The Bible
The Bible is the single foundation upon which all others are built. Without it we have no basis for theology, and we have no reference for doctrine outside of it. I believe that “the Bible, both the Old and the New Testaments, in its entirety is revelation breathed out by God. All of its parts, even to the very words of the original writings, are inerrant in every area, including doctrine or matters of history, geography, or science.” It is completely trustworthy and is the only authority and rule for faith and practice.
We believe further that the Word of God has been preserved pure and without error. We accept the Authorized Version as the Word of God for English-speaking people. We hold that the underlying text of the King James Version, the Textus Receptus, should be the foundation for all translations into native languages.
Scriptural Reference
Key Verse: Psalms 138:2
Deuteronomy 4:1-2;Psalms 19:7-10;119:11,89,105,140; Matthew 5:17-18; 22:29; Luke 21:33; 24:44-46; John 5:39;17:17; Acts 17:11; Romans 15:4; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 4:12; 1 Peter 1:25; 2 Peter 1:19-21.
God
I believe that the “God-head” exists with no beginning and no ending, completely outside of the references of time and space. Also that God is revealed in three separate persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit making up the Trinity. “Each person is wholly God, and equal in attributes and perfection. They each have different roles, eternally functioning with perfect harmony.”
Scriptural References
Key Verses: Matthew 3:16-17; Matthew 28:19
God: the Father
I believe that God “as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving, and all-wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men.”
Scriptural References
Key Verse: John 4:24
Genesis 1:1; 1 Chronicles 29:10; Jeremiah 10:10; Matthew 7:11; 23:9; John 4:24; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 4:6; Hebrews 11:6; 1 Peter 1:17.
God: the Son
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the second person of the Trinity. He was born of the virgin Mary, shed His blood on Calvary as a substitute for every individual, was buried, rose again, and ascended to the Father. He is fully God and fully man. He is the only mediator between God and man. Also, one day He will come again in the clouds to receive all the saved of the earth to Himself before the time known as the Tribulation. He will come again to rule and to reign bodily on this earth as its Lord and King during the time known as the Millennium and then throughout all eternity. Trusting in Him and His sacrifice provides the only access to the Father and to Heaven.
Scriptural References
Key Verse: Isaiah 7:14
Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1-2, 14:2; Acts 1:9-10; Rom. 3:24-25; 1 Corinthians 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Gal. 4:4-5; Eph. 1:7; Phil. 2:5-8; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18; 1 Pet. 2:24; Hebrews 4:15, 7:25, 9:24; 1 John 2:1-2; Revelation 20:1–6
God: the Holy Spirit
I believe that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, equal with the Father and the Son. “He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. Simultaneous with regeneration, the Holy Spirit baptizes the believer into the body of Christ.” He comforts believers, and seals the believer unto the day of Jesus Christ. He is the Christian’s guarantee that God is still at work in this world and will one day return.
I believe that speaking in tongues were never the common or necessary sign of the indwelling of Holy Spirit. Also, the tongues that the Holy Spirit gave were known spoken languages given for the purpose of ministering to the people that could hear.
Scriptural References
Key Verses: Acts 1:8-9
Genesis 1:2; Psalms 51:11; John 16:7–11; Acts 5:3–4; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:12–14; Galatians 4:6, 5:22-26; Ephesians 1:13, 4:30; 2 Timothy 1:14
Creation
I believe that “God created the universe without any pre-existing materials in six literal, 24-hour periods.” These truths are based in the first chapters in Genesis, which I believe to be completely accurate. Any other theories such as evolution, theistic evolution, the gap theory, and the day age theory are completely against Scripture and are attacks by the devil on the reliability of the Word of God.
Scriptural References
Key Verses: Genesis 1-2
Ex. 20:11; Job 26:13; Eccles. 7:29; John 1:1-5; Rom. 1:20; Colossians 1:16-17; Heb. 1:2
Salvation
Salvation is the free gift of God given to man. It is obtained by grace and through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as a result of His work on the cross. Once someone has truly accepted the free gift of salvation there is never a need to do this again. The Holy Spirit convicts men and brings them to the point of salvation; however, God still gives man the opportunity to reject Him. The rejection of this free gift is condemnation to a literal, physical place called hell. The belief that salvation is not for all or that there is a limited work of grace only available to the “elect” works contrary to the process of comparing Scripture with Scripture. After salvation there should be some practical evidences that are shown in one’s life to show that God is at work. However, second works of grace, such as speaking in tongues in the charismatic movement are not Scriptural.
