We believe that the first person of the godhead is God the Father, who exists eternally with the Son and the Holy Spirit.  God the Father is set forth in the scriptures in two aspects: first, as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Psalm 2:7; John 1:14; 3:16-18; 1John 4:9; Matthew 3:17; 17:5; John 8:29-49), and second, as the Father of all among men who believe in Christ.  Being born of God, man is an heir of God and joint heir with Christ.  (John 1:12-13; Titus 3:4-6; 1Peter 1:4; Romans 8:16-17)

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature; that He was active in the creation; that He restrains the evil one until God’s purpose is fulfilled; that He convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment; that He bears witness to the truth of the Gospel in preaching and in testimony; that He is the Agent of the new birth; and that He seals, endures, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies and helps the believer.  (John 14:16-17, 26; Matthew 28:19; Hebrews 9:14; Luke 1:35; Genesis 1:1-3; John 16:8-11; Acts 5:30-32; John 3:5-6; Ephesians 1:13-14; Mark 1:8; John 1:33; Acts 11:16; Luke 24:49; Romans 8:14-16, 26-27)

We believe the biblical account of the creation of the physical universe, angels, and man; that man was created by a direct work of God and not from previously existing forms of life; and that all men are descended from the historical Adam and Eve, the first parents of the entire human race.  (Genesis 1, 2; Colossians 1:16-17; John 1:3)

We believe that the salvation of sinners is divinely initiated and wholly of grace through the mediatorial offices of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who by the Father’s appointment, voluntarily took on Himself our nature, yet without sin, and honored the divine law by His personal obedience, thus qualifying Himself to be our Savior; that Christ fully satisfied our holy and righteous God’s just demands regarding sin by shedding His blood through death, and that His sacrifice was not meant to set an example by dying as a martyr, but to voluntarily substitute Himself in the sinner’s place, the Just dying for the unjust.  Christ the Lord bore our sins in His own body on the tree, and having risen from the dead, He is now enthroned in Heaven and uniting in His wonderful person the tenderest sympathies with divine perfection. He is in every way qualified to be a suitable, compassionate, and all-sufficient Savior.

We believe that justification is God’s judicial act, whereby He declares the believer righteous through Christ’s imputed righteousness; that it is bestowed, not in consideration of any work of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in the Redeemer’s shed blood.  (Romans 3:24; 4:5, 5:1; Galatians 2:1; Philippians 3:9)

We believe that God the Father keeps for Jesus Christ all who are truly born again.  Their persevering attachment to Christ is the grand mark that distinguishes them from superficial professors.  (John 8:31-32; 10:28-29; 1John 2:19; Matthew 13:19-21; Romans 8:28, 35-39; Philippians 1:6; 1Peter 1:5; Jude 1)

We believe that a local church is an organized congregation of redeemed 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; and that its leaders are pastors, elders and deacons, whose qualifications, claims, and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures. We believe that the church’s true mission is to faithfully witness about Christ to all men as we have opportunity. We hold that the local church has the absolute right of self-government, free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations; that the one and only superintendent 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 local church is the sole judge of the measure and methods of its cooperation; and that on all matters of membership, police, government, discipline, and benevolence, the local church’s will is final. (1Corinthians 11:2; Acts 20:17-28; 1Timothy 3:1-13, Acts 2:41-42)

We believe in the unity of all New Testament believers in the Church which is the body of Christ (1Corinthians 12:12-13; Ephesians 1:22-23; 3:1-6; 4:11; 5:23; Colossians 1:18; Acts 15:13-18)

Every believer since Pentecost receives at least one gift when the Holy Spirit baptizes him into the body of Christ. These gifts are for the purpose of edifying the church. (1Corinthians 12:7; 12-16; 14:22, 26; Hebrews 2:2-3; Ephesians 4:11-13; Romans 12:7-8; Ephesians 4:11; 1Corinthians 12:9, 28)

We believe that each believer is endowed at the moment of conversion with one or more task-oriented gifts from the Holy Spirit and has the responsibility to learn what those gifts are, to develop and cultivate the gifts and to find a place of ministry where the believer exercises those gifts in exalting Christ and furthering the church’s efforts in fulfilling the Great Commission, reaching and teaching others. We believe that the spiritual gifts are tools of the Holy Spirit that allow the believer to serve God in a practical, functional, and task-oriented manner. The purposes of the spiritual gifts are evangelism, edifying the church, and perfecting the saints. (1Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4:1-13)

We believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the interest and good order of human society; that believers should pray for officials and conscientiously obey the laws of the land, except those opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only Lord of the conscience and the coming King of Kings; and that Christians should take part in Government to be salt and light as the Lord enables.  (Romans 13:1-7; 1Timothy 2:1-3; 2Samuel 23:3; Exodus 18:21-22; Acts 23:5; 5:28; 4:19-20; Daniel 3:17-18; Matthew 5:13-16; Ephesians 5:8-11)

