The church shall consist of baptized believers in Christ (Acts 2:41, 47) who take the Holy Bible as their rule of faith and practice, (Acts 2:42) and who are willing to abide by the following Articles of Faith and Church Covenant.
a. THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally inspired Word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible and God-breathed. (II Tim 3:16,17; II Pet 1:20,21; Matt. 5:18; John 16:12,13)
b. THE GOD HEAD
We believe in one triune God, eternally existing in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections. (Deut. 6:4; II Cor. 13:14)
c. THE PERSON AND WORK OF CHRIST
1) We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men. (John 1:1, 1:14; Luke 1:35; Mark 10:45)
2) We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious substitutionary sacrifice; and, that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead. (Rom. 3:24,25; Eph. 1:7; I Pet 1:3-5, 2:24)
3) We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as our high priest, He fulfills the ministry of representative, intercessor, and advocate. (Act 1:9-11; Heb. 9:24, 7:25-26; Rom. 8:34; I John 2:1,2)
d. THE PERSON AND WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
1) We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person, that He convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and, that He is the supernatural agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the Day of Redemption. (John 16:8-11; Titus 3:5-6; Rom. 8:9; Eph. 1:13,14)
2) We believe that He is the divine teacher who guides believers into all truth, that He empowers and gifts believers for ministry in Christ's church and that it is the privilege and responsibility of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit. (Acts 1:8; 1 Cor. 12:7,11; John 16:13; I John 2:20,27; Eph. 5:18)
3) We believe that the gift of tongues has never been a necessary sign of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which accompanies regeneration, and that its exercise in public worship was always subject to the control of the church. (I Cor. 13:8, 12:13, 14:1-40)
e. THE TOTAL DEPRAVITY OF MAN
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam's sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and, that man is totally depraved, and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition. (Gen. 1:26,27; Rom. 3:23, 5:12; Eph. 2:1-3,12)
f. SALVATION
1) We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received on the single condition of personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins. (Eph. 2:8-10; John 1:12; Eph. 1:7; I Pet. 1:18-19)
2) We believe that the new birth is absolutely essential to salvation. (John 3:3; Gal. 6:15; I Pet. 1:23)
g. BAPTISM
We believe that the ordinance of water baptism should be followed by all believers in obedience to Christ's commandment in Matt. 28:19, and the good example of the early church in Acts 8:36-39, and that the mode of baptism which best represents this is immersion.
h. ETERNAL SECURITY AND ASSURANCE OF BELIEVERS
1) We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God's power and are thus secure in Christ forever. (John 6:37-40, 10:27-30; Rom. 8:1,38,39; I Cor. 1:4-8; I Pet. 1:5)
2) We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God's word; which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh. (Rom. 13:13,14; Gal. 5:13; Titus 2:11-15)
i. THE ETERNAL STATE
1) We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment. (Matt. 25:46; John 5:28,29, 11:25,26; Rev 20:5,6,12,13)
2) We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they wait the first resurrection, when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord. (Luke 23:43; Rev 20:4-6; II Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23, 3:21; I Thess. 4:16,17)
3) We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious misery until the second resurrection, when, with soul and body reunited, they shall appear at the great white throne judgment, and shall be cast into the lake of fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment. (Luke 16:19-26; Matt. 24:41-46; II Thess. 1:7-9; Jude vs. 6,7; Mark 9:43-48; Rev. 20:11-15)
j. THE PERSONALITY OF SATAN
We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the initiator of the fall of man; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and, that he shall be eternally punished in the lake of fire. (Job 1:6,7; Isa. 14:12-17; Gen. 3:1-7; Matt. 4:2-11, 25:41, Rev. 20:10)
k. THE SECOND ADVENT OF CHRIST
We believe in that "blessed hope," the personal, imminent and premillennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones; and in His subsequent return to earth, with His saints, to establish His millennial kingdom. (I Thess. 4:13-18; Zech. 14:4-11; Rev. 19:11-16, 20:1-6; I Thess. 1:10, 5:9; Rev. 3:10)
l. THE CHURCH
1) We believe that the church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again persons of this present age. (Eph. 1:22,23, 5;25-27; I Cor. 12:12-14; II Cor. 11:2)
2) We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures, (Acts 14:23,27, 20:17,28-32; I Tim. 3:1-15)
3) We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority or control, except that of Christ Himself. (Acts 13:1-4, 20:28; I Pet. 5:1-4; Heb. 13:17; I Thess. 5:12,13)
4) We recognize the ordinances of water baptism and the Lord's Supper as scriptural means of testimony for the church in this age. (Matt. 28:19,20; Acts 2:41,42, 18:8; I Cor. 11:23-26)
m. SEPARATION
We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord; and that separation from all religious apostasy, all worldly sinful pleasures, practices, and association is commanded by God. (II Tim. 3:1-5; Rom. 12:1,2, 14:13; I John 2:15-17; II John vs. 9-11; II Cor. 6:14-7:1)