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RESURRECTION
AND PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST: We believe in the bodily
resurrection of
Christ and in His ascension into Heaven, where He now sits at the right
hand of the father as our
High Priest, interceding for us (Matthew 28:6, 7; Luke 24:39; John 20:27;
1 Corinthians 15:4;
Mark 16:6; Luke 24:2-6, 51; Acts 1:9-11; Rev. 3:21; Hebrews 8:6; 12:2;
7:25; 1 Timothy 2:5;
1 John 2:1; Hebrews 2:17; 5:9, 10).
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GRACE
AND THE NEW BIRTH: We believe that in order to be
saved; sinners must be born
again; that the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus; that it is
instantaneous and not a
process; that in the new birth the one dead in trespasses and in sins is
made a partaker of the
divine nature and receives eternal life, the free gift of God; that the
new creation is brought
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about
by our Sovereign God in a manner above our comprehension, solely
by the power of the
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Holy
Spirit in connection with divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary
obedience to the gospel;
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that
its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance,
faith and newness of life
(John 3:3; 2 Corinthians 5:17; l John 5:1; Acts 16:30-33; 2 Pet.1:4;
Romans 6:23;
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Ephesians
2:1, 5; Colossians 2:13; John 3:8).
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JUSTIFICATION: We
believe that justification is that judicial act of God whereby
He declares
the believer righteous upon the basis of the imputed righteousness of Christ;
that it is bestowed,
not in consideration of any works of righteousness which we have done,
but solely through faith
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in
the Redeemer's shed blood (Romans 3:24; 4:5; 5:19 9; Galatians
2:16; Philippians 3:9).
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SANCTIFICATION: We
believe that sanctification is the divine setting apart of the
believer unto
God, accomplished in a threefold manner; first, an eternal act of God,
based upon redemption in
Christ, establishing the believer in a position of holiness at the moment
he trusts the Savior;
second, a continuing process in the saint as the Holy Spirit applies the
Word of God to the life;
third, the final accomplishment of this process at the Lord's return (Hebrews
10:10-14; 3:1;
John 17:17; 2 Corinthians. 3:18; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 5:25-27;
l Thessalonians 4:39 4; 5:23, 24; 2 John 3:2; Jude 23, 25; Revelation 22:11).
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THE
SECURITY OF THE SAINTS: We believe that all who are
truly born again are kept by
God the Father for Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6; John 10:28, 29; Romans
8:35-39; Jude 1).
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THE
CHURCH: We believe that a local church is an organized
congregation of immersed believers,
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associated
by covenant of faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing
the ordinances of Christ;
governed by His laws; and exercising the gifts, rights
and privileges invested in them by His Word;
that its officers are pastors and deacons, whose qualifications, claims
and duties are clearly defined
in the Scriptures. We believe the true mission of the church is the
faithful witnessing of Christ to all
men as we have opportunity. We hold that the local church has the absolute
right of self-government,
free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations;
and that the one and only
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Superintendent
is Christ through the Holy Spirit; that it is scriptural for
true churches to cooperate
with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance
of the gospel; that each local church
is
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the
sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation; that
on all matters of membership, of policy,
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of
government, of discipline, of benevolence, the will of the local
church is final
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(1
Corinthians 11:2; Acts 20:17-28; l Timothy 3:1-13; Acts 2:41,42).
We believe in the unity of all New Testament
believers in the Church which is the Body of
Christ
(1 Corinthians 12:12, 13; Ephesians 1:22, 23; 3:1-6; 4:11;
5:23; Colossians 1:18; Acts 15:13-18).
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BAPTISM
AND THE LORD'S SUPPER: We believe that Christian
baptism is the single
immersion of a believer in water to show forth in a solemn and beautiful
emblem our identification
with the crucified, buried and risen Savior, through whom we died to sin
and rose to a new life; that Baptism
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is
to be performed under the authority of the local church; and
that it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership.
We believe that the Lord's Supper is the commemoration
of His death "until
He come", and should
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be
preceded always by solemn self-examination. We believe that the
Biblical order of the
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ordinances
is baptism first and then the Lord's Supper, and that participants
in the Lord's Supper should be
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immersed
believers (Acts 8:36, 38, 39; John 3:23; Romans 6:3-5;
Matthew 3:16; Colossians 2:12;
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1 Corinthians
11:23-28; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:41, 42).
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SEPARATION: We
believe in obedience to the Biblical commands to separate ourselves
unto
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God
from worldliness and ecclesiastical apostasy
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(2
Corinthians 6:14; 7:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:9, 10; 1 Timothy 6:3-5;
Romans 16:17; 2 John 9:11).
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CIVIL
GOVERNMENT: We believe that civil government is of
divine appointment for the
interests and good order of human society; that magistrates are to be prayed
for, conscientiously
honored, and obeyed, except in those things opposed to the will of our
Lord of the conscience, and
the coming King of kings (Romans 13:1-7; 2 Samuel 23:3; Exodus 18:21,
22; Acts 23:5;
Matthew 22:21; Acts 5:29; 4:19, 20; Daniel 3:17, 18).
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