God
We believe there is only one true and living God, who is infinite in being, power, and perfections. God is eternal, independent, and self-sufficient, having life in himself with no need for anyone or anything. He is spirit, transcendent and invisible, with no limitations or imperfections, immutable, and everywhere present with the fullness of his being. His knowledge is exhaustive, including all things actual and possible, so that nothing—past, present, or future—is hidden from his sight. God is not divided into parts, but his whole being includes all of his attributes. God is entirely holy, loving, wise, just, good, merciful, gracious, and truthful. Our God is the infinite fountain of being who created all things, and all things exist by him and for him. He is supremely powerful to perform all his holy and perfect will, ruling over his creation with total dominion, righteousness, wisdom, and love. In his transcendence, God is incomprehensible in his being and actions, yet he reveals himself such that we can know him truly and personally.
tHe Trinity
The one true God eternally exists as three persons— Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—infinitely excellent and all-glorious. Each person is fully God, sharing the same deity, attributes, and essential nature, yet there is but one God. Each person is distinct, yet God is not by this distinction divided into three parts, natures, or gods. The Father has always existed as Father, the unbegotten fountain of all life. The Son has always existed as Son, eternally begotten of the Father, uncreated and without beginning, of one essence with the Father. The Holy Spirit has always existed as Spirit, eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son, and of one essence with them. The Godhead thus exists in a perfect unity, indivisible as to nature and substance, yet inseparably distinguished as persons who enjoy a fullness of fellowship and love.
The Bible
We believe the Scriptures were recorded without error by men who were guided and superintended by the Holy Spirit of God so that all of Scripture as possessed in the 66 Books of the Bible are divinely inspired, infallible, authoritative, and fully sufficient. The Bible is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, redemption for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is inspired, authoritative, without error, incapable of error, sufficient, and completely trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.
Human Beings
We believe Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image, and created male and female as the crowning work of His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness and perfection of God's creation. In the beginning Adam and Eve were innocent of sin but when tempted by Satan freely chose to disobey God’s command thus, bringing sin into the human race. Therefore, in union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, under His wrath, and are entirely incapable of saving themselves . Only through the grace of God and His saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, redeemed, reconciled and renewed.
Jesus Christ
We believe Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission.
Salvation
We believe that salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is provided freely to all who, repenting of their sins, trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who as our representative and substitute, died on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient atoning sacrifice for our sins. By His own blood Christ obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In his substitutionary death on behalf of his people, Christ offered himself by the Spirit as a perfect sacrifice, which satisfied the demands of God’s law by paying the full penalty for their sins. On the cross, Christ bore our sins, took our punishment, propitiated God’s wrath against us, vindicated God’s righteousness, and purchased our redemption in order that we might be reconciled to God and live with him in blessed fellowship forever. God the Father was pleased to accept Christ’s sacrifice as a complete atonement for sin, raising him to new life and vindicating his identity and work as the Messiah. For those who place their faith in Jesus Christ, God’s righteousness requires no further sacrifice for sin, nor is there any human achievement or merit to be added to Christ’s accomplishment. The atoning work of Christ is wholly efficacious, securing the full salvation of all the elect by purchasing the forgiveness of sins, the gifts of faith and repentance, eternal life, and every other blessing that comes to God’s people. As the sole and sufficient atonement for sin, Christ’s saving work is to be proclaimed to all people without exception as the only means of reconciliation with God. There is no other mediator between God and man than our Savior, Jesus Christ, and he will receive with redeeming love all who come to him in faith. The salvation of sinners is a work of the Triune God, in which the Father originated and initiated salvation, the Son accomplished the work of salvation, and the Holy Spirit effects and brings to completion the work of salvation.
ELECTION
We believe that before the foundation of the world God the Father chose those whom He intended to save based upon His own good pleasure and purpose and not because of any goodness, merit, or good works in them. In His incarnation, Jesus Christ then accomplished the work necessary, that of fulfilling the righteous requirements of God’s law and also dying on the cross on behalf of those sinners whom the Father had chosen. The Holy Spirit then calls those whom the Father has chosen and for whom God the Son has accomplished His redemptive work. Those called by the Spirit through the preaching of the gospel will exercise saving faith in Jesus Christ and be justified. They will then begin the lifelong process of sanctification.
THE GOSPEL
We believe that the Gospel is the good news of what God has accomplished through Christ Jesus to justify sinners who repent of their sins and place faith in Christ Jesus alone for salvation. Christ's crucifixion is the heart of the gospel, his resurrection is the power of the gospel, and his ascension is the glory of the gospel. Christ's death was a substitutionary and propitiatory sacrifice to God for our sins which satisfied the demands of God's holy justice. Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and man. There is no other name by which men must be saved. Whereas, Man's response to the gospel is rooted and grounded in the sovereign, free and unconditional election of God for his glory, we also believe that God commands everyone everywhere to repent and place faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and that anyone who comes to God by grace through faith in Christ will be saved. This gospel of grace is to be sincerely preached to all men in all nations.
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the fully divine Spirit of God, the Third Person of the Trinity. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Savior, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and sovereignly bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.
The Church
We believe that the church is the universal and invisible body of Christ that consists of all who have been justified by God's grace through faith alone in Christ alone throughout history. United by the Holy Spirit as the body of Christ, of which He is the Head, the church is manifest in local fellowships whose members have covenanted together to be accountable to one another under the headship of Christ by collectively submitting, instructing, admonishing, and caring for one another under the oversight of biblically qualified leaders. Furthermore, these local fellowships of believers should give themselves to upholding the truth in holiness by worshiping God through the preaching and teaching of the Word of God, the public reading of the Word, singing, observing the two ordinances of believer’s baptism and communion, carrying out church discipline, and seeking to make disciples and reach the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Christian Living
We believe that God's justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.
the future
God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and dwell forever with the Lord.