“How shall they hear without a preacher?”

The Bible

The Holy Bible is our doctrinal statement. The Old Testament (preserved in the Masoretic Text) and the New Testament (preserved in the Textus Receptus [Received Text – Greek]) contain sixty-six books and are referred to as “Scripture” given by God (2Tim.3:16; 2Pet.1:19); and is preserved by God (Ps.119:89; Is.40:8; Pr.30:5-6; Rev.22:18-19); accomplishes God’s will (Is.55:11); is the living Word of  God that searches our hearts (Heb.4:12); reveals Jesus Christ and God’s Salvation (Lk.24:27; Jn.20:31; 1Jn.5:13). [The Authorized King James Version is translated from these original language texts and is our preferred translation for that reason.]

God

The Bible presents to us that there is only one God, who is the creator, and initiator of salvation, and the Father of Jesus Christ. (Deut.6:4; Gen.1:1; Is. 42:8; Is.43:10-15; James 2:19; 2Cor.11:31; Eph.1:3; 1Pet.1:3; Gal.3:19)

The Holy Spirit 

The Scripture presents that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father, who comes from the Father and has characteristics of an independent, autonomous agent. The Holy Spirit seals believers and gives them gifts and fruit in un-diminished liberty without restriction, for individual ministry to the believer and through the believer. (Jn.4:24; Jn.14:16-17; Jn.15:26; Jn 15:16; Jn.16:7-16; Acts.1:8; Rom.8:9, 11, 16, 26-27; 2Cor.1:22; Eph.1:13; Eph.4:30; 1Cor.12:1 – 14:40)

Jesus Christ – The Son of God

The Scripture reveals that Jesus is the Son of God, distinct from the Father, eternal, and has come forth from the Father, born of a virgin, conceived by the power of God through the Holy Spirit, to do the will of the Father, and having done so is forever exalted as the Savior, Mediator, and unchanging High Priest between God and man through His life, death, and resurrection. (Matt.1:18; Jn.1:18; Phil.2:5-11; Jn.8:17-18; Jn.8:42, 54-55; Jn.17:3-5; Jn.3:16; Jn.4:34; Heb.5:5-10; Heb.8:6; 1Tim.2:5)

Man

Man was created by the special act of God, in His own image, and is the crowning work of His creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan, man transgressed the command of God and fell from his original innocence, whereby his posterity inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin, and as soon as they are capable of moral action become transgressors and are under condemnation. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God. The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image and in that Christ died for man; therefore, every man possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love. (Gen. 1:27; Gen. 3:6-24; Rom. 5:12; Rom. 5:19)

Salvation

Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man and is offered freely to all who accept (or receive) Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense, salvation includes regeneration, sanctification, and glorification. (John 1:12-13; Heb. 9:14,22)

Regeneration or the new birth

A work of God’s grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace. Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Savior. Justification brings the believer into a relationship of peace and favor with God. (John 16:8; Luke 13:3,5; Luke 24:46-47; John 5:24; Acts 17:30; 2Cor. 7:10; Rom. 4:5; Rom. 3:24,25)

The Church

A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a local body of baptized believers who are associated by spiritual covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the ordinances of Christ, committed to His teachings, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. This church is an autonomous body, operating through democratic processes under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In such a congregation, members are equally responsible. The church, which is Christ’s body, includes the redeemed, who are covered by Faith in the blood of Christ, and will be called out when Christ comes again for His own at the beginning of Christ’s melliniual reign. (1Tim. 3:2,8,15; Heb. 12:23)

Baptism & the Lord’s Supper

Jesus himself baptizes us with the Holy Spirit when we believe. Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water unto Jesus and in His name. It is an act of obedience, symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is a prerequisite to the privileges of church mem­bership and to the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is a sym­bolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming. (Matt. 3:11; Luke 3:16; Eph. 1:13; Mark 16:16; John 3:3,5; Acts 2:38; 1Peter 3:21; Rom. 6:3-6; 1Cor. 11:24-28)

Sabbath, The Lord’s Day

The Scripture’s record and the seven days of creation in Genesis 1 and 2 established an unchanging fact that Friday at sunset until Saturday at sunset is the Sabbath. God never changes this in Scripture.  The fourth commandment is never overridden. Sunday worship is a Christian liberty. (Gen.2:1-3; Exod..20:8-11)