What We Teach
We teach that the Bible is God’s written revelation to man, and thus the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, constitute the Word of God. That is, we teach the plenary verbal inspiration of Scripture, that every ord is equally breathed out by God in all its parts (1 Corinthians 2:7–14; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20–21).
We teach that the Word of God is an objective, propositional revelation (1 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Corinthians 2:13), infallible (John 10:35), and absolutely inerrant in the original documents, being free from all falsehood, fraud, or deceit (Psalm 12:6; 119:160; Proverbs 30:5).
We teach that the Bible constitutes the only infallible rule of faith and practice and is true and reliable in all the matters it addresses (Matthew 5:18; 24:35; John 10:35; 16:12–13; 17:17; 1 Corinthians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:15–17; Hebrews 4:12; 2 Peter 1:20–21).
We teach that God spoke in His written Word by a process of dual authorship. The Holy Spirit so superintended the human authors that, through their individual personalities and different styles of writing, they composed and recorded God’s Word to man (2 Peter 1:20–21) without error in the whole or in the part (Matthew 5:18; 2 Timothy 3:16).
We teach the literal, grammatical, historical interpretation of Scripture, which affirms that, whereas there may be several applications of any given passage of Scripture, there is but one true interpretation. The meaning of Scripture is to be found as one diligently and consistently applies this interpretive method with the aid of the illumination of the Holy Spirit (John 7:17; 16:12–15; 1 Corinthians 2:7–15; 1 John 2:20). It is the responsibility of believers to ascertain carefully the true intent and meaning of Scripture, recognizing that proper application is binding on all generations. Yet the truth of Scripture stands in judgment of men; never do men stand in judgment of it.
We teach that literal, grammatical, historical interpretation yields the affirmation that God created the world in six literal twenty- our-hour days (Genesis 1:1–2:3; Exodus 20:11; 31:17), that He specially created man and woman (Genesis 1:26–28; 2:5–25), and that He defined marriage as a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:5; cf. Malachi 2:14). Scripture elsewhere dictates that any sexual activity outside of marriage is an abomination before the Lord (Exodus 20:14; Leviticus 18:1–30; Matthew 5:27–32; 19:1–9; 1 Corinthians 5:1– 5; 6:9–10; 1 Thessalonians 4:1–7).
God
We teach that there is but one living and true God (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5– 7; 1 Corinthians 8:4), an eternal (Revelation 1:8), infinite (Job 11:7–10), absolute Spirit (John 4:24), without parts (Exodus 3:14; 1 John 1:5; 4:8), perfect in all His attributes, including incomprehensibility (Romans 11:33), omniscience (1 John 3:20), omnipotence (Genesis 18:14), omnipresence (Psalm 139:7–10), immutability (Malachi 3:6), and aseity (Exodus 3:14; John 5:26).
We teach that this God is one in essence (having one mind, one will, and one power), eternally existing in three coequal and onsubstantial Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14)—each uncreated and distinct, and each equally deserving worship and obedience. Therefore, we teach that the Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding (John 5:26); the Son is eternally begotten of the Father (John 1:14; 1:18; 3:16; 5:26; cf. Psalm 2:7); and the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son (John 15:26).
God the Father
We teach that God the Father, the first Person of the Trinity, orders and disposes all things according to His own purpose and grace (Psalm 145:8–9; 1 Corinthians 8:6). He is the Creator of all things (Genesis 1:1–31; Ephesians 3:9). He is sovereign in creation, providence, and redemption (Psalm 103:19; Romans 11:36). His fatherhood involves both His designation within the Trinity and His elationship with mankind. As Creator, He is Father to all men (Ephesians 4:6), but He is spiritual Father only to believers (Romans 8:14; 2 Corinthians 6:18). He has decreed for His own glory all things that come to pass (Ephesians 1:11). He continually upholds, directs, and governs all creatures and events (1 Chronicles 29:11). In His sovereignty He is neither author nor approver of sin (Habakkuk 1:13; John 8:38–47), nor does He abridge the accountability of moral, intelligent creatures (1 Peter 1:17). He has graciously chosen from eternity past those whom He would save to be His own people (Ephesians 1:4–6); He saves from sin all who come to Him through faith in Jesus Christ; He adopts as His own all those who come to Him and thereby becomes Father to them (John 1:12; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:5; Hebrews 12:5–9).
