Essential Beliefs of the Church
1. The Triune God: We believe in one eternally existent, infinite God, Sovereign of the universe; that He only is God, creative and administrative, holy in nature, attributes, and purpose; that He, as God, is Triune in essential being, revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
2. Jesus Christ: We believe in Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Triune Godhead; that He was eternally one with the Father; and became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and was born of the Virgin Mary. We believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins, and that He truly arose from the dead and ascended into heaven and is there engaged in intercession for us.
3. The Holy Spirit: We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Triune Godhead, that He is ever present and efficiently active in and with the Church of Christ, convincing the world of sin, regenerating those who repent and believe, sanctifying believers, and guiding into all truth as it is in Jesus.
4. The Holy Sciptures: We believe in the full inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, by which we understand the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments are given by divine inspiration, inerrantly revealing the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation, so that whatever is not contained therein is not to be enjoined as an article of faith.
5. Sin, Original and Personal: We believe that sin came into the world through the disobedience of our first parents, and death by sin.
6. Atonement: We believe that Jesus Christ, by His sufferings, by the shedding of His own blood, and by His [meritorious] death on the Cross, made a full atonement for all human sin, and that this Atonement is the only ground of salvation, and that it is sufficient for every individual of Adams race.
7. [Free Agency] Prevenient Grace: We believe that the grace of God through Jesus Christ is freely bestowed upon all people, enabling all who will turn from sin to righteousness, believe on Jesus Christ for pardon and cleansing from sin, to follow good works pleasing and acceptable in His sight. We believe that all persons, though in the possession of the experience of regeneration and entire sanctification, may fall from grace and apostatize and, unless they repent of their sins, be hopelessly and eternally lost.
8. Repentance: We believe that repentance, which is a sincere and thorough change of the heart and mind in regard to sin, involving a sense of personal guilt and a voluntary turning away from sin, is demanded of all. The Spirit of God gives to all who will repent the gracious help to believe unto pardon and spiritual life.
9. The Church: We believe in the Church, the community that confesses Jesus Christ as Lord, the covenant people of God made new in Christ, the Body of Christ called together by the Holy Spirit through the Word.
10. Justification, Regeneration, and Adoption
11. Entire Sanctification
12. Baptism
13. The Lord's Supper
14. Divine Healing
15. Second Coming of Christ
16. Resurrection, Judgment, and Eternal Destiny
For a complete copy of the 16 articles of Faith, click here.