FAITH AND DOCTRINAL STATEMENT

There is one God expressed in three persons (Trinitarian) The Father, The Son, The Holy Ghost (1 John 5:7). He is the God of all creation. We know that the Holy Bible is the very word of God. (1 Thessalonians 2:13) The Bible was written through men by divine inspiration, not by men. God Created the earth in six literal days (Genesis 1) Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God. He is God who took on flesh. Fully God and fully man. He was born of a virgin woman as the promised Messiah of Israel. Fulfilling all the prophesies of the promised Messiah, He lived a sinless life, He died on the cross for the sins of people of all nations in order to satisfy the wrath of a just God (Romans 5:9) He was buried in a tomb. On the third day He was resurrected and seen by over 500 witnesses (1 Corinthians 15:3-9). Because of the work of the cross all who repent of their sins and believe on the Lord Jesus shall be saved. He gives all that repent and trust in Him is own righteousness so that we are covered. It is not by our own works we are saved but only by the works of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:21-26). Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father (John 14:6). He is the only way one can be saved from the wrath of God. All who die in their sins without ever coming to repentance and faith in Christ will be cast into a literal place of eternal torment called hell (Revelation 20:15). This is because God is Just and He cannot overlook sin and the payment for sin was provided by Jesus Christ. So your sin must be paid by Jesus in order for you to obtain Mercy, otherwise the alternative is that God will give you Justice and you will be cast into hell (a place of torment) for all eternity. 

We believe that God is not finished with the nation of Israel. We reject all doctrines that express “replacement theology.” We believe that God is sovereign over salvation not man (Romans 9:11-15, John 10:27) Only He can grant the gift of repentance and faith. We believe that true Christians are born again meaning born of the Spirit and this does not refer to water baptism (John 3) and have the Holy Spirit within. Therefore the born again believer will have new desires that will cause the Christian to strive to obey God and exhibit good works that are a fruit of their salvation Although a Christian may stumble and fall into sin they cannot continue to walk therein (Romans 6:1-2). We know that God is a personal God that we have a real relationship with and He dearly loves His children (Psalm 91:15).

Total Depravity / Total Inablilty

Man is not in part sinful and corrupt, but is by nature born into sin and is totally corrupt and totally dead in sin. Because of this man in completely unable to come to God on his own. God seeks man, and man will not by nature seek after God. Man must be born again of the Spirit. 

Man is completely dead in sin: Colossians 2:13

You must be Born Again: John Ch.3

None seek after God: Romans 3:11

Jesus said He came to seek and to Save that which is lost

-Luke 19:10

Unconditional Election

No one comes to faith in Christ on their own. God calls, draws and gives faith and repentance to His elect. God does not base His calling on the persons merit or their deserving.  God calls based on His own perfect sovereign will. He does not base His effectual calling of a sinner to repentance on His foreknowledge of them choosing Him. 

Jesus said, "Do not think that you chose me, but I chose you": 

-John 15:16

According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blame before him in love.

-Ephesians 1:4

For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of Him that calleth, it was said to her, "The older shall serve the younger." As it is written, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated." What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

-Romans 9:11-15

Limited Atonement

Christ died for His Children. Born again believers from all Nations. He did not die for the sins of every individual, He died for the sins of the elect. His work of the Cross was fully successful in what He set out to accomplish. Jesus said He died for the sins of many (not all).

Jesus Christ did not die to give people a mere opportunity to believe and be saved.  If He only died to give people an opportunity to be saved then it would be possible that none would come to fatih and therefore none would be saved and Christ would have died in vain.  This is not the case at all, for His work  was and is the complete victory.  Therefore no man can claim any credit for a decision to follow Jesus, it is solely His Grace.  Salvation is a Gift from God that does not rest on mans ability to choose, if it did then left to our own devices we would not choose Christ; as it is written in Romans 3:11 "there is none that has understanding, there is none that seek after God."  Here are some verses below that attest to Jesus giving His life not for every person but for His elect:

"For this is the blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."

- Matthew 26:28

"I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd giveth His life for the Sheep."

-John 10:11

And before Him shall be gathered all Nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth His sheep from the goats"

-Matthew 25:32

Irresistible Grace

Those who are elect, God has given them eyes to see and hears to hear the Gospel.  Therefore being granted the gift of repentance and faith, the Grace of God is Irresistible.  We do indeed make the choice to have faith in Christ but that is because God first enlightens the individual and the individual recognizes that faith in Christ is the only choice they can make to escape the Wrath that is to come.  The elect person sees that faith in Christ is the only choice they have to be saved and therefore it is irresistible.  The elect person is not able to resist Gods Grace.  This is because regeneration (New Birth) precedes the choice to believe.  Modern Christian thought that is based in Arminianism says that a person exercises faith in Christ and is then Born Again in accordance with John chapter 3.  But this is an idea of man and is not Biblically accurate.  The Bible says that the natural man does not seek God and certainly does not love God (see Psalm 53 and Romans 3). An unregenerate person cannot choose Christ because he is an enemy of God and hates God.  God must first do a work in the heart of a person if they can begin to see themselves as a sinner and thus repent and trust Christ.  Look close here at the verses in John 3 where the Lord is speaking of regeneration (New Birth):  John 3:6-8

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hear the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." 

You can plainly see here it is not a work of the flesh, Jesus clearly is saying that a man cannot make a decision in his flesh to repent and believe. Also notice where He says that which is born of The Spirit is spirit. Mans Spirit is dead so mans spirit cannot choose, it is The Spirit of God that causes new birth.  Notice here where Jesus says The wind bloweth where it listeth and you cannot tell where it comes or where it is going and this is the same with the Spirit.  So here we see that God is the author of Regeneration and He alone directs its path. 

Perseverance of the Saints

Jesus  is the author and finisher of our faith - Hebrews 2:12

The children of God cannot loose their Salvation simply because we were not the ones who found it to begin with, God choose us not the other way around.  Jesus says this very thing in John 15:16.  We did not and could not choose Him and save ourselves and we can by no means keep ourselves saved. Remember God is the one who did the complete work necessary for salvation and it was a complete victory. God will not allow His children to be taken away, He will see salvation through.  Jesus says it like this in John 10:28: "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." Thankfully we are in Gods hand.  Those people who once claimed to have faith in Christ and latter walked away (I have met many in the bible belt south) truly never believed to begin with and were never born again.  1 John 2:19 puts it this way: "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us."

Its important to note that this doctrine of Perseverance is different than other doctrines of Preservation of the Saints.  Preservation would dictate that your just saved and thats it, no matter how much sin or "backsliding" a person does, but that is not Biblical since repentance is a necessary consequence of faith and salvation, you must Repent said Jesus in Mark 1:15.   But Perseverance dictates that God causes His children to overcome sin in a real sense.  The embattled saint has not yet reached perfection sinlessness but is headed in that direction.  Not just sin but also perseverance over tribulation and trails, no amount of tribulation will cause the child of God to deny Christ Ultimately.  The Bible says in Philippians 1:6 that "He who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."