“Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” – Acts 20:21

Statement of Faith

The Scriptures

We believe that the Holy Scriptures are the final authority in all matters of faith and practice for the Christian. We believe that the originals were given by God as holy men of God spake by the Holy Ghost (II Pet 1:21). We believe that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God (II Tim 3:16), and that the Holy Scriptures for English speaking people are found solely in the Authorized Version (commonly called the King James Version). We believe the Bible does not just contain the “principles”, “thoughts”, “ideas”, or “message” of God, but that the Bible is a BOOK that you can hold in your hand, containing the 66 books of inspired canon, preserved for God’s people (Psa 12:6-7).

About God

We believe that God is that Author of all physical and spiritual life (Gen 1; John 1:1-4, 12-13), and that God is One God (I Cor 8:5-6, Isa 44:8). We subscribe to the Biblical truth that God is a Trinity; that He is three persons as One God. We believe in God the Father (Eph 4:6), God the Son (Matt 14:33, 27:54), and God the Holy Ghost (Matthew 28:19). We believe the fact that these three are one has been made clear by I John 5:7, We believe that God created man in His own image (Gen 1:27), and as such a man has a body, soul and spirit (I Thess 5:23), and yet is one unit, so God is a triune being in that he is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and yet One God. We believe that although they are one God, they are also three distinct persons that have different roles and functions and yet equal (II Jn 1:3). We reject the “Jesus only” theory, that Jesus is the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (Mt 17:8, Mk 9:8). We believe that all three persons are to be reverenced, trusted and obeyed by all beings that were created by Him.

God the Father

We believe that God the Father is the “soul” part of God, separate and outside of His Creation, and yet fills the heaven and the earth (dwelling in the light; Jer 23:24). We believe that God the Father is the One mentioned in Genesis 1:1 as the Creator Almighty, named JEHOVAH, the I AM of the Old Testament (Ex 3:14, 6:3). We further believe that it is God’s seed that was planted in Mary (Lk 1:35), making God the Father of the physical body of the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God the Father is eternal and everlasting (Isa 57:15). We do not believe it is the Father that died on the cross, but Jesus, the physical manifestation of God (Mt 27:46, Mk 15:34, Psa 22:1).

God the Son

We believe that Jesus Christ is God manifested in human flesh (I Tim 3:16). We believe that He was one with the Father (Jn 10:30), and fully filled with the Holy Spirit (Lk 4:1). We believe that He existed before His coming into the world as the Word (Jn 1:1, 14; 11:27; 3:16-18). We believe that it is this manifestation of God that was formed according to the seed of Abraham (Heb 2:16-17), the seed of king David (Rm 1:3). We believe He will be seated physically upon a throne in Jerusalem to rule and reign over the whole world (Lk 1:32, Acts 2:30). We believe that Jesus Christ is the central theme of the Scriptures from beginning to end (Jn 5:39, Gen 1:1, Jn 1:1, I Jn 1:1, Rev 22:21, Lk 24:44, Acts 26:22-23). We believe that the testimony of Scripture is that Jesus Christ is God (I Jn 5:20), and also the Son of God (Mt 26:63, Mk 3:11); there is no contradiction in these terms.
We believe that this same Jesus was born of a virgin, the virgin Mary (Lk 1:26-27, Mt 1:18-25). We do not believe in the liberal fancies of Christ-rejecting scholarship that says that “virgin” (Isa 7:14) should be “young woman”. We believe in the supernatural birth of our Lord Jesus Christ through the human vessel of one who had not yet known a man carnally (Lk 1:34), and that the seed was supernaturally planted as a divine conception (Lk 1:30-33, 35). We do not believe that God’s use of the virgin Jewess in any way deifies her, or earns her reverence of any kind, for she too was a sinner, and did not remain a virgin (Mt 1:25, 12:47, Psa 69:8). We reject the idea that Jesus Christ was the eternal Son of God, but we believe that when Jesus was begotten, in time, He became the Son when He was born (Heb 1:5-6).
We believe that He is the One who lived a sinless life (I Pet 2:22; Rm 8:3), bore our sins in His own body on the cross (I Pet 2:24), and by His shed blood (God’s blood Acts 20:28) paid for the sins of the whole world (I Jn 2:2), specially of those who believe (I Tim 4:10). We believe that it is the man Christ Jesus who died on the cross, not the Father nor the Spirit. We believe that it is this manifestation of God (I Tim 3:16), by God’s grace, that connects us and reconciles us back to God (I Tim 2:5) through faith in Him. We believe that Jesus Christ descended into Hell (Acts 2:24-27), but it is apparent that the payment for sin was finished before He got there (John 19:30). We believe that He is the only Man to have conquered death and been resurrected under His own power (Jn 10:17-18, 20:7-9, Mt 28:6), and by God (Acts 2:32, 10:40, Rm 10:9, Gal 1:1, Eph 1:20, Col 2:12).

