We Have Essential Beliefs!
The Bible
The Holy Bible was written by men inspired by God and is God’s revelation of Himself to people. It is God’s perfect guidebook for life and living. Because the Bible is without any mixture of error it is totally true and trustworthy. The Bible reveals the principles by which God judges people, and therefore is the supreme standard by which all human conduct should be tested. The Bible is the final authority on all matters it encompasses.
Exodus 24:4; Deuteronomy 4:1-2; 17:19; Joshua 8:34; Psalms 19:7-10; 119:11,89,105,140; Isaiah 34:16; 40:8; Jeremiah 15:16; 36:1-32; Matthew 5:17-18; 22:29; Luke 21:33; 24:44-46; John 5:39; 16:13-15; 17:17; Acts 2:16ff.; 17:11; Romans 15:4; 16:25-26; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-2; 4:12; 1 Peter 1:25; 2 Peter 1:19-21.
God
There is only one true God. He is a living, spiritual, personal, intelligent and eternal Being. He is the sovereign Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinitely perfect in His holiness, love and justice. God is all powerful, all knowing and all wise. God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each person with distinct attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.
As the Father
God as the Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of history according to the purposes of His grace. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all people.
Genesis 1:1; 2:7; Exodus 3:14; 6:2-3; 15:11ff.; 20:1ff.; Leviticus 22:2; Deuteronomy 6:4; 32:6; 1 Chronicles 29:10; Psalm 19:1-3; Isaiah 43:3,15; 64:8; Jeremiah 10:10; 17:13; Matthew 6:9ff.; 7:11; 23:9; 28:19; Mark 1:9-11; John 4:24; 5:26; 14:6-13; 17:1-8; Acts 1:7; Romans 8:14-15; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 4:6; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 11:6; 12:9; 1 Peter 1:17; 1 John 5:7.
As the Son
God as the Son revealed Himself as Jesus Christ who lived on earth in the first century A.D. Jesus Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. During His earthly life, Jesus was completely God and completely human. He perfectly revealed and did the will of God without committing a sin. Jesus gave His perfect life, on a Roman cross, as payment of the penalty, for all the sins people ever have or ever will commit. He was resurrected from the dead three days after his crucifixion 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 between God and people. He will return to judge the world and to finish His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord.
Genesis 18:1ff.; Psalms 2:7ff.; 110:1ff.; Isaiah 7:14; 53; Matthew 1:18-23; 3:17; 8:29; 11:27; 14:33; 16:16,27; 17:5; 27; 28:1-6,19; Mark 1:1; 3:11; Luke 1:35; 4:41; 22:70; 24:46; John 1:1-18,29; 10:30,38; 11:25-27; 12:44-50; 14:7-11; 16:15-16,28; 17:1-5, 21-22; 20:1-20,28; Acts 1:9; 2:22-24; 7:55-56; 9:4-5,20; Romans 1:3-4; 3:23-26; 5:6-21; 8:1-3,34; 10:4; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2:2; 8:6; 15:1-8,24-28; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; 8:9; Galatians 4:4-5; Ephesians 1:20; 3:11; 4:7-10; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:13-22; 2:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 3:16; Titus 2:13-14; Hebrews 1:1-3; 4:14-15; 7:14-28; 9:12-15,24-28; 12:2; 13:8; 1 Peter 2:21-25; 3:22; 1 John 1:7-9; 3:2; 4:14-15; 5:9; 2 John 7-9; Revelation 1:13-16; 5:9-14; 12:10-11; 13:8; 19:16.
As the Holy Spirit
God as the Holy Spirit inspired men to write the Bible. The Holy Spirit, through illumination, enables people to understand truth. He draws people’s attention to Christ. He convicts people of their sins, of proper living, and of the judgment they will all receive. He calls people to salvation and causes them to be born spiritually when they submit to Jesus Christ. At the moment of salvation He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and gives the spiritual gifts to believers by which they serve God through His church. His presence in the believer is God’s deposit on his or her future salvation. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and ministry.
Genesis 1:2; Judges 14:6; Job 26:13; Psalms 51:11; 139:7ff.; Isaiah 61:1-3; Joel 2:28-32; Matthew 1:18; 3:16; 4:1; 12:28-32; 28:19; Mark 1:10,12; Luke 1:35; 4:1,18-19; 11:13; 12:12; 24:49; John 4:24; 14:16-17,26; 15:26; 16:7-14; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4,38; 4:31; 5:3; 6:3; 7:55; 8:17,39; 10:44; 13:2; 15:28; 16:6; 19:1-6; Romans 8:9-11,14-16,26-27; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 3:16; 12:3-11,13; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; 1 Timothy 3:16; 4:1; 2 Timothy 1:14; 3:16; Hebrews 9:8,14; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 John 4:13; 5:6-7; Revelation 1:10; 22:17.
People
People are the special creation of God, made in His image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. In the beginning people were innocent of sin and were given freedom to make choices. With their freedom, people chose to sin against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan people disobeyed the command of God and fell from their original innocence causing their nature and environment to be inclined toward sin. Only the grace of God can cure fallen humanity. Because God created people in His own image and Jesus Christ died for all people, human life is sacred.
Genesis 1:26-30; 2:5,7,18-22; 3; 9:6; Psalms 1; 8:3-6; 32:1-5; 51:5; Isaiah 6:5; Jeremiah 17:5; Matthew 16:26; Acts 17:26-31; Romans 1:19-32; 3:10-18,23; 5:6,12,19; 6:6; 7:14-25; 8:14-18,29; 1 Corinthians 1:21-31; 15:19,21-22; Ephesians 2:1-22; Colossians 1:21-22; 3:9-11.
