THE HOLY SCRIPTURE
The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is the record of God's revelation of Himself to man. Thus, the sixty-six books of the Bible given to us by the Holy Spirit constitute the plenary (inspired equally in all parts) Word of God (1 Corinthians 2:7-14; 2 Peter 1:20-21). Word of God is an objective, propositional revelation (1 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Corinthians 2:13), verbally inspired in every word (2 Timothy 3:16), absolutely inerrant in the original documents, infallible, and God-breathed. Therefore, the church should be committed to the expository preaching of God's infallible Word. God spoke in His written Word by a process of dual authorship. The Holy Spirit so superintended the human authors that, through their individual personalities and different styles of writing, they composed and recorded God's Word to man (2 Peter 1:20-21) without error in the whole or in the part (Matthew 5:18; 2 Timothy 3:16).
GOD
There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and perfect in all His attributes. To Him, we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal God is one in essence (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5-7; 1 Corinthians 8:4), eternally existing in three Persons-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
JESUS CHRIST
Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, possessing all the divine Excellencies, and in these He is coequal, consubstantial, and coeternal with the Father (John 10:30; John 14:9). God the Father created "the heavens and the earth and all that is in them" according to His own will, through His Son, Jesus Christ, by whom all things continue in existence and in operation (John 1:3; Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:2).
Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin (Psalm 2:7-9; Isaiah 9:6; John 1:29; Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 7:25-26; 1 Peter 1:18-19). His death was voluntary, vicarious, substitutionary, propitiatory, and redemptive (John 10:15; Romans 3:24-25; Romans 5:8; 1 Peter 2:24).
He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. Our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Acts 2:30-31; Romans 4:25). In the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave, God confirmed the deity of His Son and gave proof that God has accepted the atoning work of Christ on the cross. Jesus' bodily resurrection is also the guarantee of a future resurrection life for all believers (John 5:26-29; John 14:19; Romans 4:25; Romans 6:5-10; 1 Corinthians 15:20,23).
HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is a divine person, eternal, underived, possessing all the attributes of personality and deity including intellect (1 Corinthians 2:10-13), emotions (Ephesians 4:30), will (1 Corinthians 12:11), eternality (Hebrews 9:14), omnipresence (Psalm 139:7-10), omniscience (Isaiah 40:13-14), omnipotence (Romans 15:13), and truthfulness (John 16:13). In all the divine attributes He is coequal and consubstantial with the Father and the Son (Matthew 28:19; Acts 5:3-4; Acts 28:25-26; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6; 2 Corinthians 13:14; and Jeremiah 31:31-34 with Hebrews 10:15-17).
It is the work of the Holy Spirit to execute the divine will with relation to all mankind. We recognize His sovereign activity in creation (Genesis 1:2), the incarnation (Matthew 1:18), the written revelation (2 Peter 1:20-21), and the work of salvation (John 3:5-7).
MAN
Man was directly and immediately created by the special act of God, in His own image and likeness, and is the crowning work of His creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by His Creator with a rational nature, intelligence, volition, self-determination, and moral responsibility to God (Genesis 2:7,15-25; James 3:9). God's intention in the creation of man was that man should glorify God, enjoy God's fellowship, live his life in the will of God, and by this accomplish God's purpose for man in the world (Isaiah 43:7; Colossians 1:16; Revelation 4:11).
By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. In Adam's sin of disobedience to the revealed will and Word of God, man lost his innocence; incurred the penalty of spiritual and physical death; became subject to the wrath of God; and became inherently corrupt and utterly incapable of choosing or doing that which is acceptable to God apart from divine grace. With no recuperative powers to enable him to recover himself, man is hopelessly lost. Man's salvation is thereby wholly of God's grace through the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ (Genesis 2:16-17; Genesis 3:1-19; John 3:36; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Ephesians 2:1-3; 1-Timothy 2:13-14; 1 John 1:8).
SALVATION
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. Salvation is wholly of God by grace on the basis of the redemption of Jesus Christ, the merit of His shed blood, and not on the basis of human merit or works (John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7; Ephesians 2:8-10; 1 Peter 1:18-19). In its broadest sense, salvation includes regeneration, sanctification, and glorification.