God the Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God (Rm 8:9, I Thess 4:8). We believe that when Jesus Christ was on this earth, He was fully and completely filled with that Spirit (Isa 61:1).
We do not make a strict distinction between the Holy Spirit and the Holy Ghost, except that we recognize that the Holy Spirit has been present throughout all history working with mankind in various ways, and that the Holy Ghost is given to the Church (Jn 20:22). The reason for the change in name is that a “ghost” as such, is the spirit of a dead person (Jn 19:30, Mt 27:50, Mk 15:37, Lk 23:46), and that person that died was Jesus Christ, so the Holy Spirit is called the “Spirit of Christ” (Rm 8:9, Phil 1:19).
We believe that although all men’s breath comes from God (Gen 2:7, Job 33:4), the Holy Spirit does not dwell in any who have not repented of their sins and put their faith in Jesus Christ. We believe the Spirit is given by the Father (Lk 11:13) so He can dwell in all those who believe (Eph 1:13, 4:30) forever (Jn 14:16). We believe that it is this Spirit that baptizes us into the spiritual body of our Lord Jesus Christ, and makes us one with Him (I Cor 12:11-14). We believe it is the Holy Spirit that has a primary part in the operation of the new birth (Jn 3:6), and the sealing of a believer forever in Christ (Eph 1:13, 4:30, II Cor 1:22, 5:5).
We believe that the Holy Spirits role is to convict the hearts of men and women, through the preaching of the word of God, of their unbelief and/or rejection of the saving gospel and the Saviour Jesus Christ.
After conversion, the Holy Ghost is the source of all power in the believer’s life (Acts 1:8). His ministry is to be the teacher of truth (Jn 16:13), to comfort (Jn 16:7, 14:16-17), to bear fruit in the believer’s life (Rm 14:17; Gal 5), and to intercede for the believer (Rm 8:26-27).
The Holy Spirit gives all believers the ability to properly worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:23; I Cor 12:3) (Acts 5:31-32) Acts 1:2-8. The Holy Spirit testifies not of Himself, but of Jesus Christ (Jn 16:13-14, I Cor 12:3).

Creation

We believe that the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit corporately created all things, (John 1:1-3, Gen 1:1-3), and that God upholds all Creation by His words (Heb 1:1-3). We believe that God is the author of all physical and spiritual life (Jn 3, II Cor 5:17), the Creator of all worlds (Heb 11:3), and no other. We believe that the means whereby He created all things are clearly stated in Genesis chapters 1-2, and we reject the idea of progressive, evolutionary creation. We believe that God created the heaven and the earth in six literal days (Ex 20:11), with each day being a morning and an evening (Genesis 1), with two sets of 12 hours for day and night (John 11:9).
Because of this, we reject the idea of millions of years, and reject the teachings of the “day age theory”. Although we would not break fellowship with our brothers and sisters over the belief in this theory, we do reject it outright on the basis that it does not have enough substantial evidence in Scripture to support it. We do believe that belief in such coupled with the evolutionary philosophies of the lost world will be of great detriment to the Church as a whole, and will cause the rejection of a literal interpretation of Genesis. We would consider that kind of belief as heretical and non-Christian.
We believe that since He is the Author of all Creation, He would be the One responsible for “natural” disasters, not “mother earth”. He may have His own purposes for doing so, whether for judgment on a nation or for testing of His own people, but the fact remains that the Scriptures are very clear that God controls the elements of nature (Psa 89:9, 68:9, 105:32, 135:7, 147:8, Jonah 1:15, Matt 8:26-27). We do reject all worship of nature as heretical, whether it be outright pagan or else cleverly disguised as a “reverence for life”. We reject “animal rights”, PETA, and the like movements as absurd and non-Christian. Along these same lines, we reject the exaltation of man as the “measure of all things”, we reject humanism, and any philosophy which would put man in the position given in Romans chapter 1. Although we know that the Lord has told us that a “righteous man regardeth the life of his beast” (Prov 12:10), and we know there is no excuse for cruelty, and although we know that God cares for the souls of men, the Christian should not focus his attention on men or animals, but on service to Christ, as He is the Creator we serve.
We believe that God created everything “very good” in the beginning (Gen 1:31), and that the environment in which the Fall occurred was perfect and complete. We believe that God is not the author of confusion (I Cor 14:33), and the He did not desire for sin and death to enter into the world, and has no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezk 33:11). We believe that God as Creator is self evident, and that no man has any excuse for not believing this obvious truth (Rm 1:20-23, Psa 19:1). We reject all doctrines, teachings, or philosophies contrary to the stated facts of Creation in Scripture.

