entered and infected this world when Adam and Eve disobeyed
God in the garden of Eden. The effects of this original act of
disobedience – along with our own personal disobedience – have
the most serious consequences for each and every one of us.
Romans 5:12, Romans 6:23a

In and of ourselves, our position before God is compromised
beyond repair. God sees us as defiled and defiant sinners – by
birth, and by choice. It is not something we would perceive on our
own, nor is it a condition that we ourselves can rectify. 
Jeremiah 17:9, Psalm 14:2-3, Romans 3:19-20

Physical death is a consequence of our sin. But physical death is
only the first death. For those whose guilt has not been entirely
removed so as to satisfy the righteousness and holiness of God,
there is a second death that is incomparably worse than the first.
Revelation 20:11-15

Jesus taught often, and clearly, of the solemn fact that the day will
come when there will be a righteous reckoning for each and every
person who stands condemned before God. Matthew 13:49-50

> There is a provision.

In the riches of God’s mercy He has made a provision for sinners
like you and I. It is not an opportunity for us to redeem ourselves
by our own merits, deeds, or religious zeal and piety. It is not that
God is willing to override His perfect righteousness with love and
forgiveness, so that as long as we try to be worthy of His love, and
not do anything too bad, He will – in the end – accept us into His
eternal kingdom.

God has made a provision for sinners that fully satisfies His perfect
justice, a provision that instead of distorting or diminishing His
holiness – actually confirms, and magnifies it. Romans 3:24-26

It was not only God’s righteousness that was demonstrated in
Christ’s death, but also His perfect love.
Romans 5:8, I John 4:10

This is not something God was forced to come up with once the
seriousness of our plight became obvious. It is a provision of His
grace that He had predestined in flawless detail before the
foundation of the world.  II Timothy 1:9
​
God’s provision for sinners is in the sinless perfection, and atoning
sacrificial death of His own Beloved Son. Hebrews 9:14-15

God became flesh in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.  John 1:14

Jesus – God’s Christ – lived a sinless life in a sin-cursed world. He
was tempted in every way we are, yet remained pure.
Hebrews 4:14-15

Having given many evidences of His own deity, and having
declared Himself to be the only real hope for hopeless sinners – He
willingly laid down His life in humble subjection to death on a

Roman cross, so that God’s righteousness could be satisfied in Him
– on our behalf.  John 10:11, II Corinthians 5:21, I Peter 2:24

> There is a proposition.

God furnished undeniable proof of the fact that what Jesus had
endured in His suffering and death on the cross, was fully adequate
in atoning for our sins by raising Him from the dead.  Acts 2:23-24

God has been, and continues now, to declare to all men that He
has provided His own Son as the perfect payment, in full, for our
sin. God is declaring to sinners that there is only one legitimate
hope for deliverance from His eternal wrath. God is directing us to
turn from our sin, and put our trust in Jesus as the only and fully
adequate remedy for our sin.  Acts 20:20-21

It is not the act of turning from sin that saves us. It is not the act of
turning from all other attempts to attain the eternal favor of God,
that saves us. It is not the act of believing that saves us. It is
Jesus Himself, and it is Jesus alone. Faith alone is the means by
which we become partakers of Christ, as our personal Savior and
Lord. We are saved by God’s grace to us in Jesus.
Acts 4:12, Ephesians 2:8-9, John 6:35

God brings the good news of His perfect and only provision for sin,
as a blessed invitation, and as a solemn command. When we
come by faith to Jesus for deliverance – we are accepting an
invitation from God, and we are also submitting to Him in humble
obedience. God is beseeching, and also commanding sinners
everywhere to repent, and to put their trust in His Christ for
salvation. Romans 16:25-26

> There is a promise.

God has committed Himself to bestow saving grace upon all those
who believe in His Son. He will forgive them, give them eternal life,
adopt them as His very own children, and keep them forever in His
love. Isaiah 1:18, John 3:16, John 10:27-29

The life that God gives to those who put their trust in Christ alone,
is not withheld from us until we die. This life begins at the moment
we come to Jesus for deliverance from sin, and continues forever
and ever. There are specific and supernatural evidences that
authenticate the life that God imparts to believing sinners, through
His Holy Spirit.

