What We Believe

I . The Triune God

We believe that God has eternally existed as one true God in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit in harmonious relationship, purpose and will yet distinct in their respective roles in creation, providence and redemption. He is all wise, all powerful, all knowing, all perfection, all righteousness, all good, all merciful. He is true and complete Love. God created all things and all things exist by Him and for Him and through Him for His good pleasure and purposes.

Genesis 1:1, 26; John 1:1, 3; Matthew 28:19; John 4:24; Romans 1:19, 20; Ephesians 4:5, 6

II. God the Father

We believe in God the Father, an infinite, personal spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power and love. We believe that He concerns Himself mercifully and purposefully 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.

Luke 10:21,22; Matthew 23:9; John 3:16; John 6:27; Romans 1:7; 1 Timothy 1:1,2; 1 Timothy 2:5,6; I Peter 1:3; Revelation 1:6

III. Jesus Christ, God the Son

We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, that is, of the same substance and expression of the Father, and conceived by the Holy Spirit. We believe in His virgin birth, His perfect life despite being in all ways human, yet without sin, His prophecies, miracles and teachings. We believe in His satisfactory, acceptable and substitutionary atoning death, bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven, perpetual intercession for and presence with His people, and personal visible return to earth.

Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38; John 1:1; 20:28; Romans 9:5; Romans 8:46; II Corinthians 5:21; I Peter 2:21-23; John 20:30, 31; Matthew 20:28; Ephesians 1:4; Acts 1:11; Romans 5:6-8; Romans 6:9,10; Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 9:28; I Timothy 3:16

IV. The Holy Spirit

We believe in the Holy Spirit sent forth by the Father to glorify the Son. We believe that His work is to convict of sin, righteousness, judgment, regeneration and sanctification. We believe He indwells everyone who trusts in Christ, and helps them make progress in overcoming sin and in becoming more like Jesus Christ in thought, deed, and love for God the Father.

John 14:16,17,26; John 15:26,27; John 16:9-14; Romans 8:9; I Corinthians 3:16; I Corinthians 6:19; Galatians 5:22-26

V. The Word of God

We believe that the Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, is the infallible Word of God inspired by the Holy Spirit through holy men and without error in the original manuscripts. We believe the Bible is the supreme and final authority in testing all claims about what is true and right. The Bible illuminates and instructs in all matters of salvation and a life pleasing to God. It is God’s Word generally to a fallen world and specifically to His people and speaks both plainly and in mystery yet understandable by any indwelt by His Spirit.

II Timothy 3:16; II Peter 1:20,21; II Peter 3:16; 1 Corinthians 2:13; 1 Corinthians 14:37; Mark 13:31; John 8:31,32; John 14:26; John 16:13-14; John 17:17; John 20:31; Acts 20:32; Matthew 22:29, 43-44; Matthew 24:35; Numbers 23:19; Proverbs 30:5; Psalm 12:6; Hebrews 6:18; Titus 1:2

VI. The Human Condition, Salvation and Sanctification

We believe that man was created by God in His own image and for His glory. We believe that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory thus incurring physical, spiritual, and eternal separation from God. We believe that all human beings are born with a sinful nature, thereby deserving judgment and condemnation.

We believe that only those who trust Jesus Christ as their Savior, by virtue of His atoning death on the cross are justified, delivered from condemnation, and receive eternal life.

We believe that this new life leads to a turning from sin and a desire to please God. Such a life of faith is by grace, leads to holiness and good works. The overall desire of the Christian is to delight in Christ and in so doing display to a broken and fallen world the richness, goodness and blessings of living in and for God.

Genesis 1:26-7; Genesis 2:17; Genesis 3:19; Eccl. 2:11; Matthew 13:44; John 1:13; John 3:14; John 3:16; John 5:24; John 5:30; John 7:13; John 8:12; John 10:26; John 17:3; Psalm 51:7; Jeremiah 17:9; James 1:14; Romans 3:19; Romans 5:19; Phil 3:7-8; I John 1:9; II Corinthians 5:17; Romans 6:11; Romans 8:1; 1 Corinthians 15:1-2; Hebrews 3:12-14; Hebrews 6:11-12; Hebrews 10:39; Romans 3:28

VII. The Church and Ordinances

We believe in one holy, universal Church made up of all who trust Jesus Christ as Savior. We believe that God calls us to unite with other believers to treasure, praise and glorify Him together, to grow in our love and knowledge of Him, and to stir each other up to good works. We believe that Christians should earnestly desire to share this treasure with others in humility, mercy, truth and love. We believe in the priesthood of the saints whereby every believer has direct access to the throne of grace through Christ alone, our High Priest.

