Core Beliefs
THE SCRIPTURES
We believe the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments to be the full record of God's self-disclosure to
mankind. Different men, while writing according to their own styles and personalities, were supernaturally moved
along by the Holy Spirit to record God's very words, inerrant in the original writings. Therefore, those applying
themselves to study its literal, historical-grammatical context can accurately understand God's word. Scripture is fully
trustworthy as our final and sufficient authority for all of life.
(2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Mark 13:31; John 8:31-32; John 20:31; Acts 20:32)
THE TRIUNE GOD
We believe in the one living and true God, eternally existing in perfect unity as three equally and fully divine persons:
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each member of the Godhead, while executing distinct but complementary
roles in redemptive history, has precisely the same nature, attributes, and being, and is equally worthy of the same
glory, honor, and obedience.
(Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:21b-22; John 17:3; Matthew 3:13-17; Matthew 28:19; John 1:1-4; Acts 5:3-4; Colossians
2:9)
GOD THE FATHER
We believe God the Father eternally exists as the first person of the Trinity. In this role and relationship, he has
planned, directed, and is absolutely sovereign over all of creation and redemption, having decreed for his own glory
all things that come to pass. God the Father is an invisible spirit, yet personal and relational. He is infinite, eternal,
and unchangeable in his being, purposes, and promises. He is perfect in knowledge, wisdom, truthfulness,
faithfulness, goodness, love, holiness, justice, and wrath. Each of his attributes, in their perfection and fullness, are
eternally true of his character and exist in complete and beautiful harmony with one another. As Father of his
redeemed people, God has chosen from eternity past those whom he would call his own and, as a gift of his grace,
sent his Son to save them from sin and death. All who come to him through faith in Jesus Christ are adopted as his
children, making them fellow heirs with Christ and recipients of his fatherly love and discipline.
(Psalm 90:2; Genesis 1:1-31; Psalm 24:1; 103:19; Romans 11:36; Revelation 4:11; Isaiah 46:9-10; John 1:18; 4:24; 1
John 4:7-12; Psalm 102:25-27; Job 37:16; Romans 16:27; Isaiah 45:19; Numbers 23:19; Psalm 36:5; Psalm 100:5; 1
John 4:8; Romans 5:8; Leviticus 19:2; Isaiah 6:3; Deuteronomy 32:4; Romans 1:18; Isaiah 63:16; Romans 8:14; 2
Corinthians 6:18; Ephesians 1:3-6; Romans 3:24-25; John 1:12; Romans 8:15-17; Hebrews 12:5-9)
GOD THE SON
We believe that Jesus Christ, the eternal Son, moved by love in accordance with the will of the Father, took on human
flesh. Conceived through the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit, he was born of the virgin Mary. He, being fully God
and fully man, lived a sinless life and sacrificially shed his blood and died on the cross in our place accomplishing
redemption for all who place their faith in him. He arose visibly and bodily from the dead three days later and
ascended into heaven, where, at the Father's right hand, he is now head of his body, the Church, the only Savior and
Mediator between God and man, and will return to earth in power and glory to consummate his redemptive mission.
(John 1:1, 14, 18; Luke 1:35; John 14:8-9; Hebrews 4:15; 7:26; John 10:15; Romans 3:24-25; 5:8; 1 Peter 2:24;
Matthew 28:6; Luke 24:38-39; Acts 2:30-31; Romans 1:4; 4:25; 8:34; 1 Corinthians 15:20; Hebrews 7:25; 9:24; 1
John 2:1; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Timothy 3:16)
GOD THE SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that he does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ during this age. He convicts the
world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He draws the unredeemed to repentance and faith, and at salvation
imparts new spiritual life to the believer, bringing that person into union with Christ and the body of Christ. The Holy
Spirit sanctifies, seals, fills, guides, instructs, comforts, equips, empowers, permanently indwells at salvation, and
bestows spiritual gifts to the believer for Christ-like living and service.
(John 16:8, 14; Titus 3:5; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9-17; 12:4-8; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 3:16; 12:4-5, 11-13;
Galatians 5:25; Hebrews 2:1-4; 2 Corinthians 12:12)
MANKIND
We believe that God created mankind - male and female - in his own image and likeness, free of sin, to glorify himself
and enjoy his fellowship. Tempted by Satan, but in the sovereign plan of God, man freely chose to disobey God,
bringing sin, death, and condemnation to all mankind. All human beings, therefore, are totally depraved by nature and by choice. Alienated from God without defense or excuse, and subject to God's righteous wrath, all of mankind is in desperate need of the Savior.
