A. The Holy Scriptures. The Bible in its original documents is the inspired Word of God, the written record of His supernatural revelation of Himself to man, absolute in its authority, complete in its revelation, final in its content, and without error in its statements. Psalms 89:34; Matthew 24:35; II Timothy 3:16; I Peter 1:24,25; II Peter 1:20,21.

B. The Godhead. There is one God who is eternally existent, creator of the heaven and earth, manifested in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; co-existent in power and glory and executing distinct yet harmonious duties in the work of redemption. Genesis 1:26; Isaiah 9:6; Matthew 1:22,23; John 14:9; Acts 5:3,4; II Corinthians 13:14; I Timothy 3:16; I John 5:7; Genesis 1:2.

C. The Person and Work of the Father. God the Father is sovereign ruler over everything, and He becomes the believer’s Father at the new birth. God the Father so loved His creation that He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, to become our only means of salvation. Other works of the Father include the sending of the Holy Spirit to indwell the believer forever at salvation, and answering prayer. Galatians 4:4-7; John 3:16; John 14:16; John 16:23,24; Revelation 19:6.

D. The Person and Work of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is fully God who became flesh and lived on earth. He was virgin born, sinlessly perfect, and gave Himself as a substitutionary sacrifice by dying and shedding His blood on the cross to pay for all sin (past, present, and future). He then rose from the dead, a victor over sin and the grave. His eternal life is given to all who trust in Him for salvation. Romans 5:6-8; I Corinthians 15:1-58; II Corinthians 5:21; Titus 2:13,14; Hebrews 2:9; Hebrews 9:11-28; I Peter 2:21-24.

E. The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a Person possessing all the divine attributes. He is God. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He regenerates, baptizes, eternally indwells, and seals all believers at salvation. He sovereignly gives every believer at least one spiritual gift for service to the Body of Christ. John 16:7-11; Acts 5:3,4; Romans 8:9; I Corinthians 6:19; I Corinthians 12:4-14; Ephesians 1:13,14.

1. The “sign gifts”; miracles, tongues, and healing, and gifts involving direct revelation from God; prophecy, wisdom, and knowledge, were temporary gifts designed to confirm the message of the Apostles and to lay the foundation of the first century church. Mark 16:15-20; Acts 2:42,43; Acts 5:12; II Corinthians 12:12; Hebrews 2:3,4. 2.

2. Tongues were always actual languages in use and were a sign to unbelievers. Tongues were not given as a “prayer language” nor to be the sign of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:4-11; I Corinthians 14:22. 3.

3. Healing is not guaranteed for this life. God sovereignly can and does still heal and perform miracles, however, these gifts are not in operation today. II Corinthians 12:8-10; I Timothy 5:23; James 5:14-16.

F. The Nature of Mankind. Man was created in the image and likeness of God, but in Adam’s sin the race fell and inherited a sinful nature. Man is totally alienated from God and of himself is utterly unable to remedy his lost condition. Genesis 1:26,27; Isaiah 53:6; Romans 5:12; Romans 3:10-23; Ephesians 2:1-3.

G. Salvation. Salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Man is saved by undeserved mercy through faith and nothing of man enters into his salvation; it is a free gift. Man’s efforts, before or after salvation, regardless of how good or well intended, do nothing to secure or guarantee salvation. Nothing can be added to the finished work of Christ. God is absolutely sovereign yet holds man responsible for accepting or rejecting the salvation He has provided. It is God’s will that all should be saved and that none should perish. John 1:12,13; 3:7-18; Acts 16:31; Romans 5:6-10; Titus 3:5; II Peter 3:9.

1. Repentance is necessary for salvation, but the word does not mean “to turn from sin.” No human works are involved in the salvation process. God does not accept us because we make ourselves worthy of Him. Romans 4:1-8; Ephesians. 2:8-10.

2. Repentance for salvation means a change of mind from men’s ideas of salvation and religion to acceptance of God’s way of salvation. Acts 17:29-31; 20:21.

3. “Shallow Christianity” cannot be cured by adding works to the gospel but by a correct understanding of salvation and grace. Galatians 5:1-4; Titus 2:11-14.

H. The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers. Every true child of God possesses eternal life and is, therefore, safe and secure for all eternity. Being justified by faith, sanctified by God, and sealed by the Holy Spirit, he cannot lose his salvation. However, a Christian can, through sin, lose his fellowship, joy, power, testimony, and reward, and incur the Father’s chastisement. Relationship is eternal, being established by the new birth. Fellowship, however, is dependent upon obedience. John 10:22-30; Romans 8:37-39; I Corinthians 3:10-17; Ephesians 4:30; Hebrews 12:5-11; I Corinthians 11:30-32 (see also references under “G”)

I. The Christian Life.

1. A true child of God has two births, one of the flesh, the other of the Spirit, giving man a flesh nature and a Spirit nature. The flesh nature is neither good, nor righteous. The spiritual nature is totally righteous. This results in warfare between the Spirit and the flesh, which continues until physical death or the return of the Lord. The flesh nature does not change in any way with the new birth, but is controlled by yielding to the Spirit. John 3:6; Romans 7:15-25; Romans 6:1-23; 8:8; Galatians 5:17; I John 1:8.

2. I John 1:9 is a precious promise to Christians for cleansing and forgiveness, not a verse for salvation. It does not guarantee restoration from physical damage caused by sin, rather, it teaches that confession of sin places the Christian in a position of fellowship.

J. The Church.

1. The Universal Church, which is the body and bride of Christ, began with the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. It is made up of all true believers who have been placed into Christ’s body by the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:4-5; Acts 2:1-4; Acts 10:47; I Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 5:23-32.

2. The Local Church should duplicate or manifest the pattern seen in “the Church which is His body”. It is an assembly of believers called together by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of glorifying Christ through worship, prayer, fellowship, teaching, witnessing of Christ, and the observance of the ordinances of baptism by immersion and communion. Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-47; I Corinthians 11:18-26; Ephesians 4:11-16.

K. The Person and Work of Satan. Satan is a person, the author of sin, and the open and declared enemy of God and man. He and his angels shall be eternally punished. Ezekiel 28:15,17; Isaiah 14:12-15; Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10.

L. Future Events.

1. I believe in the personal, pretribulational, and premillennial return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He will come before the seven year tribulation period to “catch away” His Bride, the church, coming only in the air. He will return to earth with His church at the close of the tribulation to judge the living nations and to set up His Kingdom. Isaiah 26:21; John 14:1-3; I Thessalonians 1:10; 4:13-5:11; II Thessalonians 2:1-8; Revelation 3:10; 19:11-20:6

2. There will be a physical, bodily resurrection of the saved and of the lost; of the saved unto eternal life and of the lost unto eternal, conscious punishment. Daniel 12:2; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 20:5-15.

I acknowledge that the above articles of faith in no way exhaust the content of my faith, which is the entire Word of God. I do believe that these articles are an accurate representation of the sound doctrine taught in the Scriptures.