Affirmation of Faith
THE BIBLE: We believe the Bible, composed of all 66 books in both the Old and New Testaments, to be the Word of God, divine revelation, inspired by God, verbally, in totality and inerrant in the original manuscripts; a closed canon, trustworthy today and authoritative over all that we say or do. God’s communication to us was progressive in nature, that is, it was not completely revealed at one time but rather over many years and through various people and events.
GOD: We believe there is one God who is the sovereign creator of all. His nature can be and is known only through revelation and His sovereign decree is fixed in eternity past and immutable. We believe God is one essence, eternally co-existent and co-equal in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He is perfect in holiness and love, infinite in wisdom and measureless in power.
JESUS CHRIST: We believe Christ to be co-existent with the Father in eternity past. Jesus is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, born of a virgin, sinless and impeccable. He died for our sins on the cross, was buried, rose again bodily from the dead, ascended into Heaven and is now seated at the right hand of God the Father interceding on our behalf. Our salvation comes through Christ alone, and He is coming back to this earth one day as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
HOLY SPIRIT: We believe the Holy Spirit is a person, not an impersonal force. He is fully God, undiminished deity, the third person of the triune Godhead. We believe He is operative both in the world and in the Christian. In the world, He convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment. In the Christian, He regenerates, indwells, empowers, seals, sanctifies, teaches, comforts and advocates for all who believe in Jesus Christ. His ministry to the church includes the sovereign bestowal of spiritual gifts for the purpose of edifying the body of Christ.
HUMANITY: We believe humanity was created by God out of inorganic dust to have fellowship with and bring glory to God. Humanity, both male and female, was created in the image of God and composed of both immaterial and material parts. All humans deserve respect as image-bearers of Almighty God. We believe that humanity fell in Adam and is presently spiritually dead and totally depraved. All humans are sinners by nature and by choice and, apart from salvation in Christ alone, shall be separated forever from God.
SIN: We believe that the creature both originated and is responsible for personal sin. Sin is any lack of conformity to God’s perfect nature. Sin is universal in scope having been transmitted from the original sin of Adam. We believe that the world is presently under God’s judgment for sin, though only partially, and that the penalty for sin is death, physically, spiritually and eternally.
SALVATION: We believe that salvation is the entire work of God whereby He transforms us from eternal ruin to eternal glory. Salvation encompasses the entire process from foreknowledge to glorification. God, having elected us unconditionally in eternity past, will glorify us in eternity future. The triune Godhead is active in bringing salvation to each person. We believe that the sole basis of salvation is the substitutionary death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that the appropriation of this provision is accomplished only by spiritual regeneration. Salvation is by grace alone, through Christ alone by faith alone. We believe that the responsibility of man for salvation is faith and repentance. Salvation involves both positional and experiential truth being both established fact in the mind of God and a process of spiritual growth for us on earth.
ANGELS AND DEMONS: We believe in the existence of a vast multitude of angelic beings who were created by God as spirit beings without flesh and blood. They are supernatural in intellect and power but limited by God’s authority. We believe that there are good or holy angels serving God and fallen or evil angels who oppose God. Both classes of angels are active in this world today. We believe in the existence of a personal and supernatural Devil also called Satan who leads the kingdom of fallen angels or demons in opposition to God. Satan’s evil powers and plans are subject to the power and plan of God, and believers can be more than conquerors through the Jesus Christ who loved us and gave Himself for us.
THE CHURCH: We believe in the universal church composed of all believers in Jesus Christ around the world. The church is a living, organic rather than organizational, body of believers with Jesus Christ as the head and united by the Spirit of God. The church is commissioned for worship, fellowship, evangelism, edification and global mission. We believe in the local church, designed by Christ to fulfill the spiritual needs of His followers as they live in this world carrying out His commission. The local church is an autonomous, organized assembly of believers under the leadership of elders, observing the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and empowered by the Spirit of God to implement Christ’s great commission.
END TIMES: We believe in the personal, bodily return of Jesus Christ at the end of this age to transform His followers forever through bodily resurrection and to establish His Millennial Kingdom on this earth. At the conclusion of His reign, the heavens and earth will be utterly destroyed, and the unsaved of all ages will be resurrected, judged and sentenced to conscious punishment forever. We believe that a New Heavens and New Earth will be created to be the home of the righteous for all eternity.
THE CHURCH AND GOVERNMENT: We believe that no religious organization has the right or responsibility to control or establish civil government, while holding that individual believers as well as the church collectively must endeavor to contribute to and promote moral and spiritual righteousness in society and government. We do not believe that separation of church and state implies separation of the state from God.
MARRIAGE AND SEXUALITY. We affirm and adopt, in its entirety, “The Nashville Statement” by the Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood published on August 29, 2017 at CBMW.org as its statement of belief on Marriage and Sexuality.