(Genesis 1:26-27; Isaiah 43:6; Psalm 16:11; Genesis 3:1-6; Romans 3:10-19; 6:23; Jeremiah 17:9; Ephesians 2:1-3;
Isaiah 59:2; Romans 1:18,32)
SALVATION
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, as the substitutionary atonement
in our place, and that salvation is found in none other than Jesus Christ. Before creation, God chose those who would
be saved and granted this unearned grace solely based on his sovereign good pleasure. Jesus Christ's death on the
cross was the sole and complete payment for sins, fully satisfying God's righteous wrath, for each person that turns
from sin in repentance and places their faith in Christ alone by grace alone. At salvation, each person is made a new
creation by the Holy Spirit, declared righteous before God, and secured as an adopted child of God forever. Genuine
faith continues in obedience and love for Jesus Christ with a life eager to glorify God and persevere to the end.
(1 Corinthians 15:3-4; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Peter 3:18; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 8:29-30; Ephesians 1:3-14;
Isaiah 55:7; Romans 10:9; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 8:37-39)
THE CHURCH
We believe that, upon placing one's faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, the believer is made part of the body of
Christ, the one universal Church, of which Jesus Christ is the head. The Scriptures command believers to gather
locally in order to devote themselves to worship, prayer, teaching of the word, fellowship, the ordinances of baptism
and communion, service to the local body through the development and use of talents and spiritual gifts, and
outreach to the world to make disciples. Wherever God's people meet regularly in obedience to this command, there
is the local expression of the Church under the watchful care of a plurality of pastors. A church's members are to work
together in love and unity, intent on the ultimate purpose of glorifying Christ.
(1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Colossians 1:18; Hebrews 10:24-25; Ephesians 1:22-23; Acts 2:42-46; 20:17; 1 Corinthians
14:26; Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 4:16)
BAPTISM AND COMMUNION
We believe that Christian baptism is a public declaration of the believer's salvation in Christ, identifying with Christ in
his death, burial, and resurrection symbolized by immersion in water. The Lord's Supper is the united commemoration by believers of Christ's death until he comes and should be preceded by confession and consecration.
(Acts 2:41; Romans 6:3-6; Acts 8:26-40; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34)
MISSION
We believe it is the aim, duty, and privilege of every believer and local church fellowship to glorify God by responding
as active participants in the Great Commission call of Jesus Christ to go and make disciples of all nations. We believe
the primary focus and priority of this call is centered on efforts that establish, strengthen, and reproduce
biblically-based churches, which will then plant churches that plant churches for future generations and God's glory.
(Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Titus 1:5)
GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The primary texts that explicitly address spiritual gifts are Romans 12:3–8, 1 Corinthians 12–14, Ephesians
4:11–14, and 1 Peter 4:10–11, with other examples throughout Acts and elsewhere (see also Gal. 3:5; 1 Thess.
5:19–22; 1 Tim. 1:18; 2 Tim. 1:6; Heb. 2:3–4; James 5:13–18).
Spiritual gifts are God-given abilities, imparted by the Holy Spirit, enabling believers to serve others and glorify God
beyond natural limitations. They are a “manifestation of the Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:7), revealing the Spirit’s presence and
power in tangible ways to build up the Church.
We believe these gifts are graciously given and sovereignly distributed by the Spirit for the edification, unity, and
maturity of the body of Christ. Generally categorized as speaking and serving gifts, they are to be exercised under
the lordship of Jesus Christ, in love, truth, and mutual upbuilding. The gifts described in the New Testament remain
active and necessary in the life of the Church today; they did not cease with the closing of the canon or the death of
the apostles.
“Spiritual gifts are tools for the building up of the body of Christ… They are not the end or goal of our lives as
Christians, but the means by which the Spirit enables and empowers us to help one another grow up in conformity to
the image of Jesus. We must never forget that spiritual gifts are not the badge of godliness or the measure of God’s
love for any particular believer. They are tools for the building up of the body of Christ. They serve to enhance and
expand the fruit of the Spirit in our lives and in the lives of others.”
