From Articles of Faith, Article III
1. We believe that the Bible is fully inspired and is the infallible Word of God and therefore our only authority in matters of faith and practice. 2 Tim. 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:19-21
2. We believe in the Trinity of the Godhead; One God eternally existing in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Gen. 1:1, Ex. 3:14, Mt 28:19, 2 Cor. 3:14
3. We believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ; His virgin birth; sinless; substitutionary death on the cross for our sins; His physical resurrection from the grave; His ascension to the right hand of the Father where He ever liveth to make intercession for believers; His personal, visible and bodily return to the earth at the end of the age. Mt. 1:18, John 1:14, Mt. 20:28, 1 Cor. 15:14; Acts 1:11
4. We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person, possessed of all the distinctive divine attributes. We believe He is the administrator of the things of God – convincing of sin, revealing, truth, energizing believers in matters of prayer and service, and restraining evil “until He be taken out of the way.” 2 Thes. 2:7, Psa. 139:7-10.
5. We believe that God made man in His own image and that men came into the world by direct creation of God; that this creative act of God was separate and distinct from any other work of God. We believe the scripture record of the fall of man through disobedience to God and that by nature man is “dead in trespasses and sins.” Gen. 1:27 & 9:6, Rom. 3:12, Psa. 53:3
6. We believe in the reality and personality of Satan – that he is a created being; that through pride he fell; that he is the “god of this world” and the “prince of the power of the air”, and that he will be judged at the revelation of Jesus Christ and ultimately cast into the lake of fire. Mt. 13:19, John 8:44, Eph. 1:2, Rev. 20:10
7. We believe salvation to be by grace through faith; wholly apart from human merit and that every individual is a sinner by birth and by choice and therefore, must exercise personal faith in the redeeming work of Christ on Calvary in order to be saved. Eph. 2:8-9, Titus 3:5, Psa. 51:5, Rom. 3:23, Rom. 10:9-10
8. We believe in a heaven of eternal bliss for all who, through faith in the Lamb of God, have become the children of God; and the lake of fire of eternal judgment for all who have not received the forgiveness of sins which is through Christ Jesus. Rev. 21:1-8
9. We believe that the New Testament order of a local church is that of a body of baptized believers organized, independent, self-governing and voluntarily associated together for the service of God.
10. We believe that God’s Word commands every believer (and only believers) to be baptized and that the only scriptural mode is by immersion. This, in a Baptist church, is necessary for church membership. Also, we believe in the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper as a privilege peculiar only to those obedient believers in Christ.
11. We believe in the great commission to evangelize the world and that every believer is obliged to be a personal soul-winner and to do his utmost to carry out the Savior’s command to give the gospel to the whole world. Luke 24:47-48
12. We believe in the bodily resurrection and translation of the believer at Christ’s return, and we believe in the eternal salvation of the believer. I Thess. 4:14-18, John 10:28-30
13. We believe in obedience to the Biblical commands to separate ourselves unto God from worldliness and ecclesiastical apostasy. 2 Cor. 6:14 – 7:1; 1 Thess. 1:9, 10; I Tim. 6:3-5
14. We believe that the baptism of the Holy Spirit occurs only once in the life of the believer, at the time of conversion, but Christians are commanded to keep on being filled with (controlled by) the Spirit.
15. We believe that sign gifts have ceased. The enabling gifts are given to believers by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of building and edifying the body of Christ.
16. In light of God’s creative design, we believe that the Bible teaches that marriage is the joining of one man and one woman and that sexual intimacy is to be expressed only within the bonds of a Biblically defined marriage. Any other form of marriage or sexual intimacy is immoral and a perversion of God’s gracious will. Gen. 2:18 & 24-25, Mt. 19:4-6, Rom. 1:24-29, 1 Cor. 6:9 20 & 7:1-5, Ephesians 5:22-33, Hebrews 13:4