DOCTRINE & DISTINCTIVES

The LORD (YHWH) is the one true and living God who exists personally as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God is one in essence and three in persons, each of whom is fully and truly God, equal in divine nature. The Father is God; neither created, nor begotten, nor proceeding from anything else. He is co-eternal with the Son and the Holy Spirit, not before either in time, but with both, did create all things in the beginning. He is divinely co-equal with the Son, whom he eternally beget, and with the Spirit, who proceeds from him and the Son. God is Spirit and He is love. He is uncreated, self-existent, and worthy of worship. He is creator of heaven and earth. He is LORD, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. He is righteous and just, holy and glorious, sovereign and wise. He is eternal, transcendent, and immutable. He is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-present. From him and through him and to him are all things, and to him be glory forever.

God has revealed Himself by his Word; that is, through the sixty-six books of Scripture and by his Son. The Scriptures were given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit and are infallible and inerrant in the original writings. The Scriptures are sufficient in matters of life and faith, and they are clear, reliable, necessary, indestructible, and authoritative. The Word became flesh in the incarnation of Jesus as revealed in Scripture. Although God has revealed Himself generally to all through creation, he has revealed himself to us more fully by His Word.

God created everything that has been made, and this by the power of His Word. All things were created through Him and for Him, and in Him all things hold together. Without Him was not anything made that was made. In six days the LORD made heaven and earth and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh.

On the sixth day of creation, man was created in the image of God, male and female. Man was created upright and declared "very good.” Adam and Eve were historical human beings, the first of their kind. Man did not evolve from other creatures, but was made in God’s image from the dust, and woman from the rib of man. God gave them dominion over all other living things on the earth and told them to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it. They were made in a state of maturity with an initial condition of sinlessness, but were fallible.

Tempted by the serpent, man disobeyed God and brought death to all through Adam. We are guilty in Adam because one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all men. Now, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Man is born in iniquity and we are by nature children of wrath and enemies of God. We have been corrupted in heart, mind, and will, and have been separated from God because we all, like sheep, have gone astray.

In his mercy, God promised to save his people. Beginning with Adam, God covenanted with man and foreshadowed the gospel in the garden. Through types and shadows, God continued to reveal his plan of salvation by covenant (Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic). These earthly copies and shadows were fulfilled in the New and better Covenant, enacted and mediated in Christ.

The eternal Son of God is the Word, who, in the beginning, was with God and was God. All things were created through him and for him. He is the anointed of God who sits at his right hand. His throne is forever and his years will have no end. He is the image of the invisible God and the exact imprint of his nature. The fullness of God dwells in him and all things will be reconciled to him.

In the fullness of time, he was sent by the Father, put on flesh, and dwelt among us in the person of Jesus. God became a man when He put on flesh and came into the world as Jesus Christ. Two distinct and whole natures were inseparably joined so that the person of Christ was and is both fully God and fully man. Jesus was born of a virgin, grew, and lived a life of perfect obedience to God the Father. He came to fulfill the Law and Prophets, to serve and give his life as a ransom, and to seek and save the lost. He is the Savior of the world, the judge, and our prophet, priest, and king.

The gospel was delivered to us as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day. The good news is that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He chose us in him before the foundation of the world and, in love, predestined us for adoption according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace. He made known to us, whom he taught, the mystery of his will.

Jesus willingly gave his life on the cross to atone for our sins by satisfying the wrath of God. His perfect life was counted a substitute, exchanging our sin for his righteousness. Jesus' death on the cross justifies those who believe in him by faith and we have peace with God by the blood of his cross.

The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. We are saved by grace through faith, which is not our own doing and not a result of works, but rather the gift of God. Salvation is in Jesus Christ and there is no other name by which we must be saved. In Christ, we are chosen, adopted, and justified. In him, we are being sanctified and will be glorified. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, and God will complete the work that He began in those who have truly repented and believed in Christ for salvation. For those who have been born again, salvation can never be taken away.