While God sovereignly apportions gifts as he wills (1 Cor. 12:11), believers are called to eagerly desire, diligently
pursue, and prayerfully practice them (1 Cor. 14:1, 13, 39). Any use of gifts disconnected from Christ’s lordship is
spiritually empty, regardless of outward effectiveness. Therefore, we seek to cultivate a biblically faithful,
Spirit-empowered practice of all the gifts, for the glory of God and the good of his people.
(1 Corinthians 12:1-11, Acts 10, 13, 19, Romans 12, 1 Thessalonians. 5).
THINGS TO COME
We believe in and eagerly await the glorious, visible, and personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ. This blessed hope
profoundly shapes the believer's personal life, service, and mission. We also affirm the bodily resurrection of both the
saved and the lost. The lost will be raised for judgment and face eternal wrath in hell, while the redeemed will be
raised to eternal joy in the new heaven and new earth, living forever in the manifested presence of God.
(Titus 2:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-5:11; John 5:28-29; Matthew
25:31-46; Romans 8:10-11; Revelation 20:15)
REVELATION
God has revealed Himself through creation, the person of Jesus Christ, and Scripture. The Bible, composed of 66
inspired books, is God's authoritative Word, fully true, and sufficient for faith and life. Through it, God's people are
equipped to follow Him and witness to the gospel.
(Psalm 19:1-4; John 1:14, 18; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 1:1-2; Romans 1:19-20)
CREATION OF HUMANITY
God created humans, male and female, in His image. God created human beings for his glory, and his good
purposes for us include our personal and physical design as male and female. Being made in God's image as male
and female is not a matter of one's own autonomous preferences. Rather, it is a part of God's beautiful design and
plan. Men and women, equal in worth, complement each other in life, family, and marriage, and are called to serve in
church and society. Marriage reflects the union of Christ, the church and the gospel, with distinctive, God-ordained
roles in family and church life.
(Genesis 1:26-27; Genesis 2:18-24; Ephesians 5:22-33; 1 Corinthians 11:11-12; 1 Timothy 2:12-13)
THE FALL
We believe that Adam, made in the image of God, distorted that image and forfeited his original blessedness - for
himself and all his progeny - by falling into sin through Satan's temptation. As a result, all human beings are alienated
from God, corrupted in every aspect of their being (e.g., physically, mentally, volitionally, emotionally, spiritually) and
condemned finally and irrevocably to death-apart from God's own gracious intervention. The supreme need of all
human beings is to be reconciled to the God under whose just and holy wrath we stand; the only hope of all human
beings is the undeserved love of this same God, who alone can rescue us and restore us to himself.
(Genesis 3:1-19; Romans 3:23; Romans 5:12-19; Ephesians 2:1-3)
THE PLAN OF GOD
We believe that from all eternity God determined in grace to save a great multitude of guilty sinners from every tribe
and language and people and nation, and to this end foreknew them and chose them. We believe that God justifies
and sanctifies those who by grace have faith in Jesus, and that he will one day glorify them-all to the praise of his
glorious grace. In love God commands and implores all people to repent and believe, having set his saving love on
those he has chosen and having ordained Christ to be their Redeemer.
(Ephesians 1:3-14; Romans 8:29-30; Acts 2:38-39; 2 Peter 3:9)
THE GOSPEL
The gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ's life, death, and resurrection for our sins, reconciling us to God. It is
biblically grounded, historically true, and personally transformative for all who receive and believe it.
(1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 1:16-17; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; John 3:16)
THE REDEMPTION OF CHRIST
Jesus, fully God and human, lived sinlessly, died, rose, and ascended to heaven. Through His life and death, He
acted as our substitute, bearing our sin's penalty. He defeated death, vindicated by His resurrection, and reigns as
Lord, providing salvation to all who believe.
(Philippians 2:5-11; Romans 5:6-11; 1 Peter 2:24; Hebrews 4:15; Acts 1:9-11)
THE JUSTIFICATION OF SINNERS
Through Christ's obedience and death, believers are justified. This free and gracious justification leads to gratitude
and a life of obedience, magnifying God's justice and grace.
