Preface
We believe there is an unchanging, infallible Divine body of truth once for all handed down to the saints preserved for us in the sixty-six books of the Holy Bible. Therefore, we desire to be faithful in proclamation and propagation of what our Lord has given us in His Scriptures. We gratefully acknowledge those who in the past earnestly contended for what God has inerrantly revealed and stand with those who hold to the Five Solas of the Protestant Reformation. * A particular historic confession of faith we continue to benefit from is the London Baptist Confession of 1689.
The Bible
We believe that the Bible is the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament and is God’s verbally inspired, inerrant, and infallible revelation and therefore, authoritative and wholly sufficient, preserved by Him to accomplish all His purposes (Psalm 19:7-9; 117:2; Isaiah 40:8; John 10:35; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; I Peter 1:25).
God
We believe that God is one, the only living and true God, eternally existing in three equally divine persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, He is perfectly pure spirit, self-existent, unchanging and infinite in being and perfection (Exodus 3:14; Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 43:10-12; Jeremiah 10:10; Malachi 3:6; Matthew 28:19; John 4:24; John 17; I Corinthians 8:4,6).
The Father
We believe that God the Father has all life, glory, goodness, and blessedness in and of Himself. He is altogether holy in all He is and does. He rules over all that is and brings all things that are to the end and conclusion He has decreed (Genesis 1; Psalm 145:17; Isaiah 46:9-11; Ezekiel 11:5; Acts 15:18; Romans 11:33-36).
The Person of Jesus the Christ
We believe that Jesus is the eternal beloved Son of God, who became a man without ceasing to be God, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary. God the Father sent His Son making Him both Lord and Christ — His perfect and final prophet, priest, and king. He is the head and savior of the church, the heir of all things, and judge of the world (Matthew 1:21-23; John 1:1, 14; John 8:58; Philippians 2:6-11; Isaiah 42:1; 1 Peter 1:19, 20; Acts 2:29-36; 3:22; 17:31; Hebrews 5:5, 6; Psalms 2:6; Luke 1:33; Ephesians 1:22, 23; Hebrews 1:2; Isaiah 53:10; John 17:6; Romans 8:30).
The Saving Work of Jesus the Christ
We believe that Jesus, the Son of God, moved by perfect love and in perfect obedience to His Father, lived, died, and rose again for sinners satisfying God’s righteous requirements, propitiating His wrath and securing salvation for all who believe (Matthew 3:15-17, 5:17-18; John 8:29, 10:15-18, 27-29; Romans 3:24-26, 5:19, 8:29-39; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 2:17).
The Person of The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit as the third person of the Trinity is coequal with the Father and the Son and therefore He possesses all of the divine attributes (Matthew 3:13-17, 28:18-20; 2 Corinthians 3:18, 13:14).
The Work of The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit sovereignly executes the will of God in history expressly promoting the glory of God in Christ through such works as the creation of the world, the inspiration of Scripture, conviction of sin, regeneration, sanctification, and the glorification of believers (Genesis 1:1-2; John 3:3-8, 16:7-14; Romans 8:11; Ephesians 4:30; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; Titus 3:4-6; Hebrews 9:14; 2 Peter 1:20-21).
The Creation
We believe that God created the universe out of nothing in six days by the word of His power for His pleasure and glory, and that on the seventh day He rested from all His creating work (Colossians 1:16-17; Hebrews 11:3; Genesis 1-2; Exodus 31:17; Psalm 104; Revelation 4:11).
Mankind
We believe that Adam and Eve are the origin and representative of all mankind; that God created them in His image in holiness, righteousness, and dignity with rational and immortal souls to reflect Him in dominion over creation, in all relationships, and in every aspect of life, having the law of God written in their hearts and the power to fulfill it, yet free in will to transgress the law and their nature subject to corruption and communicable to all their kind (Genesis 1:26-28; 2:7; 3:6, 20; Psalm 8:4-8; Ecclesiastes 7:29a; Romans 2:14, 15; 5:12-20; James 3:9).
Marriage and Children
We believe marriage is the God-ordained union of one male and one female in covenant commitment for a lifetime, designed by God to be a picture of the relationship of the union between Christ and His church, and is the God-blessed means for the continued procreation of His image-bearers. Having equal worth before God, since both are created in His image, both male and female are blessed with and designed for head and helpmate roles in the marriage union. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord (Genesis 1-2; Mark 10:2-11; Romans 7:2-3; Ephesians 5:22-33; Psalm 127;3-5; 103:13; 139:13-16; Ephesians 6:1-4).
Human Rebellion
We believe that every human being, having been represented by Adam who rebelled, is by nature and by choice in a state of corruption and defiance against God, his Creator and Lawgiver, and consequently under God’s just condemnation, and neither willing nor able to effect any change to his sinful state so as to be reconciled with God (Genesis 3; 1 Kings 8:46; Psalm 14:1-3; 58:3; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Jeremiah 17:9; Matthew 15:18-19; Romans 3:10-18, 23, 5:12-20; Ephesians 2:1-4; Colossians 1:21; Hebrews 2:14-15; 1 John 1:8-10).
