THE SCRIPTURES: The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, and are the only sufficient, certain and authoritative rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience.
THE AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURES: The Bible is a reliable collection of historical documents written down by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. They report supernatural events which took place in direct fulfillment of specific prophecies and claimed these writings to be divine rather than of human origin.
GOD: There is but one God, the Creator, Preserver, and Ruler of all things, having in and of Himself all perfections, and being infinite in them all; and to Him all creatures owe the highest love, reverence, praise, worship and obedience. (In other words: If you could create the entire universe and all the plants & animals of the world out of nothing, then you deserve to be revered this way…but the fact is only the Creator Himself has the trait of being all-powerful and so He alone should be worshiped and obeyed in this manner).
THE TRINITY: God is revealed to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.
PROVIDENCE: God, from eternity, decrees or permits all things that come to pass, and perpetually upholds, directs, and governs all creatures and all events; yet not in any way as to be the author or approves of sin nor to destroy the free will and responsibility of intelligent creatures.
ELECTION: Election is God’s eternal choice of some persons unto everlasting life– not because of foreseen merit in them, but of his mere mercy in Christ– in consequence of which choice they are called, justified and glorified. God does this for His glory alone, not due to any merit of man.
THE FALL OF MAN: God originally created man in His own image, and free from sin; but, through the temptation of Satan, man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original holiness and righteousness; whereby one man (Adam) caused his descendants (the entire human race) to inherit a nature corrupt and wholly opposed to God and His law, are under condemnation, and as soon as they are capable of moral action, become actual transgressors. This is also called “original sin.”
THE MEDIATOR: Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, is the divinely appointed mediator between God and man. Having taken upon Himself human nature, yet without any sin, He perfectly fulfilled the law, suffered and died upon the cross for the salvation of sinners. He was buried, rose again on the third day, and ascended to His Father, at whose right hand He lives forever to make intercession for His people. He is the only Mediator, the Prophet, Priest, and King of the church, and Sovereign of the Universe.
REGENERATION: Regeneration is a change of heart, wrought by the Holy Spirit, who makes alive those who are dead in trespasses and sins, enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the Word of God, and renewing their whole nature, so that they love and practice holiness. It is a work of God’s free and special grace alone.
REPENTANCE: Repentance is an evangelical grace, wherein the Holy Spirit makes a person aware of the manifold evil of his sin, so that he humbles himself with godly sorrow, detesting sin, and abhorring [i.e., hating] self, with a purpose and endeavor to walk before God so as to please Him in all things.
FAITH: Saving faith is the belief, on God’s authority, of whatsoever is revealed in His Word concerning Christ; accepting and resting upon Him alone for justification and eternal life. It is wrought in the heart by the Holy Spirit, and is accompanied by all other saving grace, and leads to a life of holiness.
JUSTIFICATION: Justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal of sinners who believe in Christ, from all sin, through the satisfaction that Christ has made. It is given not for anything wrought in them or done by them, but on account of the obedience and satisfaction of Christ, they receiving and resting on Him and His righteousness by faith.
SANCTIFICATION: Those who have been regenerated are also sanctified by God’s Word and Spirit dwelling in them. This sanctification is progressive through the supply of Divine strength, which all saints seek to obtain, pressing after a heavenly life in willing obedience to all Christ’s commands.
CONTINUANCE OF BELIEVERS IN A STATE OF GRACE TO A STATE OF GLORY: Those whom God has accepted in the Beloved, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere to the end; and though they may fall, through neglect and temptation, into sin, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, bring reproach on the Church, and temporal judgments on themselves, yet they shall be renewed again unto repentance, and be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.
THE CHURCH: The Lord Jesus is the Head of the Church, which is composed of all His true disciples, and in Him is invested supremely all power for its government. According to His commandment, Christians are to associate themselves into particular societies or “churches”; and to each of these churches He has given needful authority for administering the order, discipline and worship which He has appointed. The regular officers of a church are Bishops (or Elders) and Deacons.
BAPTISM: Baptism is an ordinance of the Lord Jesus, obligatory upon every believer, wherein he is immersed in water in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, as a sign of his fellowship with the death and resurrection of Christ, of remission of sins, and of his giving himself up to God, to live and walk in newness of life.