THE CHURCH
All who place their faith in Jesus Christ are immediately placed by the Holy Spirit into one united spiritual body, the church (1 Corinthians 12:12-13), the bride of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:23-32; Revelation 19:7-8), of which Christ is the head (Ephesians 1:22; Ephesians 4:15; Colossians 1:18).
The formation of the church, the body of Christ, began on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-21,38-47) and will be completed at the coming of Christ for His own at the rapture (1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
The purpose of the church is to glorify God (Ephesians 3:21) by building itself up in the faith (Ephesians 4:13-16), by instruction of the Word (2 Timothy 2:2,15; 2 Timothy 3:16-17), by fellowship (Acts 2:47; 1 John 1:3), by keeping the ordinances (Luke 22:19; Acts 2:38-42), and by advancing and communicating the gospel to the entire world (Matthew 28:19; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:42). There is a calling of all saints to the work of service (1 Corinthians 15:58; Ephesians 4:12; Revelation 22:12).
Two ordinances have been committed to the local church: baptism and the Lord's Supper (Acts 2:38-42). 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 Savior, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:3-5). Baptism is also a sign of fellowship and identification with the visible body of Christ (Acts 2:41-42). Furthermore, It is a testimony to the believer's faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Baptism accomplishes nothing in the believer's moral standing before God. It is, however, a vital act of obedience for the believer (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; Acts 8:35-39).
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 and proclaim the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming. It should be always preceded by solemn self-examination (1 Corinthians 11:28-32).
THE FAMILY
God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood or adoption. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church, and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel for sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.
The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God's image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.
Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God's pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents (Genesis 1:26-28; Genesis 2:18-25; Genesis 3:1-20; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Psalm 78:1-8; Psalm 127; Psalm 128; Psalm 139:13-16; Proverbs 1:8; Proverbs 5:15-20; Proverbs 6:20-22; Proverbs 12:4; Proverbs 13:24; Proverbs 14:1; Proverbs 17:6; Proverbs 18:22; Proverbs 22:6,15; Proverbs 23:13-14; Proverbs 24:3; Proverbs 29:15,17; Proverbs 31:10-31; Matthew 5:31-32; Matthew 18:2-5; Matthew 19:3-9; Mark 10:6-12; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 7:1-16; Ephesians 5:21-33; Ephesians 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Timothy 5:14; 2 Timothy 1:3-5; Titus 2:3-5; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 3:1-7).
The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is the record of God's revelation of Himself to man. Thus, the sixty-six books of the Bible given to us by the Holy Spirit constitute the plenary (inspired equally in all parts) Word of God (1 Corinthians 2:7-14; 2 Peter 1:20-21). Word of God is an objective, propositional revelation (1 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Corinthians 2:13), verbally inspired in every word (2 Timothy 3:16), absolutely inerrant in the original documents, infallible, and God-breathed. Therefore, the church should be committed to the expository preaching of God's infallible Word. God spoke in His written Word by a process of dual authorship. The Holy Spirit so superintended the human authors that, through their individual personalities and different styles of writing, they composed and recorded God's Word to man (2 Peter 1:20-21) without error in the whole or in the part (Matthew 5:18; 2 Timothy 3:16).
GOD
There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and perfect in all His attributes. To Him, we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal God is one in essence (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5-7; 1 Corinthians 8:4), eternally existing in three Persons-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
JESUS CHRIST
Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, possessing all the divine Excellencies, and in these He is coequal, consubstantial, and coeternal with the Father (John 10:30; John 14:9). God the Father created "the heavens and the earth and all that is in them" according to His own will, through His Son, Jesus Christ, by whom all things continue in existence and in operation (John 1:3; Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:2).
Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin (Psalm 2:7-9; Isaiah 9:6; John 1:29; Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 7:25-26; 1 Peter 1:18-19). His death was voluntary, vicarious, substitutionary, propitiatory, and redemptive (John 10:15; Romans 3:24-25; Romans 5:8; 1 Peter 2:24).