(Romans 3:23-26; Romans 5:1; Galatians 2:16; Titus 3:4-7)
THE KINGDOM OF GOD
All who believe are in God's kingdom, enjoying forgiveness and transformation. They serve as light in the world, doing
good and loving their neighbors. The kingdom is God's sovereign rule, present but not fully realized, which transforms
lives and builds a new community.
(Matthew 6:9-10, 33; Luke 17:20-21; Romans 14:17; Colossians 1:13)
GOD'S NEW PEOPLE
The church is Christ's body, united under Him. It is identified by the gospel, love, mission, and worship. It embodies
both individual and collective faith, reconciled to God and each other, as a foretaste of God's future new world.
(Ephesians 1:22-23; Acts 2:42-47; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Revelation 7:9-10)
SALVATION
Salvation encompasses the redemption of the whole person and is freely offered to all who, by grace alone, places there faith Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Through His sacrifice, Jesus obtained eternal redemption for believers. Salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification, and is found only through faith in Jesus
Christ.
(John 3:16; Romans 1:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; Hebrews 9:12)
A. REGENERATION
Regeneration is the new birth, a work of God's grace through which believers become new creations in Christ. It is a
transformation of heart, brought about by the Holy Spirit's conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds with
repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ. Repentance, a genuine turning from sin toward God, and faith, the
acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Savior, are inseparable acts of grace.
(John 3:3-8; Titus 3:5; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Acts 2:37-38)
B. JUSTIFICATION
Justification is God's gracious and complete acquittal of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. Through
justification, believers enter a relationship of peace and favor with God.
(Romans 5:1-2; Romans 8:33-34; Galatians 2:16)
C. SANCTIFICATION
Sanctification is the process, beginning at regeneration, by which the believer is set apart for God's purposes and
grows toward moral and spiritual maturity through the power of the Holy Spirit. Growth in grace continues throughout
the believer's life.
(1 Thessalonians 4:3-7; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Philippians 1:6; John 17:17)
D. GLORIFICATION
Glorification is the final and blessed state of the redeemed, completing the work of salvation.
(Romans 8:30; 1 Corinthians 15:42-49; Philippians 3:20-21; Revelation 21:1-4)
We believe the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments to be the full record of God's self-disclosure to
mankind. Different men, while writing according to their own styles and personalities, were supernaturally moved
along by the Holy Spirit to record God's very words, inerrant in the original writings. Therefore, those applying
themselves to study its literal, historical-grammatical context can accurately understand God's word. Scripture is fully
trustworthy as our final and sufficient authority for all of life.
(2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Mark 13:31; John 8:31-32; John 20:31; Acts 20:32)
THE TRIUNE GOD
We believe in the one living and true God, eternally existing in perfect unity as three equally and fully divine persons:
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each member of the Godhead, while executing distinct but complementary
roles in redemptive history, has precisely the same nature, attributes, and being, and is equally worthy of the same
glory, honor, and obedience.
(Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:21b-22; John 17:3; Matthew 3:13-17; Matthew 28:19; John 1:1-4; Acts 5:3-4; Colossians
2:9)
GOD THE FATHER
We believe God the Father eternally exists as the first person of the Trinity. In this role and relationship, he has
planned, directed, and is absolutely sovereign over all of creation and redemption, having decreed for his own glory
all things that come to pass. God the Father is an invisible spirit, yet personal and relational. He is infinite, eternal,
and unchangeable in his being, purposes, and promises. He is perfect in knowledge, wisdom, truthfulness,
faithfulness, goodness, love, holiness, justice, and wrath. Each of his attributes, in their perfection and fullness, are
eternally true of his character and exist in complete and beautiful harmony with one another. As Father of his
redeemed people, God has chosen from eternity past those whom he would call his own and, as a gift of his grace,
sent his Son to save them from sin and death. All who come to him through faith in Jesus Christ are adopted as his
children, making them fellow heirs with Christ and recipients of his fatherly love and discipline.
