Doctrinal Statement

Outline:

The Inspiration of Scripture
The Godhead
Angels, Fallen and Unfallen
Man: Created and Fallen
The Person of the Lord Jesus Christ
The Holy Spirit
The Work of Christ
Salvation
Sanctification
Eternal Security
The Church, a unity of believers
The Ordinances
The Christian life
The Christian’s Service
The Great Commission
Eschatology (Second Coming of Christ, Eternal State)

The inspiration of Scripture

We believe that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. The whole Bible is inspired in the sense that holy men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit to write the very words of Scriptures. We believe that this divine inspiration extends equally and fully to all parts of the writings, historical, poetical doctrinal and prophetical, as appeared in the original manuscripts. We believe that the whole Bible in the original is therefore without error, that the Scriptures center about the Lord Jesus Christ in His person and work in His first and second coming, and that no portion even of the Old Testament is  understood until it leads to Him. We believe that all Scriptures were designed for our practical instruction (Luke 24:27; John 5:39; Acts 1:16; 17:2-3; 18:28; II Tim. 3:16, 17; II Pet. 1:21)

The Godhead

We believe that the Godhead eternally exists in three Persons, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and that these three are one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes, and perfections and worthy of precisely the same homage, and obedience. (Matt. 28:18-19; Mark 12:29; John 1:14; Acts 5:3, 4; II Cor. 13:14; Heb. 1:1-3).

Angels, Fallen and Unfallen

We believe that God created an innumerable company of sinless, spiritual beings known as angels, and that one, Satan was originally created a holy and perfect being, but through pride and wicked ambition rebelled against God, thus becoming utterly depraved in character, the great adversary of God and his people, leader of all evil angels and spirits , the deceiver and god of this present world; that his powers are vast, but strictly limited by the permissive will of God Who overrules all his wicked devices for good; that he was defeated and judged at the cross and therefore his final doom is certain; that we are able to resist and overcome him only in the amour of God, through the blood of the Lamb and the power of the Holy Spirit. (Is. 14:12-14; Job 1:17; Ezek. 28:11-19; I Pet. 5:8; Eph. 6:1; 2:20).  We believe that a great company of angels kept their holy estate and are before the throne of God, from where they are sent forth as ministering spirits to minister unto believers (Luke 15:10; Eph. 1:21; Heb. 1:14; Rev.7:12).  We believe that Man was made lower than the angels; and that, in His incarnation,  Christ took for a little time this lower place that He might lift the believer to His own sphere above the angels (Heb. 2:6-10).

Man: Created and Fallen

Man was originally created in the image of God. He sinned by disobeying God; thus, he was alienated from his Creation . That historic fall brought all Mankind under divine condemnation. I also believe that spiritual death, or total depravity of human nature, has been transmitted to the entire human race of Man, the Man Christ Jesus alone being excepted.  Thus, every child of Adam is born into the world with a nature which not only possesses no spark of divine life, but is essentially and unchangeable bad apart from divine grace (Gen. 1:26; 2:17; 6:5; Ps. 141:1; 51:5; Jer. 17:9; John 3:6;5:40; Rom. 3:10-19; 5:12; Eph. 2:1-3; I Tim. 5:6)

 

The Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

We believe that, as provided and purposed by God and as preannounced in the prophecies of the Scriptures, the eternal Son of God came into this world that He might manifest God to men, fulfill prophecy, and become the Redeemer of a lost world. To this end, He was born of the virgin, and received human body, and a sinless human nature. (Luke1:30-35; John 1:18; 3:16; Heb. 4:15) We believe that, on the human side, He became and remained a perfect man, but sinless throughout His life. yet He retained His absolute deity, being at the same time, very God and very man, and that His earth life sometimes functioned within the sphere of that which was human and sometimes within the sphere of that which was divine (Luke 2:40; John 1:1,2; Phil. 2:5-8).

The Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the blessed Trinity, though omnipresent from all eternity, took up His abode in the world in a special sense on the day of Pentecost according to the divine promise, dwells in every believer, and by His baptism unites all to Christ in one body, and that He, as the Indwelling One, is the source of all power and all acceptable worship and service. We believe that He never takes His departure from the church, nor from the feeblest of the saints, but is ever present to testify of Christ; seeking to occupy believers with Him and not with themselves nor with their experiences. We believe that His abode in the world in this special sense will cease when Christ comes to receive His own at the completion of the church (John 16:17; 1 Cor. 16:19, Eph. 2:22; 1 Thess. 2:7).

