I. We Believe in God
We believe in the one true, living God (Deut. 6:4; I Co. 8:4,6; I Thess. 1:9; Jer. 10:10) Who is infinite in His being and perfection (Job 11:7-9; 26:14). God is an incorporeal, invisible spirit (Jo. 4:24; I Ti. 1:17; Lu. 24:39). God is unchangeable, eternal, omnipotent, all-knowing, ubiquitous, and holy. God works all things after the counsel of His own will and for His ultimate glory (Ja. 1:17; I Kg. 8:27; Ps. 90:2; 145:3; Ge. 17:1; Rm. 16:27; Is. 6:3; Eph. 1:11; Rm. 11:36). Therefore, since God is holy, He is just in the absolute sense. He hates sin and will not allow any sin to go unpunished (Ne. 9:32-33; Ps. 5:5-6; Na. 1:2-3; Ex. 34:7). God is love and exercises mercy toward all men by being longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth. I believe that He forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin and that He is a rewarder of them that seek Him (I Jo. 4:8,16; Ex. 34:6,7; Hb. 11:6). In the unity of the Godhead there are three Persons that are of the same substance, power and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (I Jo. 5:7; Mt. 3:16,17; 28:19; II Co. 13:14).
A. God The Father
We believe in God the Father as having the primacy of the authority in the Godhead. From Him proceed all the divine attributes. God the Father is a spirit and has never been seen by anyone except the Son (John 1:18). The Father proceeds from no one and is not begotten; the Son was eternally begotten of the Father and the Holy Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son (Jo 1:14,18; 15:26; Ga. 4:6).
B. God The Son
We believe in Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity, and only mediator between God and men, having taken, when the fullness of time was come, the human nature with all its properties but without sin. (Is. 42:1; I Pe. 1:19,20; Jo. 3:16; I Tim. 2:5; Jo. 1:1,14; I Jo. 5:20; Phil. 2:6; Gal. 4:4; Hb. 2:14,16,17; 4:15). Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in Mary’s womb before she knew a man (Lu. 1:27,31,35; Ga. 4:4). In Jesus were inseparably combined in the same Person, two complete, perfect and distinct natures, without conversion, composition or confusion, for He was complete God, and complete man being, nevertheless, one Christ (Lu. 1:35; Col. 2:9; Rom. 9:5; I Pe. 3:18; I Tim. 3:16; Rom. 1:3,4; I Tim. 2:5). I believe in Jesus Christ as Prophet, Priest, King, Head and Saviour of His church, Heir of all things and Judge of the world (Ac. 3:22; Hb. 5:5,6; Ps. 2:6; Lu. 1:33; Hb. 1:2; Ac. 17:31). The Lord Jesus, in His human nature, was full of the Holy Spirit and of all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Jo. 3:34; Col. 2:3). The Lord Jesus was crucified for the sins of mankind, died, was buried, and resurrected from the dead the third day, ascended unto Heaven where He sits at His Father’s right hand interceding for mankind, from where He shall return, triumphant, first to call to Himself His redeemed and, finally to establish on the earth His millennial kingdom (Phil. 2:8; Ac. 2:23,24,27; 13:37; Rom. 6:9; I Co. 15:3-5; Mk. 16:19; Rom. 8:34; I Thess. 4:16-17; Rev. 20:2-7). The Lord Jesus, with His perfect sacrifice, pleased the Father’s justice, and not only accomplished the reconciliation between the Most Holy God and men, but also an eternal inheritance in heaven for all who will trust in Him (Rom. 5:19; Hb. 9:15).
