| Consensus of Our Beliefs |
| About God |
|
We believe in
one God, revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Deuteronomy
6:4; II Corinthians 13:14; John 1:1) We believe that our Lord Jesus Christ was the only-begotten son of the Father, and is truly God and truly man. He was born of the virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, died a vicarious and atoning death for the sins of the world, resurrected bodily for our justification, and now reigns in Glory until all things be put under His feet. (I Timothy 3:16) |
| About Scripture |
| We believe in the absolute inspiration of the Holy Scriptures in their original autographs, given by the Holy Spirit without error as He moved upon holy men of old. Furthermore, we believe that the church has no authority to establish doctrine or practice contrary to these same scriptures which were subsequently accepted as Canon by the early Christian Church. (II Timothy 3:16) |
| About Man |
|
We believe
that man was made in the image of God and is the crown of
creation. He is now, by reason of "the fall", spiritually
alienated from his Creator. Apart from God's grace he has no
ability to attain to this high calling. (Psalm 8; Ephesians
2:8-9)
We believe that justification is by grace through faith in our Lord's sacrifice on Calvary. (Romans 3:21-24) We believe that all people are to repent and be buried with our Lord Jesus Christ in the waters of baptism. (Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:38; Romans 6:4; II Peter 3:9) We believe that the baptism in the Holy Sprit is an endowment of power given by God to anoint the believer for sanctification and evangelism. It is our understanding that the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit are active within the body of Christ until the coming of the Lord. Furthermore, we believe that the development of these gifts ought to be encouraged under the guidance of local church authority. (Acts 8:14-17; Acts 19:1-2; I Corinthians 12:4-7) We believe that those who are called by the name of Christ should depart from iniquity, understanding that salvation from the penalty of sin only begins the process of redemption. We acknowledge that one work of the Holy Spirit is to create in us the character of Christ. (II Timothy 2:19) |
|
About The Church |
|
We believe in
the Priesthood of the believer. That is to say all people born
of God have equal status before God and direct access to their
Lord. (I Peter 2:5)
We believe the identity of the body of Christ on the earth is primarily perceived through the local church. While encouraging the voluntary association of local churches, and recognizing the need of consensus on matters of fundamental doctrine and conduct, we strongly confess the local church to be sovereign and autonomous. (Revelation 2, 3) We believe that the callings of Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher are functional within the body of Christ until the Lord's return. Furthermore, these ministries are gifts to the church for the purpose of equipping the saints for the work of the ministry, that the body of Christ may be edified. (Ephesians 4:11-16) |
| About The Kingdom |
| We believe in the literal second coming of our Lord, the literal rule of Christ upon the earth, the resurrection of the regenerate to eternal life and the unregenerate to eternal damnation, and the ultimate victory of the eternal kingdom of God. (Acts 1:9-11; Daniel 12:2; Revelation 22:1-7) |
