Statement of Faith

---

The Holy Bible was written by men who were divinely influenced. The Holy Bible is God's explaining Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine teaching. God is the author. Salvation is its purpose. Truth, without any mistakes, is its substance. For these reasons, all Scripture is completely true. All Scripture is completely correct. It tells the main beliefs that God uses to judge us. It is the true center of Christianity. It will remain the center of Christianity until the end of the world. It is the most excellent ideal. It is with this ideal that all human behavior, all statements of belief, and all religious opinions should be tested. All Scripture is proof of the Christ. Christ is the center of divine revelation.

There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being. He is the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is never- ending in purity. God is perfect. God is all powerful. God is all knowing. He knows about all things in the past, present, and future. He knows about all of the future decisions that His free created beings will make. To Him we owe the highest love, respect, and obedience. The never-ending God shows Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These three have separate personal characteristics. There is no difference in their nature, essence, or being.

God as Father rules with kind care over His universe, His creatures, and human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful. He is all knowing. He is all loving. He is all wise. God is Father to people who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men.

 Christ is the never-ending Son of God. In His life as Jesus Christ, He was brought into being by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus completely showed and did the will of God. He became a human being with all the stress and needs of human beings. He identified completely with humans. Even though He was human, He had no sin. He respected the divine law. He personally obeyed God. When He died for others on the cross, He made a way for the salvation of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body. He appeared to His disciples. They knew that He was the person who was with them before His death on the cross. He went up into heaven. He is now honored at the right hand of God. He is the One Mediator. He is completely God.   He is completely man. In Him are God and man brought together. He will return in power and majesty to judge the world. When He returns, He will complete His work of salvation. He now lives in all believers as the living and always present Lord. 

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is completely divine. He influenced holy men of Bible times to write the Scriptures. By explanation He allows men to understand truth. He honors Christ. He shows men their sin. He shows men the worthiness of Christ. He shows men their punishment. He calls men to the Saviour. He is the source of rebirth. At the moment of rebirth, He takes every believer into the Body of Christ. He grows believers into mature Christians. He comforts believers. He gives the spiritual gifts to believers. With these gifts, believers can serve God through His church. He keeps the believer safe until the day of the last salvation. His presence in the Christian is the promise that God will make the believer completely like Christ. He explains and gives power to the believer and to the church in worship, evangelism, and service.

Man is the special creation of God. Man is made in God’s likeness. God created them as male and female. They are the greatest work of His creation. Being made male or female by God is a part of the goodness of God's creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin. He was given the gift of freedom of choice by his Creator. By his free choice man sinned against God. Man brought sin into all people in the entire world. Through the temptation of Satan, man disobeyed the command of God. He lost his original innocence. Now all men inherit a life and a background willing to sin. As a result, as soon as they are able to make right decisions and actions, they become sinners. They are guilty of sin. Only the kindness of God can bring man into His holy fellowship. Only the kindness of God can let man complete the creative purpose of God. The godliness of all people is obvious, because God made man in His own likeness. The godliness of all people is obvious, because Christ died for all men. Now every person of every race should receive respect and Christian love.

Salvation includes the whole man. Salvation is given to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Jesus Christ by His own blood brought never-ending salvation to the believer. Salvation includes being accepted just as you are when you turn from your sin. Salvation includes being set apart for His work. Salvation includes being made to worship God. There is no salvation without personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God's kindness. Believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart created by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit shows us our sin. The sinner begins by turning from sin and turning to God. The sinner has faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Turning from sin and turning to God and faith are experiences of God’s kindness that are never separated. Repentance is a real turning from sin to God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the whole person to Him as Lord and Saviour. Justification is God's kind and complete pardon from sin of all sinners because of His righteousness. All sinners must turn from their sin and turn to God. All sinners must believe in Christ to receive justification. Justification brings the believer into a relationship of peace and approval with God. Sanctification is the way a believer is set apart for God's purposes. Sanctification begins with new birth. The believer grows toward moral and spiritual maturity. The believer grows because of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit living in him. Growth should continue throughout the believer’s life. Glorification is the result of salvation. Glorification is the last blessed condition of the believer. This condition never ends for the believer as he worships God forever in heaven.

A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an independent local congregation of baptized believers. These believers are joined by shared agreement. These believers share in the same faith and fellowship of the gospel. This group of baptized believers observes the two ordinances of Christ. They are guided by His laws. They use the gifts, rights, and privileges given to them by His Word. They are trying to present the gospel to all people on the earth. Each congregation works under the Lordship of Christ by self-governing methods. In this kind of congregation, each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. The church’s scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. Both men and women are given gifts by the Holy Spirit for service in the church. The office of pastor is limited to men that meet the qualifications found in Scripture. The New Testament describes the church as the Body of Christ. This church includes all of the believers from throughout history. These believers come from every people group. They come from every language group. They come from all people from every country.

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. Baptism is the picture of the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour. Baptism is a picture of the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in a new life in Christ Jesus. Baptism shows the believer’s faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Baptism is required before church membership. Baptism is also required before taking the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper is a picture of obedience. Church members eat the bread and drink the fruit of the vine. They remember the death of the Redeemer. They look forward to His second coming.

God has planned the family as the first institution of the world. It is made up of persons joined to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption.

Marriage is the joining of one man and one woman with the promise of being faithful to one another for a lifetime. Marriage is God's special gift. Marriage shows the union between Christ and His church. Marriage gives the man and the woman the way for intimate friendship. Marriage is the way of sexual expression according to the main beliefs in the Bible. Marriage is the way for increasing of the human race.

The husband and wife are of the same worth before God. Both are created in God's likeness. The marriage relationship shows the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given duty to provide for, to protect, and to guide his family. A wife is to submit herself with kindness to the servant leadership of her husband. A wife submits just as the church willingly submits to the leadership of Christ. She is made in the likeness of God. Her husband is also made in the likeness of God. This makes the wife and husband equals. She has the God-given duty respect her husband. She is to serve as his helper in running the household and supporting the next generation.

Children, from the moment of creation, are a blessing and inheritance from the Lord. Parents are to show to their children God's example for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and right values. Parents are to guide their children to make choices based on truths in the Bible. Parents are to guide their children by living a life faithful to God. Parents are to guide their children with loving discipline. Children are to respect and obey their parents.

God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its right end. In keeping with His promise, Jesus Christ will return to earth in person. He will be seen in all His greatness by all people on the earth. The dead will be raised. Christ will judge all men with honesty. The unworthy will be sent to Hell, the place of never-ending punishment. The worthy, in their resurrected and glorified bodies, will receive their reward. They will live forever in Heaven with the Lord.