Our Faith
We believe in:
In the essentials unity,
In the non essentials Liberty,
In all things Love...
All Scripture is self-attesting and being Truth,
requires our unreserved submission in all areas of life. The infallible
Word of God, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments,
is a complete and unified witness to God's redemptive acts culminating
in the incarnation of the Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Bible, uniquely and fully inspired by the Holy Spirit, is
the supreme and final authority on all matters on which it speaks.
On this sure foundation we affirm these additional Essentials
of our faith:
1. We believe in one God, the sovereign
Creator and Sustainer of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally
existing in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To Him
be all honor, glory and praise forever!
2. Jesus Christ, the living Word, become flesh
through His miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit and His virgin
birth. He who is true God became true man united in one Person
forever. He died on the cross a sacrifice for our sins according
to the Scriptures. On the third day He arose bodily from the dead,
ascended into heaven, where, at the right hand of the Majesty
on High, He now is our High Priest and Mediator.
3. The Holy Spirit has come to glorify Christ
and to apply the saving work of Christ to our hearts. He convicts
us of sin and draws us to the Savior. Indwelling our hearts, He
gives new life to us, empowers and imparts gifts to us for service.
He instructs and guides us into all truth, and seals us for the
day of redemption.
4. Being estranged from God and condemned by
our sinfulness, our salvation is wholly dependent upon the work
of God's free grace. God credits His righteousness to those who
put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation, thereby justifies
them in His sight. Only such as are born of the Holy Spirit and
receive Jesus Christ become children of God and heirs of eternal
life.
5. The true Church is composed of all persons
who through saving faith in Jesus Christ and the sanctifying work
of the Holy Spirit are united together in the body of Christ.
The Church finds her visible, yet imperfect, expression in local
congregations where the Word of God is preached in its purity
and the sacraments are administered in their integrity; where
scriptural discipline is practiced, and where loving fellowship
is maintained. For her perfecting, she awaits the return of her
Lord.
6. Jesus Christ will come again to the earth—personally,
visibly, and bodily—to judge the living and the dead, and to consummate
history and the eternal plan of God. “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
(Rev. 22:20)
7. The Lord Jesus Christ commands all believers
to proclaim the Gospel throughout the world and to make disciples
of all nations. Obedience to the Great Commission requires total
commitment to “Him who loved us and gave Himself for us.” He calls
us to a life of self-denying love and service. “For we are His
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Eph. 2:10)
We are unified in our commitment to the essentials
of the historic Christian faith taught in the Bible, but allow
liberty of conscience on those matters which are not so plain
in or central to the Bible’s teaching.
|