Christ has instituted two ordinances for the Church: baptism and His supper. Baptism is a public demonstration and confession of faith in Christ and does so in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit before witnesses of such. The Lord’s Supper signifies that a believer in Christ is identified specially and wholly with the Church of Jesus Christ as being bought, cleansed and nourished by Him in newness of life.

Ephesians 1:22-23; Acts 15:36, 41; Acts 16:5; I Corinthians 16:1; Galatians 1:1-3; Revelation 1:4,10,11; Hebrews 10:24-25; Romans 6:3-4; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

VIII. The Last Things

We believe in the personal and visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth, the subjugation of all His enemies and the establishment of His kingdom as Sovereign. We believe in the resurrection of the body and the final judgment of all people, leading to the eternal happiness of the righteous in the Lord’s presence, and the eternal separation of the wicked from the presence of the Lord.

Matthew 16:27; Mark 14:62; John 14:3; Acts 1:11; Phil. 3:20; I Thessalonians 4:15-8; II Timothy 4:1; Titus 2:13; I Corinthians 4:5l I Corinthians 15:1-58; II Thessalonians 1:7-10; Revelation 20:11-15

IX. Marriage and Human Sexuality

We believe that marriage is an institution ordained by God and is between one man and one woman. It is not lawful for any man to have more than one wife, nor for any woman to have more than one husband, at the same time. It is the duty of Christians to marry in the Lord. We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to only occur between a man and a woman who are married to each other and that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. Therefore, any form of sexual immorality, such as adultery, fornication, homosexual conduct, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, any use of pornography, or any attempt to change one’s sex, is against the design of God and is therefore sin.

We declare ourselves to be in substantial agreement with many of the ancient Baptist confessions, such as the London, Philadelphia, and New Hampshire Confessions, which are presently held as confessions of faith by many of our sister churches. However, in light of our own contemporary setting, we declare the substance of our faith in the following articles:

I. The Bible, the Word of God

We believe the Bible, consisting of thirty-nine Old Testament books (Genesis through Malachi), and twenty-seven New Testament books (Matthew through Revelation), was written by holy men of God who were moved by the Holy Spirit so that the result of this cooperative work is the inspired Word of God, that it has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without mixture of error for its substance, that it perfectly reveals the will of God, and, therefore, is the true basis for Christian unity, and the supreme standard by which all conduct, creeds, and opinions should be judged.

II Peter 1:19-21; II Timothy 3:15-17; Psalm 19:7-14

II. God, the Holy Trinity

We believe that there is one and only one living and true God, an infinite, personal, holy, and good Spirit, the Creator, Sustainer, governor, Judge, and Redeemer, that He is inexpressibly glorious in all His perfections and worthy of all honor, confidence, and love, that in the unity of the one God there are three Persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, equal in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.

I Corinthians 8:4-6 I Timothy 4:10; John 4:24; Matthew 28:19; I Timothy 1:17; John 10:30; Romans 11:36; Ephesians 1:3-14

III. The Creation and Fall of Man

We believe that God created man, male and female, in His own image and in righteousness and holiness, though peccable, under His authority, but by voluntary transgression man fell from that holy and happy state, in consequence of which all mankind are now by nature sinners; being from birth utterly void of that righteousness required by the Law of God, positively inclined only to evil and therefore under just condemnation to eternal ruin, and without excuse or hope apart from the love and grace of God.

