ARTICLES OF FAITH
This is not intended to be a complete statement of the doctrinal position of this church, but is the more basic beliefs on which it rests.
1. THE TRINITY OF GOD
A. GOD, THE FATHER. We believe that God, the Father, is the first person set forth in the Divine Trinity; that He ls almighty, merciful, and just, that He is holy. righteous. and true; that He is eternally existent, glorious in nature, possessing the attributes of omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence; and that He, in harmony with His divine office, loves, provides, and protects, thus exercising providential watch care over the sons of men, and especially a fatherly care over the children of God.
B. GOD, THE SON. We believe that God, the Son, is the second person set forth in the Divine Trinity; that He is Very God of Very God, that He is almighty, merciful, and just; that He is holy, righteous, and true; that He is eternally existent, glorious in nature, possessing the attributes of omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence; that God, the Father, through the Holy Spirit, is actually and eternally His divine Father, and Mary the Virgin, is actually and innocently His human mother, and that He, in harmony with His divine office, meditates, seeks, and saves, thus exercising the mediatorial office of
redemption.
C. GOD, THE HOLY SPIRIT. We believe that God, the Holy Spirit, is the third person set forth in the Divine Trinity; that He is almighty, merciful, and just; that He is holy, righteous, and true; that He is eternally existent, glorious in nature, possessing the attributes of omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence; that He restrains the world, the flesh and the Devil; that He witnesses to the Truth, convicts the lost, extolls the Christ, and testifies to the righteous judgments of God; that He, in harmony
with His divine office, comforts, teaches, testifies, preaches, guides, regenerates, empowers, sanctifies, and anoints, thus exercising the quickening role in the work of saving the lost and the supervising role in the life of the saved.
2. THE VERBAL, PLENARY INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES
We believe that the Holy Bible as written was verbally inspired and the product of Spirit-controlled men, and therefore has truth without [admixture of error for its matter]. We believe the Bible to be the true center of Christian union and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions shall be tried.
3. THE DEPRAVITY OF NATURAL MAN
We believe that man, originally created in holiness and actually associated with God in innocence under His law, did, by voluntary transgression of the Lord's command, fall from the high and happy state in which he was created, and, as a consequence, became a sinner alienated from God and brought upon himself and all mankind just condemnation; and that he is now, by virtue of his fallen nature, utterly void of holiness, positively inclined to evil, and actually condemned to eternal ruin, without defense or excuse.
4. THE VIRGIN BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST
We believe that Jesus was begotten of the Holy Ghost in a miraculous manner; born of Mary, a virgin, as no other man was ever born or can ever be born of woman, and that He is both the Son of God, and God the Son.
5. HIS BLOOD ATONEMENT AT CALVARY
We believe that the lost sinner is guilty and already under just condemnation; that he is by nature alien to God and because of sin condemned to die; that the atonement for sin was effected through the mediatorial office of the Son Who by divine appointment, freely took upon Himself our nature, yet without sin; that He, through obedience during His earthily walk, personally honored the divine Law by keeping it, and through His death on the cross, actually satisfied the penalty of the offended Law by suffering in the sinner's stead; that He through His obedience and sacrificial death, made full and
vicarious atonement for all sin; that He died, the just for the unjust, bearing our sins in His body on the tree; and that He, through the shedding of His blood on the cross of Calvary, evidenced eternal provision for cleansing, for pardon, for peace, and for rest.
6. HIS BODILY RESURRECTION
We believe that Christ Jesus arose bodily from the grave on the first day of the week, which day we now observe as the Lord's Day, a day of worship: that His miraculous emergence from the tomb forecasted a like bodily resurrection for every member of the Adamic race; that the dead in Christ shall rise first and in glorified bodies like His; that they shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, that the dead in trespasses and sins, or out of Christ, shall rise at the close of the millennium; and that they shall be brought before the Great White Throne Judgment and there face the Judge of the quick and the dead.
7. HIS PERSONAL IMMINENT RETURN FOR HIS FOLLOWERS
We believe that Christ Jesus is coming back to earth again; that His return will be in two stages: once, in the clouds, the "thief in the night” coming, called the rapture of the Church, followed by seven years of tribulation, and then the Second Coming; that His return shall be personal, audible, visible, and bodily; that it shall mark the advent of the "day of the Lord" and usher in the millennium; and that He shall in that day turn the tables on Satan, take up the throne of His father David, put down all of His enemies, rule with a rod of iron, triumph over sin, and give the world an example of righteous government during His thousand years of personal reign on earth.
8. THE PERSON AND WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a Divine person, equal with the God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature; that He was active in the creation; that in His relation to the unbelieving world, He restrains the evil one until God's purpose is fulfilled; that He convicts of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, that He bears witness to the Truth of the Gospel in preaching and testimony; that He is the agent in the new birth; that He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies and helps the believer.
9. JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH IN JESUS
We believe that justification is one of the great gospel blessings secured through Christ for all who trust Him; that it is a legal and divine decree, declaring the believing sinner just; that it is thus a state of being free from condemnation, including forgiveness for inward sins and pardon for outward sins; that it secures through faith freedom from legal bondage, exemption from the wrath of God, and possession of peace which passes all understanding; that it is bestowed not in consideration of any works of righteousness which we have done, but solely upon the evidence of faith in God and the Redeemer's blood; and that it brings us into a state of unchanging peace and favor with God and secures every other blessing needful for time and for eternity.
10. THE ETERNAL SECURITY OF BELIEVERS
We believe that salvation wrought by grace is everlasting; that the saved soul journeying through the valley of the shadow of death need fear no evil; that the Holy Spirit-begotten and born are kept by the power of God; that the believer in Christ Jesus shall not be brought into judgment; that no one can lay anything to the charge of God's elect; that they are securely held in both the hand of the Father and the Son; and that the age-old Baptist doctrine, "once in grace, always in grace" is heavenly and gloriously
true.
11. PRIESTHOOD OF EVERY BELIEVER
We believe that sanctification is a divine work of grace; that it is not a state of a sinless perfection attained through a " second blessing" or through a special "baptism of the Holy Ghost;" that it is an act of grace by which the believer is separated unto God and dedicated unto His righteous purpose; that by it we enter into divinely appointed privileges and thus become larger partakers of His holiness, that it is a progressive work, begun in regeneration, and carried on the life of every believer by the presence
And the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God; and that it is nurtured only by Heaven's appointed means, especially by the Holy Spirit, the Word of God and saved through his self-examination, obedience, self-denial, watchfulness, and through prayer.
12. AUTONOMY OF THE LOCAL CHURCH
We believe that a local church is a congregation of immersed believers, associated by covenant of faith and fellowship of the Gospel, observing the ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, and exercising the gifts, rights and privileges invested in them by His Word; that its officers are pastors and deacons whose qualifications, claims, and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures. We believe the true mission of the church is the faithful witnessing of Christ to all men as we have opportunity. We hold that the local church has the absolute right of self-government, free from inheritance of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations; and that the one and only Head is Christ through the Holy Spirit, that it is scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the Gospel; that each church is the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation. On all matters of membership, of policy, of government, of discipline, of benevolence, the will of the local church is final.
13. WORLDWIDE MISSIONS
We believe that the great commission to evangelize the world was given to the church by our risen Lord and that this evangelization is the great mission of the church.
14. TWO ORDINANCES OF THE CHURCH
A. BAPTISM. We believe that baptism is the burial of the believer in water by the authority and instruction of the local Baptist church; that it symbolizes the death and the burial and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ; that it also typifies the believer's death to sin, the burial of His old nature, and the resurrection unto a new life; and that it is administered in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
B. THE LORD'S SUPPER. We believe the Lord's Supper is a memorial spread and administered by the authority and instruction of the local Baptist church; that it symbolizes the broken body and the shed blood of the Son of God; that its observance points backward to the crucified Lord of Calvary and forward to the returning Lord in glory. Communion shall be available to all born-again believers who have a clear conscience toward God.
15. THE REALITY OF HEAVEN AND HELL
We believe that the Lord shall reward His own; that He Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout; that the dead in Christ shall rise first; that a solemn separation shall take place; that the blood-washed and Holy Spirit-begotten shall be caught up to meet Him in the air, and there be rewarded to the deeds done in the body: and that the place called the New Heaven and the New Earth is ordained an everlasting dwelling place of the children of God.
We believe that the wicked are the children of the devil; that they rebel against God; that they reject the free offer of salvation through Christ; that they ignore the wooings of the Holy Spirit; and that they, as a consequence, are hell bound, being under a death sentence; that they shall spend eternity in the Lake of Fire which burneth with fire and brimstone where the Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet shall ever be.
16. THE PERSON AND WORK OF SATAN
We believe that Satan is an actual person, and not an imaginary influence; that he once enjoyed high heavenly honors and glorious heavenly privileges; that he, through pride, ambition, and self-will attempted to betray the Almighty and brought down upon his head the judgment of God, that he operates today as the god of this world and the prince of the power of the air; that he is a diabolical inventor and
arch deceiver, and the father of all lies; that he is the greatest enemy, the mightiest tempter, and the most relentless accuser of the saints; that he shall one day be incarnated in the person of the Antichrist and in that role will finally meet the Christ in the battle of Armageddon; that there "the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head;" and that he shall eventually be cast into the lake of fire, the eternal
place of punishment, prepared for the devil and his angels.