Statement of Faith
1. The Bible in its original documents is the inspired Word of God, the written record of His supernatural revelation of Himself to man, absolute in its authority, complete in its revelation, final in its content, and without error in its statements. II Tim. 3:16; John 10:35; Ps. 89:34; Hebrews 6:18; II Peter 3:16.2. There is one God, eternally existent, creator of the heaven and earth. He is manifested in three persons Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Isa. 7:14; Isa. 9:6; John 14:9; I Tim. 3:16; I John 5:7; Genesis 1:2.3. The Lord Jesus Christ is fully God who took on flesh and dwelt on earth. He was sinlessly perfect and gave Himself as a substitutionary sacrifice by shedding His blood and dying on the tree; He then came back from the dead. This was to pay for all sins (past, present, and future) and His eternal life is given to all who believe. II Cor. 5:21; Heb. 2:9; Titus 2:14; Heb. 10:10-14; Heb. 9:12-28; Acts 13:38-41; I Peter 2:24; I John 3:5.
4. God is absolutely sovereign and in His sovereignty gave man a free will to accept or reject the salvation that He has provided. It is Gods will that all would be saved and that none should perish. God foreknows, but does not predetermine any man to be condemned. God permits mans destiny to depend upon mans choice. I Tim. 2:4; II Thess. 2:13; I Pet. 1:2; II Pet. 3:9; John 6:64-65; Acts 10:34; I Cor. 1:21; Eph. 1:5-14; Rom. 8:29-30; Rom. 9:30-32.
5. Each member of the human race is fallen, sinful, and lost, and regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential for the salvation of man. The moment a person receives Christ as his Savior, immediately, the Holy Spirit indwells him and he is sealed until the day of redemption. Rom. 2:23; John 3:7; I Cor. 6:19; Eph. 1:13-14; Luke 24:49; Titus 3:5.
6. Man is saved by undeserved mercy through faith and nothing of man enters into his salvation; it is a free gift. Mans efforts, regardless of how good or well intended, before or after salvation, have nothing to do with it. Salvation is by the finished work of Christ and nothing can be added to it. Eph. 2:8-9; Gal. 2:16; Rom. 11:6; CoI. 2:13; Titus 3:5; Romans 3:22.
7. The Church began with the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and is composed of all true believers. By the Holy Spirit we are all baptized into the one body of Christ. Water baptism is not essential for salvation but is a testimony to the world. Acts 1:8; I Cor. 6:19, 20; Acts 2:1-4; I Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:5; Acts 10:47.
8. Every true child of God possesses eternal life and is, therefore, safe and secure for all eternity, being justified by faith, sanctified by God, and sealed by the Holy Spirit; he cannot lose his salvation. However, a Christian can through sin, lose his fellowship, joy, power, testimony, and reward, and incur the Fathers chastisement. Relationship is eternal, being established by the new birth; fellowship, however, is dependent upon obedience. I Cor. 3:11-17; Hebrews 12:5-11; I Cor. 11:30-32.
9.a A true child of God has two births; one of the flesh, the other of the Spirit, giving man a flesh nature and a Spirit nature. The flesh nature is neither good nor righteous. The Spiritual Man does not commit any sin. This results in warfare between the Spirit and the flesh, which continues until physical death, or the return of the Lord. The flesh nature of the man does not change in any way with the new birth, but can be controlled and kept subdued by the new man. John 3:3-7; Rom. 7:15-25; Rom. 8:8; Gal. 5:17; I John 3:9; I Pet.1:23; I John 5:18: I John l:8.
9.b I John 1:9 is not a verse for salvation, but a precious promise to Christians for cleansing and forgiveness. I John 1:9 does not guarantee restoration of fellowship or restitution from physical damage caused by sin. It is heresy to teach that confession of sin produces spiritual fruit. Confession of sin places the Christian in a position where he can have fellowship.
I John 1:6,-7 teaches that fellowship is the result of the Christians walk, and not by confession of sin. Spirituality, of which fellowship is part, comes from the Christians obedience to God. II Peter 1:5-8, Col. 1:10; John 15:8; I John 1:6, 7; Gal. 5:22.
