THE BIBLE
The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is the record of God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. It reveals the principles by which God judges us and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. The criterion by which the Bible is to be interpreted is Jesus Christ.
GOD THE TRINITY
We believe there is one, and only one, true and living God, maker and supreme ruler of Heaven and Earth, existing in the form of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
NATURE AND FALL OF MAN
We believe in the doctrine of original sin. We believe that man was created in holiness, under the law of his Maker, but by voluntary transgression fell from that holy and happy state; in consequence of which all mankind are now sinners not by constraint, but by choice, being by nature utterly void of that holiness required by the law of God, positively inclined to evil, and therefore, under just condemnation to eternal ruin, without deference or excuse.
SALVATION
We believe that Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense, Salvation includes regeneration, sanctification, and glorification.
JUSTIFICATION
We believe that sinners are justified in the sight of God only by the Spirit of Christ living in us.
REPENTANCE AND FAITH
We believe that the blessings of Salvation are made free to all by the gospel, but in order for sinners to be regenerated, or born again, they must repent of their sins and receive the Lord Jesus Christ by faith as an all-sufficient Savior.
ELECTION
We believe in the doctrine of election; that God chose from before the foundation of the world to save those who believe, that they should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined them unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His grace.
SANCTIFICATION
Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God’s purposes and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual perfection through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerated person’s life.
SECURITY OF BELIEVERS
All true believers endure to the end. Those who 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 graces and comforts, 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. We believe in the doctrine of «once saved, always saved”. A believer may fall from the will of God, but it is impossible to fall from the hands of God.
RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT
There is to be a Resurrection of the just and unjust on the day of judgment when all men must give an account of the deeds done in the body; that a separation will then take place; that the wicked will be judged to endless punishment and the righteous to endless joy and this judgment will fix forever the final state of men in Heaven or Hell.
THE LORD’S DAY
The first day of the week is the Lord’s Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the Resurrection of Christ from the dead and should be employed in exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private, and by refraining from worldly amusements, and resting from secular employments, works of necessity and mercy only being excepted.
CHURCH
A New Testament Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a local body of baptized believers who are associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the two ordinances of Christ, committed to His teaching exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth.
This church is an autonomous body, operating through the democratic process under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In such a congregation, members are equally responsible. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons.
THE ORDINANCES: 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 Savior, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a Church ordinance, it is a prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper.
Baptism
A person who receives Jesus Christ as Savior by personal faith; who professes Him publicly at any worship service; and who indicates a commitment to follow Christ as Lord, and serve Him in this church, shall receive baptism.
a. Baptism shall be by immersion in water.
b. Baptism shall be administered by the pastor or any ordained deacon the church shall authorize. The deacons shall assist in the preparation for and observance of baptism.
c. Baptism may be administered as an act of worship during a worship service.
d. A person professing Christ and failing to be baptized after a reasonable length of time shall be counseled by the pastor and/or staff and deacons. If negative interest is ascertained, he shall be deleted from those awaiting baptism, and the process of preparation for church membership shall cease.
The Lord’s Supper
The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.
a. The Lord’s Supper shall be observed quarterly, preferably the first Sunday of the quarter, or as otherwise scheduled.
b. The Lord’s Supper shall be observed in the morning or evening worship services.
c. The pastor and deacons shall be responsible for the administration of the Lord’s Supper.
d. The deacons shall be responsible for the physical preparations of the Lord’s Supper.