Statement of Faith

GOD

I believe in One God, Holy, creator of all things, and sovereign of all. I believe, what is traditionally called the Trinity, that God is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is one in a sense and three in a different sense. The New Testament presents these three truths: 1) there is one God, 2) there are three distinct persons, namely the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, and 3) each is ascribed the unique attributes of deity. Each is fully divine.

JESUS

I believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ (Messiah), the sinless Son of God, the promised descendant of King David, and deity incarnate. In His person, character, and ministry was the special revelation of God the Father. I believe He eternally exists but became a man in the first century A.D., or as John says, "the Word became flesh." He was crucified under Pontius Pilate, buried in a tomb, was resurrected bodily, and will never die again. He died as a sacrifice and atonement for our sins. He has been given all authority in heaven and earth, ascended to heaven after His resurrection and reigns as King at the right hand of God the Father.

BIBLE

I believe the Bible, consisting of the New Testament and the Hebrew books (the Tanakh), that is, the Old Testament scriptures, is the word of God providentially brought down through the ages. I believe the Bible is the only remaining source of God’s inspired authoritative word left in the possession of the church.

MAN

I believe that mankind is created in God’s image. God's intention was for He and man to have intimate fellowship in paradise (Eden). I believe man was created mortal and while in paradise had access to the tree of life, and with regular eating, it would have enabled him to live forever. After sinning, Adam, and therefore all humanity, was banned from this paradise, from the originally intended communion with God on earth, and from the tree of life, leaving us, as mortal creatures, to the certainty of death. I believe all accountable adults thereafter, left in a corrupted world, and without the original closeness with God, commit sin and are in need of salvation from condemnation and from the captivity of sin itself.

THE GOSPEL

The Gospel is the good news that the promised and prophesied King of Israel, Jesus of Nazareth, has come, established His Kingdom, died as an atoning sacrifice for sins, rose from the dead, and offers salvation, eternal life, hope, glory, and entrance into His Kingdom to all who come to Him with a living faith.

SALVATION

I believe all have sinned and have demerited eternal life. Our own personal righteousness is insufficient and cannot justify us before our Holy God. As revealed in the Gospel of the Kingdom, sinners become justified by God’s grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who died, was buried, and rose again. Faith in Jesus as Lord means surrendering to His authority as Lord because He is King, and this implies repentance from former rebellion, and repentance initially includes water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. Upon being justified through faith, a man is pardoned on all counts (forgiveness). Salvation is ultimately God’s work through Christ bringing about the reconciliation of the sinner and God and bringing him into Christ’s eternal Kingdom of glory.

RESURRECTION

I believe Jesus Christ rose bodily from the dead. Resurrection is a reversal of death. I believe Jesus is the prototype for all the saved, meaning that upon the return of Christ at the end of history, all God’s people will be resurrected bodily from death to immortality as was Jesus. I believe that while dead, Christians are with Christ apart from the body but will ultimately reunite with their newly glorified and immortal bodies at the end of time when Jesus returns.

THE RETURN OF CHRIST

I believe that Jesus Christ will one day return visibly to earth in great glory to judge the world, raise all the saved dead to bodily immortality, change Christians who are alive (at that time) into immortal beings, and end human history. All humanity who have not been saved through Christ will be cast into the “lake of fire.” There will then be a “new heaven and new earth” wherein is only righteousness. There will then be no more death or suffering. This will be a return to intimate fellowship of God with humanity in the eternal Kingdom of glory.