C. God The Holy Spirit
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the perfect God and the third Person of the Trinity. To the Holy Spirit are given in the Scriptures many attributes that are also given both to the Father and the Son: Jehovah, Lord of Hosts, Most High, God, Eternal, Omni-present, All-knowing, Omnipotent, Creator (Hb. 3:7-9; Is. 6:3, 8-10; Act. 28:25; Ps. 78:17,21; Act. 7:51; 5:3,4; Hb. 9:14; Ps. 139:7-13; I Co. 2:10; Rom. 15:19; Job 33:4). The Holy Spirit was sent to the world after the ascension of Christ and proceeded from the Father. As such, He gives joy to the saints, edifies the church, witnesses of Christ, gives God’s love and hope to the saints, teaches the saints and lives in them (Jo. 15:26; 16:7; I Thess. 1:6; Act. 9:31; Rom. 5:3-5; Ga. 5:5; Jo. 14:26; 14:17). It is only through His presence that the things of God are revealed to us (I Co. 2:10,13; Jo. 16:14). It is He that calls and enables, through the gifts, workers for the Christian work. That work, spiritual in nature, is spiritually directed by the Holy Spirit of God. (Act. 13:2; 16:6-7; Jo. 16:13; I Co. 12: 7-11).
II. The Bible
We believe the Bible is the Word of God, the only sufficient, sure and infallible rule of saving knowledge, faith and obedience (II Ti. 3:15-17; Is. 8:20; Lu. 16:29,31; Eph. 2:20). Being the Word of God, the Bible must be always read in its literal sense. If there is not a clear indication that a passage is to
be interpreted in a symbolical way, the same should be interpreted literally. While men can obtain a limited knowledge of the nature and power of God through the works of His creation, I believe that salvation comes only through faith and that faith comes through the Word of God (Rm. 1:20; I Co. 1:21). All of the Bible’s books (Old and New Testament) were written by divine inspiration and preserved through time in the original languages (Hebrew and Greek) (Lu. 16:29,31; Eph. 2:20; Re. 22:18,19; II Ti. 3:16). The infallible interpretation of Scripture is to use Scripture to interpret Scripture. The hardest passages to understand are explained through the simpler passages. To understand God’s revealed truth in His Word, personal illumination by the Holy Spirit is required. (II Pe. 1:20,21; Ac. 15:15,16; II Co. 2:10-12). We use the King James Version for all teaching and preaching in English.
III. Heaven and Hell
We believe the Bible speaks the truth when it speaks of Heaven and Hell as literal places. Heaven is the place created by God, also called Paradise, where His glory resides and where He is forever glorified by the angels, all the other celestial hosts, and the saints of the Old and New Testaments that have placed their hope in God’s provision for their salvation. I believe that Hell exists, a place created by God so that His justice can condemn those, who being part of His creation that were aware of sin, have rejected God’s only plan for their salvation. That condemnation is eternal. I believe these places are part of the invisible creation of God (Col. 1:16).
IV. The Spiritual World
God is the Creator of both the material and physical world, and of the spiritual and invisible one. The angels, supernatural creatures made by God for the fulfilling of His will, are part of that creation. They are sent by God to protect and help His people; their powers are above human imagination. I believe that in some point in history there was a rebellion among God’s angels. That rebellion was headed by Lucifer, the most perfect angel. He took with him one third of the angels when he rebelled. For them there is no salvation (Is. 14:12-14; I Pe. 2:4; Ez. 28:12-17).
Lucifer, Devil, and Satan are several of the names given to the same real and operative being that leads the attacks against God and His creation. Pride, rebellion and deceit are his main features. Satan works non-stop so that God’s glory will not shine. He also keeps men from God’s glory, leading them to hell which they deserve because of their sin. Satan’s end (and his demons’ end) is the never ending flames of hell (Mt. 25:41; Jo. 8:44; Ez. 28:17).
VI. The Creation of the World
We believe in God as the Creator and Sustainer of all existing things. We believe, therefore, in the biblical account of creation that we find in Genesis that the heavens, the earth, and all life forms were created in six twenty-four hour days.
