About the Bible
The Bible is God’s word. It was revealed by God to human authors, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It is the only source of truth for Christian beliefs and living. Because it is inspired by God, it is truth without any mixture of error. (II Timothy 1:13, 3:16; II Peter 1:20-21; Psalms 119:105, 160, 12:6; Proverbs 30:5)
About God
There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.
A. God the Father – God the Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. (Genesis 1:1, 26,27, 3:22; Psalms 90:2; Matthew 28:19; 1 Peter 1:2; 2 Corinthians 13:14)
B. God the Son – Jesus Christ is the one and only Son of God. He is co-equal with the Father. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus lived a sinless human life and offered Himself as the Perfect Sacrifice for the sins of all people by dying on a cross. He arose from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended to Heaven’s glory and will return again someday to earth to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. (Matthew 1:22, 23; Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1-5, 14:10-30; Hebrews 4:14, 15; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Romans 1:3-4; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Timothy 6:14-15; Titus 2:13)
C. God the Holy Spirit – The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and the Son of God. He inspired the writing of the Holy Scriptures. He is present in the world to make men aware of their need for Jesus Christ. He also lives in every Christian from the moment of salvation. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. He provides the Christian with power for living, understanding of spiritual truths, and guidance in doing what is right. (2 Corinthians 3:17; John 14:16-17, 16:7-13; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 2:12, 3:16; Ephesians 1:13, 5:18; Galatians 5:25)
About Mankind
Mankind was created in the image and likeness of God and by the direct act of God. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice, Adam sinned against God and the entire human race fell, inherited a sinful nature and became alienated from God. Because man is totally depraved and of himself utterly unable to remedy this lost condition, only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God. The sacredness of human life is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore, every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love. (Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 3:22-23; 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3,12)
About Salvation
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. (Romans 1:16-18; Galatians 2:20; 3:13; Philippians 2:12-13; Hebrews 2:1-3)
A. Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God’s grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace. Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Savior.
B. Justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. Justification brings the believer into a relationship of peace and favor with God.
C. Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God’s purposes, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate person’s life.
D. Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed.
About Eternal Security
Because God gives us eternal life through Jesus Christ, the true believer is secure in that salvation for eternity. If you’ve been genuinely saved, you cannot “lose” it. Salvation is maintained by the grace and power of God, not by the self-effort of the Christian. (John 10:29; 2 Timothy 1;12; Hebrews 7:25; 10:10, 14; 1 Peter 1:3-5)
About the Church
The head of the church is Jesus Christ. The church exists to reach the lost and disciple the believer. The church should glorify and worship the One, True, Living God. It is a group of believers, not a mere institution, which strives to fulfill the Great Commission by encouraging evangelism and outreach and promoting discipleship. The church also exists for mutual edification, corporate worship, and prayer. Its object shall be to promote the worship of God by the preaching of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ at home and abroad. (Matthew 16:19, 28:18-20; Acts 1:8, 4:11-12; Ephesians 4:7-12; 1 Corinthians 3:11)
About Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership. It has no saving power and confers no saving grace. (Mark 1:9; Matthew 28:19-20; Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12)
The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26, 29)
About Eternity
God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will dwell with the Lord forever. (Matthew 25:46; John 5:28-29, 11:25-26; Revelation 20:5-6, 12-15)
About the Christian and Social Order
All Christians are under the obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society. In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including fornication, adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. (Romans 1:26-29; Galatians 5:16-26; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; Psalm 139:13-16)