STATEMENT OF FAITH & BELIEF
I. The Bible
We believe in the absolute authority of the Holy Scriptures.
We believe the original manuscripts were given
by inspiration of God and were without error.
We believe the God who gave His word to man
has taken upon Himself the responsibility
for its preservation (Psalms 12:6-7).
We believe the incorruptible word of God
which cannot pass away is available to the English
speaking world in the Authorized (King James) Version.
This Bible is our final authority in all matters.
II. God
We believe that God is one God, manifesting Himself in three persons:
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.
These three are equal in all power and attributes.
III. Salvation and Consequences
We believe salvation is available to all men by grace through faith
in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ,
apart from human works or merit of any kind.
We believe the saved child of God is eternally secure in the Lord Jesus Christ,
and is sealed, taught, and comforted by the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption.
We believe salvation makes one a member of the body of Christ
and the members of this body should gather together in a local church
where they may minister one to another.
We believe all men rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ will spend eternity
in the conscious torment of a literal lake of fire,
while those receiving the Lord Jesus Christ
will spend eternity in the glorious presence of God.
IV. Gospel and Its Proclamation
We believe it is the responsibility of every believer
to proclaim the saving gospel to all men by personal testimony
and by giving of their means to finance the missionary efforts of the church.
V. Separation
We believe all saved men should be separate from the outward
and inner ways of this world, being holy in mind and body.
We believe, however, that righteousness does not come
by keeping of laws and commandments but by an inner change of heart.
We therefore place emphasis on the inner condition,
trusting the outward appearance to follow accordingly.
VI. Baptism and The Lord's Supper
We believe that there are two ordinances of the local church:
Baptism, and the Lord's supper.
Scriptural baptism of believers, by immersion in water,
in the name of the Father, of the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
This pictures the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ
for our sins, and shows that we belong to Christ.
It is to be administered by the authority of the
Local New Testament Baptist church, and is a prerequisite
to the privileges of a church relation, and to the Lord's supper.
The Lord's supper is a memorial ordinance for the local church
according to the individual examination and teaching
of 1 Corinthians 11:12-34. The unleavened bread
and the fruit of the vine (unfermented grape juice),
are to commemorate together, the dying love of Christ.
VII. The Church
We believe that the church is a body of which Jesus is the head.
Thus it is not a democracy to be run by the will of its members
but is to conduct its temporal as well as its spiritual business
in strict accordance to the word of God.
VIII. End Times and Events
We believe in the Rapture-the personal, pre-millennial, pre-tribulational
and imminent return of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ "in the air."
This has been the "Blessed Hope" of every born-again believer
in the Church Age. At that time He will receive to Himself
the resurrected bodies of those who have "died in Christ"
and also all those who are presently alive and "in Christ."
He will then come "with His saints" seven years thereafter
to execute judgment upon the ungodly nations
before the inauguration of His earthly millennial reign
at His second coming to the earth. The Lord will cast
the anti-christ and the false prophet into the lake of fire,
send Satan into the abyss and establish His earthly kingdom.
The Lord Jesus Christ will reign one thousand years,
thus literally fulfilling the covenant promises made
to a believing remnant of Israel through the Patriarchs of the Old Testament.
After the earthly reign of one thousand years, He will bring
all the unsaved dead to the judgment of the Great White Throne
and all who stand before that Throne will be cast into the lake of fire forever.
Satan will also be cast into the lake of fire.
