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we believe . . .
- That the Bible is given by inspiration of God, that holy men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit using their own individual style and vocabulary so that what was written was exactly what God wanted written; that the Bible is our final authority in all matters of truth and practice in our lives and in the Church.
- That there is only one living and true God who is creator and upholder of all things; that He is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, truth, goodness and love; that He exists in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
- That the Lord Jesus Christ is God; that He became totally man without ceasing to be fully God; that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin that He might save people from their sins; that He voluntarily laid down His life in order to satisfy divine justice and to give eternal life to all who believe in Him; that He rose bodily from the dead; that He ascended bodily into heaven to the right hand of God the Father as the only true mediator between God and man; that He is the head of His body, the Church; that He is coming again to redeem His own and to judge all who have not placed their trust in Him.
- That the Holy Spirit is God sharing equally with the Father and the Son in the divine essence having the same nature, attributes, and perfections; that He came to make the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ known to the world; that He enables people to see and trust the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior; that He “comes upon” all who believe in Christ which is often referred to as the baptism in the Holy Spirit, indwelling them, making them a part of the Body of Christ, and giving them spiritual gifts.
- That God created an innumerable company of spiritual beings, known as angels who have greater power than man, and are highly ordered and organized; that they speak God’s word, praise God’s person, serve God’s purposes, and execute God’s judgments; that they are sent forth especially to minister on behalf of those who will inherit salvation.
- That one angel, “Lucifer, son of the morning,” sinned through pride, thereby becoming Satan; that a great company of the angels followed him some of whom became demons and are active as his agents and associates in the carrying out of his unholy purposes while others are confined; that Satan is the originator of sin and evil; that he was judged at the cross of Christ although the sentence was not then executed and he now rules as the “god of this world.”
- That God created man directly from the dust of the ground in His image for intimate fellowship with God and to be God’s sovereign representative upon earth; that Adam broke this trust by personally choosing to disobey God which resulted immediately in spiritual death and eventually physical death; that through Adam sin entered the world so that all mankind is born into this world spiritually dead and physically dying; that all men are inherently sinful, being born with a predisposition to sin and do personally sin; that apart from the salvation which is in the Lord Jesus Christ, all men are eternally lost destined to certain judgment and an endless existence separated from God in the lake of fire.
- That salvation is a gracious work of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; that believers have been justified, regenerated or born again, and reconciled to God; that they are sanctified or separated unto God and are being saved from the power of sin enabling them to live holy lives; that one day the body of every believer will be resurrected and will enter into his Lord’s presence holy and free from the presence and pain of sin, and possessing a glorious new body fashioned like the body of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself after His resurrection.
- That believers can be sure that they are saved and they are eternally secured – God the Father has promised it, God the Son provided the sacrifice that forever satisfies the demands of a just God, God the Holy Spirit has pledged Himself as a seal upon and around every believer guaranteeing that the contents will be unspoiled up to the day that the believer is raised into the glorious presence of God.
- That during the present dispensation of grace, God is calling out of this world a special group of people referred to as the church or the Body of Christ of which He is the head; that believers of all times and places are members of what is known as the universal church; that the members of this one spiritual body are directed to associate themselves together in local assemblies known as local churches; that the church exists to hold up before believers and unbelievers the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ; that our Lord Jesus Christ has ordered all local churches to observe two ordinances which are baptism and the Lord’s Supper – baptism being a visible identification with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection, and the Lord’s Supper being a symbol of His broken body and shed blood.
- That the next great event in God’s prophetic program will be the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in the air, often referred to as the Rapture, to receive unto Himself His church, consisting of all Christians who have died as well as those who are alive when He comes; that following the Rapture each believer will be rewarded based on his or her personal faithfulness during his or her life on earth.
- That the Rapture of the church will be followed by a seven-year period of tribulation during which the righteous judgments of God will be poured out on the earth; that this period of tribulation will be climaxed by the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth in power and great glory to destroy His enemies and to establish His Kingdom upon the earth; that for a thousand years (a millennium) following His second coming, the Lord Jesus Christ will reign, along with His saints, over Israel and the nations of this earth in righteousness and justice with peace; that during this period Satan will be bound and placed in the abyss; that the curse which now rests upon the whole creation will be lifted and the earth will become very prosperous, Israel will be restored to her own land and will experience God’s covenant promises, and the whole world will come to the knowledge of God; that in spite of such privilege and blessing, men, unchanged in themselves and not possessing the life of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, will rebel against God at the end of this millennial age being inspired by the Devil who will be released for a short time; that an innumerable company of people from all over the earth will actually attempt to overthrow the throne of Messiah only to meet with utter failure and destruction.
- That at death the spirits of those who have been eternally saved go immediately into the presence of God in heaven where they remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection of their bodies which the Bible calls the first resurrection and it will conclude with the resurrection of all the remaining righteous saints just prior to the Millennium; that point on, their spirits and bodies being reunited shall live with the triune God forever in glory.
- That at death the spirits of those who have not believed will go to Hades, a temporary place for the spirits of the unbelieving where they remain conscious of condemnation and in misery until the final resurrection and judgment at the Great White Throne following the Millennium; that at that resurrection and judgment their reunited spirits and bodies will be cast into the lake of fire (Hell) to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from His heavenly glory and power, forever and ever.
- That having fulfilled His mission to save His people from their sins and to firmly establish the kingdom promised to His father David, the Lord Jesus Christ will deliver up the kingdom to God the Father so that the triune God may be all in all, that His servants may reign with Him, and righteousness will prevail in the new heaven and on the new earth forever and ever.
