The Sinfulness of Humanity
We believe man was created by God in His own image (Gen 1:26; 5:2); that he sinned and thereby incurred physical, spiritual and eternal death, which is separation from God (Gen 3; Gen 2:17; 3:19; Eccles 2:11; 2 Thess 1:9; Rev 19:3,20; 20:10,14,15); that as a consequence, all human beings are born with a sinful nature and are sinners by choice and therefore under condemnation (Jer 17:9; James 1:14; Rom 3:19; 5:19).
Salvation
We believe salvation is the gift of God’s grace (Eph 2:8–10) brought to a person by the work of the Holy Spirit (John 3:3-7; Titus 3:5) so that they respond with personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ whose precious blood was shed on the cross for their salvation (John 1:12; 3:16; Eph 1:7; 1 Pet 1:18,19).
True faith is always accompanied by repentance from sin. Repentance is agreeing with God that you are sinful, confessing your sins to Him, and making a conscious choice to turn from sin (Luke 13:3,5; 1 Thess 1:9) and pursuing Christ (Matt 11:28–30; John 17:3) in obedience to Him (1 John 2:3). It isn’t enough to believe certain facts about Christ. Even Satan and his demons believe in the true God (James 2:19), but they don’t love and obey Him. True saving faith always responds in obedience (Eph 2:10).
Christian Conduct
We believe a Christian should live for the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31; Rom 12:1-3; Heb 12:1-2) and the well-being of his fellow men (Rom 12:8-10; 1 John 3:7-8,20) that his conduct should be blameless before the world (Phil 2:15; Matt 5:16); that he should be a faithful steward of his possessions (2 Cor 9:6-9; 1 Cor 4:2); and that he should seek to realize for himself and others the full stature of maturity in Christ (Rom 8:29; Eph 4:13; Col 1:9-10,28).
We believe sexual intimacy is a wonderful gift of God that is only to be expressed between one man and one woman (as genetically defined), within the love and bonds of marriage (Gen 2:24-25; Matt 19:4-6; 1 Cor 7:3-5; Heb 13:4). Therefore, we believe any other form of sexual intimacy is both immoral and a perversion of God’s gift (Lev 18:1-30; Prov 6:32; 1 Cor 6:18; Rom 1:26-27; 1 Thess 4:3-8).
The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers
We believe all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Rom 8:1,38,39; 1 Cor 1:4-8; 1 Pet 1:5).
We believe it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh (Rom 13:13,14; Gal 5:13; Titus 2:11–15, 1 John 3:9,10).
Last Things
We believe in the personal and visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth and the establishment of His kingdom.
We believe in the resurrection of the body, the final judgment, the eternal felicity of the righteous and the endless suffering of the wicked (Matt 16:27; Mark 14:62; John 5:28,29; 11:25,26; 14:3; Acts 1:11; Phil 3:20; 1 Thess 4:15; 2 Tim 4:1; Titus 2:13; 1 Cor 4:5; 1 Cor 15; 2 Thess 1:7-10; Rev 20:4-6,11-15).
We believe the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord (Luke 23:43; Rev 20:4-6; 2 Cor 5:8; Phil 1:23; 3:21; 1 Thess 4:16,17).
We believe the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious misery until the second resurrection, when with soul and body reunited they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment (Luke 16:19-26; Matt 25:41-46; 2 Thess 1:7-9; Jude vv. 6,7; Mark 9:43-48; Rev 20:11-15).
We believe the saved will enter the eternal state of glory with God, after which the elements of this earth are to be dissolved (2 Pet 3:10) and replaced with a new earth, wherein only righteousness dwells (Eph 5:5; Rev 20:15; 21:1-27; 22:1-21). Following this, the heavenly city will come down out of heaven (Rev 21:2) and will be the dwelling place of the saints, where they will enjoy forever fellowship with God and one another (John 17:3; Rev 21-22). Our Lord Jesus Christ, having fulfilled His redemptive mission, will then deliver up the kingdom to God the Father (1 Cor 15:24-28), that in all spheres the triune God may reign forever and ever (1 Cor 15:28).