I.
The Scriptures
We believe the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired
and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure
of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its
end. Its authority and truth rests on Him alone. We believe the
Holy Scripture in the original manuscript forms is free of errors in
its matter. We further believe that the manuscript records, and all
good translations of the Holy Scripture from the manuscript records
are infallible; are reliable, true, and trustworthy to those who
turn to them in search of God’s truth. We believe the Scriptures
reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and
will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian
union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds,
and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony
to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.
Exodus 24:4; Deuteronomy 4:1-2; 17:19; Joshua 8:34; Psalms
19:7-10; 119:11,89,105,140; Isaiah 34:16; 40:8; Jeremiah 15:16;
36:1-32; Matthew 5:17-18; 22:29; Luke 21:33; 24:44-46; John 5:39;
16:13-15; 17:17; Acts 2:16ff.; 17:11; Romans 15:4; 16:25-26; 2
Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-2; 4:12; 1 Peter 1:25; 2 Peter 1:19-21.
II.
God
We believe there is one and only one living and true God, who is
infinite in Being and perfection. He is an intelligent, spiritual,
and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of
the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections.
God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge
extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the
future decisions of His creatures. To Him we owe the highest love,
reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to
us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal
attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.
A. God the Father
We believe 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.
Genesis 1:1; 2:7; Exodus 3:14; 6:2-3; 15:11ff.; 20:1ff.;
Leviticus 22:2; Deuteronomy 6:4; 32:6; 1 Chronicles 29:10; Psalm
19:1-3; Isaiah 43:3,15; 64:8; Jeremiah 10:10; 17:13; Matthew 6:9ff.;
7:11; 23:9; 28:19; Mark 1:9-11; John 4:24; 5:26; 14:6-13; 17:1-8;
Acts 1:7; Romans 8:14-15; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 4:6;
Ephesians 4:6; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 11:6; 12:9;
1 Peter 1:17; 1 John 5:7.
B. God the Son
We believe Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation
as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the
virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God,
taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities
and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. He
honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His
substitutionary death on the cross He redeemed men from sin. He was
raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His
disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He
ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God
where He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person
is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return
in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His
redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and
ever present Lord.
Genesis 18:1ff.; Psalms 2:7ff.; 110:1ff.; Isaiah 7:14; 53;
Matthew 1:18-23; 3:17; 8:29; 11:27; 14:33; 16:16,27; 17:5; 27;
28:1-6,19; Mark 1:1; 3:11; Luke 1:35; 4:41; 22:70; 24:46; John
1:1-18,29; 10:30,38; 11:25-27; 12:44-50; 14:7-11; 16:15-16,28;
17:1-5, 21-22; 20:1-20,28; Acts 1:9; 2:22-24; 7:55-56; 9:4-5,20;
Romans 1:3-4; 3:23-26; 5:6-21; 8:1-3,34; 10:4; 1 Corinthians 1:30;
2:2; 8:6; 15:1-8,24-28; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; 8:9; Galatians 4:4-5;
Ephesians 1:20; 3:11; 4:7-10; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians
1:13-22; 2:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 3:16; Titus
2:13-14; Hebrews 1:1-3; 4:14-15; 7:14-28; 9:12-15,24-28; 12:2; 13:8;
1 Peter 2:21-25; 3:22; 1 John 1:7-9; 3:2; 4:14-15; 5:9; 2 John 7-9;
Revelation 1:13-16; 5:9-14; 12:10-11; 13:8; 19:16.
C. God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired
holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He
enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men
of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the
Saviour, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He
baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates
Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual
gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the
believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the
Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the
fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the
believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.
Genesis 1:2; Judges 14:6; Job 26:13; Psalms 51:11; 139:7ff.;
Isaiah 61:1-3; Joel 2:28-32; Matthew 1:18; 3:16; 4:1; 12:28-32;
28:19; Mark 1:10,12; Luke 1:35; 4:1,18-19; 11:13; 12:12; 24:49; John
4:24; 14:16-17,26; 15:26; 16:7-14; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4,38; 4:31; 5:3;
6:3; 7:55; 8:17,39; 10:44; 13:2; 15:28; 16:6; 19:1-6; Romans
8:9-11,14-16,26-27; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 3:16; 12:3-11,13;
Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:19;
1 Timothy 3:16; 4:1; 2 Timothy 1:14; 3:16; Hebrews 9:8,14; 2 Peter
1:21; 1 John 4:13; 5:6-7; Revelation 1:10; 22:17.