Man

We believe that man was created by God for His own pleasure (Rev 4:11) on the sixth day of Creation (Gen 1:26-31, 2:7, 19). We believe that man was created perfect in the image of God (Gen 1:26) as a tripartite being (I Thess 5:23), sinless and in a state of innocence. The first man was Adam, made from the dirt (Gen 2:7) and the first woman was Eve, made from a rib (Gen 2:21-25, 3:20) and place in a perfect environment called Eden (Gen 2:8-17). We do not believe this is allegorical. We believe that man through his own free will choice chose to go contrary to God’s will by partaking of the fruit which God forbade him (Gen 3:1-6), and was judged according to what God had already told him would happen (Gen 2:16-17). We believe that Eve was deceived (beguiled II Cor 11:2, Gen 3:13), but Adam was not deceived (I Tim 2:14). Both parties has the last name “Adam” (Gen 5:2), so it was Adam (one flesh) that brought sin into the world (Rom 5:12). We believe that mankind fell from his perfection at this point, gained a knowledge of good and evil, and was kicked out of the paradise that God had created for him. This created a break in his fellowship with his Creator. We believe that at the point Adam partook of the fruit, his spirit died within him (Eph 2:1, 5, Col 2:13, I Pet 3:18), and he lost the full image of God (cf Heb 1:3, II Cor 4:4, Col 1:14-15, I Cor 11:7). All generations after Adam were born after Adam’s fallen image (Gen 5:1).
We believe that this pattern is the same for all mankind today, that man is born with a natural tendency towards sin (Rom 5:12, 7:5), that he is in a state of innocence until he has an understanding of good and evil (Rom 7:9-12), and that through his own choice to sin against God (Rom 3:23), he is personally responsible to repent and believe on the Saviour (Acts 17:30), Jesus Christ to be reconciled to his Creator. Men are totally depraved in that their ability to commit transgression is limitless, and their good deeds are only works in service to sin (Prov 21:4), but man’s depravity does not extend to the will – that is, he can still make the choice to repent and believe the gospel (Rom 10:9-10). Without the Lord, all of a man’s life is a life of vanity (Ecc 9:9, 11:8-10, 12:13-14), loneliness, hopelessness (Eph 2:12), having no power to deliver himself from his own sin (Rom 8:6-7) or his own death (Ecc 8:8, Psa 22:29), and is destined to everlasting destruction for ever (Rev 20:15) without the reception of God’s saving grace.
We believe that the woman was made to be a help meet (meaning “fitting”) for Adam (Gen 2:18), and not that Adam was made for the woman (I Cor 11). We believe that each creature was made distinct with different roles for each one according to how God designed them. We therefore reject feminism as a doctrine of Satan (Gen 3:16, Eph 5:22, I Pet 3:1-2), and all attempts to make men and women “equal” (meaning the same in function, role, or attitude) is a perversion of God’s design in Creation. We believe that both men and women should be content and rejoice for the way that God made them, and find out God’s plan and will for their lives in their service to Him.
We believe that man consists of a spirit, soul, and body (I Thess 5:23). His spirit is that breath of life that he breathes (nostrils), and that departs from his when he dies. We believe that when the body dies it goes in the grave, but the body is not the person, but the vessel for the person. We believe that the soul is a spiritual entity that is shaped like the body (Luke 16:23-24, Rev 6:10-11), and that when a man dies, his soul departs to another location (Gen 35:18). We reject the Jehovah’s witness doctrine of “soul sleep”, that the soul stays in the grave with the body.
In the Old Testament, it was either Paradise (Luke 23:43; called Abraham’s bosom, Luke 16:22) or Hell. In the Church Age, it is either Heaven or Hell (shall my servant be also; absent from). The body of all believers in Jesus Christ will be resurrected at the rapture (I Thess 5), and the body’s of the unsaved dead will be resurrected at the White Throne Judgment (Rev 20:11-15), and their soul and body will be cast into the lake of fire (Matt 10:28, Rev 20:11-15).

Marriage

We believe that God created man and woman perfectly in the beginning, with a natural desire for sexual pleasures between each other in a fully committed marital relationship (Gen 2:23-24 cf Gen 1:31; Matt 19:4-6, I Cor 7:2-5). We do not believe that such natural desires are sinful, as they are part of the Creation of God, but that sexual deviancy (using your sexuality outside of the bounds that God created I Cor 6:15-16) is sinful because it is unnatural and contrary to God’s design. Such activities would be sodomy (homosexuals – Lev 18:11), beastiality (Ex 22:19, Dt 27:21), wantonness (Rom 13:13, II Pet 2:18), and any physical relationships outside of a full commitment of one man and one woman (Heb 13:4). We do not believe that the body God created was made for fornication (I Cor 6:13, I Thess 4:3-5), and it is damaging not only physically, but psychologically to all who participate in such vile activities (I Cor 6:18).
We believe that marriage is strictly between a man and a woman (Matt 19:4-5), and that divorce is not a part of God’s plan, but was instituted because of hardness of heart (). We believe that there are two cases for divorce as found in scripture:
1. Fornication – either marriage partner stepping out on the other and joining their flesh to someone other than their marriage partner (Matt 19:9; I Cor 6:15-16)
2. Abandonment by a lost spouse – God has warned believers about marrying unbelievers (II Cor 6:14, I Cor 7:12-13, 16), but if it does occur, and the unsaved abandons the saved in their marital relationship, the believer is not under bondage in that situation (I Cor 7:15).
We believe that although there are some cases for divorce found in Scripture, that there should always be an attempt at reconciliation regardless of these allowances. We believe that divorce and remarriage under any other circumstances can cause adultery (Matt 19:9). We believe that remarriage can cause trouble in the believer’s flesh and so should be avoided (I Cor 7:27-28). We firmly believe that for this present age the believer would do well to stay single if he or she can, and to serve the Lord all their days fully, in order to avoid the pitfalls of wrong choices or trouble in the flesh (I Cor 7:7-8, 25-26, 29-35). We believe this should be encouraged where it can be, as many a man or woman has quit the ministry for a spouse.
We believe that the structure in the Christian home is laid out in the New Testament. The man is the head of the home (I Cor 11:3, 9), and the woman is to be in subjection to her husband (Eph 5:22). The man is to provide for his own (I Tim 5:8), and the woman is to be a keeper at home (Titus 2:5). Both men and women are responsible to teach the successive generations about their obedience to the Lord (Eph 6:4). The reason for this structure in the marriage relationship is to picture Jesus Christ and the Church; the man is to represent Christ in taking care of and providing for the physical and spiritual needs of his bride, a picture of the Church (Eph 5:28-33). The Church is supposed to be in full subjection to Jesus Christ in every thing, and so is the wife to her husband (Eph 5:24). The husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it (Eph 5:25), to honour her as the weaker vessel (I Peter 3:7). The wife is to show reverence and obedience in quiet service to her husband (I Peter 3:4). Deviations from this pattern remove Jesus Christ from the center of the marriage, and will cause issues and problems in those areas where the word of God is not obeyed. We believe that the children are not to have rule in the home, but are to be taught to subject themselves to the ruling authority (Eph 6:1-3). This produces an obedient citizen of heaven, who has learned to obey that Absolute ruling authority, Jesus Christ. This will also give them every opportunity to be an effective witness for Jesus Christ. Without submission in the home, there will be a lack of submission in the Church, in the school, on the job, and unto Christ.