We believe that, in this age, certain well-defined ministries are committed to the Holy Spirit, and that it is the duty of every Christian to understand them and to be adjusted to them in his own life and experience. These ministries are the restraining of evil in the world to the measure of the divine will; the convicting of the world respecting sin, righteousness, and judgment; the regenerating of all believers; the indwelling and anointing of all who are saved, thereby sealing them unto the day of redemption; the baptizing into the one body of Christ of all who are saved; and the continued filling for power, teaching, and service of those among the saved who are yielded to Him and who are subject to His will (John 3:7; 16:7-11; Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:30; 5:18; 2 Thess 2:7; John 2:20-27).

We believe that some gifts of the Holy Spirit such as speaking in tongues and miraculous healings were temporary. We believe that speaking in tongues was never the common or necessary sign of the baptism nor of the filling of the Spirit, and that the deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection (Acts 4:8; Acts 4:31;Rom. 8:23; 1 Cor. 13:8).

The Work of Christ

Because of man’s sinful condition, he is alienated from his Creator. The Fall brought all Mankind under divine condemnation. Man’s nature is corrupted, and he is totally unable to please God. (Rom. 3:10-19; 8:6, 7). Every person is in need of regeneration by the Holy Spirit. Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross was absolutely necessary to atone for the sins of Mankind. He died as our substitute, thus satisfying divine justice and accomplishing salvation for all who trust in Him alone. Redemption is accomplished solely by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who was made to be sin and was made a curse for us, dying in our place.(I Pet.1:18-19; Phil.3:4-9).

We believe that in His infinite love for the lost, He voluntarily accepted His Father’s will and became the divinely provided sacrificial Lamb, and took away the sin of the world, bearing the holy judgments against sin, which the righteousness of God must impose. His death was therefore substitutionary in the most absolute sense, the just forth unjust and by His death He became the Savior of the Lost (John 1:29; Rom. 3:25, 26; II Cor. 5:14; Heb. 10:5 -14; I Pet. 3:18). We believe He arose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He had lived and died, and that His resurrection body is the pattern of that body which ultimately will be given to all believers (John 20:20; Phil. 3:20-21).

We believe that on departing from the earth, He was accepted of His father and that His acceptance in a final assurance to us that His redeeming work was perfectly accomplished (Heb. 1:3). We believe that He became Head over all things to the church which is His Body, and in this ministry, He does not cease to intercede and advocate for the saved (Eph.1:22-23; Heb. 7:25; I John 2:1).

Salvation

We believe that because of universal death through sin, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless born again; and that no degree of reformation however great, no attainments in morality however high, no culture however attractive, no baptism or other ordinance however administered, can help the sinner to take even one step toward heaven; but a new nature imparted from above, a new life implanted by the Holy Spirit through the Word, is absolutely essential to salvation, and only those thus saved are sons of God. We believe, also, that our redemption has been accomplished solely by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was made to be sin and was made a curse for us, dying in our place; and that no feeling, no good resolutions, no sincere efforts, no submission to the rules and regulations of any church can add in the very least degree to the value of the blood, or to the merit of the finished work wrought for us by Him who united in His person true and proper deity with perfect and sinless humanity ( Lev. 17:11; Is. 64:6; Matt. 26:28; John 3:7-18; Rom. 5:6-9; 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13; 6:15; Eph. 1:7; Phil. 3:4-9;Titus 3:5; James 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:18-23).

We believe that the new birth of the believer comes only through faith in Christ and that repentance is a vital part of believing, and is in no way, in itself, a separate and independent condition of salvation; nor are any other acts, such as confession, baptism, prayer, or faithful service, to be added to believing as a condition of salvation (John 1:12; 3:16;5:24; 6:29; Acts 13:39;16:31; Rom. 1:16-17;Rom. 3:26; Rom. 4:5;10:4;Gal. 3:22).

