Plan of Salvation
Holy ScripturesWe believe that the Holy Bible was written by men supernaturally inspired; that it has truth without any admixture of error for its matter; and therefore is, and shall remain to the end of the age, the only complete and final revelation of the will of God to man, the true center of Christian union and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions should be tried.We believe that the Holy Bible is the verbally plenarily inspired product of God the Holy Spirit. Further, we hold that God has given and preserved for us that which was originally written in the King James Authorized Version and we hold the KJAV to be without error. This statement of faith can in no way abrogate or amplify our true authority, which is the King James Bible Itself. The KJAV to which we refer contains 66 books that were supernaturally written and we do not refer to any other version or book. It is therefore necessary that no other book be preached or taught. The King James Bible is God's perfect Word (The Holy Scripture) and is our final and absolute authority in all matters of faith and practice. The doctrine of inspiration and preservation cannot be separated - they are just as divinely linked as Grace and Faith.Ps 12:6,7; 2 Tim 3:16-17; 2 Pet 1:19-21; Jn12:48-50; Acts 1:16; Ps 119:89, 105, 130, 160; Jn 17:17; 1 Pet 1:23; Matt 24:35; Lk 24:25-27; 44-45; Rom 15:4; Lk 16:31; Prov. 30:5-6; Rom 3:4One True GodWe believe that there is one, and only one, living and true God, an infinite, intelligent Person, the Maker and Supreme Ruler of Heaven and Earth; and that in the unity of the Godhead, there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.Ex 20:2-3; Deut 6:4-5; Mk 12:30; Gen 17:1; Is 43:10-12; 1 Cor 8:6; Eph 4:6; Jn 4:24; Ps 147:5; 83:18; 90:2; Jer 10:10; Ex 15:11; Rev 4:11; 1 Tim 1:17; Rom 11:33; Matt 28:19; 1 Jn 5:7; Matt 3:16-17; 2 Cor 13:14; Jn 1:1, 14; 10:30; 7:5; Phil 2:5-6; Jn 15:26; 1 Cor 12:4-6; Acts 5:3-4Jesus ChristWe believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men. We believe that God manifested himself in the flesh, in the Person of Jesus Christ, who is both the Son of God and the Son of man. We believe that he lived a perfectly sinless life on this earth.1 Tim 3:16; Is 7:14; Lk 1:35; Jn 1:1-2, 14; Mk 1:1; Matt 1:1, Matt 9:6; Gal 4:4-5; Heb 4:15We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and, that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead.Phil 2:5-8; Eph 1:7; 2 Cor 5:19-21; 1 Pet 2:24; Rom 3:24-25; 1 Pet 1:3-5We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate.Acts 1:9-10; 2:31-36; Heb 9:24, 7:25; Rom 8:34; 1 Jn 2:1-2The Holy SpiritWe believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person; equal with God the Father and God the Son, and of the same nature; that He was active in the creation; that He reproves the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; that He bears witness to the Truth of the Gospel in preaching and testimony; that He is the agent in the New Birth; and that He indwells, comforts, seals, fills, guides, teaches, sanctifies, helps and assures the Believer; that he intercedes for the Believer, reveals the Scripture to him, and endues him with power.We believe that baptism by the Holy Ghost into the body of Christ occurs at salvation and that there is no verse in the Bible that commands believers that they must speak in tongues or perform miracles in order to prove that they are baptized by the Holy Ghost or filled with the Spirit.Matt 28:19; Acts 5:3-4; 2 Cor 3:17; Gen 1:1-3; Ps 104:30; Jn 16:8-11; 15:26-27; Acts 5:30-32; Jn 1 :33; Heb 9:14; Jn 3:5-6; Eph 1:13; Jn 14:16-17; Acts 4:31; Jn 16:13; Rom 8:14; Jn 14:26; 2 Thes 2:13; 1 Pet 1:2; Rom 8:16; Rom 8:26-27; 1 Cor 2:10-16; Lk 24:49; 1 Cor 12:13; Acts 11:16CreationWe believe in the Genesis account of creation, and that it is to be accepted literally, and not allegorically or figuratively and that God created the universe in six literal twenty-four hour days; that man was created directly in God's own image and after His own likeness; that man's creation was not a matter of evolution or evolutionary change of species or development through interminable periods of time from lower to higher forms; and that all animal and vegetable life was made directly and God's established law was that they should bring forth only "after their kind."Gen 1-2; Jn 1:1-3; Mk 13:19; Heb 11:3; Col 1:15-17; Rom 1:20; Acts 17:28-29; Col 2:8; 1 Tim 6:20; Rom 1:22-27ManWe believe that man was created in innocence under the law of his Maker, but by voluntary transgression fell from his sinless state, in consequence of which all men and women are now sinners, not by constraint, but of choice, and are therefore under just condemnation without defense or excuse.Gen 3:1-6; Rom 5:12, 19; Rom 3:10-19; Eph 2:1-3; Gal 3:22; Rom 1:18; Rom 1:32; Rom 1:20The Atonement for SinWe believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace; through the mediatory office of the Son of God, who by appointment of the Father, freely took upon Himself our nature, yet without sin, honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and by His death made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins; that His blood atonement consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was the voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner's place, the