BIBLIOLOGY

I accept The Bible, in its canonicity of its sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, as the literal, written, utterance of God for the purpose of revealing Himself to man by His Son, Jesus Christ (Heb. 1:1).  I believe that The Bible is inspired in its original manuscripts and preserved through the Masoretic Hebrew texts for the Old Testament and the traditional Greek Received Text or Textus Receptus for the New Testament.  I believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Bible and that it is infallible, and inerrant.  It should be the sole authority for faith and practice for believers and churches.

THEOLOGY PROPER

I believe that there is but one self-existent, eternal, supreme God.  He exists as three distinct persons of the Holy Trinity, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and is coequal in power and glory.  In His being He is infinite, eternal, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, and immutable, and in His nature He is spirit.  He is the Creator, Sustainer, and sovereign Ruler of the universe and is intimately involved with His creation.  He is gracious and merciful, the Father and Redeemer of all mankind and perfect in every way.  The events of mankind are by His order and for His glory.

CHRISTOLOGY

I believe that Jesus Christ was, is, and always will be the second person of the Holy Trinity.  He was born of a virgin to reveal God to man and to complete the work of redemption for the souls of mankind.  He is the eternal Word of God incarnate, the only begotten Son of God.  He was, and is, perfect in every way, completely God and completely man.  He was incapable of sin in His nature and sinless in His lifetime.  He was crucified on the cross of Calvary and He shed His pure, holy, red, royal, spotless, blood to satisfy the wrath of God the Father.   He was raised from the dead three days later to conquer sin and death.  Over five hundred people witnessed His resurrection.  He ascended into heaven and sat down the right hand of the Father to intercede on behalf of His saints.  In God the Father's time, Christ will appear in the clouds to gather His saints for His Judgment Seat and for the Marriage Feast.  He will later return to earth to rule and reign for a period of one thousand years.  After Satan is banished to the bottomless pit, He will ultimately be the object of praise and worship for all eternity.

PNEUMATOLOGY

I believe that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Holy Trinity, completely Deity, one with God, co-equal, and co-eternal with God the Father and God the Son.  He convicts unregenerate men of sin, righteousness and judgment.  He is the Divine agent in nature, revelation and redemption.  He regenerates, baptizes into the Body of Christ, indwells, seals, liberates and anoints all Christians.  He directs, equips, guides, and produces Fruit of Christlikeness in all believers who are continually yielded to Him. He makes possible, for every believer, all forms of communion with God.

ESCHATOLOGY

I believe in the literal, visible, bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ to receive His Bride, the Church, unto Himself.  Christ will appear in the clouds with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God.  The dead in Christ will rise first then those who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds and there forever be with Christ.  His rapture of the saints is immanent.  There is nothing that needs to be fulfilled in order for His return for His Bride.  This event will take place prior to the Tribulation period.

I believe in the Bema, or the Judgment seat of Christ, at which all Christians will be judged according to their motives and quality works for Jesus Christ.  This event will take place immediately after the Rapture and will not be pleasant for Christians.  Although all believers will receive an inheritance, some will receive rewards, and some will suffer loss.  At the conclusion of this judgment, all believers will sit down at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

I believe in the literal seven years of Tribulation on earth in which the Anti-Christ will emerge as the world leader and peace giver.  Israel will make a covenant of false peace with him for three and one half years after which the Anti-Christ will break that covenant with the Jews and establish worship of himself in the temple.  The ministry of the false prophet and the establishment of the mark of the beast will aid him. 

SOTERIOLOGY

I believe that salvation is by grace through faith in the person and redemptive work of Jesus Christ alone without the works of man in any way.  The grace is the gift of God so that no man may boast of his salvation.  God’s salvation delivers man from the penalty and power of the law.

I believe that Jesus Christ willingly laid down His life as the substitutionary atonement for man’s sin.  His shed blood satisfied the wrath of God for the sins of the whole world.  Anyone who rejects the salvation freely offered by God will ultimately is punished in hell.

I believe that in redemption, men were bought out of the marketplace of sin by the price of Christ’s precious, pure, holy, royal blood.  Christ’s redemption completely freed men who believe in His redemptive work on Calvary from the enslavement of sin.

I believe that salvation is available for the entire human race.  I believe that men have a choice to accept or reject Christ for salvation.  At the point of salvation, men are saved from the penalty of sin, saved from the power of sin, and will one day be saved from the presence of sin.

HAMARTIOLOGY

I believe that sin is an act of violating the will of God by stepping over the boundary of God’s law deliberately or ignorantly.  Sin began at some point in the heart of Satan and was spread to some of the angels who followed him in his rebellion towards God.  As a result, Satan and his angels were expelled from Heaven and allowed to rule and roam the earth.  One day he and his angels will be ultimately banished in the Lake of Fire for eternity.