These are not a means of gaining or keeping a right standing
before God. They are a means of confirming the reality of the fact
that God is indeed faithful to save forever all who come, by faith, to
Jesus Christ alone for salvation. These evidences are not all seen
in an immediate fullness. There is a process of growth in God’s
grace, by which He progressively sanctifies those who have been
made alive in Christ. Through these evidences, and through the
process of sanctification, God provides a solid assurance that we
are His legitimate children.

One of the most prominent indications of our new life in Christ is a
radically altered relationship to sin. It is not that we never sin again,
it is the reality that we become very sensitive to our sin. We will
never be able to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin the way we
used to. We will also experience the deep love that God has for us
as His children, through His faithful and consistent discipline.
When God saves us He gives to us a new nature, and we will not
be able to be comfortable with sin any more.
II Corinthians 5:17, Romans 6:11 & 14 & 17-18

Another prominent evidence confirming God’s promise of salvation,
is the close, genuine, and enduring love for our brothers and sisters
in Christ that comes through the pouring out of God’s Spirit within
us.
This is a brotherly – an instinctive – love, that comes from our
Heavenly Father. I Thessalonians 4:9, I John 3:14

There is also a very real change in our relationship to God’s Word.
This is seen in a reverential respect for Divine revelation in the
Scriptures. There will be an underlying and instinctive hunger for
the truth of God’s Word, even through times of doubting and
temptation. While we will never achieve perfect obedience, there
will be an inherent sensitivity in responding to God’s Word as we
come to further understanding.  Matthew 13:23, I Thessalonians 2:13

The best news that could ever be heard by sinful men is that there is a
God who saves sinners! His promise is certain and reliable for the present
life, and for all of eternity! I John 5:12, John 11:25

Election

       Election is the sovereign prerogative of God by which, before the foundation of the world, He unconditionally chose, by an act of His free grace through Christ, those whom He would graciously regenerate, bring to repentance and faith, save, sanctify and glorify (Romans 8:28-30; Ephesians 1:4-11; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 2:10; 1 Peter 1:1-2).

      Sovereign election does not contradict or negate the responsibility of believers to spread the gospel, nor of man to repent and trust Christ as Savior and Lord (Ezekiel 18:23, 32; 33:11; John 3:18-19, 36; 5:40; Romans 9:22-23; 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12; Revelation 22:17). Nevertheless, the election of God includes both the means (faith) and the end (salvation) so that it is not the man who wills or the man who runs but God who has mercy that determines who shall be saved. All whom the Father calls to Himself will come in faith and all who come in faith the Father will receive and all who are received of the Father will be eternally glorified (John 6:37-40, 44; Acts 13:48; Romans 9:15-16; James 4:8).

       The unmerited favor that God grants to totally depraved sinners is not related to any initiative of their own part nor to God’s anticipation of what they might do by their own will, but is solely of His sovereign grace and mercy (Ephesians 1:4-7; Titus 3:4-7; 1 Peter 1:2).

      Election should not be looked upon as based merely on abstract sovereignty. God exercises His sovereignty in harmony with His other attributes, particularly His omniscience, justice, holiness, wisdom, grace, and love (Romans 9:11-16). This sovereignty will always exalt the will of God in a manner totally consistent with His character as revealed in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 11:25-28; 2 Timothy 1:9).

Regeneration

      Regeneration is a sovereign and supernatural work of the Holy Spirit by which the divine nature and divine life are given (John 3:3-7; Titus 3:5). It is instantaneous and is accomplished solely by the power of the Holy Spirit through the instrumentality of the Word of God (John 5:24).

  Genuine regeneration is manifested by fruits worthy of repentance as demonstrated in righteous attitudes and conduct. Good works are the proper evidence and fruit of regeneration which have been prepared beforehand for the believer to walk in (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Ephesians 2:10) and will be experienced to the extent the believer submits to the control of the Holy Spirit in his life through faithful obedience to the Word of God (Ephesians 5:17-21; Philippians 2:12b; Colossians 3:16; 2 Peter 1:4-10).

       This obedience causes the believer to be increasingly conformed to the image of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18), a conformity which is climaxed in the believer’s glorification at Christ’s coming (Romans 8:17; 2 Peter 1:4; 1 John 3:2-3).

