- We believe in one God, manifesting Himself in three Persons as the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit
(Gen. 1:26; Deut. 6:4; 1 Kg. 8:60; Matt. 28:19; Mark
12:29; John 14:26; 15:26; Acts 2:33; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 1:3-14; 4:4-6; Jas.
2:19; 1 Pet. 1:2; 3:18; 1 John 5:7; Rev. 1:4-5).
- We believe the Bible to be verbally inspired, the inerrant Word of God,
and, when rightly interpreted by the Holy Spirit, to be the infallible rule of
faith and practice
(Psa. 45:1; Ezek. 1:3; Matt. 24:35; Luke 24:27; Rom.
15:4; 1 Cor. 10:11; 1 Thess. 2:13; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21).
- We believe in the creation and subsequent fall of man, with the result
that he, without God, is in a state of total spiritual depravity, unable to
attain to divine righteousness by means of his own wisdom and strength.
Unregenerate man, with a beast nature, needs a Savior
(Gen. 1-3; Rom. 3:23; 5:12-19; 6:23; Gal.
5:19-21; Eph. 2:1-3).
- We believe the Lord Jesus Christ to be the only Savior of all men,
conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, very (fully) God and
very (fully) man. Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again
according to the Scriptures. He personally appeared in His new body to His
disciples before ascending to His seat at the right hand of the Majesty in the
heavens. Jesus' finished work (His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension)
reversed the curse concerning the spirit, soul, and body of the first man
Adam. He is the only Way to the Father, the only valid Door and entry into the
realm of Spirit
(Gen. 3:15; Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:18-25; John 10:1;
14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Cor. 15:3-8; Gal. 3:13-14; 1 Tim. 3:16; Heb. 4:14-16;
8:1-6; 10:12-13).
- We believe in personal regeneration, that one must be born again to see
and enter the Kingdom of God. This initial salvation of sinners is by grace
through faith in the perfect and all-sufficient finished work of Jesus Christ.
The ground of this justification by faith is the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of
God
(John 1:29; 3:1-8; 17:4; 19:30; Acts 13:38-39;
Rom. 5:1-2; Eph. 2:8-9; Rev. 13:8).
- We believe that this conversion experience should be followed with water
baptism by immersion in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of
sins and the circumcision of the heart. The old man is put to death and the
new creation man arises to walk in newness of life. Blood, water (baptism) ,
and Spirit constitute the three witnesses that initiate the New Covenant
(Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; Rom. 2:28; 6:1-14; Col.
2:11-12; 1 John 5:8).
- We believe in observing often the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. This
Eucharist, the Table of the Lord, is the ongoing celebration of the New
Covenant
(Matt. 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:17-20; 1
Cor. 10:16-17; 11:23-30).
- We believe that sanctification is once and for all as well as progressive
in nature: first, from the time of conversion, God Himself sets the believer
apart by the blood of Jesus; then the believer separates himself unto a holy
God by washing himself daily with the Word. The Spirit-directed life is one of
detachment from this present world system, perfecting holiness in the fear of
God
(Matt. 5:48; 1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 6:11-7:1; Eph.
5:25-27; Col. 3:8-13; Heb. 9:12; 12:14; Jas. 1:27; 1 Pet. 1:15; 1 John
2:15-17).
- We believe that healing for man's spirit, mind, and body was provided for
in the New Covenant when our Lord Jesus was striped in His death on the cross
and rose again in the power of His resurrection. Divine health is a reality
for the believer. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law: sin,
sickness, poverty, and death
(Ex. 15:26; Isa. 53:5; Mark 7:26; 16:18; John
10:10; Acts 4:30; 10:38; Rom. 8:11; 1 Cor. 12:9; Gal. 3:13-14; Jas. 5:13-16; 1
Pet. 2:24).
- We believe that the Pentecostal experience of the Holy Ghost Baptism is
separate from and subsequent to conversion. God sends forth the Spirit of His
Son into our hearts; this is Christ in and among all of us, the hope of glory.