The Devil

We believe that the Devil (Satan Rev 12:9, Acts 26:18) is the enemy of all righteousness, and the arch-enemy of the Almighty; the accuser of the brethren (Job 1;2; Rev 12:10, Zech 3:1-2), and the devourer of men (I Pet 5:8). We believe that, like everything else, Lucifer was created perfect in the beginning. He was the “anointed cherub” (Ezekiel 28:14-15) that covered the throne of God, called Lucifer (meaning “light bearer” Isaiah 14:12). We believe he had some part in the music of heaven (Ezekiel 28:13; Job 38:6-7). He also had a throne given to him, which in the pride of his own heart, determined to exalt it above God’s throne (Isa 14:12-13). He had the power of death (Heb 2:14), and so directed Eve to sin. He manifests himself as an angel of light in order to deceive (II Cor 11:14-15). He is called the “god of this world” (II Cor 4:4), but since Jesus Christ bought the world when He died on the cross, Satan will lose his kingdom when Christ returns (Mt 28:18, Rev 11:15). He has not been bruised yet by that prophecy in Genesis 3:15, but he will be shortly (Rom 16:20). His permanent home is in the lake of fire, in Hell (Rev 20:7-10), the place which was prepared specifically for him (Matt 25:41).

Sin

We believe that sin is primarily a transgression of God’s law (I Jn 3:4), but can also be inward indulgence (Prov 24:9), or the omission of something God instructed you to do. Sin is a transgression in thought, word, or deed. The nature of sin is that of commission and omission. You can commit an act of sin by violating your conscience or the scriptures (Rom 14:23), or you can neglect to do something you were told to do:
1. A lost man neglects to trust Christ, he is found condemned (Jn 3:18, 36)
2. A saved man does not fulfill his calling as a Christian (I Cor 15:34)
We believe that the process of sin is found in James chapter 1. It starts with the thought of sin or lust coming through your mind as a presentation, and then your conscience will bring to light whether it is right or wrong by natural order or by Scripture, and then your decision comes into place. We believe that at this point where a man debates whether or not he will indulge in or commit transgression, that sin has already occurred. The decision then is made, and the action is taken, and there is either victory or defeat in that man’s life. This is called the doctrine of peccability, or the ability to sin. When lust is indulged in, sin is brought forth, and when the sin is done with you it will bring forth death (James 1:14-15).
We believe that every unsaved man has a dead spirit (Eph 2:1), and all of the works that he does are dead works (Heb 6:1, 9:14) in service to sin and his own flesh (John 8:34, Rom 7:25). We believe that upon regeneration, this dead spirit is made alive and joined to Christ (Eph 2:1) by the operation of the Holy Spirit (Col 2:12). We believe that the believer is then made partaker of the divine nature (II Peter 1:4), and made a new creature (II Cor 5:17) that is now capable of properly serving God (Rom 8:8-9).
We believe that there is an internal struggle within the believer between the flesh and the Spirit (Gal 5:17), and that there must be a conscious yielding to the Spirit of God in order to obtain victory (Rom 6:13, 19). The flesh wants to continue to sin, and despises the new nature being there (Rom 7:17-18; 8:8, 13). The Spirit of God continues to work in the believer’s life trying to produce something useful to God through him (Phil 2:12-13, Rom 8:3-4, Titus 2:14). We believe that there are works of the flesh (Gal 5:19-21) and fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-24). We believe that every act of yielding to the flesh is a dead work (Heb 6:1, 9:14), because the flesh is dead (Rom 8:10). We believe that every step in yielding to the Spirit of God is an act of self denial, and will yield the fruit of the Spirit (Rom 8:13, 6; 14:17; Heb 12:11).
We believe that the only victory over sin is through our Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that sin is forgiven and pardoned on a permanent basis in light of eternity upon receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour. We believe that because we are still in this body of flesh and subject to temptation that we all still have the capability to yield to the flesh and commit sin. We do not, however, believe that this is an excuse for the Christian to continue to sin (Rom 6:1), but we believe that the Christian can have full victory over his sin and his poor decisions in life by yielding himself wholly to the control of the Holy Spirit of God (Rom 6:6-7, 11-14). We believe that this realization and victory can be had by the spiritual growth of the individual. We believe that any one who believes they “have arrived” has not yet come to understand his victory over sin in his own life, and instead has been deceived, and yielded himself to pride and a boast (Rom 16:18, Gal 6:14). We believe that since Christ is the only man who was ever sinless, and that since He is in you (Rom 8:9-10) and working through you (Phil 2:12-13), that the only way to victory is to let Him have the control in your day to day decisions (Rom 8:1, 4).
We believe that without the Lord Jesus Christ and His saving power, man is hopelessly enslaved to the power of sin, and will be completely and utterly helpless to save himself from himself.

