Statement of Faith
(Condensed)
Article 1 – Trinity
It is the testimony of both the Old and New Testaments as well as the Christian Church that God is both One and Triune. The Biblical revelation testifies that there is only one God and He is eternally existent in Three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
A. God the Father
God the Father is the Creator and sustainer of all things who created the universe in love to respond to Him. He created man in His own image for fellowship, and calls man back to Himself through Christ after the rebellion and fall of man.
B. God the Son
Jesus Christ is eternally God together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and through Him all things were made. For man’s redemption He left Heaven and became incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and henceforth He is forever Christ with two natures, God and Man, in one Person.
C. God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is God, the Lord and giver of life who was active in the Old Testament and given
to the Church in fullness at Pentecost. He empowers the saints for service and witness and cleanses from the old nature and conforms us to the image of Christ.
Article 2 – Holy Scriptures
We affirm that the Bible containing Old and New Testaments is alone the only infallible inspired Word of God and that its authority is ultimate and final and eternal. It cannot be added to, subtracted from or superseded in any regard. The Bible is the source of all doctrine, instruction, correction and reproof, and contains all that is needed for guidance in godliness and practical Christian conduct.
Article 3 – Atonement
Jesus Christ’s vicarious death on the cross paid the penalty for the sins of the entire world. Its benefits are only applicable to those who receive Jesus as personal Lord and Savior. Healing of body, soul and spirit is provided for in the atonement as well as all of God’s provision for His saints. These must be appropriated.
Article 4 – Salvation
The word of God declares clearly that salvation is a free gift of God based on the merits of the death of His son and is appropriated by faith. Salvation is obtained by personal repentance, belief on the Lord Jesus (justification) and personal acceptance of Him into one’s life as Lord and Savior (regeneration). The new life in Christ includes the privileges of adoption and the inheritance in the Kingdom of God’s beloved Son.
Article 5 – Christian Life
We believe that the scriptures portray the life of the saint in this world to be one of balance between what is imputed to us as Christians and what is imparted to us according to our faith and maturity. Hence, God’s provision for His children is total and the promises are absolute truth, but the shortcomings of the individual and of the Church are because of the still progressive sanctification of the saints.
Article 6 – The Church
The Church is the body of Christ and consists of every person of every age who has received the Lord
Jesus Christ as Savior and has been called out of the world to proclaim the gospel of redemption in God’s Son. It is the pillar and support of the Truth, the Bride of Christ, and community of the redeemed called to affect all aspects of life through the gospel.
Article 7 – Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
The Word of God enjoins on the Church two perpetual ordinances of the Lord Jesus Christ. The first, baptism, is the outward sign of what God has already done in the individual’s life, and is a testimony to
all that the person now belongs to Jesus. It is identification with Jesus and is effected in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Lord’s Supper is a commemoration of the death of the Lord
Jesus Christ and is done in remembrance of Him until He comes again, and is a sign of our participation in Him. Both institutions are restricted to those who are believers.
Article 8 – Eschatology
We affirm the bodily personal second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Millennial Reign, and the final judgment of both the saints and the unbelievers, with the eternal destination of each determined by their relationship to Jesus Christ. We affirm with the Bible, the final state of the New Heavens and New Earth.