We believe that the initial evidence of this Baptism to be the historical and
experiential distinctive of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives
utterance. However, speaking with other tongues is not necessarily the
evidence of a Spirit-filled life. The fruit of a genuine Pentecost is the
writing of the law of God upon one's heart
(Mark 16:17; Acts 1:4-8; 2:1-4; 10:44-46; 19:6;
Gal. 3:14-15; 4:6; Eph. 5:17-18; Col. 1:27; and Ex. 19:1 with Lev. 23:15-22).
- We believe that the fruit of the Spirit is the divine nature and character
of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Pattern Son for every believer. We are
called to be like the One who is the firstborn among many brethren (Rom. 8:28-29; 2 Cor. 3:18; Gal. 5:22-23; 2 Pet. 1:3-4;
1 John 3:1-3).
- We believe that the gifts or manifestations of the Holy Spirit are the
supernatural ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that every member of the
Body of Christ should flow in several of them. New Testament ministry is the
outflowing of the indwelling Christ. The Church is called to a spiritual
ministry of speaking, knowing, and doing. These nine manifestations enable us
to talk like God, think like God, and do the works of God
(Mark 16:15-20; Acts 1:8; 4:7-10, 29-31; 5:12;
8:5-13; 10:38; Rom. 12:4-8; 1 Cor. 4:20; 12:8-10; 14:1-40; Heb. 2:3-4; 1 Pet.
4:10-11).
- We believe in Spirit-filled prayer and intercession, and that fasting
(abstaining from food) intensifies prayer. Spiritual warfare is waged and won
on the basis of Jesus' finished work. We are to cast out demons in the Name of
the King. Satan, our adversary, is a reality, and was completely defeated by
our Lord's death and resurrection. We are called to enforce Jesus' victory, to
occupy until He comes, to call those things which be not as though they were,
to prophetically decree a thing so that it will be established unto us
(Job 1:7; 22:28; Matt. 4:2; 12:25-29; Mark 16:17;
Luke 4:2; 10:17-20; 19:13; Acts 8:18-24; 13:6-12; 19:13-20; Rom. 4:17; 2 Cor.
2:11; 11:14, 27; Eph. 6:10-18; Heb. 2:14; Jas. 4:7; 1 Pet. 5:8-9; 1 John 3:8).
- We believe in the order of worship given by revelation in the Tabernacle
of David and restored to the Church today. This includes the voice (singing,
shouting), the hands (clapping, raising, playing instruments), and the whole
body (standing, bowing, kneeling, dancing)
(2 Sam. 6; 1 Chron. 13-16; Psa. 150; Acts
15:13-17; Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16).
- We believe that all authority centers in Jesus Christ and that He has
delegated His jurisdiction into the home (domestically), the local church
(ecclesiastically), and civil government. We believe in theocratic (God-ruled)
local church govenment and order (elders, deacons, and saints). Divine order
in the New Testament maintains a plurality of eldership and leadership, but
there is a set man at any given time with a distinctive anointing to father
the flock of God
(Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 13:1-2; 15:19; Rom. 13:1-7;
Eph. 1:20-23; Phil. 1:1; 2:5-11; 1 Tim. 3:1-13).
- We believe in the full restoration of the five-fold ascension-gift
ministries that Jesus Christ sent to equip and mature the Church: apostles,
prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Their mission is to produce a
perfect, full-grown, many-membered new creation Man in the earth, the
manifestation or unveiling of the nature and ministry of Jesus Christ in His
brethren
(Rom. 8:19-23; 1 Cor. 13:8-13; Eph. 2:20; 3:1-5;
4:11-16; Col.1:25-29).
- We believe that the Kingdom of God is a present reality and will expand
until the knowledge of His Lordship covers the earth, The Government of God is
the purpose of God; it is the extension of His rule and dominion in the earth
and the universe. The Church, universal and local, mystical and tangible,
invisible and visible, is the instrument through which that purpose is to be
realized
(Gen. 1:26-28; Dan. 2:44-45; 7:27; Hab. 2:14;
Mark 1:14-15; Rom 14:17; Eph. 3:21; Heb. 12:25-29; Rev. 1:6; 5:10; 11:15;
19:1-6).
