Accepting the Bible to be the very Word of God to man through men inspired and led by the Holy Spirit, and understanding the importance of knowing and obeying its truths, our church is committed to study, preach, and teach with diligence and authority. Our desire is that people know God and serve Him with their lives. This church has convictions concerning the major theological truths of the Bible. This outline presents an overview of those important doctrines.

The entire Bible, all 66 books of the combined Old and New Testaments, is verbally inspired by God and inerrant in the original writings. Through the providence of God, the Word of God has been protected and preserved, and is the only infallible and authoritative rule of faith and practice (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21).

The Scriptures

God

There is only one true, living, sovereign, holy, and eternally existent God. He exists in three co-equal persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--each being a distinct person with a distinct function, but all of one essence, and all possessing the same nature, perfection, and attributes. The triune God is the creator and sustainer of all things, the source of all truth, and is worthy of worship, confidence, and obedience (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Genesis 1:31).

Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ is God. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, performed many miracles, shed His blood on the cross as a vicarious substitute, was buried, bodily resurrected, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and will return literally, visibly, and personally in glory and power (John 1:1-3, 14; Matthew 1:18-25; Philippians 2:5-9; Colossians 1:15; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, Acts 1:11).

Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is God, co-equal and co-existent with the Father and the Son. He is the chief convictor of sin, the chief agent of regeneration and sanctification. The Holy Spirit indwells every believer and empowers
every believer to live a godly life. Through His gift of the Holy Spirit, God graces every believer with spiritual gifts, which are sovereignly-given abilities graciously bestowed upon every believer at salvation to enable him to perform a function effectively within the church, the Body of Christ. (John 14:16-19; 16:7-15; 1 Corinthians
6:19-20; Romans 8:9, 11; Titus 3:5; Eph. 4:11-16).

In the beginning God created mankind in His image; therefore, people are not in any sense the product of evolution. Mankind was originally created with the ability to live perfectly for God's glory (Genesis 1:17, 31).

Mankind

Adam, the first man, sinned by disobedience. This act resulted in the fall of all mankind, therefore, all people have sinned and lost their ability to live for the glory of God. Mankind's fall has resulted in both physical and spiritual death for all until there is forgiveness and salvation by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ (Genesis 3:1-24; Romans 3:10-23; 5:12-21; 6:23).

Sin

Salvation

The salvation of lost and sinful mankind is a free gift of God's grace apart from human works, based solely upon Christ's vicarious and atoning death, effected by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, and received only through faith in the person and finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross and his resurrection from the dead. The evidence of salvation is a changed life full of good, godly, heavenly works. (Ephesians 2:8-10; Romans 10:9-10; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; James 1:19-25, 2:14, 18-26).

Election assures that those chosen will be saved, but it alone does not save them. People are saved through personal faith in Jesus Christ and his substitutionary death and resurrection. Their election and personal faith are both necessary in the salvation of an individual. God gives people the power and enablement to exercise personal faith, and individuals must choose to avail themselves of God's power and take responsibility to repent and trust Christ to be saved (Romans 8:28-30; Ephesians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:2; Romans 10:9-10, 13).

Election

Eternal Security

Since God gives us eternal life through Christ, the believer is secure in that salvation forever. Our salvation is maintained by the grace and power of God, not by the efforts of the believer (John 10:29-30; 2 Timothy 1:12; Hebrews 7:25; 1 John 5:11-13).

The Church

The church is the body of Christ and the family of God. It is made up of saved and baptized believers, who regularly join together on the Lord's Day for worship, fellowship, and ministry (Matthew 16:18; 1 Corinthians
12:12-14; Hebrews 10:25).

Evangelism

The responsibility and privilege of every Christian is to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ and to seek to make and multiply growing disciples of Christ (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8).

Marriage & the Home

God chose to illustrate the covenant relationship between Jesus Christ and the church with the marriage relationship between a husband and his wife. The term “marriage” means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife. Moreover, a man's spouse is only the woman to whom he is legally married, and the wife's spouse is only the man to whom she is legally married. Same-sex unions are strictly prohibited and declared to be sinful in scripture. Consequently, same-sex marriages will not be performed by church ministers or on church property. God has given parents the responsibility to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. A consistent and whole education will occur when home, church, and school work closely together and are in agreement on the basic concepts of life. (Genesis 2:21-24; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Psalm 78:1-8; Ephesians 5:21-33; 6:4; Colossians 3:18-21; Proverbs 22:6).

Eternity

People were created to exist forever. Each person will either exist eternally separated from God by sin, or in union with God through salvation. To be eternally separated from God is hell. To be eternally with God is heaven. Heaven and hell are real, physical places of eternal existence (John 3:16; Romans 6:23; Revelation 20:15).

Jesus instructed His followers to remember His death and resurrection. He gave the church two visible symbols (called "ordinances") as reminders. These two ordinances are baptism and the Lord's Supper. Neither of these ordinances contains any saving grace. Baptism by immersion is a one-time act of obedient identification with Jesus as Lord. It serves as an outward sign of conscious confession of repentance and faith. The Lord's Supper is an ongoing symbol remembering and proclaiming our Lord's death, burial, resurrection, and promised return (Matthew 28:18-20; Matthew 26:26-29; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32).

Baptism & the Lord's Supper

The Baptist Faith & Message contains more details on our beliefs.