We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that only those who are justified by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and sanctified by the Spirit of our God are truly righteous in His esteem; that all who continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked and under the curse; and that this distinction holds among men both in life and after death, in the saved’s everlasting joy and the lost’s everlasting, conscious suffering. (Malachi 3:18; Genesis 18:23; Romans 6:17-18; 1John 5:19; Romans 6:23; 7:6; Proverbs 14:32; Luke 16:25; Matthew 25:34-41; John 8:21; Revelation 20:14-15)

We believe there is one and only one living and true God, an infinite Spirit, the Maker and Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth; inexpressively glorious in holiness, and worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons–the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit–equal in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.  (Exodus 20:2-3; Isaiah 43:10; 44:6; 1Corinthians 8:6; Revelation 4:11)

We believe that the second person of the Godhead is the Lord Jesus Christ, who existed eternally with the Father, and at the time of His incarnation, without change in His deity, became a man through the miracle of His divine conception by the Holy Spirit and was born of the virgin Mary.  He lived a sinless life, died a substitutionary death for sinful man, and was buried and arose from the grave physically the third day.  He ascended into heaven, where he is presently fulfilling His intercessory and mediatorial ministry, and has promised to return to gather the believers to Himself.  (John 1:1-2; 1John 5:20; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38; 1Peter 2:22; Hebrews 4:15; 1Corinthians 15:3; John 14:1-3)

We believe in the reality and personality of Satan, the Devil; that he was created by God as an angel but through pride and rebellion became the enemy of his Creator; and that he became the unholy god of his age and the ruler of all the powers of darkness and that in the end time, he will receive his just and eternal punishment.  (Matthew 4:1-11; 2Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 20:10; 1Timothy 3:6)

We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, in innocence under law to his Maker.  By voluntary transgression, Adam fell from his sinless state, and all men sinned in him.  Consequently, all men are depraved and are sinners by nature, choice, and conduct.  They are therefore under just condemnation, without defense or excuse.  (Genesis 3:1-6; Romans 1:18-32; 3:10-19; 5:1219)

We believe that to be saved, sinners must be born again; that the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus; that it is instantaneous and not a process; that in the new birth, the one dead in trespasses and sins is made a partaker of the divine nature and receives eternal life, the free gift of God; that our sovereign God brought about the new creation in a manner above our comprehension, solely by the powers of the Holy Spirit in connection with divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the Gospel; and that its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance, faith, and newness of life.  (John 3:3; 1Corinthians 5:17; 1John 5:1; Acts 16:20-33; 2Peter 1:4; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:1, 5; Colossians 2:13; John 3:8)

We believe that sanctification is the divine setting apart of the believer unto God, accomplished in a threefold manner: first, an eternal act of God, based on redemption in Christ, establishing the believer in a position of holiness at the moment he trusts the Savior; second, a continuing process as the Holy Spirit applies God’s Word to the believer’s life; and third, the final accomplishment of this process at the Lord’s return.  (Hebrews 10:10-14; 3:1; John 17:17; 2Corinthians 3:18; 1Corinthians  1:30; Ephesians 5:25-27; 1Thessalonians 4:3-4; 5:23, 24; 1John 3:2; Jude 24, 25; Revelation 22:11)

Marriage has been ordained by God. This church defines “marriage” as the exclusive covenantal union of one man and one woman in which such union is a lifetime commitment. The church will recognize a civil government’s sanction of a union as a legitimate marriage only to the extent that it is consistent with the definition of “marriage” found in this Constitution.  (Genesis 2:21-24)

We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water to show, in solemn and beautiful emblem, our identification with the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, through whom we died to sin and rose to a new life; that through baptism, the believer publicly declares his or her new life in Christ Jesus; and that baptism is to be performed under the authority of the local church.

We believe that the Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of His death until He comes and should be preceded by solemn self-examination. By his participation, the believer is dramatically reminded of the sacrifice of Christ for his sins. (Acts 8:36; 38-39; John 3:23; Romans 6:3-5; Matthew 3:16; Colossians 2:12; 1Corinthians 11:23-28; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:41-42)

We believe that a Christian should live for God’s glory and his fellow man’s well-being; that his conduct should be blameless before the world; that he should be a faithful steward of his possessions; and that he should seek to realize for himself and others the stature of maturity in Christ. (Romans 12:1-2; Colossians 2:6-7; 3:17; Titus 2:11-13).

We therefore believe in obedience to the biblical commands to separate ourselves unto God from worldliness and ecclesiastical apostasy. (2Corinthians 6:14; 7:1; 1Thessalonians 1:9-10; 1Timothy 6:3-5; Romans 16:17; 2John 9-11)

We believe in the imminent, personal return of Christ and that at that time, the dead in Christ shall be raised in glorified bodies and the living in Christ shall be given glorified bodies and all shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.  (1Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1Corinthians 15:42-44; 51-54; Philippians 3:20-21; Revelation 3:10)