APPENDIX B: STATEMENT OF FAITH

1. Bible

We believe that the Bible, the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament and the twenty-seven

books of the New Testament, is the very Word of God. Each word is accurate and without error

in the original text. The Bible is the final authority on any subject to which it speaks and is

sufficient in determining what we believe and how we should live.

Psalm 19:7-11; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 1:1-2; 2 Peter 1:19-21

2. God

We believe that one God exists who created and sustains all things, an infinite spirit being. He is

in sovereign control over the entire universe. He is holy, and His glory is beyond our

comprehension. As such, He is worthy of all our worship, honor, confidence and love. In the

unity of God, there are three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; each of Whom is

fully God and worth of worship. They exist in a perfectly harmonious relationship with each

other and willingly fulfill their individual roles in carrying out the great work of salvation.

Genesis 1:2, 26; Exodus 20:2-3: 1 Corinthians 8:6; Revelation 4:11; John 4:24

We believe that God the Father is fully and eternally God and equal with the Son and the Holy

Spirit. He is the supreme authority in the universe, and He has decreed what will ultimately

come to pass. He is the sovereign ruler of all things and is the Father of all who come to faith in

Jesus Christ.

Psalm 2:7-9; Ephesians 1:3-6; Galatians 3:26

We believe that Jesus Christ is fully and eternally God and equal with the Father and the Holy

Spirit. He was born of a virgin, lived a perfect, sinless life and died as a substitute for our sins.

He rose bodily from the grave after three days and ascended to the right hand of the Father to

serve as our Great High Priest. He will return to this earth to establish His kingdom.

Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:16, 18-25; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-4, 14, 18; Matthew 28:6-7;

Luke 24:39; John 20:27; 1 Corinthians 15:4; Acts 1:2-11; Hebrews 12:2; Revelation 3:21;

Hebrews 8:6; Isaiah 11:4-5; Revelation 20:6; Colossians 2:9

We believe that the Holy Spirit is fully and eternally God and equal with the Father and the Son.

He restrains sin and Satan until God fulfills his purposes in the world. He convicts people of sin,

opens their minds to understand the Word of God and draws them to faith in God. He is the

agent of salvation and baptizes believers into the body of Christ. He indwells, seals and secures

believers for all eternity, and He equips, guides, teaches, sanctifies and helps believers to live

out the will of God on this earth. In order to help verify the message of the apostles, the Holy

Spirit bestowed miraculous gifts to people including speaking in tongues, interpretation of

tongues, miracles and healing.

With the completion of God’s written revelation to man in the Bible, these gifts are no longer

necessary to verify the message and have ceased. While God still heals and performs miracles,

the gifts of healing and performing miracles are no longer given to people. However, the Holy

Spirit still gives specific gifts to believers to help them serve in the church.

John 14:16-17; Matthew 28:19; Hebrews 9:14; John 14:26; Luke 1:35; Genesis 1:1-3; John 16:8-

11; Acts 5:30-32; John 3:5-6; 1 Corinthians 3:10; 12:12-13; 13:8-13; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:11-16;

John 1:33; Acts 11:16; Luke 24:49; Romans 8:26-27; Hebrews 2:3-4

3. Angels

We believe that angels are created spirit beings. They were not created in the image of God and

cannot be redeemed. Angels minister before the throne of God by declaring His glory and

defending His holiness. They ministered to Jesus Christ while He was on earth by protecting and

caring for Him. They also made declarations of truth to man and offered physical protection,

provision, encouragement and direction.

Colossians 1:16; Psalm 8:4-5; Hebrews 1:14; Matthew 2:13; 4:11; Luke 22:34; Isaiah 14:12-15

We believe that Satan, also called the dragon, the serpent and the Devil, is an angel who

rebelled against God and was cast out of Heaven. He is alive and active in this world as the

unholy god of this age who rules over all the powers of darkness. He is destined to be defeated

forever by Jesus Christ and will be cast into the eternal lake of fire at the end of the Thousand

Year Reign of Christ on earth. A host of other angels followed Satan in his rebellion against God

and became fallen angels or demons. They are active in carrying out the plan of Satan to attack

God and destroy man and will join him in the eternal lake of fire.

Matthew 4:1-3; 2 Corinthians 4:3-4; Jude 6; Revelation 20:10; 20:2

4. Creation

We believe in the literal interpretation of the Genesis account which teaches that the world and

all that is in it was created as the direct result of the spoken word of God. The climax of God’s

creation was the special, immediate and personal creation of human life. God created humans,

male and female, in His image. Human life, sexual identity and roles are aspects of God’s

creative design. From creation, marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman that

should be marked by sexual purity, by sacrificial male leadership, and by recognizing the divine

blessing of children, including preborn children. Adam and Eve, though created in perfection,

sinned, warranting physical death, spiritual death, and eternal separation from God.

