STATEMENT OF DOCTRINE:
ARTICLES of BIBLICAL FAITH and
MOVEMENTS CONTRARY to BIBLICAL FAITH

A. The Holy Scriptures

We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments
to be the verbally-inspired Word of God, the final authority for
faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible and
God-breathed (II Tim. 3:16-17; II Peter 1:20-21; Matt. 5:18;
John 16:12-13).

B. The Godhead

We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three Persons
- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - co-eternal in being, co-identical
in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same
attributes and perfections (Deut. 6:4; II Cor. 13:14).

C. The Person and Work of Christ

1. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of
God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been
conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, in
order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men
(John 1:1,2,14; Luke 1:35).

2. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our
redemption through His death on the cross as a representative,
vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and, that our justification
is made sure by His literal physical resurrection from the dead
(Rom. 3:24-25; I Peter 2:24; Eph. 1:7; I Peter 1:3-5).

3. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven
and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as our
High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative,
Intercessor, and Advocate (Acts 1:9-10; Heb. 9:24; 7:25;
Rom. 8:34; I John 2:1-2).

D. The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit

1. We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts
the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgement; and,
that He is the supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing
all believers into the Body of Christ, indwelling and sealing
them unto the day of redemption (John 16:8-11; II Cor. 3:6;
I Cor. 12:12-14; Rom. 8:9; Eph. 1:13-14).

2. We believe that He is the Divine Teacher who guides
believers into all truth; and, that it is the privilege and
duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit
(John 16:13; I John 2:20, 27; Eph. 5:18).

E. The Total Depravity of Man

We believe that man was created in the image and likeness
of God, but in Adam's sin the race fell, inherited a sinful
nature, and became alienated from God; and, that man is
totally depraved, and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy
his lost condition (Gen. 1:26-27; Rom 3:22-23; 5:12;
Eph. 2:1-3,12).

F. Salvation

We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man
by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the
forgiveness of our sins (Eph. 2:8-10; John 1:12; Eph. 1:7;
I Peter 1:18-19).

G. The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers

1. We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept
by God's power and are thus secure in Christ forever
(John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Rom. 8:1,38-39; I Cor. 1:4-8;
I Peter 1:5).

2. We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice
in the assurance of salvation through the testimony of
God's Word; which, however, clearly forbids the use of
Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh (Rom 13:13-14;
Gal. 5:13; Titus 2:11-15).

H. The Two Natures of the Believer

We believe that every saved person posseses two natures,
with provision made for victory of the new nature over the
old nature through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit;
and, that all claims to the eradication of the old nature in this
life are unscriptural (Rom. 6:13; 8:12-13; Gal. 5:16-25;
Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:10; I Peter 1:14-16; I John 3:5-9).

I. Separation

We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as
not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord; and, that
separation from all religious apostasy, all worldy and sinful
pleasures, practices and associations is commanded of God
(II Tim. 3:1-5; Rom. 12:1-2; 14:13; I John 2:15-17;
II John 9:11; II Cor. 6:14; 7:1).

J. Missions

We believe that it is the obligation of the saved to witness by
life and by Word to the truths of Holy Scripture, and to seek to
proclaim the Gospel to all mankind (Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8;
II Cor. 5:19-20).

K. The Ministry and Spiritual Gifts

1. We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowment of all
His gifts, and, that the gifts of evangelists, pastors, and teachers
are sufficient for the perfecting of the saints today; and, that
speaking in tongues and the working of sign miracles gradually
ceased as the New Testament Scriptures were completed and
their authority became established (I Cor. 12:4-11;
II Cor. 12:12; Eph. 4:7-12).

2. We believe that God does hear and answer the prayer of faith,
in accord with His own will, for the sick and afflicted (John 15:7;
I John 5:14-15).

L. The Church

1. We believe that the Church, which is the body and the
espoused bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all
born-again persons of this present age (Eph. 1:22-23; 5:25-27;
I Cor. 12:12-14; II Cor. 11:2).