Salvation
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole person and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from the grace of God and personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.
Regeneration is the new birth that causes the believer to become alive spiritually. It is a change of heart caused when the Holy Spirit convicts a person of sin and the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace.
Repentance is a genuine turning from sin and toward God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ’s offer of salvation and a total commitment to Him as Lord.
Justification is the full acquittal of guilt for one’s sin. It is based in the fact that Jesus Christ made full restitution for sin by giving his life as payment for the sin debt of all people. The sinner is justified when he or she repents and believes in Jesus Christ.
Sanctification is the process of being set apart for God’s purposes. The believer is enabled to grow in moral and spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Glorification is the end result of salvation and is the final and eternal state of the believer.
Genesis 3:15; Exodus 3:14-17; 6:2-8; Matthew 1:21; 4:17; 16:21-26; 27:22-28:6; Luke 1:68-69; 2:28-32; John 1:11-14,29; 3:3-21,36; 5:24; 10:9,28-29; 15:1-16; 17:17; Acts 2:21; 4:12; 15:11; 16:30-31; 17:30-31; 20:32; Romans 1:16-18; 2:4; 3:23-25; 4:3ff.; 5:8-10; 6:1-23; 8:1-18,29-39; 10:9-10,13; 13:11-14; 1 Corinthians 1:18,30; 6:19-20; 15:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17-20; Galatians 2:20; 3:13; 5:22-25; 6:15; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-22; 4:11-16; Philippians 2:12-13; Colossians 1:9-22; 3:1ff.; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 2 Timothy 1:12; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 2:1-3; 5:8-9; 9:24-28; 11:1-12:8,14; James 2:14-26; 1 Peter 1:2-23; 1 John 1:6-2:11; Revelation 3:20; 21:1-22:5.
Grace
Grace is the display of God’s goodness, wisdom and holiness toward sinners. Grace is God’s unmerited favor toward sinners by which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies the elect. It is consistent with the free will of people since the elect are those who have demonstrated their acceptance of God’s grace by repenting of their sin and submitting to Jesus Christ as Lord.
All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end. Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, and bring reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on themselves; yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.
Genesis 12:1-3; Exodus 19:5-8; 1 Samuel 8:4-7,19-22; Isaiah 5:1-7; Jeremiah 31:31ff.; Matthew 16:18-19; 21:28-45; 24:22,31; 25:34; Luke 1:68-79; 2:29-32; 19:41-44; 24:44-48; John 1:12-14; 3:16; 5:24; 6:44-45,65; 10:27-29; 15:16; 17:6,12,17-18; Acts 20:32; Romans 5:9-10; 8:28-39; 10:12-15; 11:5-7,26-36; 1 Corinthians 1:1-2; 15:24-28; Ephesians 1:4-23; 2:1-10; 3:1-11; Colossians 1:12-14; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14; 2 Timothy 1:12; 2:10,19; Hebrews 11:39–12:2; James 1:12; 1 Peter 1:2-5,13; 2:4-10; 1 John 1:7-9; 2:19; 3:2.
The Church
A church is an autonomous, local congregation of baptized believers, who have covenanted together for the purpose of observing the two ordinances of Jesus Christ (Baptism and the Lord’s Supper) and to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Jesus Christ, their fellow members and their spiritual elders to exercise the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by God’s Word.
The New Testament speaks also of the church as the Body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation.
Matthew 16:15-19; 18:15-20; Acts 2:41-42,47; 5:11-14; 6:3-6; 13:1-3; 14:23,27; 15:1-30; 16:5; 20:28; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 3:16; 5:4-5; 7:17; 9:13-14; 12; Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:19-22; 3:8-11,21; 5:22-32; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 2:9-14; 3:1-15; 4:14; Hebrews 11:39-40; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Revelation 2-3; 21:2-3.
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Jesus Christ. It symbolizes the believer’s death to sin, the burial of their old life, and the resurrection to a new life in Jesus Christ. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper.
The Lord’s Supper is a memorial to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The bread and wine symbolize the body and blood of Jesus Christ. When the believer takes the elements, they are expressing gratitude for their salvation.
Matthew 3:13-17; 26:26-30; 28:19-20; Mark 1:9-11; 14:22-26; Luke 3:21-22; 22:19-20; John 3:23; Acts 2:41-42; 8:35-39; 16:30-33; 20:7; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 10:16,21; 11:23-29; Colossians 2:12.
Eternity
God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Jesus Christ will judge all people. The unbeliever will be sent to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The believer in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.
Isaiah 2:4; 11:9; Matthew 16:27; 18:8-9; 19:28; 24:27,30,36,44; 25:31-46; 26:64; Mark 8:38; 9:43-48; Luke 12:40,48; 16:19-26; 17:22-37; 21:27-28; John 14:1-3; Acts 1:11; 17:31; Romans 14:10; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 15:24-28,35-58; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Philippians 3:20-21; Colossians 1:5; 3:4; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 5:1ff.; 2 Thessalonians 1:7ff.; 2; 1 Timothy 6:14; 2 Timothy 4:1,8; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 9:27-28; James 5:8; 2 Peter 3:7ff.; 1 John 2:28; 3:2; Jude 14; Revelation 1:18; 3:11; 20:1-22:13.