Scriptural References
Key Verses: Ephesians 2:8-10
Luke 13:3,5; John 1:12,3:3-21; John 10:41; Romans 3:23, 5:8, 6:23, 8:29–30; Ephesians 1:7, 4:30; Titus 3:5; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; 1 John 1:9
Church
The church is the body of Christ whose responsibility is to do the work of Christ on earth today. Christ is the sole head of the church. “Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes.” Members are responsible directly to God for their spiritual state. The churches Scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor (and deacon) is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.” Water baptism, by immersion, and the Lord’s Supper are the Scriptural ordinances of obedience to be followed in the setting of the church.
God has also given the church a great commission to proclaim the Gospel to all nations. The church should be committed to world evangelization through prayer, sending, and giving to missionaries. However, giving to support missionaries should never take the place of the responsibility of reaching your own Jerusalem.
Scriptural References
Key Verses: Matthew 16:15-19
Acts 2:41-42, 2:47; 6:3-6; 13:1-3; 14:23,27; 16:5; 20:28; 1 Corinthians 5:1-5; Ephesians 1:22-23; 3:21; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 3:1-15; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Revelation 2-3
Family
God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. God intends marriage to be permanent. Any sexual activity outside of marriage is a sin before God. Children are a blessing from God, and the abortion of a child is murder. The Bible only allows for marriage between a man and a woman therefore making homosexuality, lesbianism, bestiality, and all other type of perversions a sin.
Scriptural References
Genesis 1:26-28, 2:15-25, 3:1-20; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Joshua 24:15; 1 Samuel 1:26-28; Psalms 139:13-16; Proverbs 5:15-20, 6:20-22, 12:4, 13:24, 14:1, 18:22, 22:6,15; Matthew 5:31-32, 19:3-9; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 7:1-16; Ephesians 5:21-33, 6:1-4; 1 Timothy 5:8, 5:14; Titus 2:3-5; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 3:1-7.
Angels
God has created ministering spirits for the purpose of ministering to Himself and the “heirs of salvation”. They were created with great power and ability and in great number. At some point Lucifer, who was the highest of the order of angels, filled with pride, desired to be exalted above God. God cast him, as well as one-third of the angels out of heaven, and prepared hell for them. Lucifer (Satan) and his followers are actively working against the God’s plan to redeem man. Satan has great power and authority on this earth, however, he is confined to working within the guidelines of God’s will.
Scriptural References
Key Verse: Hebrews 1:14
Revelation 12:3-4, 2 Peter 2:11, Isaiah 6:1-3, Luke 1, Luke 24:4-7, Genesis 32:24-ff, Revelation 4:8, Genesis 28:12, Jude 9, Isaiah 14:12, Daniel 4:13, Ezekiel 28:15, Isaiah 14:13-14
Eschatology
I believe that there is coming a time on God’s timetable when He will draw this present worlds system to a close. Those events will start with the rapture of the Church, which will begin time known as the tribulation. This time marks the beginning of the end of the prophecy by Daniel of the seventy weeks. During this time God’s purpose will be to judge and prove Israel and turn them back to Himself. This time will culminate with the bodily return of Jesus to rule and reign from Jerusalem for one-thousand years. After this time Satan will be loosed for a short season to prove those who are still alive to see if they will walk in God’s ways. Those who reject God will be destroyed and we will begin the time known as the eternal state.
Scriptural References
Key Verse: I Thessalonians 4:13-18
I Corinthians 15:51-53, Revelation 4:1, Revelation 15:1, Jeremiah 30:7-9, Daniel 9:24-27, Luke 17:24, Mark 8:38, Revelation 20:4-6, Micah 4:3, Isaiah 4:3, Matthew 25:37, Isaiah 60:21, Daniel 8:12, Matthew 8:29, Luke 16:23
Theological Framework
God has had different requirements that He has placed on man throughout the ages of time known as dispensations. This does not mean that God has had different plans in place for redemption, only that as different parts of God’s plan were revealed throughout time and that man was only responsible for those things that have been revealed. Those who were saved were required to look forward to the coming of the Messiah, regardless of the level of understanding of the concept. Those who are saved today are saved in the same way, only that we look back to the coming of the Messiah instead of looking forward. “Dispensations” should not be confused with “Covenants”. Covenants were specific promises made to a person or group of people. I do not believe, as some do, that the church is now the “spiritual Israel” and that the covenants made to Israel as a nation can be transferred in whole to the church. The church has not replaced Israel and God still has a plan in place for the nation of Israel as well as the church.
Scriptural References
Genesis 1:28, Genesis 3:7, Genesis 8:15, Genesis 12:1, Exodus 19:1, Acts 2:1, Revelation 20:4, genesis 2:16, Genesis 3:15, Genesis 9:16, Genesis 12:2, Exodus 19:5, Deuteronomy 30:3, 2 Samuel 7:16, Jeremiah 31:31, Ephesians 1:10, Ephesians 3:2, Galatians 3:25, I Corinthians 10:32