CORNERSTONE

The Bible

We believe that the Bible, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, is the verbal-plenary, inspired Word of God. We believe the Scriptures are therefore inerrant, infallible, and sufficient in the original writings, serving as the supreme and final authority in all matters of faith and life. We believe that God has providentially preserved His Word and that the Traditional Masoretic Hebrew Text for the Old Testament and the Byzantine Majority Text for the New Testament are the most faithful reflection of the original autographs. Scripture: II Peter 1:21; II Timothy 3:16-17; Psalm 19:7-9.

 

The Trinity

We believe in the One, and only One, true and living God, eternally existing in three eternal persons; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:4; John 14:7-12, 16:7; Matthew 28:19.

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God the Father

God the Father is the first person of the Trinity. He is personal and sovereign. He is perfect in holiness, infinite in wisdom, and measureless in power. He is merciful as well as just. He sovereignly governs the affairs of men. He hears and answers prayer, and He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ. Scripture: Leviticus 11:44-45; Isaiah 6:1-5; Ephesians 1:17-23, 2:4-10, 4:6; Romans 3:21-26, 5:8, 8:29-33; I Corinthians 1:25; I Peter 1:15-16; Psalm 103:19.

 

God the Son

God the Son, Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, is God’s only begotten Son, existing in heaven from eternity past. He is fully God and fully Man, virgin born, and sinless in His life. He made atonement for the sins of the world by shedding His blood in His death upon the cross at Calvary. He arose from the grave bodily, and ascended into Heaven where He is at the right hand of the Father and where He makes intercession for the believers. We believe in the personal, imminent, pretribulational, premillennial rapture of believers. Scripture: Matthew 1:18-25, 28:5-6; John 3:16, 8:58, 17:5; Colossians 2:9; Acts 1:9-11; Romans 3:24-28; I Corinthians 15:3-4, 51-58; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Hebrews 1:13, 4:14-15, 7:25-26; Philippians 2:5-11.

 

God the Holy Spirit

God the Holy Spirit came forth from God to convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He is true God, equal with the Father and with the Son and of the same substance. He regenerates, sanctifies, seals, indwells, and comforts those who are saved. He empowers for Christian service. He bears witness of the truth. He testifies concerning Jesus Christ, and He never leads anyone at any time contrary to the teaching of the Bible. Scripture: Matthew 28:19; John 3:5-7, 14:16-17, 16:7-11; Acts 1:8, 5:3-4; I Corinthians 6:19-20; Ephesians 1:13-14, 5:18-21; I Peter 1:2; Titus 3:5; II Peter 1:21; Romans 8:9.

 

Satan

We believe in the reality of Satan as a distinct personality, who having been perfectly created, fell from his exalted state through pride, which prompted his rebellion to God, leading a multitude of the angelic host in his revolt; that he is the arch-enemy of God, having purpose to thwart the divine counsels, that he is the prince of this world, and the god of this age; that he is the king over the realm of the demons as indicated by the name Beelzebub; that he is the adversary of believers and the accuser of the brethren; that he shall be barred from all access to heaven during the great tribulation, at the end of which he is to be bound in the abyss for a thousand years; that he shall be loosed for a little season at the close of the millennium to provoke the final rebellion of mankind against God, after which he is to be cast forever in the lake of fire as the execution of his sentence of judgment from Calvary. Scripture: Job 1:6-12, 2:1-7; Isaiah 14:12-14; Ezekiel 28:12-18; Matthew 4:1-11, 12:24-26; John 12:31, 16:11; II Corinthians 4:3-4, 11:13-15; I Peter 5:8; Revelation 12:3-7, 10, 20:1-3, 7-10.

 

Man

We believe that all men are sinners both by nature and by choice; but that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. We believe therefore, that all who repent and believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will rejoice forever in God’s presence, and those who refuse to submit to Christ as their Lord and Savior will be forever separated from God in hell. Man was created in the image of God, but he sinned and thereby incurred not only spiritual death, which is separation from God, but also physical death. We believe that all human beings are born with a depraved sinful nature as descendants of Adam. Scripture: Genesis 1:26-27; Psalm 51:5; John 3:16; Romans 3:23, 5:12; I John 1:8-10; Ephesians 2:1-3, Jeremiah 17:9.

 

Salvation

We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to men by grace and received by repentance toward God and by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Whose blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of sins. Salvation is solely by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and is not earned by any good works whatsoever. However, we believe that true salvation is evidenced by a transformed life. All those who receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are regenerated and become Sons of God. Scripture: John 1:12-13, 3:3-5; Acts 20:21; Romans 3:24-25; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; Acts 17:30; James 2:17; II Corinthians 5:17.

 

The Security of the Believer

We believe in the eternal security of the true believer and that it is the privilege of the believer to rejoice in the assurance of his salvation. Scripture: John 10:27-30; Romans 5:1-11, 8:29-39; Philippians 1:6.

 

The Church

We believe that the local church is God’s program for this present age. It is to be composed of saved people who have been Scripturally baptized (immersed) as a testimony of their salvation. There were two ordinances instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ to be carried on only by the local churches: Believer’s Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The local church is organized for worship, evangelism, indoctrination, the observance of the ordinances, and fellowship. We believe that the local church is autonomous, that it is the only agency which properly carries out the Great Commission, and that its only officers are bishops (or pastors or elders) and deacons. Scripture: Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-47; Philippians 1:1; I Timothy 3:1-13; Acts 20:28; Hebrews 10:24-25.

 

The Future Church

We believe that the heavenly church of the New Testament is in prospect and shall in the fullness of time, assemble the called, the justified, and the glorified without spot or wrinkle, “a glorious church.” Scripture: Ephesians 5:25-27.

 

Spiritual Gifts

We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowment of all His gifts, that the gifts of evangelists and pastor-teachers are sufficient for the perfecting of the saints for today, and that speaking in tongues, and the working of sign-miracles gradually ceased as the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their authority became established. Scripture: I Corinthians 13:8-10; Ephesians 4:7-12; Hebrews 2:3-4; Romans 12:3-8.