VII. The Human Condition
We believe that God created the first man and the first woman in His likeness so that they could enjoy eternal, uninterrupted and perfect fellowship with Him. However, our first fathers, being seduced by Satan’s subtlety and temptation, sinned by eating of the forbidden fruit and fell from their original justice and fellowship with God (Gen. 3:13; II Co. 11:3; Gen. 3:6-8; Ec. 7:29; Rm. 3:23). Hence, man became dead in trespasses, and completely deformed in all his faculties of body and soul (Gen. 2:17; Eph. 2:1; Tit. 1:15; Gen. 6:5; Jer. 17:9; Rom. 3:10-18). Being the root of all humanity, this sin’s guilt was imparted and the same corrupted nature was transmitted to all their posterity (Ps. 51:5; Gen. 5:3; Job 14:4; 15:14). We believe that it is because of this original corruption that we are, in nature, opposed to all good and completely inclined to all that is bad, this nature being the source of all our transgressions (Rom. 8:7; 7:18; Ja. 1:14; Mt. 15:19). We believe that this corruption of nature remains even in the regenerate while they abide in their fleshly bodies (I Jo. 1:8,10; Rom. 7:14,17,18,23; Ja. 3:2; Prov. 20:9; Ec. 7:20).
VIII. God’s Plan for Salvation
We believe that salvation comes by grace through faith when we accept, receive, and rest only in Christ for justification, sanctification, and eternal life (Jo. 1:12; Ac. 16:31; Ga. 2:20; Ac 15:11; Eph. 2:8,9). We believe that from the time we receive salvation we are positionally justified before God obtaining the forgiveness of our sins, not having any righteousness in ourselves but because it is imparted to us through the obedience and sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Rom. 4:5-8; II Co. 5:19,21; Rom. 3:22,24,25,27,28; Tit. 3:5,7; Eph. 1:7; Jer. 23:6; I Co. 1:30,31; Rom. 5:17-19). We believe that God continues to forgive the sins of those that are justified, and even though they can never depart from their justified position, they can loose fellowship with God and stop receiving His blessings until they humble themselves, confess their sins, ask for forgiveness, and renew their faith and repentance (Hab. 2:4; Gen. 15:6; Ps. 130:3-4; Lu. 22:32; Jo. 10:28; Heb. 10:14; Ps. 89:31-33; 51:7-12; 32:5; Mt. 26:75; I Co. 11:30,32; Lu. 1:20).
IX. The Church
We believe in the local church, consisting in a company of professing, born-again believers in Jesus Christ, immersed on a credible confession of faith, and associated for worship, work and fellowship. I believe that the saints, united together in love, should congregate in churches that are local, militant, evangelizing, disciple makers, mission oriented and triumphant. The two offices determined by God for His churches are pastors, also called elders and bishops, and deacons. The pastors, whose job is to feed and pray for God’s people have to be well prepared and married. The deacons, whose job is to serve the church, also have to be men whose testimony is acknowledged by the church and married (Act. 20:28; I Tim. 3:1-13; Act. 6:1-7).
X. The Ordinances
We believe God instituted for His church two ordinances to represent Christ and His benefits and to confirm our interest in Him (I Co. 10:16; Ga. 3:27). These two ordinances are baptism and the Lord’s Supper. They were instituted by Jesus Christ and are only for the saved (Act. 8:12; I Co. 11:27). Baptism is a symbol of the work of regeneration performed by God in the believer’s life and the giving of one’s self to God to live in newness of life (Col. 2:12; Mk. 1:4; Rom. 6:3-4). Baptism should be celebrated in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Jo 1:33; Mat. 28:19,20). The exterior element of this ordinance is the water. Because baptism is to represent the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, only the complete immersion of the body in water can fulfil the God given requirements for this ordinance (Mat. 3:16; Act. 8:39). Our Lord, on the night He was betrayed, instituted the ordinance of His body and blood called the Lord’s Supper to be observed in His church until the end of time. It is a symbol of the sacrifice of Himself in His death (I Co. 11:23-26). The exterior elements used in this ordinance are the bread and the cup and, since they represent the sinless body and blood of Christ being given for all men, these should be free of leaven, the symbol for sin (Lk. 22:19,20; I Co. 5:6-8).