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To view our Complete Doctrinal Statement
(long version), including Scripture references, Click Here.
I. The Scriptures
The Holy Bible was written by men divinely
inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect
treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation
for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter.
II. 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.
A. God the Father
God as 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.
B. God the Son
Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His
incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and
born of the virgin Mary.
C. God the Holy
Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully
divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through
illumination He enables men to understand truth.
III. Man
Man is the special creation of God, made in
His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of
His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God's
creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by
his Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice man sinned
against God and brought sin into the human race.
IV. 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.
V. God's Purpose
of Grace
Election is the gracious purpose of God,
according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies
sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of man, and comprehends
all the means in connection with the end.
VI. The Church
A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus
Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers,
associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel;
observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws,
exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His
Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth.
The New Testament speaks also of the church
as the Body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the
ages, believers from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and
nation.
VII. 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.
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.
VIII. The Lord's
Day
The first day of the week is the Lord's Day.
It is a Christian institution for regular observance.
IX. The Kingdom
The Kingdom of God includes both His general
sovereignty over the universe and His particular kingship over men who
willfully acknowledge Him as King.
X. Last Things
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.
XI. Evangelism and
Missions
It is the duty and privilege of every
follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to
endeavor to make disciples of all nations.
XII. Education
Christianity is the faith of enlightenment
and intelligence. In Jesus Christ abide all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge. All sound learning is, therefore, a part of our Christian
heritage. The new birth opens all human faculties and creates a thirst
for knowledge.
XIII. Stewardship
God is the source of all blessings, temporal
and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him. Christians have
a spiritual debtorship to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the
gospel, and a binding stewardship in their possessions.
XIV. Cooperation
Christ's people should, as occasion
requires, organize such associations and conventions as may best secure
cooperation for the great objects of the Kingdom of God.
XV. The Christian
and the Social Order
All Christians are under obligation to seek
to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human
society.
XVI. Peace and War
It is the duty of Christians to seek peace
with all men on principles of righteousness.
XVII. Religious
Liberty
God alone is Lord of the conscience, and He
has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are
contrary to His Word or not contained in it.
XVIII. The Family
God has ordained the family as the
foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons
related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption.
Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment
for a lifetime.
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