We believe…

At the very core of who I am is the old saw, “In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity.” You’ll find that I’m theologically conservative, and as such, the following essentials should look plainly and simply orthodox. If you’d like to talk about eschatology or the age of the earth or whether or not you’ll go to hell for drinking a beer, or the present-day role of gifts of the Spirit, I’d love to do so. But I don’t think they belong in the list below.

BIBLE

We believe the Bible to be the inspired, infallible, inerrant, and authoritative Word of God (2 Tim 3:16-17; 2 Pet 1:21; 1 Cor 2:13; Mark 12:26, 36; 13:11; Acts 1:16, 2:4).

GOD

We believe that there is one God, who eternally exists in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; and that these three having the same nature, attributes, and perfections, are worthy of all worship, confidence, and obedience (Mark 12:29; John 1:1-4; Matt 28:19-20; Acts 5:3,4; 2 Cor 13:14; Heb 1:1-3; Rev 1:4-6).

JESUS

We believe in the deity of Jesus Christ; in His virgin birth; in His sinless humanity; in His miracles; in His perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people through the shedding of His blood and death on the cross; in His bodily resurrection; in His ascension to the right hand of the Father; and in His personal return in power and glory (Matt 1:18-25; John 1:14, 8:40, 58, 11:33; Acts 1:9-11; Rom 5:8-10; Col 1:15-17; Heb 1:8).

HUMANITY

We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that through Adam’s sin all of mankind has fallen and inherited a sin nature, thus man in his natural state is lost, alienated from God and incapable of attaining salvation by any personal effort or merit (Gen 1:26; Rom 3, 5:12-19; Eph 2:1-3, 4:18-19).

SALVATION

We believe that salvation is a free gift of God offered to all humanity by grace and received through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This faith is expressed in works pleasing to God. We believe that all true believers, having been justified, shall be kept saved forever (John 3:16, 14:6; Rom 3:28, 8:31-39; 1 Cor 12:13; Gal 3:26-27,36-39; Eph 2:8-9; 1 Tim 2:5-6).

HOLY SPIRIT

We believe in the promise of the Holy Spirit, not as an influence, but as a Divine Person, who was sent at Pentecost to unify all believers into one body, the Church, whose indwelling is the source and power of all acceptable worship and service. He is our abiding Comforter and Helper, and is ever present to testify of Christ (John 7:38-39,14:16-17, 15:26, 16:13-14; Acts 1:8; Rom 8:9; Phil 3:3).

RESURRECTION

We believe in the physical resurrection of both the saved and the lost: those who are saved unto the resurrection of life, and those who are lost unto the resurrection of damnation (Rom 8:23; I Cor 15, Psalm 90:3-4; Rev 20:12-15; Matt 25:31-46).

CHURCH

We believe in the Church which is the body and bride of Christ, that we are a spiritual family united by the Holy Spirit, and thus being members one of another we are responsible in good conscience to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, loving one another with a pure heart. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Head over all the church, commanded His people to hold to the practice of water baptism and the regular taking of Communion. We do not believe that either of these practices is essential for salvation, but that they serve as a demonstration of our living faith in Him.