(Psalm 90:2; Genesis 1:1-31; Psalm 24:1; 103:19; Romans 11:36; Revelation 4:11; Isaiah 46:9-10; John 1:18; 4:24; 1
John 4:7-12; Psalm 102:25-27; Job 37:16; Romans 16:27; Isaiah 45:19; Numbers 23:19; Psalm 36:5; Psalm 100:5; 1
John 4:8; Romans 5:8; Leviticus 19:2; Isaiah 6:3; Deuteronomy 32:4; Romans 1:18; Isaiah 63:16; Romans 8:14; 2
Corinthians 6:18; Ephesians 1:3-6; Romans 3:24-25; John 1:12; Romans 8:15-17; Hebrews 12:5-9)
GOD THE SON
We believe that Jesus Christ, the eternal Son, moved by love in accordance with the will of the Father, took on human
flesh. Conceived through the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit, he was born of the virgin Mary. He, being fully God
and fully man, lived a sinless life and sacrificially shed his blood and died on the cross in our place accomplishing
redemption for all who place their faith in him. He arose visibly and bodily from the dead three days later and
ascended into heaven, where, at the Father's right hand, he is now head of his body, the Church, the only Savior and
Mediator between God and man, and will return to earth in power and glory to consummate his redemptive mission.
(John 1:1, 14, 18; Luke 1:35; John 14:8-9; Hebrews 4:15; 7:26; John 10:15; Romans 3:24-25; 5:8; 1 Peter 2:24;
Matthew 28:6; Luke 24:38-39; Acts 2:30-31; Romans 1:4; 4:25; 8:34; 1 Corinthians 15:20; Hebrews 7:25; 9:24; 1
John 2:1; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Timothy 3:16)
GOD THE SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that he does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ during this age. He convicts the
world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He draws the unredeemed to repentance and faith, and at salvation
imparts new spiritual life to the believer, bringing that person into union with Christ and the body of Christ. The Holy
Spirit sanctifies, seals, fills, guides, instructs, comforts, equips, empowers, permanently indwells at salvation, and
bestows spiritual gifts to the believer for Christ-like living and service.
(John 16:8, 14; Titus 3:5; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9-17; 12:4-8; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 3:16; 12:4-5, 11-13;
Galatians 5:25; Hebrews 2:1-4; 2 Corinthians 12:12)
MANKIND
We believe that God created mankind - male and female - in his own image and likeness, free of sin, to glorify himself
and enjoy his fellowship. Tempted by Satan, but in the sovereign plan of God, man freely chose to disobey God,
bringing sin, death, and condemnation to all mankind. All human beings, therefore, are totally depraved by nature and by choice. Alienated from God without defense or excuse, and subject to God's righteous wrath, all of mankind is in desperate need of the Savior.
(Genesis 1:26-27; Isaiah 43:6; Psalm 16:11; Genesis 3:1-6; Romans 3:10-19; 6:23; Jeremiah 17:9; Ephesians 2:1-3;
Isaiah 59:2; Romans 1:18,32)
SALVATION
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, as the substitutionary atonement
in our place, and that salvation is found in none other than Jesus Christ. Before creation, God chose those who would
be saved and granted this unearned grace solely based on his sovereign good pleasure. Jesus Christ's death on the
cross was the sole and complete payment for sins, fully satisfying God's righteous wrath, for each person that turns
from sin in repentance and places their faith in Christ alone by grace alone. At salvation, each person is made a new
creation by the Holy Spirit, declared righteous before God, and secured as an adopted child of God forever. Genuine
faith continues in obedience and love for Jesus Christ with a life eager to glorify God and persevere to the end.
(1 Corinthians 15:3-4; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Peter 3:18; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 8:29-30; Ephesians 1:3-14;
Isaiah 55:7; Romans 10:9; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 8:37-39)
THE CHURCH
We believe that, upon placing one's faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, the believer is made part of the body of
Christ, the one universal Church, of which Jesus Christ is the head. The Scriptures command believers to gather
locally in order to devote themselves to worship, prayer, teaching of the word, fellowship, the ordinances of baptism
and communion, service to the local body through the development and use of talents and spiritual gifts, and
outreach to the world to make disciples. Wherever God's people meet regularly in obedience to this command, there
is the local expression of the Church under the watchful care of a plurality of pastors. A church's members are to work
together in love and unity, intent on the ultimate purpose of glorifying Christ.
