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"I
appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all
of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among
you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and
thought."
--
1 Corinthians 1:10
Select
a topic from the table below:
1.
The Inspiration of Scripture
We
believe that the accepted "canon" of Scripture, both Old and New
Testament, are verbally inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures are
infallible, inerrant, and the sole and final authority for all matters of
faith and conduct. (See 2 Timothy 3:16 and 1 Corinthians 2:13.)
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2.
The Eternal Godhead
We
believe that there is only one God, that He is eternal, and that in the
mystery of His being, He has revealed Himself in three Persons as
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The three Persons of the
"Godhead" are distinguishable but indivisible. (See Matthew
28:19 and 2 Corinthians 13:14.)
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3.
The Fall of Man
We
believe that humankind was created in the image and after the likeness of God
in a pure and sinless state. The original man and woman disobeyed God's
express command in the Garden of Eden with the effect that sin, sickness, and
death was passed down to the entire human race. As a result, human
beings are born with a sinful nature, are spiritually depraved from birth, and
are unable to attain to the righteous requirements of God by means of human
effort. (See Genesis 1:26; Genesis 2:7; Genesis 3:6; Romans 5:12,18;
Psalm 51:5; Isaiah 64:6 and Romans 3:23.)
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4.
The Virgin Birth of Christ
We
believe that God became a man in the person of Jesus Christ who was conceived
by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Jesus was sinless
from birth by virtue of His divine conception. He was completely divine
and completely human and came to be the Savior of the world.
(See Luke 1:26-35, John 1:14-18, and Isaiah 7:4 and 9:6.)
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5.
Christ's Atoning Death and
Resurrection
We
believe Jesus Christ was the sinless "Lamb of God," who paid the
penalty for our sins to be forgiven and forever remitted by dying a criminal's
death in our place. He was buried in a literal, physical tomb and was
raised from the dead three days later by the quickening power of the Holy
Spirit thus conquering death, hell, and the grave. He personally
appeared to His disciples and taught and commissioned them for a period of
forty days after His bodily resurrection. (See John 1:29; Romans 5:8; 1
Corinthians 15:1-4; Revelation 1:18; Romans 4:25 and Acts 1:3.)
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6.
Christ's Ascension and Second
Coming
We
believe that Jesus, in His glorious resurrection body, ascended to heaven and
was seated at God's right hand as the exalted Lord of all. He holds the
key of David, has all authority in heaven and in earth, carries on His work as
intercessor and advocate of all who put their faith in Him. He will
personally return to earth at the appointed time in bodily form to
"rapture" His Church from the earth and to take them to a place He
has prepared for them described in the Bible as a new heaven. (See Acts
1:9; Hebrews 1:3; Revelation 3:7; Matthew 28:18; 1 John 2:1; Hebrews 8:1; John
14:2,3 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 21:1-4.)
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7.
God's Plan of Salvation
We
believe that all people are sinners and have only one hope of salvation from
their sins. Jesus bore the penalty and punishment for our sins when He
died for all humanity. Scripture teaches that His death, resurrection,
and ascension was not only for us but as us.
Therefore, when we put our faith in Him -- believing into Him --
we see ourselves as having died in His death, having been raised to newness of
life through His resurrection, and having ascended with Him where we are now
seated with Him in heavenly realms at God's right hand. Because this is
all the work of God's grace, His unmerited love and favor, our salvation is by
grace through faith and is not a result of our own "works of
righteousness" -- for our righteousness is as "filthy rags"
apart from Christ. It is when we receive Jesus Christ by faith as our
Savior, confessing our sins and receiving His pardon, that we are saved from
our sins and reconciled to God. (See Romans 3:23; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 5:8; 2
Corinthians 5:14,15; 1 Peter 1:3; Ephesians 2:6; Romans 5:17; Ephesians 2:8,9;
Isaiah 64:6; Romans 10:9,10.)
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8.
Water Baptism
We
believe that water baptism is required of all who have put their faith in
Jesus Christ for salvation. It is the outward sign of an inward
experience and serves as a public declaration of our faith in Christ.
Scripture teaches that baptism is to be by total immersion as it represents
our union with Christ in death, burial, and resurrection. It is to be
administered in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We
submit to baptism to fulfill the express command of the Lord Jesus
Christ. (See Romans 6:4; Matthew 28:19, Mark 16:16.)
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9.
Baptism in the Holy Spirit
We
believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit as a real experience at or
subsequent to salvation. Jesus said that those who believe on Him would
experience rivers of living water flowing from their innermost being -- a
fullness of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer that would satisfy their
spiritual thirst. This "Baptism of the Holy Spirit" is
accompanied by the evidence of speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives
utterance. It is referred to in Scripture as the "promise of the
Father" that is for all whom God calls to salvation. We do not
believe that this Baptism of the Holy Spirit is required for
salvation but rather that it is an invitation into a more intimate walk with
God and the divine means of empowerment for effective ministry. (See
John 7:38-39; John 4:14; Acts 2:1-4; 8:14-17, 10:44-46; 1:4-5; 2:39; 1:8.)
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10.
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit
We
believe that the indwelling Holy Spirit imparts "manifestations of
grace" to every believer in the form of spiritual gifts to be used to
encourage and build up the Church and to bring unbelievers to salvation.
These "gifts" are supernatural in origin and are given by the Holy
Spirit as He determines. Believers are encouraged in Scripture to eagerly
desire spiritual gifts. Those listed include words of wisdom, words of
knowledge, faith, gifts of healings, the working of miracles, prophecy,
discerning of spirits, speaking in tongues, the interpretation of tongues,
helps, administration, serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leading, and
showing mercy. Offices within the church that are listed in Scripture as
spiritual giftings include those of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and
pastor/teacher. (See 1 Corinthians 14:3,24; 12:11; 12:8-10,28; Romans
12:6-8; and Ephesians 4:11.)
