Scripture

I believe in the inspiration of the Word of God as found in the Old and New Testaments.

I believe that God has preserved His written Word and that the English Bible is extremely accurate and indeed the Word of God, however I do not believe in the verbal (every word) inspiration of any particular translation. (Isaiah 40:8; Luke 24:13-27; John 10:35; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:16-21)

The True God

I believe in one true God, eternally existing in three Persons equal in every Divine attribute and one in essence, known to man as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; that Each is co-equal and co-eternal. (Genesis 1:1; 26; Exodus 20:2-3; Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; John 1:1-4, 5:17-27, 10:30, 16:7-8, Acts 5:3-4, 2 Corinthians 13:14; Philippians 2:6-11)

• The Father

  I believe the Father orders and disposes all things according to His own purposes; that He alone is sovereign; that in His sovereignty, He neither authors nor condones sin; that He has known from eternal past those who would accept His offer of salvation from sin; that He saves all who come to Him through Jesus Christ, adopting them as sons and becoming their Father. (Genesis 1:1-31; Habakkuk 1:13; John 1:12, 6:44, 8:38-47; Romans 8:15, 28-30, 11:36; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 4:5; Ephesians 1:4-6, 9-11, 3:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14; Hebrews 12:5-9)

• Jesus Christ

  I believe that Jesus Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, being true God and true Man; that He lived a sinless life; that He died on the cross, shedding His blood as a substitutionary sacrifice to provide atonement for the sins of all mankind; that He arose bodily from the grave and ascended to Heaven; that He now resides at the right hand of the Father where He intercedes on behalf of believers. (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38, 23:22-47; John 20:10-29, 21:5-15; Romans 5:10-11; Colossians 2:9; 1 Timothy 2:6, 3:16; Hebrews 4:15, 7:24-25, 9:11-15, 10:9-12, 12:2; 1 John 2:1)

• The Holy Spirit

  I believe the Holy Spirit restrains evil, convicts of sin, and bears witness to the truth of the Gospel; that He is the agent of the New Birth, indwelling every believer once and for all at the moment of conversion, baptizing him into the Body of Christ; that He seals the believer and equips him for service with spiritual gifts; that He comforts and helps the believer as he lives out his faith. (Matthew 28:19; John 3:5, 7:38-39, 15:26, 16:7-14; Acts 1:8; Romans 8;9; 1 Corinthians 6:19, 12:7-13; Ephesians 2:13-14, 4:30, 5:17-18; 2 Thessalonians 2:7; Titus 3:4-6)

Creation and Man’s Fall

I believe God created all things by direct act in six literal, twenty-four hour days and that man was the special creation of God, made in His image to rule in His stead on earth; that man, in the person of Adam, was created in innocence but, by voluntary transgression, sinned; that the result of man’s sin is physical and spiritual death, which is separation from God; that every person is born with a sinful nature and becomes a willful sinner through personal choice, and so is without excuse before God. (Genesis 1-3; Psalm 51:5, 58:3; Ezekiel 18:4,20; Romans 1:20, 3:10-26, 5:10-21, 6:230

Salvation

I believe escape from the condemnation of sin and restoration of fellowship between man and God is provided by God to man solely through the finished work of Christ upon the cross and that no works, no matter how good, can make salvation more secure; that this justification is provided for all men on the grounds of Grace; that salvation must be accepted individually by faith in response to conviction of sin and repentance toward God to become effective; that all who accept Jesus Christ as Savior are eternally secure. (John 3:14-18, 10:27-29; Acts 4:10-12, 16:30-32, 20:20-21; Romans 5:1, 9, 8:15, 38-39; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Ephesians 2:8-9; 1 Timothy 4:10; Titus 3:4-7; Hebrews 10:4-14; 1 Peter 1;18-19, 2:24)

Sanctification

I believe in the sanctification of the believer as one set apart for the Lord’s use; that the believer is positionally sanctified at the moment of salvation; that the believer is progressively sanctified as the result of the Holy Spirit’s ongoing work in the believer’s life after salvation that the believer will one day be perfectly sanctified when he sheds this earthly body with its inherent sin nature and receives his glorified eternal body. (John 16:12-14, 17:17; Acts 20:32; Romans 6:1-22; 1 Corinthians 1:2, 30, 6:11; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 5:16-17; Ephesians 5:26-27; Philippians 3:20-21; 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 4:3-5, 5:23; Hebrews 2:11; 10:10, 14; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 John 3:2)

Separation

I believe Christians are called to be separate from wickedness, living lives of holiness as unto God; that separation entails avoidance of worldly practices in obedience to the direct commands of Scripture and in subjection to the conscientious application of Biblical principles, and requires the believer to refrain from alliances or fellowship with groups or individuals which deny the basic fundamentals of the faith or choose to walk in open defiance of clear commands of Scripture. (Amos 3:3; Matthew 18:15-17; Luke 12:51; Romans 12:1-2, 14:5-8, 16:17-18; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Ephesians 5:11-12; Colossians 3:1-17; 1 Thessalonians 5:22; 2 Thessalonians 3:6, 14-18; 1 timothy 1:19-20, 6:3-5; Titus 3:10-11; ! Peter 1:13-16; 1 John 2:15-17; 2 John 10-11)