I believe that all men are sinners as a result of the willful act of sin by Adam in the Garden of Eden.  Because Adam is the head of the human race, his sin became inherent in all men, and the sin nature in man brings all men under the power and condemnation of sin.  There is nothing inherently good in man that can satisfy God’s wrath upon sin.  All men miss God’s mark of perfection.  Therefore, the only remedy for the sin of man is God’s perfect, substitutionary, sacrifice through the redemptive work and shed blood of Jesus Christ.

ANTHROPOLOGY

I believe that man is the immediate, special, creative, and formative act of God, created in His image, and consisting of three parts: the body, soul, and spirit.  He was given a choice to exercise his free will and as a result of his willful disobedience to God’s known command, he plunged himself and the human race under sin’s condemnation.  There is nothing inherently good in man, making it impossible for him to reach God’s standard of perfection and impossible for him to please God without Christ’s righteousness apart from his own.  All men are presently under the condemnation of God’s wrath eternally in hell unless they repent of their sin and trust in the finished saving work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, on the cross.

THE ETERNAL STATE

I believe in the literal resurrection of the saved and the unsaved.  Christ is the firstfruit of the resurrection and that His resurrection was a literal, bodily resurrection.  All believers will be resurrected to receive a glorified body and will enter into their eternal abode, which is heaven, a place of beauty, peace, rest, satisfaction and holiness.  There, blood bought saints of God will worship and serve Christ for all eternity.  In Heaven, there will be no crying, no dying, no sickness and no sorrow.  It is the dwelling place of God and will be saturated with His pure unadulterated holiness. 

I believe in a literal hell that burns with fire and brimstone.  All who die without trusting in Christ to be their Savior will be eternally punished in hell, separated from God and loved ones.  They will literally suffer eternal anguish physically and mentally.  They will have all five senses and be fully aware of their surroundings.  All rejecters of Jesus will one day be resurrected and sentenced at the Great White Throne Judgment to be cast in to the Lake of Fire, which is the second death.

ECCLESIOLOGY

I believe that the Church is an organism, which includes all regenerate believers gathered out of the world between the day of Pentecost and Second Advent of Christ, and is also an organization, which includes local baptized believers, united for the service of Christ in any given assembly.  I believe that its origin is in Christ and was founded on the day of Pentecost.  I believe that the church is the custodian of the two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and is responsible for their administration.  I further believe that the mission and ministry of the church, be it worldwide or locally, is to glorify God by winning men to Christ, building them up in Christ and sending them out for the cause of Christ.

SEPARATION

I believe the Scriptures clearly teach the doctrine of separation.  It is clear that Christians should be set apart from recreation and activities that are worldly, activities such as gambling, movies, dancing, drinking of liquor, smoking, etc.  Believers should seek to be without reproach and to be holy because God is holy. 

I believe that believers should be set apart from false teachers and organizations that propagate false doctrine.  I further believe that Christians should seek to obey God’s Word in not having any alliances with infidels in business, in marriage or in ecclesiastical position.  Believers should make every effort to separate from willfully disobedient and disorderly brethren who do not wish to turn from their sin.  Believers should seek to restore their disobedient brethren as best as possible.

I believe that the Church and State are ordained of God and should seek to aid in strengthening one another including the home.  They should work to beneficially help each other in accordance to Scripture, but not control each other.

I believe that the charismatic movement is unbiblical in its practices and that speaking in tongues today, faith healing, and ecumenism are all contrary to Biblical doctrine.

SPIRITUAL GIFTS

According to Scripture, a Spiritual gift is a God given ability distributed to every believer at the time of his salvation.  Every believer is given at least one gift to benefit the body of Christ particularly.  Spiritual gifts are not talents but are special internal enablements from God for His service.  Some gifts are temporary gifts and have ceased while others are still in operation today and play an integral part in the effectiveness of the Christ’s church.

ANGELOLOGY

I believe that angels are created, spirit beings with personality.  They are deathless but not eternal, powerful but not omnipotent.  They are made a little higher than man and are of superior intelligence to man.  They are a company and not a race for they are unable to procreate with each other.  They were created to glorify God and some of their works include directing in the worship of God, praise, encouragement to believers, and ministering to saints. 

I believe that Satan is real and is in direct opposition to God in every way.  He was created as an anointed cherub, possibly as the highest-ranking guardian of God’s throne at one point.  Through pride of wanting to be like God, he was cast from Heaven and he led a group of angels in rebellion towards God.  He is a very powerful being; the leader of a host of evil angels, but his power is limited to what God allows him to have.  His main purpose is to thwart the purpose of God and destroy and devour the souls of mankind.  He is the influence behind every false religion and every evil philosophy and wicked belief.  At the crucifixion of Christ, he bruised the heel of the Son of God, but at the same time, had his head crushed by Him at the cross of Calvary.  He is presently leading his demons in a revolt against righteousness and he will ultimately be banished in the lake of fire.