Statement of Faith

Statement of Faith

God is one God, eternally existing as three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; Romans 1:20).

The Bible (both Old and New Testaments) is God's living Word, inspired by Him and without error in its original writings. The Bible is the supreme and final authority for faith and life. God has completely revealed through His Word, the Bible, His plan of salvation for mankind. (2 Timothy 3:15-17)

Man was created by God in His own image (Genesis 1:26, 27) on the sixth 24-hour day of creation (Genesis 1:24-31). (For an excellent explanation of this fact, visit the following Answers in Genesis webpage ~ http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs/2452.asp)

Sin (and death as its consequence [Romans 6:23]) entered the world through the first man, Adam (Romans 5:12; I Corinthians 15:21, 22). And so, all people after Adam and Eve are born with a sinful nature (Romans 5:19; Romans 7:18, 25; Romans 8:1-17; I John 1:8) and are in need of salvation (with the only exception being Jesus…born of the virgin Mary, fully God and fully man, and without sin). The only One through whom salvation comes is Jesus Christ (John 14:6; Acts 4:12), as Jesus is the only One who never sinned (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; I Peter 2:22; I John 3:5). Because Jesus was without sin, His life was presented at the cross as the perfect and final sacrifice and substitute for the lives of sinners.

Salvation is a gift from God that no man can earn (Romans 6:23). God's gift of salvation does not become a person's own gift until that person individually receives the gift for himself. When a person receives God's gift of eternal life, that person is born again (John 3:3). For a person to receive God's gift of eternal life, that person must admit he is a sinner and has fallen short of God's glory (Romans 3:23), must repent of his sin, and must confess with his mouth and believe in his heart that Jesus Christ is both Savior and Lord (Romans 10:9-11).

On the third day from His crucifixion, Jesus Christ arose bodily, and then, 40 days after His resurrection, He ascended to the right hand of the Father (Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20, 21; Acts 1:1-9). Jesus is alive, and today He intercedes on the behalf of believers (Romans 8:34). Jesus is coming again (Revelation 22:20). Both the saved and unsaved will be resurrected; the saved to eternal joy in the presence of God, the unsaved to eternal punishment separated from God (John 5:24-30).

We believe Satan is a real and evil personality, intent on keeping men in bondage to their sin. We believe Jesus Christ, through His death and resurrection, broke the curse of sin, and is more than able to set captives free from their bondage to sin.

We believe that at the moment a believer accepts Jesus as Savior and makes Him Lord of his life, God begins in the believer a lifelong process of sanctification (the working of holiness into the life of the believer; for God calls all of His children to be holy, because He is holy [I Peter 1:15,16]). We believe sanctification involves both the power of the Holy Spirit (Who brings about permanent change in the heart of the believer), as well as the believer's choice to listen to and obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit.