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Our Beliefs
The Scriptures
We Believe that ‘all scripture is given by inspiration of God,” by which we
understand 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 Scripture. 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 originals is about the Lord
Jesus Christ in His person and work in His first and second coming, and hence
that no portion, even of the Old Testament, is properly read, or understood,
until it leads to Him. We also believe that all the Scriptures were designed for
our practical instruction. (Mark 12:26, 36, 13:11; Luke 24:27, 44; John 5:39;
Acts 1:16, 17:2-3, 18:28, 26:22-23, 28:23; Romans 15:4; I Corinthians 2:13, 10:
11; II Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21).
The Godhead
We believe that the Godhead eternally exists in three persons - the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit - and that these three are one God, having precisely
the same nature, attributes, and perfections, and worthy of precisely the same
homage, confidence, and obedience. (Matthew 28:18-19; Mark 12:29; John 1:
14; Acts 5:3-4; II Corinthians 13:14; Hebrews 1:1-3; Revelation 1:4-6).
Man
We believe that man was originally created in the image and after the likeness
of God, and that he fell through sin, and, as a consequence of his sin, lost his
spiritual life, becoming dead in trespasses and sins, and that he became
subject to the power of the devil. We also believe that this 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; and hence that 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 unchangeably bad apart from divine grace.
(Genesis 1:26, 2:17, 6:5; Psalm 14:1-3, 51:5; Jeremiah 17:9; John 3:6, 5:40, 6:
35; Romans 3:10-19, 8:6-7; Ephesians 2:1-3; I Timothy 5:6; I John 3:8).
Jesus Christ
We believe that, as provided and purposed by God and as pre-announced 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 a human
body and a sinless human nature. (Luke 1:30-35; John 1:18, 3:16; Hebrews 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; Philippians 2:5-8).
We believe that in fulfillment of prophecy He came first to Israel as her Messiah-
King, and that, being rejected of that nation, He, according to the eternal
counsels of God, gave His life as a ransom for all. (John 1:11; Acts 2:22-24; I
Timothy 2:6).
We believe that in 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 for the unjust - and by His death He became the Savior of the
lost. (John 1:29; Romans 3:25-26; II Corinthians 5:14; Hebrews 10:5-14; I Peter
3:18).
We believe that, according to the Scriptures, 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; Philippians 3:20-21).
We believe that, on departing from the earth, He was accepted of His Father
and that His acceptance is a final assurance to us that His redeeming work was
perfectly accomplished. (Hebrews 1:3).
We believe that He became Head over all things to the church which is His
body, and in this ministry He ceases not to intercede and advocate for the
saved. (Ephesians 1:22-23; Hebrews 7:25; I John 2:1).
Salvation
We believe that owing 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 room
and stead; and that no repentance, no feeling, no faith, no good resolutions, no
sincere efforts, no submission to the rules and regulations of any church, nor
all the churches that have existed since the days of the Apostles 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. (Leviticus 17:11; Isaiah 64:6; Matthew 26:28;
John 3:7-18; Romans 5:6-9; II Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13, 6:15;
Ephesians 1:7; Philippians 3:4-9; Titus 3:5; James 1:18; I Peter 1:18-19, 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, 18, 36, 5:24, 6:29; Acts 13:39, 16:31;
Romans 1:16-17, 3:22, 26, 4:5, 10:4; Galatians 3:22).
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 united 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 14:16-
17, 16:7-15; I Corinthians 6:19; Ephesians 2:22; II Thessalonian 2:7).
Our Beliefs continued
The Scriptures
We Believe that ‘all scripture is given by inspiration of God,” by which we
understand 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 Scripture. 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 originals is about the Lord
Jesus Christ in His person and work in His first and second coming, and hence
that no portion, even of the Old Testament, is properly read, or understood,
until it leads to Him. We also believe that all the Scriptures were designed for
our practical instruction. (Mark 12:26, 36, 13:11; Luke 24:27, 44; John 5:39;
Acts 1:16, 17:2-3, 18:28, 26:22-23, 28:23; Romans 15:4; I Corinthians 2:13, 10:
11; II Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21).
The Godhead
We believe that the Godhead eternally exists in three persons - the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit - and that these three are one God, having precisely
the same nature, attributes, and perfections, and worthy of precisely the same
homage, confidence, and obedience. (Matthew 28:18-19; Mark 12:29; John 1:
14; Acts 5:3-4; II Corinthians 13:14; Hebrews 1:1-3; Revelation 1:4-6).
Man
We believe that man was originally created in the image and after the likeness
of God, and that he fell through sin, and, as a consequence of his sin, lost his
spiritual life, becoming dead in trespasses and sins, and that he became
subject to the power of the devil. We also believe that this 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; and hence that 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 unchangeably bad apart from divine grace.
(Genesis 1:26, 2:17, 6:5; Psalm 14:1-3, 51:5; Jeremiah 17:9; John 3:6, 5:40, 6:
35; Romans 3:10-19, 8:6-7; Ephesians 2:1-3; I Timothy 5:6; I John 3:8).
Jesus Christ
We believe that, as provided and purposed by God and as pre-announced 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 a human
body and a sinless human nature. (Luke 1:30-35; John 1:18, 3:16; Hebrews 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; Philippians 2:5-8).
We believe that in fulfillment of prophecy He came first to Israel as her Messiah-
King, and that, being rejected of that nation, He, according to the eternal
counsels of God, gave His life as a ransom for all. (John 1:11; Acts 2:22-24; I
Timothy 2:6).
We believe that in 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 for the unjust - and by His death He became the Savior of the
lost. (John 1:29; Romans 3:25-26; II Corinthians 5:14; Hebrews 10:5-14; I Peter
3:18).
We believe that, according to the Scriptures, 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; Philippians 3:20-21).
We believe that, on departing from the earth, He was accepted of His Father
and that His acceptance is a final assurance to us that His redeeming work was
perfectly accomplished. (Hebrews 1:3).
We believe that He became Head over all things to the church which is His
body, and in this ministry He ceases not to intercede and advocate for the
saved. (Ephesians 1:22-23; Hebrews 7:25; I John 2:1).
Salvation
We believe that owing 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 room
and stead; and that no repentance, no feeling, no faith, no good resolutions, no
sincere efforts, no submission to the rules and regulations of any church, nor
all the churches that have existed since the days of the Apostles 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. (Leviticus 17:11; Isaiah 64:6; Matthew 26:28;
John 3:7-18; Romans 5:6-9; II Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13, 6:15;
Ephesians 1:7; Philippians 3:4-9; Titus 3:5; James 1:18; I Peter 1:18-19, 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, 18, 36, 5:24, 6:29; Acts 13:39, 16:31;
Romans 1:16-17, 3:22, 26, 4:5, 10:4; Galatians 3:22).
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 united 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 14:16-
17, 16:7-15; I Corinthians 6:19; Ephesians 2:22; II Thessalonian 2:7).
Our Beliefs continued
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