He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. Our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Acts 2:30-31; Romans 4:25). In the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave, God confirmed the deity of His Son and gave proof that God has accepted the atoning work of Christ on the cross. Jesus' bodily resurrection is also the guarantee of a future resurrection life for all believers (John 5:26-29; John 14:19; Romans 4:25; Romans 6:5-10; 1 Corinthians 15:20,23).
HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is a divine person, eternal, underived, possessing all the attributes of personality and deity including intellect (1 Corinthians 2:10-13), emotions (Ephesians 4:30), will (1 Corinthians 12:11), eternality (Hebrews 9:14), omnipresence (Psalm 139:7-10), omniscience (Isaiah 40:13-14), omnipotence (Romans 15:13), and truthfulness (John 16:13). In all the divine attributes He is coequal and consubstantial with the Father and the Son (Matthew 28:19; Acts 5:3-4; Acts 28:25-26; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6; 2 Corinthians 13:14; and Jeremiah 31:31-34 with Hebrews 10:15-17).
It is the work of the Holy Spirit to execute the divine will with relation to all mankind. We recognize His sovereign activity in creation (Genesis 1:2), the incarnation (Matthew 1:18), the written revelation (2 Peter 1:20-21), and the work of salvation (John 3:5-7).
MAN
Man was directly and immediately created by the special act of God, in His own image and likeness, and is the crowning work of His creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by His Creator with a rational nature, intelligence, volition, self-determination, and moral responsibility to God (Genesis 2:7,15-25; James 3:9). God's intention in the creation of man was that man should glorify God, enjoy God's fellowship, live his life in the will of God, and by this accomplish God's purpose for man in the world (Isaiah 43:7; Colossians 1:16; Revelation 4:11).
By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. In Adam's sin of disobedience to the revealed will and Word of God, man lost his innocence; incurred the penalty of spiritual and physical death; became subject to the wrath of God; and became inherently corrupt and utterly incapable of choosing or doing that which is acceptable to God apart from divine grace. With no recuperative powers to enable him to recover himself, man is hopelessly lost. Man's salvation is thereby wholly of God's grace through the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ (Genesis 2:16-17; Genesis 3:1-19; John 3:36; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Ephesians 2:1-3; 1-Timothy 2:13-14; 1 John 1:8).
SALVATION
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. Salvation is wholly of God by grace on the basis of the redemption of Jesus Christ, the merit of His shed blood, and not on the basis of human merit or works (John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7; Ephesians 2:8-10; 1 Peter 1:18-19). In its broadest sense, salvation includes regeneration, sanctification, and glorification.
THE CHURCH
All who place their faith in Jesus Christ are immediately placed by the Holy Spirit into one united spiritual body, the church (1 Corinthians 12:12-13), the bride of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:23-32; Revelation 19:7-8), of which Christ is the head (Ephesians 1:22; Ephesians 4:15; Colossians 1:18).
The formation of the church, the body of Christ, began on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-21,38-47) and will be completed at the coming of Christ for His own at the rapture (1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
The purpose of the church is to glorify God (Ephesians 3:21) by building itself up in the faith (Ephesians 4:13-16), by instruction of the Word (2 Timothy 2:2,15; 2 Timothy 3:16-17), by fellowship (Acts 2:47; 1 John 1:3), by keeping the ordinances (Luke 22:19; Acts 2:38-42), and by advancing and communicating the gospel to the entire world (Matthew 28:19; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:42). There is a calling of all saints to the work of service (1 Corinthians 15:58; Ephesians 4:12; Revelation 22:12).
Two ordinances have been committed to the local church: baptism and the Lord's Supper (Acts 2:38-42). 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 Savior, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:3-5). Baptism is also a sign of fellowship and identification with the visible body of Christ (Acts 2:41-42). Furthermore, It is a testimony to the believer's faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Baptism accomplishes nothing in the believer's moral standing before God. It is, however, a vital act of obedience for the believer (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; Acts 8:35-39).