THE LORD’S SUPPER: The Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of Jesus Christ, to be administered with bread and wine, and to be observed by His churches till the end of the world. It is in no sense a sacrifice, but is designed to commemorate His death, to confirm the faith of Christians, and to be a bond, pledge, and renewal of their communion with Him, and of their church fellowship.
THE LORD’S DAY: The New Testament Church gives the example of assembling on the Lord’s Day for the reading and teaching of the Word of God, worship, prayer, and mutual encouragement – stimulating one another to love and good deeds. It is fitting to view the Lord’s Day as a celebration of Christ’s resurrection and the redemption of His people. A believer should set aside one day a week as the Lord’s Day (most do this on Sunday).
LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE: God alone is Lord of the conscience; and He has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are in anything contrary to His word, or not contained in it. Civil magistrates being ordained of God, subjection in all lawful things commanded by them ought to be yielded by us in the Lord, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
THE RESURRECTION: The bodies of men after death return to dust, but their spirits return immediately to God – the righteous to rest with Him; the wicked, to be reserved under darkness to judgment. At the last day, the bodies of all the dead, both just and unjust, will be raised.
THE JUDGMENT: God has appointed a day, wherein He will judge the world by Jesus Christ, when everyone shall receive according to his deeds: the wicked shall go into everlasting punishment; the righteous, into everlasting life.
BIBLICAL EVANGELISM: Evangelism is impossible without the Power of God. Because of the fall of man, all men of every culture are totally depraved, at enmity with God, and are spiritually dead. A dead man cannot hear. And so the conversion of man is an absolute impossibility apart from the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. Modern church evangelism and methods often ignore these essential truths. Thus a Biblical Gospel must be proclaimed, for it is the power of God unto salvation. The preaching of the Gospel is the great means of evangelism. The Biblical Gospel is at the foremost God in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.
The Gospel Answers The Eternal Question Of How A Just God Can Rightly Justify Wicked Men: It points to Christ alone, who bore the sins of His people upon the cross, who was forsaken of God, and crushed under the full force of His just wrath against sin. The good news of the Gospel is that through Christ’s death, the justice of God was satisfied, and salvation was won for a great multitude of people. This is evidenced by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. “He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:25).
Superficial And Shallow Evangelism Is One Of The Greatest Obstacles To True Biblical Evangelism: Non-theological preaching, entertaining Sunday services, skits, so-called-worship services, and films are no substitute for the Biblical presentation of the Gospel. Inviting men to raise their hands and pray a prayer is no substitute for the biblical call to repentance, faith, and personal discipleship. Biblical assurance of salvation does not flow from a past decision or a prayer, but from the examination of one’s enduring lifestyle in the light of Scripture.
There Are Many Gifts And Callings In The Body Of Christ: There are many ministries a believer can use to labor for the King’s kingdom, but all of these are to work together to present the same one true Biblical Gospel. It is dangerous to present a false gospel that can only result in false converts who are no more saved than the heathen.
We Must Include The Law When Presenting The Gospel: It must be used like a schoolmaster…to teach men of their sins for them to see sin for the serious problem that it is.The Law is like a mirror: A mirror does not help you clean yourself up in the morning; it only shows you of your need to clean up. And so the Law is with sin. It does not help us; it only leaves us helpless and screams out our need for forgiveness. And that forgiveness comes only through Christ.
Included With The Law Must Be The Proper Message Of Grace: That message should be that Jesus paid our penalty for us so that the wrath of God would be satisfied. Think of it like a courtroom: Say you committed a crime and the penalty for that crime was a fine of $100,000 or be locked up in jail. But you don’t have the money to pay the fine. What is the result? If the judge is a just judge and not corrupt, he will lock you up in jail as that is the law. But suppose someone stepped in that courtroom before the judge passed sentence and told the judge he had $100,000 that he was willing to give in order that you could be let go. What will the judge do? He would have to dismiss your case and let you go, as that is the law. How would you feel toward that person? So grateful that you would feel that you owe them something. So it is with Jesus Christ. He paid the penalty for our sin by dying on the cross, taking on the full wrath of God so that those He will save would no longer be bound to eternal punishment in Hell. And because He did this, even though we did not deserve it, we owe Him our lives. He commands us to repent and believe in His name.