Genesis 1-3; Romans 3:9-19; Romans 5:12-19; Ephesians 2:1-10

IV. God’s Gracious Purpose

We believe that election is God’s free, sovereign, and gracious choice of sinners from eternity to share in His salvation in Jesus Christ, according to which He graciously regenerates, justifies, sanctifies and preserves them in time through the Gospel, that being perfectly consistent with the free agency of man, it comprehends all the means in connection with the end; that it is a most glorious display of God’s sovereign love, being infinitely gracious, wise, holy, and unchangeable, that it utterly excludes all boasting, and promotes trust in God, love, humility, worship and prayer, that it encourages the use of means in the highest degree, that it may be discerned by its effects in all who truly believe the Gospel, that it is the foundation of Christian assurance, and that to ascertain it with regard to ourselves requires the utmost diligence.

II Thessalonians 2:13, 14; Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 1:3-14; Romans 8:28,29; II Timothy 2:10; II Peter 1:10; Colossians 3:12-17

V. The Way of Salvation

We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace, through the mediatorial offices of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who by the appointment of the Father, freely took upon Himself our human nature (yet without sin); that He honored the Divine Law by His personal and exhaustive obedience, and by His death made full atonement for the sins of His people; that having risen from the dead He is now at the Father’s right hand where He makes intercession for us; and uniting in His wonderful person the tenderest sympathies with Divine perfections, He is in every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate, and an all sufficient Savior.

Ephesians 2:8-10; Galatians 3:13; I Timothy 2:4-6; Romans 4:25; Romans 8:3; Hebrews 7:25; Romans 5:19; Hebrews 2:9-18

VI. Regeneration

We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be regenerated, or born again; that regeneration consists in inclining the mind and heart to holiness, that is effected in a manner above our comprehension by the power of the Holy Spirit, in connection with the Word of the Gospel, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the Gospel; and that its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance and faith leading to newness of life manifested in obedience to God’s commandments.

John 3:1-13; 1 Peter 1:22-25; Titus 3:4-6; John 1:12, 13; Ephesians 4:17-24; Acts 2:37-47; James 1:18; 1 John 2:3-6

VII. Repentance and Faith

We believe that repentance and faith are sacred duties, and also inseparable graces, wrought in our souls by the regenerating Spirit of God, whereby being deeply convinced of our guilt, danger, and helplessness, and of the way of salvation through Christ, we turn to God with sincere contrition, confession, and supplication for mercy, at the same time heartily receiving the Lord Jesus Christ in His mediatorial offices as our Prophet, Priest, and King and relying on Him alone as the only and all-sufficient Savior.

I John 4:23; Ephesians 2:8; Acts 17:30; Acts 2:37, 38; Acts 11:18; Romans 10:9, 10, 13

VIII. Justification by Grace through Faith

We believe that the great Gospel blessing which Christ secures to believers is justification; that justification includes the forgiveness of sin, and the gift of eternal life on the basis of God’s righteousness in Christ; that it is bestowed, not in consideration of any works of merit which we have done, but solely through faith and on the basis of Christ’s obedience and death; by virtue of which His perfect righteousness is imputed to us by God; that it brings us into a state of most blessed peace and acceptance with God, establishes the basis for God’s treatment of us as sons, and secures every other blessing needful for time and eternity.

Romans 3:31-31; Romans 4:1-25; Romans 5:1-10; Romans 8:14-17; Romans 5:12-21; Romans 8:31-39; II Corinthians 5:21

IX. The Free Offer of the Gospel

We believe that the blessings of salvation are offered freely to all without distinction by the Gospel; that it is the immediate duty of all to accept by cordial, penitent faith, and that nothing prevents the salvation of any sinner but his own inherent depravity and voluntary rejection of the Gospel, which rejection involves him in an aggravated condemnation.

Is 55:1, 2; Romans 1:16, 17; Matthew 11:28-30; Revelation 22:17; Mark 16:15, 16; Hebrews 2:1-4; Matthew 23:37-39; Matthew 11:20-24; Acts 17:30

X. Sanctification

We believe that sanctification is the process by which, according to the will of God, we are made partakers of His holiness; that it is a definitive work begun with a radical separation from sin and to God by our union with Christ; and that this work is continued in the progressive work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of believers in an on-going separation from sin and to God through the regular use of the appointed means – especially the Word of God, self-examination, self-denial, prayer, watchfulness and Christian fellowship.