Hell

We believe that Hell is the place of the eternal damned who have rejected God as their ruler, and Jesus as their Saviour and King. We believe that Hell was originally created for the Devil and his angels (Matt 25:41), and was not created for man. Man will go there by default because of his sin, for his service to sin makes him a rebel (John 8:34), and his father the Devil (John 8:44), and so he goes where his father goes. A man must be born again and become a child of God so that God will be his Father, and that man can then go where his Father is.
We believe that Hell is a literal place of fiery torment (Luke 16:28, 23-24), containing the souls of the lost dead (Matt 25:41, 46; 23:33 II Thess 1:8-9). We believe it is God’s prison for lost transgressors, having literal gates, locks, and bars (Matt 16:18; Jonah 2:1-6; Rev 1:18) and no escape (Luke 16:26). We believe that Hell is in the heart of the earth (Psalm 63:9, Deuteronomy 32:22, Jonah 2:2-6, Psalm 86:13, Proverbs 15:24, Isaiah 14:9, 15, Ezekiel 31:16, Amos 9:2), and that it will be cast into the lake of fire (Rev 20:14). We believe there are degrees of Hell, that some will receive greater damnation than others (Matt 23:14, Mark 12:40, Luke 20:47).

Heaven

We believe that there are three heavens (II Cor 12:1-3), the first is the atmosphere above our heads (Prov 23:5), the second being outer space (Josh 10:13), and the third is the residing place of God (Mark 16:19, John 6:33). We believe that the soul of all believers in Christ Jesus, upon death and the giving up of their spirit (Ecc 8:8, Mark 15:39), will depart and be with Jesus Christ (Phil 1:23, II Cor 5:8-9). We believe that this place is what we call “heaven”, specifically New Jerusalem (Rev 21:1-3). We believe that heaven will be the place of eternal bliss for all believers; a place where the soul of the believer is free from sin, being free from the body of dead works (I Cor 15:50-57). We believe that this heaven is where the throne of God is (Matt 23:22, Rev 4:2), with spiritual beings worshiping Him (Rev 4:8-11), and where we will be rewarded for our service to God on this earth (Rev 22:12, II Cor 5:10).

Salvation

We believe that salvation is a free gift of God, given by His mercy and grace, offered freely to all men that they might be saved. We believe that salvation is not found in a religion, in good deeds, or in charity work (Eph 2:8-9). We do not believe that salvation can be earned through religious activity such as baptism, church attendance, tithing, or service in any way shape or form in the church. We believe salvation is in a person, and that person is the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that with men there must be a conscious choice of dependence upon the person of the Lord Jesus Christ to save them, that it is not merely an intellectual assent to a body of facts (which would be religion), but that it is the faith and trust in a true and living person, with a heart attitude of repentance and seeking of forgiveness for sin. We reject the concept of “Lordship salvation”, that a man’s salvation is dependent upon God being in control of every aspect of his life in order to be saved. We also reject the idea that repentance means to stop all sin prior to salvation, as an unsaved man has absolutely no power to cease from his own sin (II Pet 2:14). Repentance is a turning (Jer 31:18) towards God from sin and/or idols (I Thess 1:9) by a heart change (Rom 10:9-10 cf Heb 3:12, 10:22) and seeking forgiveness for their sins through the merits of Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21, 26:20). Repentance alone cannot save (Matt 27:3), neither can confession (Ex 9:27, 10:16), but a heart attitude of humility as a sinner, and submission to the righteousness of Jesus Christ (Rom 10:3).
We reject all teachings that our own righteousness is sufficient to gain favour with God, and we embrace the Scriptural teaching that a man must forsake his own righteousness in order to accept the perfect sinless righteousness of God, which is Jesus Christ (Rom 3:21). We believe that it is upon the merits of Jesus Christ alone through the grace of Almighty God towards sinners that a man is saved (Titus 3:5, Eph 2:8-9), which must be accepted by the one who is offered that grace (John 1:11-12, 3:16-18, I John 5:13). We believe that all men, not just a select few, are offered this saving grace (I Tim 2:4, II Peter 3:9).
We believe that the gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (I Cor 15:3-4). We believe that if Jesus was not sinless there would be no perfect sacrifice, and that if there was no resurrection there would be no power of eternal life (I Cor 15:12-19). We believe that because Jesus Christ rose from the dead, He is able and willing to grant eternal life to all who will repent and believe, because He has the power, and has proven it by the resurrection. We believe also that a man must believe that Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh (I Tim 3:16, John 8:24). We believe that confession that Jesus is the Son of God is confession of His deity also (John 5:18). We believe that if a person does not believe what the Scripture says about Jesus, but instead formulates his/her own idea of who Jesus is, that they cannot be saved. As stated before, salvation is in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the way we know about that person is through the Scriptures, so a rejection of the Scriptural teaching of who Jesus is stated to be is a rejection of the Son Himself (I John 5:10). We believe that the faith to believe is indeed a gift given by God (Eph 2:8, II Tim 2:25), but also that every man is dealt enough faith to believe as he’s been commanded (Rom 12:3).
We further believe that when a man is saved, he is a new creature (II Cor 5:17), and as such there should be a change made in his life to demonstrate his conversion. Faith in Jesus Christ produces a desire in the individual to take the next steps to please God. Just as a baby desires milk naturally, so there will be a hunger in the new believer to rejoice in his salvation and begin his new life (I Pet 2:2). We believe that the new believer should be instructed to do works meet for repentance (Acts 20:21, 26:20) and put away his former life, to show God that he appreciates his salvation and is ready to begin that new life he has been given (II Cor 5:17, Col 1:13). We believe that it is God who will produce good works through the new believer because he is saved (Eph 2:10, Titus 2:12-14, Gal 1:4), not in order to be saved (Eph 2:8-9).

