We believe Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation, He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin.

He honored the divine law by His personal obedience and was empowered by the Holy Spirit to declare the reign of God’s Kingdom on Earth. In His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the Person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man.

He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission, ushering in the fullness of God’s Kingdom here on the Earth.

We affirm the divine inspiration, truthfulness and authority of both Old and New Testament Scriptures in their entirety as the only written word of God, without error in all that it affirms, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice. We also affirm the power of God’s word to accomplish His purpose of salvation. The message of the Bible is addressed to all men and women. God’s revelation in Christ and in Scripture is unchangeable, and through it the Holy Spirit still speaks today. He illumines the minds of God’s people in every culture to perceive its truth freshly through their own eyes and thus discloses to the whole Church ever more of the many-colored wisdom of God.

The rest of our doctrines and theological distinctives exist because of our beliefs about Scripture. We arrive at these beliefs because they are conveyed to us by God’s written Word.

We believe that there is one living and true God, eternally existing in three persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit; and that these are the same divine essence, are equal in every divine perfection, and that they execute distinct but harmonious offices in the work of creation, providence, and redemption.

We believe in God the Father, an infinite, personal spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power, and love. He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.

We believe the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Savior, and effects regeneration (new birth). At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the family of God. The indwelling Holy Spirit graciously sanctifies, lovingly leads, comforts, convicts, and empowers all who are brought to faith in Christ so that they might live in obedience to all Christ commanded. The Holy Spirit empowers the mission of making disciples.

Additionally, He has bestowed spiritual gifts on believers for the work of ministry and the building up of the body of Christ. The gifts are divine provisions central to spiritual growth and effective ministry and are to be eagerly desired, faithfully developed, and lovingly exercised according to biblical guidelines. The gifts that we see on display in the New Testament are still active within the life of the church. These did not end with the close of the New Testament or the death of the last apostle. The gift of speaking in tongues is not a proof of salvation.

We believe mankind is the special creation of God, made in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God's creation.

In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan man transgressed the command of God and fell from his original innocence. As a result, his descendants inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin. Therefore, they become transgressors and are under condemnation. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God.

The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore, every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.

We believe that sin has fractured all things, leaving the world in desperate need of salvation. Through the temptation of Satan, humanity disobeyed the command of God and fell from their original holiness and righteousness. Now the entire human race inherits a corrupt nature that is opposed to God and His law. Therefore, all humans are under condemnation. This depravity is radical and pervasive. It extends to the mind, will, body and affections. Unregenerate humanity lives under the dominion of sin and Satan. He is at enmity with God, hostile toward and hateful of God. Apart from the forgiveness of sin through faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection, all mankind is spiritually dead and without hope, eternally.

We believe salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration (being reborn into the family of God and body of Christ), justification (being made righteous and acquitted of all guilt and penalty as a result of sin), sanctification (being set apart by God to be used for His holy purposes by being transformed into becoming more like Jesus), and glorification (God’s final removal of sin in our eternal state). There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

We reject justification based on any human effort, and we believe that only those who have been born again, and thus trust Jesus Christ as their Savior, by virtue of his atoning death on the cross, submitting to him as Lord, and embracing him as supreme Treasure of their lives, are adopted, delivered from condemnation, and receive eternal life. We believe that this faith leads to a heartfelt turning from sin. The Christian life involves growth in grace through persevering, Spirit-empowered resolve to reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to Christ.

We believe that the Church is the body of Christ, sent into the world. God, by His Word and Spirit, creates the Church, calling sinful humanity into the fellowship of Christ’s body. By the same Word and Spirit, He guides and preserves that newly redeemed humanity. The Church is made up of those who have become genuine followers of Jesus Christ and have personally appropriated the gospel. The ministry of the Church is an extension of the ministry of Jesus in the power of the Spirit. The ultimate mission of the Church is to bring glory to God by making disciples. The Church is called to make disciples through worship, prayer, teaching of the Word, observance of the ordinances, fellowship, the exercise of our gifts and talents, and the proclamation of the gospel both in our community and throughout the world.

Water baptism is only intended for those who have received the saving benefits of Christ through the new birth of the Holy Spirit. In obedience to Christ’s command and as a testimony to God, the Church, oneself and the world, believers are baptized by water in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Water baptism is a visual and symbolic demonstration of a person’s union with Christ in the likeness of His death and resurrection. It signifies that a former way of life has been put to death and vividly depicts the release from the mastery of Satan, sin and death.

As with water baptism, the Lord’s Supper is to be observed only by those who have become genuine followers of Christ. This ordinance symbolizes the breaking of Christ’s body and the shedding of His blood on our behalf and is to be observed repeatedly throughout the Christian life as a sign of continued participation in the atoning benefits of Christ’s death. As we come to the table with an attitude of faith and self-examination, we remember and proclaim the death of Christ, receive spiritual nourishment for our souls and signify our unity with other members of Christ’s body.