10. There will be a resurrection of the saved and of the lost; of the saved unto eternal life, and of the lost unto eternal conscious punishment. These two resurrections are separated by at least 1,000 years. I Thess; 4:13-18; Daniel 12:2; Revelation 20:5.15; Matthew 25:41.
11. We believe in the personal, pre-tribulational and pre-millennial return of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. I Thess. 5:9-11; I Thess. 1:10; II Thess. 2:1-8; Rev. 3:10; Luke 21:36; Titus 2:13; Isa. 26:17-21; Isa. 27:1; Rev. 4:4.
12. Satan is a person, the author of sin, and he and his angels shall be eternally punished Ezek. 28:15. 17; Isa. 14:12-15; Rev. 20:10; Matthew 25:41.
13. God can heal but physical Healing is not in the atonement. God heals miraculously today when it is His perfect will to do so. Healing cannot be claimed through the guarantee of the atonement. At times it is Gods will for sickness not to be removed. II Cor. 12:8-10. James 5:14-16.
14. The gift of tongues (languages) was a manifestation of the Holy Spirits power solely for the demonstration of Gods wisdom, purpose and power in the establishment of the early church, and was always in a language that was in use. Acts 2:6; I Corinthians
14:22.
15. The true child of God is not under the Law but under grace; he is saved by grace and disciplined by grace. Rom. 6:14-15; Rom. 11:6; II Corinthians 3:17.
16. Repentance is necessary for salvation.
The Greek word for repent is metanoeo, which, translated into English is: to change ones mind. It does not mean to turn from sin. That would add works to salvation.
Repentance for salvation means a change of mind from mens ideas of salvation aid religion, to an acceptance of Gods only way of salvation.
This results in a completely new creation, not a reformation of the old. The old nature remains as evil as ever after salvation and has not been reformed . . . The old nature can now be controlled by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.
God guarantees salvation. This is His gift to us.
God guarantees reward and fruit to the obedient son.
God guarantees chastening and loss of rewards to the disobedient son.
God does not cast out disobedient children, but in some cases, does take them home. He does not permit His children to live as they please without His discipline and guidance.
Many teach repentance for salvation incorrectly, by including some form of human effort or righteousness, such as willingness to turn from sin, or turning from sin. This is heresy and has confused many people. It adds works to salvation and causes many to not understand Gods great gift. It is probation, not salvation. It is completely unscriptural. It is Galatianism and a counterfeit of the gospel.
It is a tragedy that many Christians live shallow Christian lives.It important for the total dedication and making Jesus the Lord of their lives not to be saved but because they are saved.
Shallow Christianity cannot be cured by adding works to salvation.
Salvation is not the result of what we do, but is by receiving what God has done for us. Acts 13:38, 39; Acts 20:20: Gal. 1:8,9; Gal. 2:4; Gal. 2:21; Gal. 3:1.3; Gal. 5:1-4; Eph. 2:8-10; II Cor. 5:21;John 3:16-18; Phil. 3:9; Titus 3:5-8:11 Cor. 11:13-1 5.
17. It is every Christians privilege and duty to make clear Gods plan of salvation wherever and in whatever vocation he or she may be. Mark 16:15; I Thess. 2:4.
18. The general plan of salvation in Gods Word in a brief outline is as follows:
A. Establish the fact that all men are sinners. Rom. 3:10; Rom 3:23; Isaiah 64:6; Jeremiah 17:9; James 2:10.
B. Establish the fact that the penalty of sin is death. Rom. 6:23; Ezek. 18:20.
C. Establish the fact that you must be perfect to enter heaven. Rev. 21:27.
D. Establish the fact that man can do nothing of himself to obtain this perfection. Eph. 2:8,9; Gal. 2:16; Roman 4:5.
E. Show how God provided a sin-bearer and imputes to man His righteousness. II Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:9: Isa. 53:6; I Peter 3:18.
F. Establish the fact that man needs only belief in the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour for salvation. John 3:16; Rom. 10:9; John 1:12; Acts 16:31.
G. Establish the fact that man can be certain of his salvation now, and that his salvation cannot be lost because eternal life is eternal. John 6:37-39. John 10:28; I Pet. 1:5; Hebrews 10:10-14; I John 5:13.