Consequently, all human beings are born with a sinful nature, and are sinners in thought, word,

and deed.

Genesis 1:1-27; 2:7-25; 3:1-24; Psalm 127:3-5; Romans 1:18-32; 3:10-19; 5:12-19; Ephesians

5:22-33; Colossians 3:18-19

5. Fall of Man

We believe that man was created as an innocent being with the freedom to choose to obey

God. By a voluntary choice, Adam and Eve committed an act of rebellion against God, and as a

result, they fell from their original state and were separated from Him. Because of the fall, all

men are now sinners by nature and by choice. All men are totally depraved and are under

condemnation and without defense or excuse. The only hope for man is found in the person

and work of Jesus Christ.

Genesis 3:1-19; Romans 5:10-19; 1:18, 32

6. Salvation

We believe that the salvation of sinners is by grace alone through faith alone in the Lord Jesus

Christ and His death on the cross for sin. Jesus Christ fulfilled the purposes of God through the

incarnation where He became the perfect God/Man Who fulfilled the divine law by His personal

obedience. This qualified Him alone to die on the cross as the only sufficient sacrifice for the

sins of the whole world. He was a voluntary substitute for each one of us, the just dying for the

unjust, bearing our sin in His own body on the cross. His resurrection from the dead proved that

His death satisfied the full payment for sin. This salvation is so life changing that it is clearly

evidenced by a new life of faith, obedience to God’s Word and the growth of the fruit of the

Spirit. All true believers are preserved by the power of the Holy Spirit in such a way that

everyone who trusts Christ as their savior from sin is kept eternally secure as a child of God.

Ephesians 2:8-10; Acts 15:11; Romans 3:24; John 3:16; Philippians 2:7; Hebrews 2:14; Isaiah

53:4-7; Romans 3:25; 1 John 4:10; 1 Corinthians 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21

7. The Church

We believe that the universal church is made up of all those who have placed their faith in the

Lord Jesus Christ as personal Savior from sin from the day of Pentecost through the Rapture of

the church.

Matthew 16:18; Acts 1:8, 2:1-13, 41-47, 15:14; Ephesians 1:22- 23, 3:21, 5:23-32;

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

We believe that a local church is a congregation of believers in Christ who have banded

together to fulfill the commands of the New Testament in such a way that they influence their

community and the world for Christ. The purpose of the church is to glorify God, fulfill the Great

Commission and live out God-honoring relationships with one another. Local churches are

autonomous bodies that engage the gifted people God has given to them to fulfill His calling.

While independent of any authority other than Jesus Christ, local churches work

interdependently with other churches of like faith to exemplify the unity prayed for by Christ

and to be more effective in ministering His grace to a lost and needy world. A local church

should separate itself from sin.

Acts 2:41-42; 1 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:11; 5:23-24; Acts 15:13-18; 20:17-28;

2 Timothy 3:17; Colossians 1:18

We believe that the biblically designated offices in a local church are elders also called pastors

and overseers, and the office of deacon. The biblically designated ordinances of the local church

are Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism in the New Testament was always by immersion

following salvation as a symbol of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. It is commanded

by our Lord and should precede church membership. The Lord’s Supper was instituted by Jesus

to remember His death until He returns.

Acts 8:26-39; John 3:23; Romans 6:3-5; Matthew 3:16; Colossians 2:12; 1 Corinthians 11:23-28

8. Eschatology

We believe that the Rapture of the Church and the Tribulation are the next prophetic events to

be fulfilled on earth. The Tribulation will end with the Battle of Armageddon, during which

Christ will return to defeat His enemies and establish His kingdom on earth for a thousand

years. At the close of the Millennium, Satan will be released to deceive the nations. God will

end this rebellion and cast Satan into the eternal lake of fire. After this, all unbelievers will be

judged at the Great White Throne and cast into the lake of fire with Satan. Then, the New

Jerusalem will come down out of heaven and all who have trusted Christ will dwell with Him

there forever. We believe that Heaven is a literal place where believers who die go immediately

to be in the presence of God. We believe that Hell is a literal place where people will be

separated from God for eternity because they rejected Jesus Christ. It is a place of conscious

and eternal torment from which there is no escape.

John 14:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:12-58; Luke 1:32; Isaiah 9:6-7; Acts 2:29-

30; Revelation 3:10-13; 20:14