- We believe that God's judgments are past, present, and future. Our sins
were judged in Christ; it was appointed unto man once to die, and Jesus met
that appointment. After that we are to stand in His presence and learn how to
righteously judge ourselves and others. Thirdly, we shall be judged, for every
man will give an account of himself; in that day, the Judge of all the earth
shall do right, for His judgments are unto victory. In time to come, the
Church will execute and administer the judgment which He is when we judge the
world and angels
(Gen. 18:25; Eccl. 12:14; Matt. 5:13-16; 12:20;
John 5:22; Acts 17:31; Rom. 2:16; 14:10-12; 1 Cor. 6:1-3; 2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Thess.
2:7-10; Heb. 9:27; 12:23; Rev. 20:12).
- We believe that resurrection is past, present, and future. Our spirit was
resurrected from a state of spiritual death and passed unto life when we were
born from above and translated into His Kingdom. Our soul is being
transformed, our minds renewed, from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord;
our mortal bodies are presently being made alive by the same Spirit that
raised Christ from the dead. Ultimately, there will be a resurrection in which
He shall change these vile bodies and fashion them like unto His glorious
body. Not all will sleep, or die; there will be a people or generation, like
Enoch and Elijah, who experience the out-resurrection, a spiritual and moral
resurrection while yet in the body
(Job 14:14; Psa. 16:10; 17:15; John 5:24; 11:25;
Rom. 8:11, 23; 12:1-2; 1 Cor. 15; 2 Cor. 3:18; 5:6-10; Col. 1:9-13; Phil.
3:11, 21; Rev. 20).
- We believe the Church to be the seed of Abraham, God's Holy Nation and
Chosen Generation, the true Circumcision, the Heavenly Jerusalem, the
spiritual Israel of God. The Jew is you! Like Jesus, we are the Seed of the
Woman, the Seed of Abraham, and the Seed of David; as such, we are heirs
together of the grace of life, sharing His pain, His promise, and His power
(Rom. 2:28-29; 9:6; 15:8 with Acts 3:13; then
Gal. 3:7, 16, 29; 4:21-31; 6:16; Matt. 21:42-43 with 1 Pet. 2:9-10; Phil. 3:3;
Heb. 12:22-24; then Gen. 3:15; Matt. 1:1; Rom. 8:16-17; 1 Pet. 3:7; 1 John
4:17).
- We believe that the Father has given the earth to the children of men. The
earth is the Lord's; it belongs to Jesus and His Church, not the devil. The
meek shall inherit the earth. As kings and priests, we shall reign on the
earth. Heaven is the realm of God, and God is omnipresent Spirit; Heaven is
nearer than men think. Therefore, we believe in the coming of the Lord, not
the going of the saints; in the appearing of the Lord, not the disappearing of
the saints. Throughout the Scriptures, God comes to dwell with man. Jesus is
coming now (in Spirit) to be glorified "in" the saints; He will come
(literally) "with" the saints once His enemies are made His footstool, once He
has received the early and latter rains, once we have come to the unity
disclosed in John 17 and Ephesians 4, and once He has restored all things
spoken by all His holy prophets since the world began. His coming is not "any
minute" but "until" (a word denoting time) - no man knows that day or hour
(Gen. 28:10-17; Psa. 24:1; 37:3, 9, 11, 22, 29,
34; 110:1-6; 115:16; Matt. 5:5; 6:10; 24:36; John 1:51; 3:13; Acts 3:18-24;
Eph. 4:13; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; 2 Thess. 1:6-10; Heb. 10:12-13; Jas. 5:7; Rev.
1:6; 5:10; 21:1-11).
- We believe that there are some things that the Lord has yet to reveal to
His Church. We have but crossed the threshold of the Most Holy Place. This is
uncharted territory: we have not passed this way heretofore. Apostles and
prophets will eventually make these things known to the Church in the seasons
of the Lord. We remain open to be taught, corrected or adjusted in our vision
(Josh. 3:1-5; Isa. 55:9; 1 Cor. 2:9-16; Eph.
3:1-5, 16-21).
To that end, we declare it more important in WHOM we believe that in WHAT we
believe!