just dying for the unjust, Christ, the Lord, bearing our sins in His own body on the tree; that, having risen from the dead, He is now enthroned in heaven and uniting in His wonderful person the most tender sympathies with divine perfection. He is in every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate, and an all-sufficient Savior.Eph 2:8; Acts 15:11; Jn 3:16; Matt. 18:11; 1 Tim 2:5; Heb 9:12-15; Phil 2:7; Heb 2:14; Heb 4:15; 1 Pet 2:22; Is 53:4-7; Rom 3:25; 1 Jn 4:10; 1 Cor 15:3; Heb 9:22; Col 1:14; Eph 1:7; 2 Cor 5:21; Jn 10:18; Phil 2:8; Gal 1:4; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Pet 3:18; Is 53:11-12; Heb 12:2; 1 Cor 15:20; Heb 7:25JustificationWe believe that the Gospel blessing which Christ secures to such as believe in Him is justification; that justification includes the pardon of sin, and the gift of eternal life on principles of righteousness; that it is bestowed, not in consideration of any works of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in the Christs blood as His righteousness is imputed to us; and that the sinner is justified the moment he receives Jesus Christ.Acts 13:39; Rom 8:1; 5:9; 5:1; Tit 3:5-7; Rom 1:17; Gal 2:16, 3:11; Rom 4:1-8; 1 Cor 6:11The Local ChurchWe believe that the church, which is the body of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again Christians. The Lord Jesus Christ is the foundation and head of the Church and the head of every true local church.Eph 1:22-23; Col 1:18, 24; Eph 5:23-24, 30-32; 1 Cor 12:13We believe that a local church is a congregation of baptized believers associated by covenant of faith and fellowship of the Gospel, said church being understood to be the propagator of Divine and Eternal Grace; observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws; exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word; that its officers of ordination are pastors (also referred to in Scripture as elders), and deacons, whose qualifications, claims, and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures; and we believe the true mission of the church is found in the Great Commission: first, to make individual disciples; second, to edify the church; and third, to reach others and instruct them as He has commanded. We do not believe in the reversal of this order; we hold that the local church has the right of self-government, free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations; that the one and only superintendent is Christ through the Holy Spirit; that it is scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the Gospel; that every church is the sole and only judge of the measure and method of its cooperation; and on all matters of membership, of policy, of government, of discipline, of benevolence, the will of the local church is final.Acts 2:41-42; 1 Cor 11:2; Col 1:18; Eph 5:23-24; Acts 14:23; Acts 20:17-28; 1 Pet 5:1-4; 1 Tim 3:1-13; Acts 6:5-6; Eph 4:11-16; Matt 28:19-20; 1 Cor 12:4; 1 Cor 12:8-11Baptism and the Lords SupperWe believe that baptism is the immersion in water of a believer in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, with the authority of the local church, to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, with its effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life; that it is prerequisite to the privileges of a church relation and to the Lord's Supper, in which the members of the church, by the sacred use of bread and fruit of the vine are to commemorate together the dying love of Christ, preceded always by solemn self-examination. We believe that baptism and the Lords Supper constitute the only two scriptural ordinances for the church, but that neither has any saving power.Matt 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; Acts 8:36-39; Acts 10:47-48; Matt 3:16; Rom 6:3-5; 1 Cor 11:23-33The Eternal Security and Assurance of BelieversWe believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God's power and are thus secure in Christ forever. We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God's Word, which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh.Jn 5:24; Jn 6:37-40; Jn 10:27-30; Rom 8:1; 38-39; 1 Cor 1:4-8; 1 Pet 1:4-5; Rom 13:13-14; Gal 5:13; Tit 2:11-15MissionsWe believe that the command to give the Gospel to the world is clear and unmistakable and this commission was given to the local church. It is the church's clear responsibility to carry out this commission by sending forth those whom God has called. The equipping and supplying of these "missionaries" is solely the duty of the church.Matt. 28:18-20; Mk 16:15; Jn 20:21; Rom 10:13-15; Acts 1:8; Acts 13:1-3Marriage and DivorceWe believe that marriage is to be a lifetime vow and commitment between one man and one woman until death dissolves the union. We believe that God disapproves of and forbids divorce and intends marriage to last until one of the spouses die. Mal 2:14-17; Matt 19:3-12; 1 Cor 7:1-16, 27-28, 39; Rom 7:1-4; Hos 2:1-2; 1 Tim 3:2, 12; Tit 1:6AbortionWe believe that human life begins at conception and the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused taking of unborn human life. Abortion is murder. We reject any teaching that abortions of pregnancies due to rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, and birth or population control are acceptable.Job 3:16; Ps 51:5; Is 44.24; 49:1, 5; Jer 1:5; 20:15-18; Lk 1:44