We believe that when an unregenerate person exercises that faith in Christ which is illustrated and described as such in the New Testament, he passes immediately out of spiritual death into spiritual life and from the old creation into the new; declared righteous, accepted before the Father according as Christ His Son is accepted, loved as Christ is loved, having his place and portion as linked to Him and one with Him forever. Though the saved one may have occasion to grow in the realization of his blessings and to know a fuller measure of divine power through the yielding of his life more fully to God, he is, as soon as he is saved, in possession of every spiritual blessing and absolutely complete in Christ, and is therefore in no way required by God to seek a so-called “second blessing,” or a “second work of grace” (John 5:24;17:23;Acts 13:39; Rom. 5:1; 1 Cor. 3:21-23; Eph. 1:3; Col. 2:10; 1 John 4:17;5:11-12).

Sanctification

We believe that sanctification, which is a setting apart unto God, is threefold: It is already complete for every saved person because his position toward God is the same measure in which Christ is set apart unto God. We believe, however, that the believer retains his sin nature, which cannot be eradicated in this life. Therefore, while the standing of the Christian in Christ is perfect, his present state is no more perfect than his experience in daily life.

There is, therefore a Progressive sanctification, wherein the Christian is to “grow in grace” and to be changed by the unhindered power of the Spirit. We believe also that the child of God will yet be fully sanctified in his state as he is now sanctified in his standing in Christ when he will see his Lord and shall be “like Him” (John 17:17; II Cor. 3:18;7:1; Eph. 4:24; 5:25-27; I Thess. 5:23; Heb. 10:10,14;12:10)

Eternal Security

We believe that, because of the eternal purpose of God toward the objects of His love, because of His freedom to exercise grace toward the meritless on the ground of the propitiatory blood of Christ, because of the very nature of the divine gift of eternal life, because of the present and unending intercession and advocacy of Christ in heaven, because of the immutability of the unchangeable covenants of God, because of the regenerating, abiding presence of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of all who are saved, all believers, once saved, are kept saved forever. God cannot overlook the sin of His children, and He will, when they persistently sin, chasten them and correct them in infinite love; but having undertaken to save them and keep them forever, apart from all human merit. He who cannot fail will in the end present every one of them faultless before the presence of His glory and conformed to the image of His Son (John 5:24;10:28; 13:1; 14:16,17; 17:11; Rom. 8:29; I Cor. 6:19; Heb. 7:25; I John 2:1-2, 5:23; Jude 24) It is the privilege of all who are born again of the Spirit to be assured of their salvation from the very moment in which they trust Christ as their Savior. This assurance is not based upon any kind of human merit, but is produced by the witness of the Holy Spirit, who confirms in the believer the testimony of God in His written Word. (John5:24; 10:28; Rom. 8:29; Jude 24).

The Church, a unity of believers

We believe that all who are united to the risen and ascended Son of God are members of the Church, which is the Body and Bride of Christ, which began at Pentecost and is completely distinct from Israel. Its members are constituted as such regardless of membership or non membership in the organized churches of earth. We believe that by the same Spirit all believers in this age are baptized into and thus become one Body that is Christ’s, whether Jews or Gentiles, and having become members one of another, are under solemn duty to keep the unity of the Spirit in the body of peace, rising above all sectarian differences, and loving one another fervently with a pure heart (Matt. 16:16-18; Acts 2:42-47; Rom. 12:5; I Cor. 12:12-27; Eph. 1:20-23; 4:3-10; Col. 3:14,15).

The Ordinances

We believe that water baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the only ordinances of the church, and they are a scriptural means of testimony for the Church in this age. (Matt. 28:19; Acts 10:47, 48; I Cor. 11:26). They are not a means or guarantee of salvation, but are to be done in obedience to Christ.

We believe that Christian baptism is by the immersion of the believer into water. Water baptism is symbolic of the “baptism of the believer into the Body of Christ.” It is an outward sign of an inward transaction. Water baptism does not save, nor is it necessary for salvation. We are saved by grace alone (Eph. 2:8, 9). Baptism is simply is an act of obedience to Christ, and a testimony before the world that one is a believer

The Lord’s Supper was instituted by Christ for all believers to remember His death for us. It is to be done until He comes again by believers who carefully examine their spiritual walk before participation in this ordinance (1 Cor. 11:1).