(1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Colossians 1:18; Hebrews 10:24-25; Ephesians 1:22-23; Acts 2:42-46; 20:17; 1 Corinthians
14:26; Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 4:16)
BAPTISM AND COMMUNION
We believe that Christian baptism is a public declaration of the believer's salvation in Christ, identifying with Christ in
his death, burial, and resurrection symbolized by immersion in water. The Lord's Supper is the united commemoration by believers of Christ's death until he comes and should be preceded by confession and consecration.
(Acts 2:41; Romans 6:3-6; Acts 8:26-40; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34)
MISSION
We believe it is the aim, duty, and privilege of every believer and local church fellowship to glorify God by responding
as active participants in the Great Commission call of Jesus Christ to go and make disciples of all nations. We believe
the primary focus and priority of this call is centered on efforts that establish, strengthen, and reproduce
biblically-based churches, which will then plant churches that plant churches for future generations and God's glory.
(Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Titus 1:5)
GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The primary texts that explicitly address spiritual gifts are Romans 12:3–8, 1 Corinthians 12–14, Ephesians
4:11–14, and 1 Peter 4:10–11, with other examples throughout Acts and elsewhere (see also Gal. 3:5; 1 Thess.
5:19–22; 1 Tim. 1:18; 2 Tim. 1:6; Heb. 2:3–4; James 5:13–18).
Spiritual gifts are God-given abilities, imparted by the Holy Spirit, enabling believers to serve others and glorify God
beyond natural limitations. They are a “manifestation of the Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:7), revealing the Spirit’s presence and
power in tangible ways to build up the Church.
We believe these gifts are graciously given and sovereignly distributed by the Spirit for the edification, unity, and
maturity of the body of Christ. Generally categorized as speaking and serving gifts, they are to be exercised under
the lordship of Jesus Christ, in love, truth, and mutual upbuilding. The gifts described in the New Testament remain
active and necessary in the life of the Church today; they did not cease with the closing of the canon or the death of
the apostles.
“Spiritual gifts are tools for the building up of the body of Christ… They are not the end or goal of our lives as
Christians, but the means by which the Spirit enables and empowers us to help one another grow up in conformity to
the image of Jesus. We must never forget that spiritual gifts are not the badge of godliness or the measure of God’s
love for any particular believer. They are tools for the building up of the body of Christ. They serve to enhance and
expand the fruit of the Spirit in our lives and in the lives of others.”
While God sovereignly apportions gifts as he wills (1 Cor. 12:11), believers are called to eagerly desire, diligently
pursue, and prayerfully practice them (1 Cor. 14:1, 13, 39). Any use of gifts disconnected from Christ’s lordship is
spiritually empty, regardless of outward effectiveness. Therefore, we seek to cultivate a biblically faithful,
Spirit-empowered practice of all the gifts, for the glory of God and the good of his people.
(1 Corinthians 12:1-11, Acts 10, 13, 19, Romans 12, 1 Thessalonians. 5).
THINGS TO COME
We believe in and eagerly await the glorious, visible, and personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ. This blessed hope
profoundly shapes the believer's personal life, service, and mission. We also affirm the bodily resurrection of both the
saved and the lost. The lost will be raised for judgment and face eternal wrath in hell, while the redeemed will be
raised to eternal joy in the new heaven and new earth, living forever in the manifested presence of God.
(Titus 2:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-5:11; John 5:28-29; Matthew
25:31-46; Romans 8:10-11; Revelation 20:15)
REVELATION
God has revealed Himself through creation, the person of Jesus Christ, and Scripture. The Bible, composed of 66
inspired books, is God's authoritative Word, fully true, and sufficient for faith and life. Through it, God's people are
equipped to follow Him and witness to the gospel.
(Psalm 19:1-4; John 1:14, 18; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 1:1-2; Romans 1:19-20)
CREATION OF HUMANITY
God created humans, male and female, in His image. God created human beings for his glory, and his good
purposes for us include our personal and physical design as male and female. Being made in God's image as male
and female is not a matter of one's own autonomous preferences. Rather, it is a part of God's beautiful design and
plan. Men and women, equal in worth, complement each other in life, family, and marriage, and are called to serve in
church and society. Marriage reflects the union of Christ, the church and the gospel, with distinctive, God-ordained
roles in family and church life.
