The Bible
God speaks to us through the Bible. The Spirit of God guided the Bible writers so that they wrote without error. The Bible contains all we need to know about God, about ourselves, and about life here and hereafter. It contains the good news and the bad news.
The Bad News
Sin is two-fold:
1. Willful disobedience to God's known law.
2. The evil twist and corruption in human nature. So, all men, Christ excepted, are sinful by nature and sinners by practice, and therefore are in need of redemption since "the wages of sin is death."
The Good News
Salvation has been made possible by Christ's atoning death on the cross of Calvary. By His death and resurrection Christ has won a four-fold salvation for us:
1. Regeneration in which we are forgiven of all sins and baptized by the Spirit into the body of Christ.
2. Entire sanctification in which we are baptized with the Holy Spirit and cleansed from the carnal mind.
3. Growth in grace after sanctification in which we walk in new light as it is given and are made more and more like Jesus.
4. Immortality of body and soul.
Jesus Christ
He is one with the Father and with the Holy Spirit, but for our redemption He became Man. He was conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary. He was without sin. He died to save us, but arose from the dead and is now ascended to heaven where He is at the right hand of God, interceding for us. We look for His return in power and majesty to set up a millennial kingdom on earth. At the last He will judge the world in righteousness.
The Holy Spirit
He is one with the Father and the Son. He is a Person and is God's Agent in convicting and convincing sinners of sin. He regenerates believing sinners, and sanctifies consecrated Christians. He magnifies Christ in the lives of believers and energizes them to live victoriously.
The Ordinances
We believe that Christ and His apostles ordained two ordinances to be practiced by His Church: water baptism and the Lord's supper. We insist on no exclusive method or mode of baptism or of partaking the Lord's supper. Let each be fully persuaded in his own mind. These ordinances are outward symbols, teaching of the inner life, the faith, and the hope of believers.
The Church
The Church is more than a denomination and more than all the denominations. It is composed of true believers in Jesus Christ. Christ is the Head and the Husband of the Church. Believers should meet together in local assemblies for the worship of God and for Christian fellowship. The Church has been commissioned by Christ to take the gospel to every creature: it is therefore missionary.
The Lord's Day
We keep the first day of the week as the Lord's Day, or Sabbath, because Christ arose from the dead on the first day of the week. The early church kept this day in commemoration of God's finished plan of redemption. We should keep it as a day of rest and worship.
The Hereafter
The Bible teaches that believers shall spend eternity with Christ in a holy heaven with holy and happy surroundings. It also teaches that the wicked shall be judged and sentenced to an eternity in perdition.