Eternal Security

We believe that when a man or woman receives Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour, that they are saved permanently forever. We believe that once a man puts his faith in Christ, that he is sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day that they get their new body (Eph 1:13, 4:30). We believe that upon salvation the soul is committed to Christ, and in light of this, nothing a man could do could allow him to lose his own soul (I Pet 4:19) because it’s not in his care anymore. Once we are reconciled to God through the merits of Jesus Christ alone (Rom 5:10, II Cor 5:18-20), we are known of God (Gal 4:9), and He can never say to the believer, “I never knew you” (Matt 7). We believe that when a man is saved, he is placed into the body of Jesus Christ and made one with him (I Cor 12:12-14, I Cor 6:17, 19-20), and God will not rip out a member of the body of His Son (Eph 5:29-30).
We believe that the free gift of eternal life cannot be earned or maintained by works, neither can it be retracted, because a retraction of a gift would not make it a gift, neither would it make it free (Eph 2:8-9). We believe that whoseover believeth in Jesus Christ will receive everlasting life, and if you could lose salvation, it would not be everlasting, and that would make God a liar (Num 23:19). We believe that the believer in Christ has everlasting life right this minute (John 3:36, 11:25-26), and at the moment of salvation has passed from death to life (John 5:24). We do not believe that God has lied about His promises to keep those who put their faith in Him (Rom 8:38-39).
We believe that eternal life is Jesus Christ (I John 1:2, 5:11-13), and that once you receive Him (John 1:12), you will never lose Him because He will never leave you (Heb 13:15). We believe that once you have committed your soul to Jesus Christ, you are no longer in charge of it, so you could not possibly lose it (I Peter 1:5). We believe that when you are born again (I John 3:6-10, John 3:1-6) you become a child of God (John 1:12), and adopted into God’s family (Rom 8:14-16), and that God would not put those spiritually justified children in hell.
We believe in spiritual circumcision, where God cuts the flesh away from the soul (Col 2:11-12), just as the unclean is cut away from the flesh in the Old Testament (Gen 17:11-14). The purpose of spiritual circumcision is so that the sins of the flesh do not affect the soul, and no sin that could be committed would affect the eternal destiny of the inner man dwelling within.

The Christian Life

We believe that the Christian life is characterized by a life of obedience to Jesus Christ. We make a specific distinction between a believer and a Christian, because anybody can be saved, but a Christian is one who is disciplined as a follower of Jesus (Acts 11:26, II Tim 2:19). We believe that although a Christian is free from the ordinances of the Old Testament law, that God desires to fulfill the righteousness of the law through them (Rom 8:4). We do not believe that Christian liberty is a license to sin. We do not take that where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty (II Cor 3:17), to mean that a freedom to do whatever you want means God is in it. A Christian is freed from the confines of the law for salvation, but if he wants to be a Christian, he is supposed to be living a life of righteousness and holiness. This is the purpose for which God saves a man or a woman (Titus 2:12-13, Gal 1:4).
We believe that the Christian’s life will be unsatisfactory if he continues to be conformed to the world (Rom 12:1-3). We believe that the new convert must separate himself from the old life, and separate himself unto the work of the Lord (Rom 1:1). The Christian’s life must be characterized by good works and service to God in order to be a fulfilling, fruitful life (John 15:8, 10:10).
We believe that although there is no question as to a Christian’s security in Christ, we do know from the Scriptures that every believer will have to give account to God for all that he does with his/her body (I Cor 5, Rom 14). We believe that once the believer is saved, God begins to do a good work within them (Phil 1:6), and desires to work that out in the believer (Phil 2:12-13) where people can see it (Matt 5:14-16).
We believe that the doctrines of justification, sanctification, redemption, etc. all have a part in the believer’s life, and that not all of these are realized at the moment of salvation. For example, we are redeemed (bought, purchased), but the day of redemption has not occurred as of yet, but will in the future (Rom 8:23, Eph 1:14). We are sanctified (set apart for God’s use), but we are told that our sanctification must be manifest in our lives (I Thess 4:3). We are justified permanently through the merits of Jesus Christ in the eternal sense, but God will not justify our wicked deeds in the practical sense of our day to day lives (Ex 23:7) and so we will be chastened and judged for our rebellion as children (Heb 12:5-9), not as condemned sinners. We believe that such things have dual application in the believer’s life, and are progressively manifested as the child of God grows. All of these things are given at salvation, but they are not all realized until they are manifest in our lives.
Some other things are not fully manifested until the future. There is a day of redemption, already discussed, which would include the full adoption of us as Sons of God (John 1:12) where we are fully regenerated in the flesh, and our predestination to be conformed to the image of Christ is completed (Romans 8:29-30) in our resurrection and glorification.

The Great Commission

We believe that it is every Christian’s duty to go into all the world and preach the gospel as our Lord Jesus Christ has commanded all of His disciples (Mark 16:15). We believe that it is the duty of every believer in Jesus Christ to tell their neighbors, their families, their friends, their coworkers, and anybody that they meet, of the saving gospel of the grace of God. We believe this on the basis that God has told us that He would have all men to be saved (I Tim 2:4, II Pet 3:9), and it is our duty to preach that message to them. We do not believe that preaching the gospel is dependent on whether or not we think said person will receive it (Mark 16:15-16), but we believe that we are to obey the Lord whether anybody receives it or not (Ezk 2:7).
We believe that the Publick Ministry is a crucial part of the Great Commission (Acts 20:20), and plays a very important part in the local Church. We believe this because that method has been the method of the prophets, the apostles, Jesus Christ Himself, and all the New Testament Church. To take a publick stand for the Lord Jesus Christ does something for the body of Christ that no other ministry seems to be able to accomplish. This is a primary way to suffer for the Lord Jesus’ sake (Heb 13:12, Phil 1:29, Acts 5:41). We whole heartedly embrace all forms of ministry in public and private, from door to door ministry, publick tracting, scripture signs, to preaching in a building or church, or preaching on the streets. We believe that a community should be saturated with the word of God, and that all the resources available should be maximized to that end. It is the directive will of God that His words be preached in all the world, and our labour to that end will be commended (I Thessalonians 1, Matt 25:20-23).
We believe that the Great Commission does not stop at the conversion of a soul, but that the Lord would have new converts to be discipled and taught how to follow Jesus in their Christian life (Mt 28:19-20). We do not believe that the new convert will grow into a mature, God loving Christian without the ministry of the word of God and the local church (Acts 20:28, I Pet 2:2, Heb 10:25).