(Genesis 1:26-27; Genesis 2:18-24; Ephesians 5:22-33; 1 Corinthians 11:11-12; 1 Timothy 2:12-13)
THE FALL
We believe that Adam, made in the image of God, distorted that image and forfeited his original blessedness - for
himself and all his progeny - by falling into sin through Satan's temptation. As a result, all human beings are alienated
from God, corrupted in every aspect of their being (e.g., physically, mentally, volitionally, emotionally, spiritually) and
condemned finally and irrevocably to death-apart from God's own gracious intervention. The supreme need of all
human beings is to be reconciled to the God under whose just and holy wrath we stand; the only hope of all human
beings is the undeserved love of this same God, who alone can rescue us and restore us to himself.
(Genesis 3:1-19; Romans 3:23; Romans 5:12-19; Ephesians 2:1-3)
THE PLAN OF GOD
We believe that from all eternity God determined in grace to save a great multitude of guilty sinners from every tribe
and language and people and nation, and to this end foreknew them and chose them. We believe that God justifies
and sanctifies those who by grace have faith in Jesus, and that he will one day glorify them-all to the praise of his
glorious grace. In love God commands and implores all people to repent and believe, having set his saving love on
those he has chosen and having ordained Christ to be their Redeemer.
(Ephesians 1:3-14; Romans 8:29-30; Acts 2:38-39; 2 Peter 3:9)
THE GOSPEL
The gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ's life, death, and resurrection for our sins, reconciling us to God. It is
biblically grounded, historically true, and personally transformative for all who receive and believe it.
(1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 1:16-17; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; John 3:16)
THE REDEMPTION OF CHRIST
Jesus, fully God and human, lived sinlessly, died, rose, and ascended to heaven. Through His life and death, He
acted as our substitute, bearing our sin's penalty. He defeated death, vindicated by His resurrection, and reigns as
Lord, providing salvation to all who believe.
(Philippians 2:5-11; Romans 5:6-11; 1 Peter 2:24; Hebrews 4:15; Acts 1:9-11)
THE JUSTIFICATION OF SINNERS
Through Christ's obedience and death, believers are justified. This free and gracious justification leads to gratitude
and a life of obedience, magnifying God's justice and grace.
(Romans 3:23-26; Romans 5:1; Galatians 2:16; Titus 3:4-7)
THE KINGDOM OF GOD
All who believe are in God's kingdom, enjoying forgiveness and transformation. They serve as light in the world, doing
good and loving their neighbors. The kingdom is God's sovereign rule, present but not fully realized, which transforms
lives and builds a new community.
(Matthew 6:9-10, 33; Luke 17:20-21; Romans 14:17; Colossians 1:13)
GOD'S NEW PEOPLE
The church is Christ's body, united under Him. It is identified by the gospel, love, mission, and worship. It embodies
both individual and collective faith, reconciled to God and each other, as a foretaste of God's future new world.
(Ephesians 1:22-23; Acts 2:42-47; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Revelation 7:9-10)
SALVATION
Salvation encompasses the redemption of the whole person and is freely offered to all who, by grace alone, places there faith Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Through His sacrifice, Jesus obtained eternal redemption for believers. Salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification, and is found only through faith in Jesus
Christ.
(John 3:16; Romans 1:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; Hebrews 9:12)
A. REGENERATION
Regeneration is the new birth, a work of God's grace through which believers become new creations in Christ. It is a
transformation of heart, brought about by the Holy Spirit's conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds with
repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ. Repentance, a genuine turning from sin toward God, and faith, the
acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Savior, are inseparable acts of grace.
(John 3:3-8; Titus 3:5; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Acts 2:37-38)
B. JUSTIFICATION
Justification is God's gracious and complete acquittal of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. Through
justification, believers enter a relationship of peace and favor with God.
(Romans 5:1-2; Romans 8:33-34; Galatians 2:16)
C. SANCTIFICATION
Sanctification is the process, beginning at regeneration, by which the believer is set apart for God's purposes and
grows toward moral and spiritual maturity through the power of the Holy Spirit. Growth in grace continues throughout
the believer's life.
(1 Thessalonians 4:3-7; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Philippians 1:6; John 17:17)
D. GLORIFICATION
Glorification is the final and blessed state of the redeemed, completing the work of salvation.
(Romans 8:30; 1 Corinthians 15:42-49; Philippians 3:20-21; Revelation 21:1-4)