Doctrinal statement

The Holy Scripture

I believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament and that they compose the entire Word of God. The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible,preserved and God-breathed; and therefore, are the final authority for faith and practice. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament are the complete and divine revelation of God to man. The Scriptures shall be interpreted according to their normal grammatical-historical meaning. The King James Version of the Bible shall be the official translation that will use in any English speaking setting. If there is any question as to the translation I will revert back to the original language in Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic and seek to understand what it meant to them then and what it means to us now. The line of text that I hold to is the Maseretic text for the Old Testament and the Received Text for the New Testament. I will only be using the KJV in English speaking settings and the João Ferreira de Almeida in Portuguese speaking settings which is translated from the same line of text.

II Timothy 3:16-17 | II Peter 1:20-21

The God Head

I believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—each coeternal in being, coidentical in nature, coequal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections.

Deuteronomy 6:4 | Matthew 28:19 | II Corinthians 13:14 | John 14:10, 26

The Person and Work of Christ

I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man without ceasing to be God, having been begotten by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men.

I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead.

Acts 2:18-36 | Romans 3:24-25 | I Peter 2:24 | Ephesians 1:7 | I Peter 1:3-5

I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministries of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate.

Acts 1:9-10 | Hebrews 9:24; 7:25 | Romans 8:34 | I John 2:1-2

The Fallen Nature of Man

I believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin the human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and, that all men are sinners by birth and by choice, and, of themselves, utterly unable to remedy their lost condition.

Genesis 1:26-27 | Romans 3:22-23; 5:12; 6:23 | Ephesians 2:1-3; 4:17-19

Salvation

I believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by repentance of sin and personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins and 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.

John 1:12 | Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-10 | I Peter 1:18-19

The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers

I believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever.

John 6:37-40; 10:27-30 | Romans 8:1, 38-39 | I Corinthians 1:4-8 | I Peter 1:4-5

I believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh.

Romans 13:13-14 | Galatians 5:13 | Titus 2:11-15

The Church

I believe that the local church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is solely made up of born-again persons.

I Corinthians 12:12-14 | II Corinthians 11:2 | Ephesians 1:22-23; 5:25-27

I believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures.

Acts 14:27; 20:17, 28-32 | I Timothy 3:1-13 | Titus 1:5-11

I believe in the autonomy of the local church, free of any external authority or control.

Acts 13:1-4; 15:19-31; 20:28 | Romans 16:1, 4 | I Corinthians 3:9, 16; 5:4-7, 13 | I Peter 5:1-4

I recognize water baptism and the Lord’s Supper as the Scriptural ordinances of obedience for the church in this age.

Matthew 28:19-20 | Acts 2:41-42; 18:18 | I Corinthians 11:23-26

The Second Advent of Christ

I believe in that “blessed hope,” the personal, imminent return of Christ Who will rapture His Church prior to the seven-year tribulation period. At the end of the Tribulation, Christ will personally and visibly return with His saints to establish His earthly Messianic Kingdom which was promised to the nation of Israel.

The Eternal State

I believe in the bodily resurrection of all men—the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment.

Matthew 25:46 | John 5:28-29; 11:25-26 | Revelation 20:5-6, 12-13

I believe that the souls of the redeemed are at death absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord.

Luke 23:43 | II Corinthians 5:8 | Philippians 1:23; 3:21 | I Thessalonians 4:16-17 | Revelation 20:4-6

I believe that the souls of unbelievers remain after death in conscious punishment and torment until the second resurrection when, with soul and body reunited, they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment and torment.

Creation

I believe that God created the universe in six literal, 24-hour periods. I reject evolution, the Gap Theory, the Day-Age Theory, and Theistic Evolution as unscriptural theories of origin.

Genesis 1-2 | Exodus 20:11

Missions

I believe that God has given the church a great commission to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to teach the Bible so that there might be a great multitude from every nation, tribe, ethnic group, and language group who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As ambassadors of Christ we must use all available means to go to the foreign nations and not wait for them to come to us.