Doctrinal Statement
1. The Scriptures: The Scriptures are the Word of God and they are the result of divinely chosen men who were used to record God's Word into written form. The Bible was verbally and plenary inspired by God. The Scriptures came from God through man, so that every word was actually an utterance of God recorded by a human author, and that neither the divine authorship nor the human authorship impaired the other. The KJV, which was translated from the Hebrew and Greek Majority Text, is the only Bible for the English speaking people. (2 Tim. 3:16; 1 Pet. 1:21)
2. God: The Lord God is one true God who manifests Himself in three Persons: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is eternal, immortal, almighty, immutable, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresence. (Mal. 3:6; 1 Jn. 5:7; Ps. 90:2; Gen. 18:14; 1 Kings 8:29; Ps. 139)
3. The Person and Work of Christ: Jesus Christ is the second Person of the Trinity. He is both fully human and divine. He is the God-Man. Christ took upon flesh around 2000 years ago to die upon the cross of Calvary to take away man's sin. (Jn. 1:1, 14; 1 Tim. 2:5; 1 Pet. 2:24)
4. The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is not a force but a divine Person, equal with God the Father and God the Son. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. (Jn. 14:17, 26; 16:8-11)
5. Salvation and the Security of the Believer: Christ died for the whole world and tasted death for every man paying his sin debt and making it possible for everyone everywhere to be saved. The Holy Spirit convicts the lost to be saved when the gospel of Christ is presented. A person must put their faith in the finished work of Christ and repent toward God to be saved. Repentance is a change of mind, will, and heart, which produces a change of action. This is the result of the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit. When a person receives Jesus, God gives them eternal life; therefore, they will never perish. (Matt. 21:29; Jn. 16:7-11; 1:29; 3:16; 10:28-29; Acts 20:21; Rom. 10:17; 1 Jn. 2:2)
6. The church: Christ is the founder of the church. The membership of a church consists of persons who have professed faith in Christ, obeyed the Lord's command regarding baptism and united themselves in the fellowship of a local assembly in which to serve the Lord. The two biblical offices of the church are the pastor and deacons. Congregational rule is how the church must be governed. It allows delegation of responsibilities to leaders but the authority for governing rests in the membership of the church, which is an autonomous or self-governing body. (Matt. 16:18; Acts 2:41; 1:23,26; 6:3,5; 15:22,30; 2 Cor. 8:19; 1 Tim. 3)
7. The Ordinances of the Local Church: There are only two ordinances of the local church: baptism and the Lord's Supper. Both must be performed and administered by the local church. Only believers should do both of these ordinances. Immersion is the only biblical method of baptism, which pictures our death, burial, and resurrection from sin to walk in newness of life. The Lord's Supper is the commemoration of Christ's death until He comes again. (Matt. 28:19-20; John 3:23; Acts. 8:36-39; Rom. 6:2-6; 1 Cor. 11:23-28)
8. The Personality of Satan: Satan is not merely an influence but a person. God created him as an angel but the devil failed through pride and became the enemy of the Lord. He like other angels possesses the characteristics of personality. He has intellect, expresses emotions, and has a will which he exercises. (2 Cor. 11:3; Ezek. 28:14; Rev. 12:17; Luke 22:31; Isa. 14:12-14; 2 Tim. 2:26)
9. The Eternal State: The place and the eternal experience of those who are saved will dwell eternally with the Lord in the Holy City fellowshipping, worshipping, and serving Him in a state of endless pleasure. The place and the eternal experience of those that are unsaved and judged at the Great White Throne Judgment will be cast into the lake of fire. Those in the lake of fire will experience conscious sufferings and torments forever. They will know loneliness, pain, and the terror of endless darkness separated from God. (2 Thess. 1:9; Rev. 14:10,11; 20:10; Rev. 21:3, Psa. 16:11; Rev. 20:14,15)
10. The Rapture of the Church: This is an imminent event in which the Lord Jesus Christ will come for His Church. Christ will resurrect those that have died in Him first. Then, the generation of believers alive at this time will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord. The rapture of the church will occur before the Tribulation Period. (1 Cor. 15:51-58; 1 Thess. 4:13-18, 5:9)
11. The Tribulation Period: It is a period of seven years, which is the 70th week of Daniel. This week of years will be determined upon Israel a time of trouble to accomplish the things pertaining to her restoration and repentance. It will also be a time of trouble for the world in general. (Isa. 24-27; Jer. 30:7; Matt. 24:4-25:30; Dan. 9:42-27; Rev. 3:10, 6-18)
12. The Second Coming of Christ: After the seven year tribulation period Christ will come to earth with His saints to set up His millennium kingdom. His Second Coming will fulfill O.T. prophecy concerning Him. Christ will put an end to Israel's tribulation and re-gather the nation. Christ will destroy the Gentile world powers. (Zech. 14:1-3,12-15; Dt. 30:3-6; Ps. 2:19; Jer. 23:5,6; Dt. 28:63-68; Jer. 30:511)
13. The Millennium: Satan will be bound and cast into the abyss at this time. Israel will be established as head of the nations. The church saints will be given various positions as rulers under Christ. Christ will reign personally in Jerusalem and the whole world will be called upon to worship and serve Him. (Isa. 60:14-17; 61:6-7; Rev. 20:13; Isa. 2:3; 11:2,3; 40:4,5; Zech. 14:9,16-19)
14. The Great Commission: The Lord Jesus gave this commission to the church. The church is to go into the entire world and win the unsaved to Christ. Every believer is called upon to be a witness for Jesus. Churches should send missionaries around the world to evangelize it. The world is lost and going to hell; therefore, the church must preach the gospel and tell them that Christ came to seek and to save sinners. (Matt. 28:28-20; Mk. 16:15; Acts 1:8; Luke 19:10; 1 Tim. 1:15)
15. Ecclesiastical Separation: The Bible teaches that believers are to hold fast sound doctrine and avoid those who teach that which is contrary to the apostles' doctrine. We are commanded to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. (Phil. 3:17; 2 Tim. 1:3; Rom. 16:17; Jude 3)
a. The Ecumenical Movement: It is the movement that desires all professing Christians join together in unity regardless of doctrine differences. The ecumenical movement refuses to practice biblical separation. They are substituting a social gospel than the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. The movement is not local church. God's work must be done through the local church.
b. The Charismatic Movement: This movement places an emphasis on miracles, signs, prophecy, and tongues speaking. However, these are not for today. They do not even practice biblical tongues, which was the ability to speak in a foreign language that you did not previously study.
c. Neo-Evangelicalism: Those who hold to this position claim to be evangelical but refuse to separate from liberals. Believers are not told to infiltrate apostate denomination but separate ourselves from them.
d. Neo-Orthodoxy: Those who hold to this view believes in the dialectic theology of Barth. They claim to believe in inspiration, but does not hold to a verbal plenary inspiration. They use biblical terminology but uses the modernist's dictionary.
|