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11.
The Spirit-Filled Life
We
believe in the Spirit-filled life, a life of separation from worldliness and
the perfecting of holiness in the fear of God as expressing the true Christian
faith. It is the work of the Holy Spirit in conjunction with the Word of
God that sanctifies the believer. The grace of God given to us through
faith in Jesus Christ not only provides forgiveness of sins but also a divine
enablement to so "No!" to ungodliness. To live by the
empowerment of grace is to "walk in the Spirit." (See John
17:14; 2 Corinthians 7:1; John 17:17; Ephesians 5:26; Titus 2:11,12; and
Galatians 5:16.)
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12.
Divine Healing
We
believe in the healing of the body by divine power, or divine healing in its
varied aspects as taught in the New Testament and as practiced in the Early
Church. All believers are commissioned to "lay hands on the
sick" that they might recover -- an indication that believing prayer
imparts God's healing power to make people whole. Divine healing is
provided for in Christ's atonement. Scripture says that it is by His
stripes that we are healed. Keeping these truths before our eyes and in
our hearts will cause God's life to be released in us with the result that we
will experience healing and health for our whole being. The believer is
entitled by covenant to say with the Psalmist that God's benefits to us
include the forgiveness of all our sins and the healing of all our
diseases. (See Mark 16:16; Isaiah 53:4,5, Matthew 8:16-18, and 1 Peter
2:24; Proverbs 4:20-24; Psalm 103:2-3.)
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13.
The Lord's Supper
We
believe in the Table of the Lord, commonly called the Communion or the Lord's
Supper. In taking communion, we acknowledge that Jesus body was broken
that we might be made whole and His blood was shed that our sins be forgiven
and that we be restored to a right relationship with God. Communion is
often called the Eucharist, based on a New Testament Greek word meaning
"to give thanks." It should be a time to give thanks to the Lord for
all that He has done for us in the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. (See 1
Corinthians 11:28-32 and Matthew 26:26-28 1 Corinthians 10:16.)
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14.
The Reality and Defeat
of Satan and His Demons
We
believe in the reality and personality of the devil and eternal judgment in
the Lake of Fire for the devil and his angels. Jesus defeated Satan and
his demons through His death and resurrection. He has given all
believers spiritual authority over all the works of the enemy to trample them
underfoot -- a symbolic way of saying that we are conquerors over the demonic
realm in that we share Christ's victory. (See Matthew 25:41 and
Revelation 20:14,15; Luke 10:19.)
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15.
The Believer's Authority
Over the Demonic
We
believe that all disciples of Jesus Christ have been given authority over the
devil and his demons and have been commissioned by Jesus Christ to drive evil
spirits from those who are demonized. This ministry of deliverance is a
part of our role as ministers of reconciliation and is to be practiced where
necessary in conjunction with the fulfilling of the Great Commission.
(See Luke 10:18-20; 1 John 4:1-4 and Mark 16:15-18.)
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16.
The Eternal Destiny of Man
We
believe in eternal life for believers and eternal
punishment for unbelievers. The teachings of Scripture regarding heaven and
hell are meant to be taken literally as the context calls for a literal
interpretation. This fact underscores the seriousness of fulfilling the
Great Commission, of preaching righteousness, of declaring salvation by grace
through faith in Christ alone, and for living our lives here in the
reverential fear of the Lord. (See John 5:24; 3:16; Mark 9:43-48; 2
Thessalonians 1:9; Revelation 20:10-15 and 2 Peter 3:10,11.)
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17.
The Blessed Hope
We
believe that the imminent personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ for His
saints is the Christian's hope and should be the Christian's constant longing
and expectation. We are not at home in this world but are strangers and aliens
here. Our thoughts and affections are to be set upon things above and
not on earthly things. Our focus should be on preparing others for the
coming of the Lord and making our daily prayer "Come, Lord
Jesus!" (See John 14:3, Acts 1:11, Luke 21:28, 2 Timothy 4:8; 1
Peter 2:11; Colossians 3:1,2; Revelation 22:20.)
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18.
The Great Commission and
Power Evangelism
We
believe God has designed that the Church's faithful sharing of the gospel in
its sphere(s) of influence and the Church's yielding to the work of the Holy
Spirit to confirm the gospel through supernatural signs and wonders will usher
in the presence and power of the kingdom of God on earth and will hasten the
return of Christ for the saints. (See Matthew 24:14, Mark 16:20, John
14:12-14, and 1 Corinthians 2:4-5.)
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19.
The Church Universal and Local
We
believe that there is one true universal Church, made up of genuine believers,
but this one universal Church is also composed of many local churches in given
localities throughout the world. These churches are under the sovereign Headship of the Lord
Jesus Christ, exercising autonomous government under Him, administering all
their local affairs and ministry, as well as the propagation of the
Gospel. (See Acts 15:22, Matthew 16:18 and 18:15-20.)
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20.
Human Government as God-Ordained
We
believe that Government is ordained of God, and the powers that be are
ordained as ministers of God. They serve for God's glory and for our
good. To resist governmental authorities is to disobey God. We are
to submit to them not
only to keep from incurring penalties for disobedience but also to maintain a
pure conscience. We are to respect our governmental leaders, pay our
taxes, and cooperate with their decisions in every way we can without
compromising our obedience to God's commands as specified in Scripture. (See Romans 13.)
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