I. We believe in the verbal inspiration of the Bible.  The Holy Scriptures consist of 66 canonical books of the Old and New Testaments.  The Scriptures, in their original autographs, are the products of the immediate inspiration (God breathed) of the divine Person of the Holy Spirit, so that the human authors of the books of the Bible recorded exactly and fully the message of divine revelation given by the Spirit.  The skills, knowledge, and personal styles of the individual human authors are the vehicles used by the Holy Spirit to produce an infallible record of God’s saving self-revelation in history, law, poetry, prophecy, and epistle, so that there is no error in either report or doctrine.

The word “inspiration” (as it is used in 2 Timothy 3:16) means “breathed by God”.  The Agent of this inspiration is the third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.

God used human authors to write the Word.  These men were holy men of God who “spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21).

II. We believe in one God eternally existing in three persons; namely the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost.  (1 John 5:7) There is one indivisible, unlimited personal being; that being is God.  The essential nature of the one God may be identified and known by the incommunicable attributes.  These are qualities that cannot be shared with any creature.  They are God’s self-existence, His unchangeableness, and His infinity (unlimitedness).  The personal nature of the one may be identified and known by the communicable attributes.  These are qualities that may, at God’s will, be shared with and transferred to the creature.  These qualities are His intellectual nature, His volitional nature (that is, His possession of a will), and His moral nature – truthfulness, holiness, justice, love, and righteousness.

There are three eternal and unchangeable personal distinctions in the Godhead:  namely, the Person of God the Father, the Person of God the Son, and the Person of God the Holy Spirit.  The Person of the Father is distinct from the other Persons of the Godhead because He eternally is Father by having begotten the Son from eternity.  The Person of the Son is distinct from the other Persons of the Godhead because He is eternally Son by having been begotten of the Father from eternity.  The Person of the Holy Spirit is distinct from the other Persons of the Godhead because He eternally is Spirit of God, Spirit of the Father, and Spirit of the son, and has from eternity proceeded from the Father and the Son.

All of the qualities of divine nature belong to each of the Persons of the Trinity so that it may be said that the Father is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable; the Son is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable; and the Spirit is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable.  The divine nature cannot be divided; the Persons of the Godhead are one undivided and indivisible divine nature.  They are the same in substance and are equal in power, glory, and honor.

They eternally exist as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as relates to their Persons and as one God as relates to the divine nature.

III. We believe that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of the Father, conceived of the Holy Ghost, and born of the Virgin Mary.  That Jesus was crucified, buried, and raised from the dead on the third day.  That He ascended to heaven and is today at the right hand of the Father as the Intercessor.

We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God (having been begotten of the Father from eternity, identical in glory, power, and all divine attributes with the Father) and that He is the only begotten Son of God.  He became a man (without any change in Hid divine nature) by the conception of God the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary.  The divine nature and the human nature were united in one Person -- Jesus of Nazareth – without any admixture or confusion of the divine nature with the human nature or the human nature with the divine.  Jesus Christ was and continues to be wholly God and wholly man in two distinct natures and one Person forever.

Jesus is the only Redeemer.  He redeems by the fulfilling of the redemption offices of Prophet, Priest, and King.  As Prophet, He ministers by His Word and Spirit.  As Priest, He offers Himself by the eternal Spirit as the only sacrifice for sins and He makes everlasting intercession.  As King, He calls, defends, protects, and perfects the kingdom of God and presents it to the Father in the reconciliation of all things.

IV. We believe that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and that repentance is commanded of God for all and necessary for forgiveness of sins.

In the first man Adam, all those who would descend from him by ordinary human procreation sinned.  All of the Adamic race died in trespasses and sins; they became corrupt in all human faculties.  From this conception, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Repentance from sin is a benefit of divine grace; it is supplied by the word of God and by the work of the Spirit of God.  This gift affects man in his mind, emotions, and will.  From the standpoint of the mind, the sinner becomes convinced of his guilt, corruption, and offensiveness before God.  From the standpoint of his emotions, the sinner comes to despise his condition and manner of life.  From the standpoint of his will, the sinner is renewed so that he can turn from his sins and seek a life of obedience to the law of God.  The experience is necessary for salvation.

V. We believe that justification, regeneration, and the new birth are wrought by faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

We believe that justification is an act of divine judgment in which all the acts of the ungodly are forgiven and he declared righteous in the sight of God.  The bases of this declaration of forgiveness and righteousness are the perfection of Christ’s life, the atonement of His death, and the victory of His resurrection.  This declaration frees the believer from all guilt, relieves him from all judgment, and gives him the full merit of Christ’s obedience to God.  The sole instrument of this gift is faith in Jesus Christ as He is revealed in the Word of God.

We believe the adoption is a judicial and personal act of God in which those who were by nature and origin the children of wrath are received into the family of God and are numbered among the children of God.  They receive the rights and privileges of the heirs of God and joint heirs of the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

We believe that regeneration is a creative act of God through His divine grace.  In this of new creation, the Word and the Spirit of God implant the seed of life of Christ.  The Word and the spirit bring forth in the new birth a new creature in Christ Jesus.  He has been created anew in mind, heart, and will.  There are three marks of this new creation:  (1) the shedding abroad of the love of God in the heart of the believer by the Holy spirit, (2) the presence of the renewed image of God (manifested by the fruit of the Spirit), and (3) the cessation of the habitual practice of sin.

VI. We believe in the bodily resurrection; eternal life for the righteous, and eternal punishment for the wicked.

The bodily resurrection of believers is assured by the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ and by the earnest of the Holy Spirit.  This assurance is the same for those who are dead in Christ -- who shall be raised up in glory -- as it is for those who are alive at the time of Christ’s return.  The transformation of each is to a state of bodily perfection that is incorruptible and immortal.  The life principle of the transformed body is spiritual; it is in the exact pattern and likeness of the resurrected body of Jesus of Nazareth, who is the first fruits of the resurrection.  This resurrection is unto the everlasting blessedness of eternal life, which is expected in body and spirit.

The bodily resurrection of the unbelievers occurs after the millennium.  It is assured by the sovereign creatorship, government, and the judgment of Jesus Christ.  This assurance is the same for all unbelievers, both the living and the dead at the time of Christ’s command.  The transformation of the unbelieving is to a state of bodily corruption that is at once indestructible and evil.  In this body, the unbelieving will be judged to everlasting punishment in body and spirit.