III. Man
Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image. He
created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation.
The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God's creation.
In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his
Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice man sinned
against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the
temptation of Satan man transgressed the command of God, and fell
from his original innocence whereby his posterity inherit a nature
inclined toward sin. Only the grace of God can bring man into His
holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative
purpose of God. The sacredness of human personality is
evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ
died for man; therefore, every person of every race possesses full
dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.
Genesis 1:26-30; 2:5,7,18-22; 3; 9:6; Psalms 1; 8:3-6; 32:1-5;
51:5; Isaiah 6:5; Jeremiah 17:5; Matthew 16:26; Acts 17:26-31;
Romans 1:19-32; 3:10-18,23; 5:6,12,19; 6:6; 7:14-25; 8:14-18,29; 1
Corinthians 1:21-31; 15:19,21-22; Ephesians 2:1-22; Colossians
1:21-22; 3:9-11.
IV.
Salvation
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is
offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour,
who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer.
In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration,
justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no
salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.
A. Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God's grace
whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a
change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of
sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable
experiences of grace.
Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is
trusting in God’s promise that He will look at the righteousness
from Jesus Christ instead of the believer’s sins.
B. Justification is God's gracious and full acquittal upon
principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and
believe in Christ. Justification brings the believer unto a
relationship of peace and favor with God. Justification is by grace
alone, by faith alone through imputation due to the righteousness of
Jesus Christ.
C. Sanctification is
the transformation of life in growing conformity to Christ
through the power of the Holy Spirit. Sanctification means ongoing
repentance, a life of turning away from sins and to serve Jesus
Christ as our savior and Lord.
D. Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final
blessed and abiding state of the redeemed.
Genesis 3:15; Exodus 3:14-17; 6:2-8; Matthew 1:21; 4:17; 16:21-26;
27:22-28:6; Luke 1:68-69; 2:28-32; John 1:11-14,29; 3:3-21,36; 5:24;
10:9,28-29; 15:1-16; 17:17; Acts 2:21; 4:12; 15:11; 16:30-31;
17:30-31; 20:32; Romans 1:16-18; 2:4; 3:23-25; 4:3ff.; 5:8-10;
6:1-23; 8:1-18,29-39; 10:9-10,13; 13:11-14; 1 Corinthians 1:18,30;
6:19-20; 15:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17-20; Galatians 2:20; 3:13;
5:22-25; 6:15; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-22; 4:11-16; Philippians 2:12-13;
Colossians 1:9-22; 3:1ff.; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 2 Timothy 1:12;
Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 2:1-3; 5:8-9; 9:24-28; 11:1-12:8,14; James
2:14-26; 1 Peter 1:2-23; 1 John 1:6-2:11; Revelation 3:20;
21:1-22:5.
V.
God's Purpose of Grace
Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He
regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It
comprehends all the means in connection with the end. It is the
glorious display of God's sovereign goodness, and is infinitely
wise, holy, and unchangeable. It excludes boasting and promotes
humility.
All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted
in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from
the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end. Believers may
fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve
the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, and bring reproach on
the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on themselves; yet they
shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.
Genesis 12:1-3; Exodus 19:5-8; 1 Samuel 8:4-7,19-22; Isaiah
5:1-7; Jeremiah 31:31ff.; Matthew 16:18-19; 21:28-45; 24:22,31;
25:34; Luke 1:68-79; 2:29-32; 19:41-44; 24:44-48; John 1:12-14;
3:16; 5:24; 6:44-45,65; 10:27-29; 15:16; 17:6,12,17-18; Acts 20:32;
Romans 5:9-10; 8:28-39; 10:12-15; 11:5-7,26-36; 1 Corinthians 1:1-2;
15:24-28; Ephesians 1:4-23; 2:1-10; 3:1-11; Colossians 1:12-14; 2
Thessalonians 2:13-14; 2 Timothy 1:12; 2:10,19; Hebrews 11:39–12:2;
James 1:12; 1 Peter 1:2-5,13; 2:4-10; 1 John 1:7-9; 2:19; 3:2.
VI.
The Church
A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous
local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in
the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the baptism and
the Lord’s Supper as the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His
laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them
by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the
earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ
through democratic processes. In such a congregation each member is
responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord.
