DECLARATION OF FAITH • • We believe in the SCRIPTURES of the OLD and NEW TESTAMENTS as inspired of God, and inerrant in the original writing, and that they are of supreme and final authority in faith and life. Mark 12:26; Acts 17:2; Romans 15:4; II Timothy 3:16, 17; II Peter 1:21. • We believe in one God existing in three person: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, co-equal and eternal. Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19, 20: John 1:1-4; II Corinthians 13:14; Hebrews 1:1-3; Revelation 1:4-6. • We believe that man was created in the image of God, that he sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death, but also that spiritual death which is separation from God; and that all human beings are born with a sinful nature, and in the case of those who reach moral responsibility, become sinners in thought, word, and deed. Genesis 1:26; 2:17; Psalm 14:1-4; John 3:6; Romans 3:1-19; Ephesians 2:1-3; I Timothy 6:6; I John 3:8; Psalm 51:5. • We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, and is true God and true man. John 1:1, 2, 14; Luke 1:35; I Peter 1:3-5; Hebrews 4:15. • We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice, that all who believe in Him are justified on the basis of His shed blood. Leviticus 17:11; Isaiah 64:6; Romans 5:6-9; II Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:4-9; I Peter 1:18, 19, 23; Romans 3:24, 25; I Peter 1:3-5. • We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ arose from the dead in the body in which He was crucified, that He ascended into the heavens and that He continues to live there and to minister on our behalf before the throne of God as our High Priest and Advocate. Hebrews 7:25; 9:24; Romans 8:34; I John 2:1, 2. • We believe in the blessed hope, the meeting of all believers with Christ in the air, and the personal, visible, pre- millennial return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Zechariah 14:4-11; Revelation 20:6; John 14:1-3; I Corinthians 15:51; Titus 2:11-14. • We believe that all who receive the Lord Jesus Christ, by faith, are born again of the Holy Spirit, and thereby become the Children of God. John 5:24, 25; 17:23; Acts 13:39; Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; II Timothy 1:12; I John 5:13. • We believe that sanctification is the process by which, according to the will of God, we are made partakers of His holiness; that it is a progressive work; that it is begun in regeneration, and that it is carried on in the hearts of believers by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in the continual use of the appointed means -- especially, the Word of God, self-examination, self-denial, watchfulness, and prayer. I Thessalonians 4:3; Proverbs 4:18, I John 2:29; Philippians 2:12, 13; Romans 12:1. • We believe in the eternal preservation and everlasting blessedness of the saved, the eternal conscious punishment of the lost. Romans 8:1; 38:39; John 10:27-30; I Corinthians 1:4-8; Mark 9:43-48; Revelation 20:15; 22:2-5, 11. • We believe it is the grace of God that saves, and teaches believers to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and that we are to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, and to be careful to maintain good works. Romans 6:11-13; 8:2, 12, 13; Ephesians 4:22-24; I Peter 1:14-16; Titus 2:11-14. • We believe that the devil is a personal being, who, as Lucifer, opposed the will of God in Heaven, fell because of his sin, incorporated sin into the world through Adam, was judged at the cross, is the god of this age, will be bound a thousand years, and will finally be cast into the Lake of Fire forever. We are admonished to 'be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might', and to 'put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil'. Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 14:12-20; II Corinthians 4:3,4; Ephesians 2:2; 6:10-18; Colossians 2:15; Revelation 2:1-3; John 16:11. • We believe that the Ordinances of the Gospel are Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Baptism is the immersion in water of a believer in Christ 'in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost', and symbolizes the fact of regeneration and the union of the believer with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. The Lord's Supper is a commemoration of His undying love, and symbolizes the fact that the believer is continuously fed and nourished by Christ. Matthew 28:19, 20; Mark 16:16; John 3:5, 33; Acts 8:36-38; Romans 6:4; Acts 2:41, 42; I Corinthians 11:23-29. • We believe that God in His creative work has declared that which is sacred, that which is a reflection of His nature, including the sacredness of mankind, the distinctiveness of male and female, created in His image, and the establishment of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Therefore: • We teach that marriage was given by God as part of His common grace, and that it has no meaning other than as He has provided (Gen. 2:18-24). • We teach that marriage is subject to the curse of the Fall, but that believers, living in obedience to the Scripture and under the control of the Holy Spirit, can grow to experience peaceful, productive, and fulfilled marriage as intended by God (Gen. 3:16; 1 Peter 3:7). • We teach that the marriages of believers are to illustrate the loving relationship of Christ and His church, with the husband loving his wife as Christ loves the church and the wife responding to her husband’s loving leadership as the church responds to Christ (Eph. 5:18-33). • We teach that, as believers’ marriages are to illustrate Christ’s relationship with His church, believers should choose to marry those who share their faith and regenerate life (2 Cor. 6:14). We teach that the term “marriage” has only one meaning, and that marriage is sanctioned by God and joins one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in scripture (Gen. 2:23-24). • We teach that marriage is always a public, formal, and officially recognized covenant between a man and a woman. We teach that without such a covenant, prolonged conjugal cohabitation does not of itself establish marriage (John 4:18). We teach that where no such covenant exists between a cohabiting couple prior to coming to faith in Christ, family units should be preserved to the extent possible and, if otherwise appropriate, solemnization encouraged. We teach that where a valid marriage has been established prior to coming to faith in Christ, the couple should remain married (1 Cor. 7:24). • We teach that God hates divorce, permitting it only where there has been unrepentant sexual sin (Mal. 2:14- 16; Matt. 5:32, 19:9), unrepentant spousal abuse (Exodus 21:7-11), or desertion by an unbeliever (1 Cor. 7:12- 15). We teach that remarriage is permitted to a faithful partner in appropriate circumstances. • We teach that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other. We teach that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman (Heb. 13:4). • We teach that any practice of sexual immorality is sinful, and as with all sin, is offensive to God (Lev. 18:1-30; Matt. 5:28; Rom. 1:26-29; 1 Cor. 5:1, 6:9; 1Thess. 4:1-8; Rom. 1:18-28). • We teach that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity. Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture or the doctrines of the church. We teach that the faithful proclamation of the Scripture, including the call to repentance, does not constitute hate speech, or hateful and harassing behavior, but is instead a fundamental part of the church’s loving mission to the world (Matt. 28:16-20; 2 Cor. 5:11-20; 1 Tim. 1:5; 2 Tim. 4:1-2). • We teach that God offers redemption and forgiveness to all who confess and forsake their sin, including sexual sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. We teach that His forgiveness is total and complete (Ps. 103:11-12; 130:3-4; Is. 43:25, 44:22; John 5:24; Col. 2:13-14) and that God imputes the full righteousness of Christ (2 Cor. 5:21) to the believing sinner. We teach that the forgiven sinner has been cleansed from the guilt of sin, set apart unto God, made holy, and justified before Him (1 Cor. 6:9-11). We teach that any man or woman who has received that forgiveness is “in Christ” and is a new creation. (2 Corinthians 5:17)