WHAT WE BELIEVE

WE BELIEVE…

The Bible is the Word of God, fully inspired and without error. It is the supreme and final authority for all matters of Christian life and belief.

There is one true and living God, who eternally exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who are equal in every divine perfection and who execute distinct but harmonious offices in all the work of the Godhead.

Mankind was created by God in His own image but incurred physical and spiritual death through sin and disobedience. As a result, all people are separated from God by their sin and are lost and without hope apart from salvation in Christ.

The Gospel is the good news of God’s saving actions toward sinners through Jesus Christ, the only Savior for the sins of the world. As the Eternal Son of God, He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, lived a perfect human life; He was crucified and died and was buried. He rose on the third day to vindicate His saving work and ascended bodily into heaven, where He is now seated at the right hand of the Father, interceding for His people on the basis of His all-sufficient sacrifice for sin.

Salvation is a free gift that comes only by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. Anyone who turns from their sin and trusts in Jesus Christ and His death on their behalf receives forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life.

The Holy Spirit works progressively to transform genuine believers more and more into the image of Christ. His work is carried on in our hearts through such appointed means as the study of Scripture, prayer, worship, and fellowship with other believers. The Holy Spirit also empowers believers for Christian witness and service and gives gifts for the building up of the body of Christ, the church.

The universal church, composed of genuine followers of Christ, exists to worship, serve, and glorify God. All members of the universal church are to be vitally committed members of a local church, where they receive consistent instruction in God’s Word, care from one another, and the opportunity to employ their God-given gifts in His service.

The Consummation of all things includes the visible, personal and glorious return of Jesus Christ from heaven, the bodily resurrection of the dead, and the judgment of the saved and the lost (the saved to endless joy, and the lost to endless punishment away from the presence of God), and the ultimate fulfillment of Christ’s kingdom in the new heavens and new earth. There the redeemed, in glorious bodies, shall live and reign with Him forever.