Its scriptural officers are pastors, elders, and deacons. While
these men and women are gifted for service in the church as
qualified by Scripture in its entirety, the office of pastor and
elders are limited to men only, as qualified by Scripture.
The New Testament speaks also of the church as the Body of Christ
which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages, believers from
every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation.
Matthew 16:15-19; 18:15-20; Acts 2:41-42,47; 5:11-14; 6:3-6; 13:1-3;
14:23,27; 15:1-30; 16:5; 20:28; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 3:16;
5:4-5; 7:17; 9:13-14; 12; Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:19-22; 3:8-11,21;
5:22-32; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 2:9-14; 3:1-15;
4:14; Hebrews 11:39-40; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Revelation 2-3; 21:2-3.
VII. Baptism and the Lord's Supper
Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the
name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of
obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried,
and risen Saviour, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the
old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ
Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of
the dead.
The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members
of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the
vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His
second coming.
Matthew 3:13-17; 26:26-30; 28:19-20; Mark 1:9-11; 14:22-26; Luke
3:21-22; 22:19-20; John 3:23; Acts 2:41-42; 8:35-39; 16:30-33; 20:7;
Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 10:16,21; 11:23-29; Colossians 2:12.
VIII.
Stewardship
God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all
that we have and are we owe to Him. Christians have a spiritual
debtorship to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel, and
a binding stewardship in their possessions. We shall be committed
to serve Him with our time, talents, and material possessions; and
should recognize all these as entrusted to us to use for the glory
of God and for helping others. According to the Scriptures,
Christians should contribute of their means cheerfully, regularly,
systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancement
of the Redeemer's cause on earth.
Genesis 14:20; Leviticus 27:30-32; Deuteronomy 8:18; Malachi
3:8-12; Matthew 6:1-4,19-21; 19:21; 23:23; 25:14-29; Luke
12:16-21,42; 16:1-13; Acts 2:44-47; 5:1-11; 17:24-25; 20:35; Romans
6:6-22; 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 4:1-2; 6:19-20; 12; 16:1-4; 2
Corinthians 8-9; 12:15; Philippians 4:10-19; 1 Peter 1:18-19.
IX.
The Christian and the Social Order
All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of
Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society. Means and
methods used for the improvement of society and the establishment of
righteousness among men can be truly and permanently helpful only
when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the
saving grace of God in Jesus Christ. In the spirit of Christ,
Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness,
and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery,
homosexuality, and pornography. We should work to provide for the
orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the
sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the
sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. Every
Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as
a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth,
and brotherly love. In order to promote these ends Christians should
be ready to work with all men of good will in any good cause, always
being careful to act in the spirit of love without compromising
their loyalty to Christ and His truth.
Exodus 20:3-17; Leviticus 6:2-5; Deuteronomy 10:12; 27:17; Psalm
101:5; Micah 6:8; Zechariah 8:16; Matthew 5:13-16,43-48; 22:36-40;
25:35; Mark 1:29-34; 2:3ff.; 10:21; Luke 4:18-21; 10:27-37; 20:25;
John 15:12; 17:15; Romans 12–14; 1Corinthians 5:9-10; 6:1-7;
7:20-24; 10:23-11:1; Galatians 3:26-28; Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians
3:12-17; 1 Thessalonians 3:12; Philemon; James 1:27; 2:8.
X.
The Family
God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of
human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by
marriage, blood, or adoption.
Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant
commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique gift to reveal the
union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and
the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the
channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and
the means for procreation of the human race.
The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both
are created in God's image. The marriage relationship models the way
God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ
loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide
for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself
graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the
church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in
the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the
God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his
helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.
Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and
heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children
God's pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children
biblical spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through
consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices
based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their
parents.
Genesis 1:26-28; 2:15-25; 3:1-20; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy
6:4-9; Joshua 24:15; 1 Samuel 1:26-28; Psalms 51:5; 78:1-8; 127;
128; 139:13-16; Proverbs 1:8; 5:15-20; 6:20-22; 12:4; 13:24; 14:1;
17:6; 18:22; 22:6,15; 23:13-14; 24:3; 29:15,17; 31:10-31;
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; 9:9; Malachi 2:14-16; Matthew 5:31-32; 18:2-5;
19:3-9; Mark 10:6-12; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 7:1-16;
Ephesians 5:21-33; 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Timothy 5:8,14; 2
Timothy 1:3-5; Titus 2:3-5; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 3:1-7.