Dress Standards

We believe that men should dress like men and ladies should dress like ladies, and that cross dressing or else subtle cross overs into opposite genders are abomination to the Lord (Dt 22:5). We believe that a lady ought to be modest in her own personal life, but dress standards should be regulated in the local church and in ministry (I Tim 2:9, I Cor 14:40), that we may represent Jesus Christ to the best of our ability (Col 3:23, II Cor 5:20). We do not believe that femininity and modest are only issues of the heart, lest it be in the heart and not manifest itself outwardly. The Bible commands modesty of apparel, not the heart (I Tim 2:9). We believe that a lady ought to be of a meek and quiet spirit humble in the way she presents herself (I Pet 3:4).
We believe that men should be clean in appearance, and should present themselves as ambassadors for the Lord Jesus in whatever culture they may find themselves in (II Cor 5:20). We believe that men ought to be strong and faithful (Eph 6:10), enduring hardness (II Tim 2:3), and should take care of the weak (Rm 15:1, I Thss 5:14). We believe that those inner foundations affect the outward appearance, but also that the outward appearance should reflect the inward man, lest they be a deceiver of their own heart (James 1:26).

Music

We believe in conservative music, in serving the Lord with reverential songs that lift up the spirit and have an emphasis in the music on the spirit. We believe in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs for the Christian (Eph 5:19, Col 3:16). We believe that it is not only the words that matter in a song, but also the music, that it be both reverential, strengthening for the child of God, and encouraging of spiritual activity. We believe we ought to serve the Lord in both spirit and in truth (Jn 4:24).

Ordinances

We believe that there are only two ordinances given in Scripture – believer’s baptism, and the Lord’s supper. We do not believe that “foot washing” is an ordinance, but an example of service (Jn 13:5-17).

Baptism

We believe that there are several different kinds of baptism listed in Scripture. When a soul is born again, he is said to be baptized (immersed) into the body of Jesus Christ (Gal 3:27, Rom 6:3, Eph 4:5). We are told that they are to get baptized in water after their conversion as a picture of what happened to them when they were born again (Matt 28:19). There is also a baptism of suffering that is taught to James and John (Mt 20:22-23, Lk 12:50 cf Lk 22:42, Jn 18:11). John the baptist preached about the coming of spiritual baptism by the Holy Ghost, but also mentioned that the lost souls would experience a baptism of fire (Mk 1:8, Acts 1:5).
We do not believe that immersion in water does anything to anyone but get them wet. We do not believe that it cleanses anyone from sins (I Pet 3:21), and that belief is the condition for salvation, not baptism (Mk 16:16). We believe that it is an ordinance given by God for us to do to all those who have believed in Jesus Christ and have been baptized into His body. This is called believer’s baptism. We do not believe that believer’s baptism is part of the gospel (I Cor 1:17), but is after one has believed the gospel (Acts 8:36-38). We reject Acts 2:38 as being the gospel in it’s entirety, because the gospel is clearly stated in I Corinthians 15:3-4 without any water anywhere in the passage.
We reject the idea that baptism is a replacement of Old Testament circumcision, and we reject the idea that a valid form of baptism is sprinkling. The word “baptism” means “immersed”, and sprinkling is not immersion. No infant can be baptized for salvation, because a baby is incapable of repentance or belief, and belief precedes baptism. We believe that all new believers are to be baptized in the name of the LORD (Acts 10:48), which is the name of all three persons of the Trinity (Mt 28:19).

The Lord's Supper

We believe that the Lord’s supper was given as an ordinance for the local church to perform (Mt 26:26-29; I Cor 11:2, 23-26). We believe that only believers in Jesus Christ should be partakers, lest they increase their damnation by deceiving themselves (I Cor 11:29-31). We believe that there is no set time as to when, but each administration may do as it deems necessary to do it (I Cor 11:26). We believe that each participant should have a time to examine himself, confess sins, and prepare himself for the communion time (I Cor 11:27-32). We believe that believers should indeed partake (I Cor 10:16-18), and if there be any iniquity in their heart, they should not simply avoid partaking, but that they should repent at that moment and partake (I Cor 11:31). We believe that the administration thereof should be with pure grape juice (Mt 26:29) and unleavened bread (Lk 22:7, Mk 14:12) as a picture of the purity and sinlessness of Christ’s sacrifice.
We reject the doctrine of transubstantiation, that the bread and grape juice turn into the literal body and blood of Christ, as is taught in the Mass. We renounce it as a Satanic deception wrought by the pits of Hell for the damnation of souls. We reject the Mass as unscriptural heresy, a blasphemy of the worst sort, a sacrifice of devils (I Cor 10:20-21) taught by a damnable, false imitation of the Church (Roman Catholic).
We believe that the bread and wine (new wine = grape juice) is a picture and figure of Christ’s suffering and His completed work on Calvary only (Jn 19:30), and that it is not a sacrament (sacrifice), again offering the body of Jesus Christ to suffer. We believe that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ once for all (Heb 9:28; 10:10), finally and forever (Heb 10:12, 14) was sufficient to cleanse anybody from all sin (I Jn 1:7).
We believe that communion time is a celebration and remembrance of what Christ accomplished (Lk 9:31) on the cross for us.

