What We Believe
The following points of doctrine are presented as a general outline of what we believe concerning the fundamentals of our faith as members of the Body of Christ. We do not feel that these points exhaustively represent each and every detail concerning each subject, but serve as a concise and straightforward guideline concerning these basic truths.
This statement is not set forth for compliance by anyone desiring to worship and fellowship with us, but is simple to show what we as the founding board believe. If you have any questions concerning this statement of faith, please do not hesitate to ask. We are more than willing to study these varied subjects with you using God’s Word.
The Bible
We believe that the entire Bible is verbally inspired of God and is of plenary authority. (II Timothy 3:16, II Peter 1:20-21).
God has providentially preserved His completed Word for us today through the instrumentality of the church, the Body of Christ (Psalms 12:6-7, Colossians 1:25, Isaiah 40:8). We believe that the Word of God exists in its preserved form, in what is commonly called the Received Text, and that the King James Version is the best English translation of the Received Text available today.
We stand fast in the principle God has set forth in the Scriptures to rightly divide the Bible dispensationally, according to II Timothy 2:15. This results in a better understanding of the differences in God’s various programs and dealings with mankind since the beginning, and plays a vital role in establishing the saint as well as maintaining a distinct and clear gospel message (Romans 16:25-27, II Corinthians 4:1-2, I Thessalonians 2:4).
Man’s Depravity/Eternal Punishment
We believe God’s Word plainly teaches that all men are by nature totally depraved, inexcusable, and completely accountable to God (Romans 2:1, 3:10-12, 5:12, 14:12). Man can do nothing in and of himself to please God, and rejecting God’s free provision for salvation and deliverance will most definitely result in everlasting destruction and separation from God (II Thessalonians 1:7-9, Romans 1:18, 3:4, see also Revelation 21:8 and Hebrews 9:27).
No where does the Scripture teach the hope of eternal salvation to the unsaved dead, but instead reveals clearly that they will ever continue to exist in a state of conscious suffering (Luke 16:23-28, Revelation 14:11, 20:12-15). The teachings of Universalism, probation after death, purgatory, annihilation of the dead, the unconscious state of the dead, saved or lost, are opposed by us as being thoroughly unscriptural and dangerous doctrines (Philippians 1:23, II Corinthians 5:6-8).
Salvation
We believe that man is saved from eternal punishment, and is justified freely by grace through faith in the sacrificially shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary (Romans 3:21-26, Ephesians 2:8-10, I Corinthians 15:1-4). This salvation is a totally undeserved “free gift” bestowed upon all who simply believe (Romans 5:12-21, 4:5). Everyone who believes the “gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24), is eternally saved from the wrath of God and the power and dominion of sin.
Eternal Security
We believe that all saved people are eternally saved and complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10). Salvation is the work of God and not the work of men. Therefore, it is impossible for anyone who has trusted in Christ to ever be lost again. We are sealed by the Holy Spirit and we are not our own – we are bought with a price (Colossians 3:1-4, Romans 5:1, 8:29-39, Ecclesiastes 3:15, Ephesians 1:13-14, 4:30, I Corinthians 6:19-20).
Believer’s Walk
We believe, by reason of Christ’s victory over sin and by His indwelling Spirit, that all saved people may and should experience deliverance from the power of sin and in their daily lives (Romans 6:11-14). All saints (literally set apart ones) still possess the old sin nature and the ability to sin. We do not believe that the old sin nature is ever eradicated during this life. (Galatians 5:16-25, Romans 7:15-25).
We also believe in the practical sanctification of all members of the Body of Christ (Romans 12:1-2) and that all saints should live by grace a Christ honoring testimony in all things, separate from all forms of worldliness, humanism, and religious apostasy (Ephesians 5:3-12, Titus 2:11-12). All Christians should demonstrate their love and forgiveness to all men because Christ has forgiven us (Ephesians 4:32).
We conclude that, as believers, we should follow Christ’s example and be subject to the higher powers (government rulers, etc) so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty (Romans 13:1-7, Ephesians 2:10, I Timothy 2:1-2).
Baptism
All saved persons have been made members of the Body of Christ by one divine spirit baptism (I Corinthians 12:13). By this one baptism every member of the Body of Christ is identified with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection.
In the light of Paul’s statement concerning this “one baptism” in Ephesians 4:5, Colossians 2:12, and Romans 6:3-4, we believe this confirms his other statement in I Corinthians 1:14-17 concerning water baptism, that “Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel.” This evidence, along with other Scriptures, confirms the fact that water baptism, in Paul’s early Acts ministry, was practiced temporarily during the transition period from the kingdom program to the grace program, but eventually ceased along with certain other signs and miracles. We affirm that water baptism is not needed for salvation and has no place in God’s spiritual program in this present dispensation of grace.
The Church, The Body of Christ
We believe in this present dispensation of grace (Ephesians 3:2) there is only one true church, which is called the Body of Christ (I Corinthians 12:13, Ephesians 1:22-23, 2:11-16, 3:6). The Body of Christ, never before prophesied (Ephesians 3:5-8), is separate and distinct from the prophesied earthly kingdom of Christ, which is yet future (Daniel 2:44, Acts 3:19-21).
We also believe that the historical manifestation of the Body of Christ did not begin in Acts chapter 2, on the prophesied day of Pentecost, but rather through the fall of Israel (Romans 11:7-15), before Paul wrote his first epistle (I Timothy 1:15-16, I Corinthians 12:13).
We conclude that the church, the Body of Christ, is made up of both Jews and Gentiles, who together are joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:6).
Godhead
We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Deuteronomy 6:4, Matthew 28:19, I John 5:7, Ephesians 4:4-6). The Lord Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, and is true God and true man. He is not only the son of God, but also God the son (Luke 1:35, Romans 1:3-4, Philippians 2:6-11).
We also agree that Jesus Christ never sinned in word, thought, or deed, and therefore was the perfect sacrificial Lamb of God (Hebrews 9:26)
Rapture of the Church
We believe that the church, the Body of Christ, will be taken out of this world by Jesus Christ Himself, when He descends from heaven according to I Thessalonians 4;13-18. This event was kept secret (mystery) by God, and is a distinctive part of the new and special revelation given to the apostle Paul (I Corinthians 15:51) for us as members of Christ’s own body, He being the Head.
We confirm strongly that this blessed hope (Titus 2:13) is found only in Paul’s epistles and concerns only the church, which is His body. This event will take place before the prophesied seven year tribulation period begins (Romans 5:9, I Thessalonians 5:9), which directly precedes the second coming of Christ to the earth to set up His earthly millennial kingdom in which He will rule and reign with His chosen people, the nation of Israel.