2. We believe that the establishment and continuance of local
churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament
Scriptures (Acts 14:27; 20:27-32; I Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11).

3. We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any
external control (Acts 13:1-4; 15:19-31; 20:28; Rom. 16:1,4;
I Cor. 3:9,16; 5:4-7,12; I Peter 5:1-4).

4. We recognize the ordinances of water baptism by immersion
and the Lord's supper as scriptural means of testimony for the
church in this age (Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; 18:8;
I Cor. 11:23-26).

M. Dispensationalism

We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal
sense reveal divinely determined dispensations or rules of life
which define man's responsibilities in successive ages. These
dispensations are not ways of salvation, but rather, divinely-
ordered stewardships by which God directs man according to
His purpose. Three of these - the age of law, the age of the
Church, and the age of the millennial kingdom - are the subjects
of detailed revelation in the Scriptures (John 1:17; I Cor. 9:17;
II Cor. 3:9-18; Gal. 3:13-25; Eph. 1:10; 3:2-10; Col. 1:24-25;
Heb. 7:19; Rev. 20:2-6).

N. The Personality of Satan

We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the
cause of the fall; that he is the open and declared enemy of
God and man; and, that he shall be eternally punished in the
Lake of Fire (Job 1:6-7; Isa. 14:12-17; Matt. 4:2-11; 25:41;
Rev. 20:10).

O. The Second Advent of Christ

We believe in that "Blessed Hope": the personal, imminent,
pretribulational and premillennial coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ for His redeemed ones; and in His subsequent return
to earth, with His saints, to establish His Millennial Kingdom
(I Thess. 4:13-18; Zech. 14:4-11: Rev. 19:11-16; 20:1-6;
I Thess. 1:10; 5:9; Rev. 3:10).

P. The Eternal State

1. We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men: the saved to
eternal life, and the unsaved to judgement and everlasting
punishment (Matt. 25:46; John 5:28-29; 11:25-26;
Rev. 20:5-6, 12-13).

2. We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death,
absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in
conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when spirit,
soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the
Lord (Luke 23:43; Rev. 20:4-6; II Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23;
I Thess. 4:16-17).

3. We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death,
in conscious misery until the second resurrection, when, with
soul and body reunited, they shall appear at the Great White
Throne Judgement, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not
to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punish-
ment (Luke 16:19-26; Matt. 25:41-46; II Thess. 1:7-9;
Jude 6-7; Mark 9:43-48; Rev. 20:11-15).

Q. Movements Contrary to Biblical Faith

We believe that these movements are out of harmony with the
Word of God, and are inimical to the work of God:

1. Ecumenism

Ecumenism is that movement which seeks the organizational
unity of all Christianity, and, ultimately, of all religions. Its
principal advocates are the World Council of Churches and
the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United
States of America.

2. Ecumenical Evangelism

Ecumenical Evangelism is that effort to promote the Gospel
by bringing fundamentalists into an unequal yoke with
theological liberals and\or Roman Catholics and other
divergent groups.

3. Neo-orthodoxy

Neo-orthodoxy is that theological movement which affirms:
the transcendence of God, the finiteness and sinfulness of
man, and the necessity of supernatural divine revelation of
truth; but, while using evangelical terminology, seriously
departs from orthodoxy: in accepting religious experience
as the criterion of truth, and in abandoning important
fundamentals of the Christian faith.

4. New Evangelism (Neo-Evangelicalism, New Conservatism)

These terms refer to that movement within evangelicalism
characterized by a toleration of, and a dialogue with, theological
liberalism. Its essence is seen in an emphasis upon the social
application of the Gospel and weak or unclear doctrines of:
the inspiration of Scripture, Biblical creationism, eschatology,
dispensationalism, and separation. It is further characterized
by an attempt to accommodate Biblical Christianity and make
it acceptable to the modern mind.