II Peter 1:4-11; Lamentations 3:40; Romans 6:1-23; Matthew 26:41; Romans 7:5, 6; Matthew 6:9-13; Ephesians 4:17 – 6:20; Ephesians 6:9-13; Acts 20:36

XI. The Perseverance of the Saints

We believe that real believers endure in faith and holiness unto the end; that their persevering attachment to Christ is the grand mark which distinguishes them from false professors of the faith; that a special providence watches over their welfare, and that they are kept by the power of God through faith unto final salvation and glory.

John 6:39, 44; John 6:66-71; John 10:26-29; Matthew 10:24-33; Matthew 13:1-23; I Peter 1:3-5; Matthew 25:1-13; Romans 8:28-39; I Peter 2:1-10

XII. The Church of Christ

We believe that the Church of Jesus Christ in the most inclusive sense consists of all the elect of God in every age who have or shall come to faith in His Word concerning Jesus Christ. This is the one Body of Christ consisting of all who have true faith in the Gospel. We believe that visible love and unity ought to prevail between all true believers in our common Lord and gladly pronounce a benediction upon all who love Him in sincerity.

We believe that the primary emphasis given to the doctrine of the church in the New Testament is to local churches in various geographical locations, each having its own ordinances, order, and officers. We believe these churches to be congregations of baptized believers, associated in fellowship of the Gospel for worship, ministry, evangelism, instruction, and observance of the ordinances, according to the Word of God; that its officers are pastors and deacons; that its only Head is Christ, and under whose directing Spirit each church is separate from the state, free from human ecclesiastical authorities, and Divinely authorized to decided its internal and external affairs.

Hebrews 12:22-24; I Corinthians 1:2; Ephesians 4:1-6; Galatians 1:2; Romans 12:4, 5; Revelation 2:1-29, 3:1-22; Matthew 16:18; Philippians 1:1; I Corinthians 12:13; Acts 2:37-47; Ephesians 2:11-3:21; Acts 14:23; John 17:1-26; Acts 18:1-11; John 13:34, 35; Hebrews 10:23-25; Ephesians 6:24; I Timothy 3:1-13, 14, 15

XIII. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper

We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion in water of a believer, into the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, to show forth our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, with its effect, in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life; that it is a prerequisite to the privileges of membership in the local church. We believe that the Lord’s Supper is a sacred commemorative meal in which believers participate by partaking of unleavened bread and wine in order to remember and “show forth” His dying love until His return, preceded always by solemn self-examination.

Acts 2:41; Luke 22:17-20; Matthew 28:18-20; Matthew 26:1-19; Romans 6:3-6; I Corinthians 11:17-34; Acts 2:27-41

XIV. The State

We believe that Civil Government is ordained by God for the interests and good order of human society, and that civil leaders are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored, and obeyed; except in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ as revealed in Scriptures.

Romans 13:1-10; I Peter 2:13-17; I Timothy 2:1-3; Acts 5:25-29

XV. The Last Things

We believe that at the Last Day the Lord Jesus Christ will descend from heaven and will be visibly manifested as Lord to the whole world. At that time He will judge and condemn all who do not know God and do not obey the Gospel. The wicked will be condemned to everlasting torment in Hell. Moreover, the Lord Jesus will on that Day glorify His elect and receive them into the everlasting joy of His presence. At His coming the Lord Jesus Christ shall usher in the Age to Come and shall establish His everlasting Kingdom in the New Heavens and New Earth wherein righteousness shall dwell forever. We confess our confidence in these things with the prayer, “Even so, Come, Lord Jesus!”

Acts 1:11; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; II Thessalonians 1:6-10; II Timothy 4:1; John 6:37, 39, 44; II Peter 3:10-14; Revelation 20:11-15; Revelation 21:1-27, 22:1-21

XVI. Marriage and Human Sexuality

We believe that marriage is an institution ordained by God and is between one man and one woman. It is not lawful for any man to have more than one wife, nor for any woman to have more than one husband, at the same time. It is the duty of Christians to marry in the Lord. We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to only occur between a man and a woman who are married to each other and that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. Therefore, any form of sexual immorality, such as adultery, fornication, homosexual conduct, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, any use of pornography or any attempt to change one’s sex, is against the design of God and is therefore sin.