Salvation
We believe that God, according to His elective purpose, saves sinners from His just condemnation unto eternal life, wholly and only by applying the substitutionary work of Jesus to all who believe in Him and repent of their sin, they having been enabled by the Holy Spirit to repent and rightly believe, so that through saving faith God credits the sinner with the righteousness of Christ and grants forgiveness of sin and brings freedom from the bondage of sin and the promise of glorification (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; I Timothy 2:5; Ephesians 1:4-5; 2:1-10; Mark 10:45; Genesis 15:6; Acts 3:19; Colossians 1:14; Romans 3:21-4:5, 5:8, 6:1-11, 8:29-30).
Sanctification
We believe that all who have believed in Christ for justification will experience spiritual growth through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and by God’s grace they will work out their salvation through the Word, the gospel, prayer, service, and the ordinances along with the confidence that God works all things together for their good (Romans 16:25; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; John 17:17; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 5:22-23; Philippians 2:12-13; Colossians 1:3-6; Hebrews 4:16; 1 Peter 4:10-11).
Security And Assurance
We believe that everyone who is saved by the finished work of Jesus will be kept by God unto glorification and, therefore, all those who are born again can be assured of salvation and will persevere until the end (Isaiah 53:10-11; John 5:24, 10:27-29; Romans 8:1, 16, 37-39; 1 John 3:14; 1 Peter 1:4-5; Hebrews 3:14, 7:25;
Revelation 3:5).
The Church
We believe that the Church is the spiritual body of Christ, He being her sole Head and she His only Bride. The Church is comprised of those who have been redeemed and spiritually united with Christ, presently manifested visibly in local churches. The local church is led by biblically qualified male leadership and is commissioned with the proclaiming of the gospel for the glory of Christ through preaching, evangelism, prayer, fellowship, services, and the ordinances. The Holy Spirit sovereignly equips members with various gifts that benefit Christ’s people and mission (Matthew 16:18; Acts 1:8, 2:1-23; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:15-23, 3:1-12, 4:1-16, 5:23-32; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; 2 Timothy 4:1-5; Titus 1:5-9; Revelation 19:7-9; 21:2, 9-11).
The Ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
We believe that Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordained by God for the people of God in this era that began at Christ’s ascension into heaven. Christian baptism is the immersion in water of a believer, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, symbolically indicating one’s personal faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Christ, and the sinner’s death to sin and resurrection to a new life in Christ. We believe that water baptism is a prerequisite to the privileges and responsibilities of church membership. We believe the Lord’s Supper is a symbolic meal in which members of the church, by the solemn use of bread and fruit of the vine, commemorate together the saving death of Christ and His promised return (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 14:22-25; Acts 2:41; Romans 6:3-11; Galatians 2:20; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34; Colossians 3:1-11).
The Second Coming Of Christ
We believe that Jesus will return to earth bodily in order to rescue His people, to execute judgment upon all who have not obeyed the gospel, to consummate all He has promised to those He has redeemed, and to reconcile all things in heaven and earth, having made peace by the blood of His cross (Genesis 12:1-3, 17:1-8; 2 Samuel 7:12-13; Ezekiel 37:1-14; Matthew 24-25; Luke 1:68-79; John 14:3; Acts 1:11, 3:13-26; Colossians 1:20; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10; Titus 2:12-13; Revelation 1:7, 20:1-10).
The Eternal State
We believe that by the power of Christ, the souls of those who die having believed in the gospel of Christ pass immediately into everlasting life in heaven until His return, when body and soul will be reunited and be glorified forever in the presence of our Lord; while the souls of those who die apart from Christ are immediately condemned to conscious punishment in hell until His return, when body and soul will be reunited, cast into the lake of fire, and endure everlasting punishment from God (Daniel 12:2; Matthew 10:28, 25:41-46; John 5:25-29; Philippians 1:21-24; Hebrews 9:27; 2 Peter 2:4; Revelation 7:9, 20:10-15, 21:4, 22:5).
Adapted from ‘What We Believe,’ with permission from Omaha Bible Church, and The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith in Modern English with permission from Founders Ministries.
*The Five Solas
Sola Scriptura (“Scripture Alone”): The Bible alone is our highest authority.
Sola Fide (“Faith Alone”): We are saved through faith alone in Jesus Christ.
Sola Gratia (“Grace Alone”): We are saved by the grace of God alone.
Solus Christus (“Christ Alone”): Jesus Christ alone is our Lord, Savior, and King.
Soli Deo Gloria (“To the glory of God Alone”): The Triune God shares His glory with no one, and His people are to live for His glory alone.