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 and proclaim the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming. It should be always preceded by solemn self-examination (1 Corinthians 11:28-32).
THE FAMILY
God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood or adoption. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church, and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel for sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.
The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God's image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.
Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God's pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents (Genesis 1:26-28; Genesis 2:18-25; Genesis 3:1-20; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Psalm 78:1-8; Psalm 127; Psalm 128; Psalm 139:13-16; Proverbs 1:8; Proverbs 5:15-20; Proverbs 6:20-22; Proverbs 12:4; Proverbs 13:24; Proverbs 14:1; Proverbs 17:6; Proverbs 18:22; Proverbs 22:6,15; Proverbs 23:13-14; Proverbs 24:3; Proverbs 29:15,17; Proverbs 31:10-31; Matthew 5:31-32; Matthew 18:2-5; Matthew 19:3-9; Mark 10:6-12; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 7:1-16; Ephesians 5:21-33; Ephesians 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Timothy 5:14; 2 Timothy 1:3-5; Titus 2:3-5; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 3:1-7).
THE Gospel
The Bible is very clear about the nature of the gospel. The gospel is simply the good news of God's goodness to sinners. This good news is that God in His grace, and complete apart from works saves sinners. The gospel message can be understood best through these four biblical truths.
God: The Bible clearly teaches us that God is our Maker and Sustainer. God has created us to live in a perfect relationship with Him, to love, to serve, to enjoy Him forever. God being our creator has jurisdiction over our lives and His creation (Ps 24). This being truth we are called to give Him Worship and obedience. The Bible declares that God is perfect, Holy and Just (Isaiah 6). This being God’s eternal nature He cannot approve or dwell with evil (James 1: 13).
Man: The Bible declares that all mankind since Adam and Eve are sinful. There is none on the earth that are righteous (Rom. 3:10-18). That being stated, it leads us to see, we are not like God, but separated from God because of our sinful hearts (John 3:19).
Jesus: The Bible teaches us that Jesus came to save sinners that are separated by sin (2 Cor. 5:21). In the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ sinners can be saved and forgiven of their sins, bringing us back to God (1 Tim. 2: 5). The Bible teaches us that salvation is only a breath away for those that realize their need for a Savior. In Rom. 10:9 tells, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.” What an amazing promise!
Our Response: Real and genuine salvation is accompanied by repentance from sin. What is repentance? It is agreeing with God that you are sinful, and confessing your sin to Him, and making a turn away from sin and living in a manner that is pleasing to God (Luke 13:3, 2 Cor. 7). Genuine salvation is seen in ones desire to turn away from sin and its path. Also, true repentance is evidenced by radical separation from sin and a definitive turning to Christ.
God: The Bible clearly teaches us that God is our Maker and Sustainer. God has created us to live in a perfect relationship with Him, to love, to serve, to enjoy Him forever. God being our creator has jurisdiction over our lives and His creation (Ps 24). This being truth we are called to give Him Worship and obedience. The Bible declares that God is perfect, Holy and Just (Isaiah 6). This being God’s eternal nature He cannot approve or dwell with evil (James 1: 13).
Man: The Bible declares that all mankind since Adam and Eve are sinful. There is none on the earth that are righteous (Rom. 3:10-18). That being stated, it leads us to see, we are not like God, but separated from God because of our sinful hearts (John 3:19).
Jesus: The Bible teaches us that Jesus came to save sinners that are separated by sin (2 Cor. 5:21). In the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ sinners can be saved and forgiven of their sins, bringing us back to God (1 Tim. 2: 5). The Bible teaches us that salvation is only a breath away for those that realize their need for a Savior. In Rom. 10:9 tells, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.” What an amazing promise!
Our Response: Real and genuine salvation is accompanied by repentance from sin. What is repentance? It is agreeing with God that you are sinful, and confessing your sin to Him, and making a turn away from sin and living in a manner that is pleasing to God (Luke 13:3, 2 Cor. 7). Genuine salvation is seen in ones desire to turn away from sin and its path. Also, true repentance is evidenced by radical separation from sin and a definitive turning to Christ.