what we believe
Statement of Faith
Summary
Learn more about our beliefs and read through our Statement of Faith.
overview
We Believe
We believe the Bible to be the inspired, inerrant, infallible, and authoritative Word of God. It is the single most important source of our understanding of God and all of His creation. It shapes our faith, guides our life, and gives us a lens in which to view and understand the world around us. It is the book through which God has chosen to reveal the way to Heaven. As John Wesley said, “O give me that book! At any price, give me the book of God.”
We believe that the Bible stands alone as the source for absolute truth. The Bible is the only reliable moral compass that we have. We are moral and spiritual creatures living in a world that is controlled by moral and spiritual values. We cannot, either individually or collectively, decide what truth is or what is to be accepted as a true standard for moral behavior without the transcendent absolute truths that are given to us in Scripture. To deny Scripture as the standard for absolute truth is to remove any absolute standard for moral behavior and reasoning.
Our Core Values, Mission and Vision capture what we believe God has called us to do.
The Word of God—the Bible—is the basis for all of our beliefs.
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.“
2 Timothy 3:16
Our Statement of Faith does not exhaust the extent of our faith. The Bible itself is the sole and final source of all that we believe.
We do believe, however, that our Statement of Faith accurately represents the teaching of the Bible and, therefore, is binding upon all Board Trustees, officers, employees, and activities of the Corporation.
All literature used as authoritative in the Ministry shall be in complete agreement with the Statement of Faith.
God
We believe that there is one God, self-existent and eternal, the creator, sustainer, and ruler of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Their glory is equal, their majesty co-eternal.
Holy Scripture
We believe that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, written and inspired by the Holy Spirit, and inerrant in the original manuscripts.
They contain all that is necessary to our salvation and are of supreme authority for faith and practice.
Jesus Christ
We believe that Our Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal and only begotten Son of God, became man without ever ceasing to be God; that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and lived a sinless life.
He died on the cross, making a full and satisfactory atonement for the sins of the whole human race, then rose bodily the third day from the grave and ascended into Heaven, where He is enthroned at God’s right hand as our intercessor.
Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Godhead, is Lord and Giver of life, who continually glorifies our Lord Jesus Christ, convicts men and women of sin, and regenerates all who repent and trust in Christ for salvation.
It is by the Holy Spirit that believers are sanctified, indwelt, and guided into all truth; and it is also by Him that Christ lives in the church, the gospel is proclaimed, and the Kingdom of God is advanced in the world.
Human Nature
We believe that man was created in the image of God; but as the result of Adam’s sin, the entire human race was alienated from God and plunged into sin.
By nature we are thus corrupt and fallen, hostile to God and His Law, and utterly unable of ourselves to remedy our lost condition.
By His prevenient grace, God restores moral sensibility to all mankind, enabling each of us to respond to His offer of salvation.
Salvation
We believe that Salvation is the provision of God’s grace alone, but it is a gift which we must freely accept. Thus God graciously justifies and regenerates all who repent of their sins and believe on Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
As the children of God, they are restored to fellowship with Him, delivered from the penalty of sin, as well as from its willful practice, and are initially sanctified by the Holy Spirit who dwells in them.
Entire Sanctification
We believe that God calls all believers to entire sanctification in a moment of full consecration and faith subsequent to their new birth in Jesus Christ.
By the Holy Spirit’s filling, their hearts are purified from inherited depravity, and they are empowered for continued growth in their relationship with Christ, victorious living, and fruitful service.
Entire sanctification is both preceded and followed by growth in grace, dynamically expressed in advancing holiness and increasing spiritual maturity.
Assurance
We believe that believers are assured of personal salvation by the infallible promises of God’s Word, confirmed by the inward testimony of the Holy Spirit, and attested by a good conscience and the presence of the fruit of the Spirit in their lives.
Security of Believers
We believe that believers are assured of personal salvation by the infallible promises of God’s Word, confirmed by the inward testimony of the Holy Spirit, and attested by a good conscience and the presence of the fruit of the Spirit in t
The Christian Life
We believe that it is the joy and duty of all Christians, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to live righteously, victoriously, and sacrificially, obedient to God’s law, faithful in the use of the means of grace, continually sharing the hope that is in them, and ministering compassionately to human need.
The Church
We believe that the true church of Jesus Christ is composed of all who are united to Him in saving faith and who are thus members of the body of which He is the head.
All Christians should live in fellowship with the church, uniting in its worship of the Triune God, supporting its great task of world evangelism, and loving one another with pure and fervent hearts.
Christ's Return
We believe that Our Lord Jesus Christ will personally return in glory at the end of the age, as He has promised, and that He will consummate His kingdom and judge the world in righteousness.
His coming, as we confess, is the “blessed hope” which is set before us and for which we must live in constant joyful readiness.
Heaven and Hell
We believe that those who die in Christ are immediately present with Him, while those who die in sin suffer the torments of hell, awaiting the final judgment.
All shall be raised from the dead, those who have died in Christ to eternal blessedness, and those who have rejected Him to conscious and everlasting punishment in the lake of fire.
Creation
We believe that for His own glory and by His own decree, the Triune God created heaven and earth and all things visible and invisible, animate and inanimate.
Thus we reject all unscriptural theories of origin.
Separation
We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord.
God commands His people to separate from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices, and associations, and to refrain from all immodest and immoderate appearances, the wearing of jewelry, piercings, and bodily markings.
Human Sexuality
We believe that God has given to us the gift of sexuality which must be exercised only within the boundaries of covenanted, lifelong, and heterosexual marriage. Intimate sexual relationships outside of marriage and sexual relationships between persons of the same sex are immoral and sinful.
Specifically we condemn homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, pornography, and other forms of licentiousness as sinful perversions of the divine gift of sexuality.
Family Relationships
We believe that God has instituted the family as the foundational unit of human society and it begins with the legitimate marriage of one man and one woman.
Within its structure, as He has ordained, parents are responsible to instruct their children in Christian faith and conduct, to set before them godly and consistent examples of the same, and in every way to “bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”
In the ordering of family life, Scripture requires: “Wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord . . . husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it . . . children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.”
Human Life
The sanctity and dignity of human life demands respect for all human life, especially in its most vulnerable stages and conditions. We believe that human life begins at conception and that 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, birth or population control, or the physical or mental well being of the mother are acceptable.
We further believe that the killing of the weak, the physically challenged, the mentally ill, or the aged, whether by a deliberate act or by coercing or assisting a person to commit suicide, is immoral.
Civil Lawsuits
We believe that Christians are prohibited from bringing civil lawsuits against other Christians or Christian organizations to resolve personal disputes.
We believe the Christian community possesses all the resources necessary to resolve personal disputes between parties.
We do believe, however, that a Christian may seek compensation for injuries from another Christian’s insurance company as long as the claim is pursued without malice or slander.
The Lord's Day
We believe that the Lord’s Day, celebrated on Sunday, the first day of the week, throughout the Christian church, is the Christian sabbath, which we reverently observe as a day of rest and worship and as the continuing memorial of Our Savior’s resurrection.
For this reason, we abstain from secular work and from all merchandising on this holy day, except that required by mercy or necessity.
Substance Abuse
We believe that the production, sale, purchase, and use of alcoholic beverages, tobacco, narcotics, and other harmful drugs, unless for mechanical, chemical, or medicinal purposes, is contrary to God’s requirement that we regard our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit.
