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Paragraph I -
Of the Scriptures
We believe that the
Holy Bible as originally written was verbally inspired and the product of
Spirit-controlled men, and therefore is truth without admixture of error. We believe that it is the true center of
Christian union and the only infallible rule for all human conduct, creeds, and
opinions.
Paragraph II
- Of the True God
We believe that there
is only one living and true God, infinite in every excellence; that in the
unity of the Godhead there are three personal distinctions - the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit - one in substance and equal in every divine
perfection.
We believe in the
absolute Deity of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ; that He was divine as no
other man can be, being very God of very God, existing from all eternity
co-equal with the Father and the Spirit; that He never ceased to be God for one
instant and that His humiliation did not consist in laying aside His deity;
that as a man He was miraculously begotten of the Holy Ghost and born of the
Virgin Mary.
We believe that the
Holy Spirit is a divine Person, equal with the Father and Son and of the same
substances and nature; that He convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment;
bears witness to the truth; is the Agent of the New Testament Birth; and that
He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses to, sanctifies, and helps the believer,
indwelling every true Child of God.
Paragraph III
- Of the Devil or Satan
We believe that Satan
is a distinct personality; that he is the god of this age; author of all the
powers of darkness and sin; and is destined to the judgment of an eternal
justice in the lake of fire.
Paragraph IV
- Of the Creation
We believe that God
created the heavens and the earth, including all life, "each after its own
kind", by direct act and not by the process of evolution.
Paragraph V -
Of the Fall of Man
We believe that man,
in the person of the first Adam, was created in innocence but by voluntary
transgression fell into sin thus plunging the whole race into condemnation and
death. All mankind is now born in sin
and shapen in iniquity and become practicing sinners with the first expression
of personal choice and so are without excuse before God.
Paragraph VI
- Of the Atonement for Sin
We believe that the
only escape from the condemnation of sin is through the atonement wrought by
Jesus Christ, when He voluntarily took upon Himself a human body and nature,
yet without sin. By His suffering, death,
and resurrection, He made full satisfaction to the justice of God for the sin
of man, and the blessings of this salvation are given on the grounds of grace
to all who believe and confess. It is
the immediate duty of all to accept these offers of mercy.
Paragraph VII
- Of Salvation by Grace
We believe that faith
in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of
salvation from sin and that this salvation is wholly by grace; that no works,
however good, make the salvation more secure.
We believe that all
who take Christ as their Savior are born from above and are eternally secure in
Christ.
Paragraph VIII
- Of the Church
We believe that the
church, the Body of Christ, is a New Testament institution, established by
Jesus Christ, Who is its sole Head. It
is revealed through the Apostles; empowered and perpetuated by the Holy Spirit;
comprised of believers in Jesus Christ as Savior, both Jew and Gentile, called
out from the world and indwelt by the Holy Spirit; His "body" for
service and His "bride" for glory.
It began with the New Testament saints and will be consummated at the coming
of Christ in the Rapture.
Matthew 16:18; Acts 1:8; 2:1-13,41-47; 15:14; Romans 16:26;
I Corinthians 12:12-28; Ephesians 1:22,23; 3:21; 5:23-33;
I Thessalonians 4:13-18
We believe that the
Church is manifest through the local church which is the congregation of
immersed believers, associated by covenant of faith and fellowship of the
Gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws; exercising
the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in it by His work; that its officers
are bishops (pastors) and deacons; that it has the absolute right of
self-government by the Holy Spirit, and it is answerable only to Christ; and
that in all matters of membership, policy, government, discipline, and
benevolence, the will of the local church is final.
Matthew 18:15-17; I Corinthians 1:2; 5:4,5; 7:17; 11:16; I Timothy
3:1-15
Paragraph IX
- Of the Ordinances
We believe that there
are two church ordinances:
BAPTISM is the
immersion of the believer in water and is properly called "Believer's
Baptism". It sets forth, in a
beautiful and solemn way, our faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior,
with its effect in our lives of death to sin and resurrection to a new
life. Baptism is a prerequisite to the
privileges of church relation.
The LORD'S SUPPER is
the commemoration of our Lord's death until He comes, and our continual
fellowship with Him; it should be preceded by baptism and always by careful
self-examination.
Paragraph X -
Of the Righteous and Wicked
We believe that there
is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the
wicked. Only such as through faith in
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ are justified and sanctified by the Spirit of
God are truly righteous in God's esteem.
All those who continue in impenitence and unbelief are wicked in His
sight and under the curse. This
distinction holds among men both in and after death in the everlasting felicity
of the saved and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost.
Paragraph XI
- Of the Return of Christ
We believe in the
bodily, personal, pre-millennial return of Jesus Christ; that He will come
before the seven year tribulation period to catch away His Church, coming only
in the air, and that He will come with His Church at the close of the
tribulation to judge the living nations and to set up His Kingdom.
Paragraph XII
- Of the Resurrection
We believe in the
resurrection of the bodies of the dead.
The believers who sleep in Jesus will be raised at the coming of Christ
for His Church and caught up with transformed living saints to meet the Lord in
the air, and the wicked dead [unsaved] will be raised at the close of the
Millennial Kingdom and stand in their bodies at the Great White Throne Judgment
to receive their final doom.
We believe that God's
Word commands us to remain separate ecclesiastically from groups which deny the
Deity of Christ, pervert the Gospel of Christ, which hold to divers and strange
doctrines, or which deny in word or practice the doctrines to which we hold, as
listed in this Confession of Faith.
Based upon this doctrine we will not participate in ecumenism in any
form, including, but not limited to the following: neo-evangelicalism,
modernism, the charismatic movement, Roman Catholicism, the World Council of
Churches, or the National council of Churches.
For Christ's Church is to be holy and without blemish.
II Corinthians 6:14-17; II Thessalonians 3:6,14,15; Titus 3:10,11;
Romans 16:16,17; Hebrews 13:9; Jude 3,4; Ephesians 5:26,27
Paragraph XIV - Of Human Sexuality
We
believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in
outside of marriage. Marriage is
defined as the lawful union between a man and a woman.
We
believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality,
incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s
gift of sex.
Genesis 19:5-7, 13; Leviticus 18:1-30; 20:10-22;
Romans 1:26-32;
I Corinthians 5:1; 6:9-11; I Thessalonians 4:1-8;
Hebrews 13:4
We
believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a
living human being. Abortion
constitutes the willful taking of unborn human life. Abortion is murder. We
reject any teaching that abortion is justified, whether due to rape, incest,
birth defects, gender selection, birth or population control, the mental well
being of the mother, or any other reason.
Genesis 1:26; 9:1-7; Exodus 21:22,23; Job 3:16; Psalm 51:5; 139:14-16; Isaiah 44:24; 49:1,5; Jeremiah 1:5; 20:15-18; Genesis 25:21-23; In Luke 1:44 and
Luke 2:12 the same Greek word is used when referring
to a baby in the womb and a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes.