Our Beliefs

I. The Scriptures
The Holy Scriptures are the only sufficient, certain, and infallible source of knowledge about God, salvation, and faith. They consist of 66 books written by holy men of God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21). The Scriptures are God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16) and are truly the words of God. Therefore, the Scriptures are completely true and trustworthy. They are inerrant, meaning that they contain no historical, theological, or otherwise factual errors. They are authoritative, meaning that we are bound by all that the Scriptures teach, rightly divided. All Scripture is a testimony to Jesus Christ who is the focus of divine revelation.
II. God
The Lord our God is the only living and true God. He is the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. He is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. In this divine and infinite Being, God eternally exists in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, of one substance, power, and eternity, each having the whole divine essence, yet the essence undivided.
III. Man
God originally created man in His own image and free from sin, but through the temptation of Satan, he disobeyed the commandment of God and fell from his original holiness and righteousness. Therefore his posterity inherit a nature that is corrupt and wholly opposed to God, and are under condemnation. Due to their corrupted nature, when fallen human beings are capable of moral choice, they become transgressors. Because of the corruption brought upon mankind by Adam’s fall, the image of God wherewith man was created has become marred by sin but not erased. Therefore, all human beings have dignity as unique creations of God and all human life is sacred.
IV. Jesus Christ
The Son of God, the second person in the Holy Trinity, being truly God and equal with the Father, in accordance with the divine plan took upon Himself the nature of man in every respect, yet without sin. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and given the name, Jesus, “The LORD saves.” In Him, the two whole and distinct natures, God and man, were inseparably and eternally joined together in one person, without conversion, composition, or confusion. He was, and remains, truly God and truly man and is the only mediator between God and mankind. Christ lived a perfect, sinless life on this earth and was crucified, making eternal redemption for all who would ever believe in Him. He physically arose from the grave on the third day and ascended to the Father at whose right hand He now reigns and makes intercession for His people.
V. Salvation
Salvation is the work of God in the lives of individuals to deliver them from the penalty of their sinful condition, giving them eternal life and transforming their natures. Salvation is by the grace of God alone and is received personally through faith in Jesus Christ. Since it is a work of grace alone and not the result of good works, there is no reason for anyone to boast of their salvation. Salvation results in a changed life whereby believers are enabled to do good works. All true believers in Jesus Christ are secure in their salvation and will certainly persevere in their faith until the end.
VI. The Church (from BF&M, 2000)
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 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 and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.
VII. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper (from BF&M, 2000)
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. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper.
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.
VIII. Second Coming (from BF&M, 2000)
God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.