We Believe in:
• The absolute sovereignty of God in all matters relating to Creation, Providence and Redemption.
• The full inspiration and infallibility of the Bible, or Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, in their original autographs; these Holy Scriptures being the authoritative and fully sufficient Word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, unchanging and inerrant, and the only rule of faith and duty for the people of God.
• The Triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – equal in eternity, power and glory: one God existing in three Divine Persons.
• The Fall of Adam and Eve from original righteousness and close fellowship with God, and the subsequent imputation of their sin to all mankind, so that all mankind is now fallen, dead in trespasses and sins (spiritually dead), guilty and condemned by God, and in need of salvation. This salvation can be experienced only by God’s grace, and is received through repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
• The essential deity and sinless humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God; his virgin birth; his perfectly holy and righteous life and sacrifice of atonement on behalf of sinners, involving his vicarious sufferings, his death and burial, his bodily resurrection on the third day, and his ascension to glory.
• The full personality of the Holy Spirit and the absolute necessity of his work in regeneration, conversion and sanctification.
• The preaching and teaching of the Word of God (the Bible), including the message of the Gospel, as the means through which generally the Holy Spirit convicts, convinces and converts sinners to God.
• The justification of every sinner whom God has chosen from before the creation of the world; and whom—by God's sovereign grace alone in election—the Holy Spirit draws to the Lord Jesus Christ in true repentance and genuine saving faith.
• The Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in bodily form, and in power and glory.
• The immortality of the soul; the resurrection of the body; the final judgment of all mankind; the conscious eternal punishment in hell of all those who die impenitent.
• The acceptance of all those belonging to the Lord Jesus into his immediate, eternal and glorious presence in heaven, whether they die before the Lord comes, or remain alive until his second coming.
• The ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper as instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ, and as practiced in accordance with the Lord’s instructions in the Scriptures.
• The community of Christian believers meeting together regularly, in accordance with the Scriptures, for worship, prayer and fellowship as members of a local church; each local church forming part of the one universal Church, of which Christ alone is the Supreme Head in heaven and on earth.
We hold and teach:
“All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17
(1) We hold and teach–that
the Bible is the only
rule of faith and practice; and it alone
is able to make a man wise unto
salvation.
(2) We hold and
teach–that we are accounted
righteous before God–only for the merit
of our Lord Jesus Christ, by faith–and
not for our own works and deservings. We
maintain that in the matter of our
justification, our own
goodness and holiness have nothing
whatever to do.
(3) We hold and teach–that good works, which follow after justification, spring necessarily out of a true and living faith. We maintain that a living faith may be as evidently discerned, by the good works which spring from it–as a tree is discerned by its fruit; and that, consequently, the man in whom no good works and holiness can be seen–is not yet a converted man.
(4) We hold and teach–that repentance, faith, holiness of heart and life, justification, conversion, union with Christ, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit–are the primary and principal things in true religion. We maintain that other points of doctrine, however important and valuable in their due place, are by comparison, things of secondary importance.
“Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage–with great patience and careful instruction.” 2 Tim. 4:2
(from Grace Gems)