Justification

     ​Justification before God is an act of God (Romans 8:33) by which He acquits those who, through faith in Christ, repent of their sins (Luke 13:3; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 11:18; Romans 2:4; 2 Corinthians 7:10; Isaiah 55:6-7). The basis for this declaration in no way involves any virtue or work of man (Romans 3:20; 4:6) but rests solely on the imputation of our sins to Christ (Colossians 2:14; 1 Peter 2:24) and the imputation of both the passive and active righteousness of Christ to us (1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21). The righteousness contemplated in the verdict of justification is always the righteousness of Christ alone imputed to the ungodly for their acquittal. By this means God is enabled to “be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in
Jesus” (Romans 3:26).

Sanctification

     ​Every believer is sanctified (set apart) unto God.  This sanctification is positional and instantaneous and should not be confused with progressive sanctification.  This sanctification has to do with the believer’s standing before God, not his preset walk or condition (Acts 20:32;1 Corinthians 1:2, 30; 6:11; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; Hebrews 2:11; 3:1; 10:10, 14; 13:12; 1 Peter1:2).

       There is also, by the work of the Holy Spirit, a progressive sanctification by which the state of the believer is brought closer to the standing the believer positionally enjoys through justification.  Through obedience to the Word of God and the empowering of the Holy Spirit, the believer is able to live a life of increasing holiness in conformity to the will of God, becoming more and more like our Lord Jesus Christ (John 17:17-19; Romans 6:1-22; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 1Thessalonians 4:3-4; 5;23).

        In this respect, every saved person is involved in a daily conflict – and this saved person having been made new in Christ, struggles against the fleshly desires that wage war against the soul. (1Peter 2:11). The struggle nevertheless stays with the believer all through this earthly life, though in Christ he is no longer under the power of sins dominion.  Sinless perfection in this life is not possible, but the Holy Spirit does provide for victory over sin (Galatians 5:16-25;Ephesians 4:22-24; Philippians 3:12; Colossians 3:9-10; 1 Peter 1:14-16; 1 John 3:5-9).

A Call to holy living

​       As chosen children of God, we are called to be set apart from this world.
We do so in obedience as we are commanded by God. What God
commands He also enables. He commands His children to be holy but
through the regenerating and sanctifying work of His Spirit He empowers
His children to be holy positionally as well as practically. He gives them
new life, new desires and new affections which will display themselves in
the desire to please our Father and to be like the One who bought them
with His own blood. This walking in holiness, this victorious living can
reckoned a reality because in Christ we have been set free from sin’s
power.

       1 Peter 1:14-16 says, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the
former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who
called you be holy yourself in all your behavior; because it is written, “You
shall be holy, for I am holy.””
​
       Not only is walking in holiness something we do from obedience and a
desire to please our Father, but it is also to uphold and honor the witness
we are for Christ in this sin cursed world. There is no greater contrast to
darkness as light, and we “are now light in the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:8).

The Certainty of salvation

​The salvation of sinners is God’s work from eternity past, through eternity future. 
                         “Salvation belongs to the Lord;”      (Psalm 3:8a)
 
               It is not dependent, to any extent, on the merits or efforts of the sinner.  We are saved by grace alone – through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, as our personal sin-bearer.  God’s grace is effectual.  The grace of God super-abounds, and produces genuine effects in the sinner’s heart and life.
 
            Those who have been saved by the matchless grace of God are eternally secure in Christ.  God will never let us go (John 10:27-30). He will keep us in His care (Romans 8:38-39), and will never let us fall away (Jude 1:24).  The one who is in Christ, will persevere in their faith in the Lord Jesus.  Jesus Himself is the source of our final perseverance (Revelation 1:9).
 
            This eternal security provides a rock-solid assurance for the sinner who has turned from their sin to put their trust in God’s Christ.  The fullness and perfections of Christ provide a steadfast assurance for those who have placed their trust in Him (Colossians 2:2-3,  Hebrews 10:22).  There are fundamental evidences of the saving grace of God in those He has redeemed (Hebrews 6:9), by which our assurance is increasingly confirmed:

• Love of the brethren.   (I John 3:14)
• Love of the truth.    (II John 1:4,   III John 1:4,  II Thessalonians 2:10)
• Abhorrence of sin, and freedom from it’s enslaving power.