The Spirit is of the Father and of the Son, proceeding from both, truly and fully God. He is a person, called the Helper and the Spirit of truth. He is the author of Scripture, our guide, our guarantee, and our intercessor in prayer. He convicts the world regarding sin and righteousness and judgment. He is a teacher and a witness to us of the things of God. He regenerates and renews us, dwelling in those who are in Christ.

The Church is the body of Christ, and we are individually members of it. The Church is the family of God, because we are His sons and daughters, brothers and sisters in the faith. The Church is the bride of Christ, who is called to submit to Him in everything, because He is the bridegroom who loved us and sacrificed for us. The Church is God's building, and we are living stones in it, Christ being the chief cornerstone and foundation, and God the builder who has promised to build His church. The Church is God's field, where seed is sown and God gives growth, in which there will be a harvest.

Jesus built his Church on the confession of faith that he is the Christ, the son of the living God. Christ is the head of the church and has promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against it. He is the Chief Shepherd who has appointed elders to pastor and oversee local churches and deacons to serve. Jesus has given the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper as symbols and remembrances of his death and resurrection, and the visible sign of the New Covenant in His blood.

Discipleship is a reorientation of all of life to the kingdom of God. As disciples, we are called to learn and to follow Jesus in every area of our lives, which is a life of repentance and faith. Because the work of God is to believe, our faith will be evidenced as we walk in the works God prepared beforehand. And as disciples, we are now called to go and make disciples of all nations.

The kingdom of heaven, which is the kingdom of God, is His rule and reign that is presently experienced, yet still to come in its fullness. This kingdom was inaugurated by Christ at his coming and will be consummated following His return. This kingdom stands in contrast to the kingdoms of this present world because it is indestructible, unshakable, heavenly, eternal, perfect, and incorruptible.

When Christ returns to consummate this kingdom, he will first judge the living and the dead. Those whose names are not written in the Lamb’s book of life, who have not repented and believed in Christ in this life, will experience the righteous wrath of God for eternity in hell. But for those in Christ, because there is no condemnation, they will see God face to face and dwell with Him forever in the fullness of His kingdom to come.

Baptism & communion are commands given to the Church as symbols and remembrances of the death of Christ. These ordinances are for believers in that they are signs of present spiritual realities.

In baptism, believers are buried with Christ into death and raised to walk in new life. Because believers have already, through faith, been baptized in the same Spirit, full immersion in water is a physical symbol of their death and burial to the old self and resurrection to new life with Christ.

Through the Lord's supper, as often as believers eat the bread and drink the cup, we proclaim His death until he comes.  Because Christ presently sits at the right hand of the Father bodily, His presence in the world is spiritual. As he taught his disciples at the last supper, the broken bread is a physical symbol of his body and the wine a physical symbol of his blood poured out for the forgiveness of sins.

For His glory, God works all things together for good for those He calls unto Himself. He chose us in him before the foundation of the world and predestined us for adoption. He calls us unto Himself and justifies those He called by giving us the gift of faith. He sanctifies us and will be faithful to glorify us in the resurrection. God made us alive in Christ when we were dead in our trespasses and sins. We were saved not by human will or exertion, but by God alone, who has mercy. Those the Father gives to Jesus will come to him, and whoever comes to him will never be cast out.

Men and women were created by God with equal humanity and value, yet distinct roles. For the glory of God, men and women were given complimentary roles in the home and the church. In marriage, the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, whereas wives are uniquely given the responsibility of childbearing. In the church, men are uniquely called to exercise authority. They are also responsible for all teaching in gatherings where other men are present.

The gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to believers for the building up of the church and the conviction of unbelievers. There are a variety of gifts, and the same Spirit appoints to each one individually as he wills. The gifts today never supersede the authority of the Scriptures, but rather are a confirmation of its authority.

The New Testament church is described in several ecclesiastical categories. Members are those "of the body," of which the church is comprised as a whole, believers who have submitted themselves to the authority of a local assembly. Deacons are servants in the church, those qualified and tested, then appointed by function. Elders are the overseers and the pastors/shepherds of the church, qualified men who are able and willing to teach. Christ is the head of the Church, the chief shepherd. We believe the local church should be modeled after the established New Testament church in light of the commands of Scripture.