Dispensationalism

We believe in dispensationalism, that is, there are definite divisions in Scripture that must be observed (II Tim 2:15). We believe that the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ instituted a new age which we call “the Church Age”, and the end of this age closes with the rapture of all members of that Church (Rev 4:1, I Thess 5), which is Christ’s body (Eph 1:22-23).
We are pre-tribulational, pre-millenial, and believe in the literal return of Jesus Christ at the Second Advent (Rev 19). We believe all of these prophetic teachings are to be taken literally , so we reject the doctrines of amillenialism, post-millenialism and preterism. We believe there will be a literal White Throne Judgment of the dead, but that believer’s in Jesus Christ will not be judged there. We believe that all believer’s throughout the Church Age will be personally judged at the Judgment seat of Christ (II Cor 5, Rom 14:10-12).

Replacement Theology

We do not believe that in any form the Church has replaced Old Testament Israel. We believe that anybody who believes this is either ignorant and conceited or both (Rom 11:25). We believe that the laying aside of Israel as a nation was because of their rejection as a whole of their Messiah (Matt 27:25), and the salvation and fruitfulness of the Gentiles is to provoke them to investigate Jesus Christ (Rom 11:11-14). We believe that as a nation the Jews are beloved for the Father’s sake (Rom 11:28), although each individual must make a personal choice to trust in Jesus Christ. We believe that Christ rejecting Israel is cursed as long as they continue upon that path (Gal 3:10-11), being guilty of the blood of Jesus Christ (Heb 10:29).

We believe that currently there are many Old Testament prophecies being fulfilled in relation to Israel, and that God is resuming His dealings with them as a nation. We believe that the tribulation, the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jer 30:7), is for the purpose of bringing the nation back into a right relationship with God. We do not believe, however, that because the Jews are beloved of God as a nation, that this exempts the individuals from trusting in Christ (Rom 10:1-3). We believe that any Christ rejecting Jew who dies in his sin will be cast into outer darkness in Hell (Matt 8:12). We believe we ought to pray for their salvation (Psa 122:6). We believe that the covenant made with Abraham in regards to blessings and cursings holds true all through the ages (Gen 12:1-3). In light of that, we do not believe in persecuting the Jew, being cruel to the Jew, or condemning the Jew as permanently forsaken. We believe God’s great salvation is a great privilege that any Gentile dog (Matt 15:22-27) should have the opportunity to be part of God’s salvation (Eph 2:12).

Signs, Wonders, Miracles, Gifts

We believe that the Acts of the Apostles is a transitional book, where God used His apostles for a special purpose of the establishment of the New Testament church (Eph 2:20, 3:5). We believe that there are no more apostles today with the miraculous signs of their time (II Cor 12:12, Acts 1). We do believe that God can still heal today as He sees fit, but we reject the idea of “healers”. New Testament healers did not have problem healing people (Luke 6:19), whether with faith or not (Mark 6:5-6).
We do not believe in the charismatic idea of tongues (glossalia), but “tongues” every where it occurs in Scripture, refers to languages that are known in the world (Gen 10:5, 20, 31, Exod 4:10, 11:7, Deut 28:49, Ezra 4:7, Isa 28:11, 33:19, 66:18, Dan 1:4). We believe that foreign language use in the local assembly should be regulated and translated for the full edification of everyone present (I Cor 14:4-5, 12), lest there be confusion (I Cor 14:33). We believe that the special revelation or ability to speak an unknown tongue at a moments notice is a sign gift to be used for witnessing to Jews (I Cor 14:22), and is not a usual occurance today if at all.
We believe that some signs may occur in relation to the salvation of the Jews (in light of the book of Acts), because the Jewish nation began with signs (Exod 4:1-9) they require a sign to believe a work is from God (I Cor 1:22, 14:22). We believe that the purpose for apostolic signs was to convert unbelieving Israel (II Cor 12:12). We believe that those signs may/may not occur today for the Jewish people considering we are at the closing of the age, and God has resumed His dealings with His nation. But generally speaking, there has already been a sign given to this generation, the resurrection (Matt 12:39). We believe that there are no more apostles today, and anyone who claims apostolic succession should be tested as to whether or not they are one (Mark 16:18; Rev 2:2).
We believe there is no purpose for the working of miracles in the local assembly, as the miracles of spiritual power such as the new birth, the leading/teaching of the Holy Spirit, salvation, and the fact that your name is written in heaven (Luke 10:20) should be satisfactory enough miracles for any believer.
We believe that God may work some unique work where the word of God is not present for the general population. We believe that where the Scriptures are present and available, there is no reason for God to do anything supernatural for anyone to believe (John 12:37, Rom 10:13-15). We believe that although God can do as He pleases, He will not go contrary to His own word (Num 23:19).
We believe that there are unique spiritual gifts given by the Spirit of God for each member of the body of Christ according to His own will (I Cor 12). We believe such would be ministers of the word of God, through preaching, teaching, evangelism, administrations, helps, counsel, and leadership (Eph 4:11-13).
We believe the gifts in operation today are those which would edify the Church (I Cor 14:12), and sign gifts in a Gentile assembly do not edify (I Cor 14:22). We believe those who fancy themselves “apostles” without being able to truly show the goods are ministers of Satan and deceivers of their own hearts and the people they “minister” to (II Cor 11:13-15).