God the Son
We teach that Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Trinity, is eternal God, coequal, consubstantial, and coeternal with the Father, possessing all the divine perfections (John 1:1; 10:30; 14:9).
We teach that all creation came into being through the eternal Son (John 1:3; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2) and is presently sustained by Him (Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3).
We teach that in the incarnation the eternal Son, the second Person of the Trinity, without altering His divine nature or surrendering any of the divine attributes, made Himself of no reputation by taking on a full human nature consubstantial with our own, yet without sin (Philippians 2:5–8; Hebrews 4:15; 7:26).
We teach that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary (Luke 1:35) and thus born of a woman (Galatians 4:4–5), so that two whole, perfect, and distinct natures, the divine and the human, were joined together in one person, without confusion, change, division, or separation. He is therefore very God and very man, yet one Christ, the only mediator between God and man.
We teach that in His incarnation, Christ fully possessed His divine nature, attributes, and prerogatives (Colossians 2:9; cf. Luke 5:18–26; John 16:30; 20:28). However, in the state of His humiliation, He did not always fully express the glories of His majesty, concealing them behind the veil of His genuine humanity (Matthew 17:2; Mark 13:32; Philippians 2:5–8). According to His human nature, He acts in submission to the Father (John 4:34; 5:19, 30; 6:38) by the power of Holy Spirit (Isaiah 42:1; Matthew 12:28; Luke 4:1, 14), while, according to His divine nature, He acts by His authority and power as the eternal Son (John 1:14; cf. 2:11; 10:37– 38; 14:10–11).
We teach that our Lord Jesus Christ accomplished the redemption of His people through the shedding of His blood and sacrificial death on the cross. We teach that His death was voluntary, vicarious, substitutionary, propitiatory, and redemptive (Isaiah 53:3–6; John 10:15, 18; Romans 3:24–25; 5:8; 1 Peter 2:24).
We teach that on the basis of the efficacy of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, the believing sinner is freed from the punishment, the penalty, the power, and one day the very presence of sin; and that he is declared righteous, given eternal life, and adopted into the family of God (Romans 3:25; 5:8–9; 2 Corinthians 5:14–15; 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18).
We teach that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead and that He is now ascended to the right hand of the Father, where He intercedes as our Advocate and High Priest (Matthew 28:6; Luke 24:38–39; Acts 2:30–31; Romans 8:34; 1 Corinthians 15:12–23; Hebrews 7:25; 9:24; 1 John 2:1).
We teach that in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave, God confirmed the deity of His Son and gave proof that God has accepted the atoning work of Christ on the cross. Jesus’ bodily resurrection is also the guarantee of a future resurrection life for all believers (John 5:26–29; 14:19; Romans 1:4; 4:25; 6:5–10; 1 Corinthians 15:20, 23).
We teach that Jesus Christ will return to receive the church, which is His Body, unto Himself at the rapture, and, returning with His church in glory, will establish His millennial kingdom on earth (Acts 1:9–11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18; Revelation 20).
We teach that the Lord Jesus Christ is the One through whom God will judge all mankind (John 5:22–23): believers (1 Corinthians 3:10–15; 2 Corinthians 5:10); living inhabitants of the earth at His glorious return (Matthew 25:31–46); and the unbelieving dead at the Great White Throne (Revelation 20:11–15).
As the Mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5), the Head of His Body the church (Ephesians 1:22; 5:23; Colossians 1:18), and the coming universal King, who will reign on the throne of David (Isaiah 9:6; Luke 1:31–33), He is the final Judge of all who fail to place their trust in Him as Lord and Savior (Matthew 25:14–46; Acts 17:30–31).