The Scriptures

The Holy Scriptures was written by men divinely inspired by God and is His revelation of Himself to man. We believe that Scripture is Inerrant in the original texts, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony of Christ.

God

There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all-powerful and all-knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

  • God as Father reigns with intentional care over His universe, His creatures, and human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving, and all-wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
  • Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, He took upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities yet without sin. He fulfilled the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross He atoned for man’s sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of the Father. He is fully God and fully man, and thus the one mediator between God and men. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to complete His redemptive mission. He now dwells in and with all believers as the living and ever present Lord.
  • The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Savior, and ensures regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into relationship with Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.

Man

Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin until by his choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Therefore, men become transgressors and are under God’s righteous condemnation. Because mankind is an enemy of God and incapable of righteousness in the eyes of God, and therefore only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God. The sacredness of human personhood is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore, every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.

Salvation

Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, perseverance of the saints, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. This is through election – the gracious purpose of God. Election is taught in the Scriptures. It is God’s eternal choice to those whom He predestined unto everlasting life, not based on anything they have done, but based entirely on His mercy and grace to choose them. Although God sovereignty elects some to salvation, we are still responsible, as God draws us to Himself, to repent of our sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the glorious display of God’s sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise, holy, and unchangeable.

  • Regeneration: or the new birth, is a secret act of God in which he imparts new spiritual life to us. Conversion is our willing response to the gospel call, in which we sincerely repent of sins and place our trust in Christ for salvation. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace. Repentance is a heartfelt sorrow for sin, a renouncing of it, and a sincere commitment to forsake it and walk in obedience to Christ. Saving Faith is trust in Jesus Christ as a living person for the forgiveness of sins and for eternal life with God.
  • Justification: is an instantaneous legal act of God in which He 1) recognizes of our sins as forgiven and Christ’s righteousness as belonging to us, and 2) declares us to be righteous in His sight.
  • Sanctification: is a progressive work of God and man that makes us more and more free from sin and like Christ in our actual lives.
  • Perseverance of the Saints: means that all those who are truly born again will be kept by God’s power and will persevere as Christians until the end of their lives, and that only those who persevere until the end have been truly born again.
  • Glorification: is the final step in the application of redemption. It will happen when Christ returns and raises from the dead the bodies of all believers for all time who have died, and reunites them with their souls, and changes the bodies of all believers who remain alive, thereby giving all believers at the same time perfect resurrection bodies like His own.

If you really like to read about this stuff, check out the Statement of Faith at Dr. Joseph Allotta’s church