The following are also important doctrines that we teach; though we affirm the value of each of these statements, we do not hold them to be of central import to the saving gospel of Jesus, and we hope never to split fellowship in God’s kingdom over them. May the Word of God be our teacher over any man.
VIII. Election & Free Agency
a) Salvation is by predestination in the plan of God for every believer before time began.
b) Salvation is by the free agency and will of man to place faith and trust and allegiance in God.
c) Salvation is by predestination and free will, and is impossible to truly reconcile with temporal understanding.
d) Salvation is by justification in coming to saving faith, sanctification in daily living, and glorification in the future.
e) Salvation is by true saving faith, which can only be known to God with full certainty.
IX. The Church
a) The Church is the people of God, not a building nor an institution, but a collection of all who possess true saving faith.
b) The Church is the body of Christ, the means by which his activity takes place on earth.
c) The Church is the bride of Christ, characterized by commitment and faithfulness, each from one to the other.
d) The Church is the priesthood of believers, mediating between God and the world as ambassadors of salvation.
e) The Church is the holy nation of God, a people of an invisible kingdom of allegiance, intimacy, and loyalty to God.
X. Men and Women
a) Man and Woman are both equally created in the image of God, equal in value, but different in function.
b) The pastoral office is specifically male, not by capacity or ability, but simply by God’s intention, order, and design.
c) Like the Trinity, man and woman are united as one (in marriage), yet maintain their separate personhood.
d) Man was made for natural relations with one woman, and woman was made for natural relations with one man.
e) Adultery, promiscuity, homosexuality, and other aberrant sexual behavior are explicitly deviations from God’s desire.
XI. Spiritual Gifts
a) Every believer is equipped with varying abilities which are to be used to edify the Church.
b) Spiritual gifts can be used properly, as instructed in Scripture, or irresponsibly abused.
c) Speaking in tongues, interpretation, healing, and prophecy were authenticating gifts in the early church.
d) Authenticating gifts do not possess the same prominence today as during the Apostolic Age, but have not ceased today.
e) No authenticating gift can contradict, reinterpret, nor conflict in any way with Scripture.
XII. Baptism & Communion
a) Baptism is the physical symbol of a believer’s death, burial, and resurrection with Christ by immersion in water.
b) Baptism is to express true saving faith, not parental intent nor baby dedication; it is not for infants or unbelievers.
c) Communion is the physical symbol of a believer’s participation in the broken body and shed blood of Christ.
d) Communion is to express true saving faith, not transubstantiation nor consubstantiation; it is for remembrance of Christ.
e) Baptism is done only once, for new believers; Communion is done frequently for all believers.
XIII. Creation & Evolution
a) God created the world in six literal, 24-hour, solar days, approximately 6000 to 10,000 years ago.
b) God created all things in a mature state, including the earth, all life, and all physical processes.
c) God created the world with everything created “according to its kind”, not evolved, mutated, or speciated.
d) God did not evolve anything and is not evolving anything by theistic evolution.
e) God created the world and no longer creates ex nihilo, but will someday make a new heaven and a new earth.
XIV. The End Times
a) God will fulfill all His promises to Israel in the End Times, starting with Rapture of the Church, then 7 years of Tribulation.
b) During the 7-year Tribulation, 144,000 Jews will come to saving faith in Jesus as Messiah and evangelize countless Gentiles.
c) Jesus will return at the end of Tribulation, defeat his enemies, and establish an earthly Kingdom that he rules for 1000 years.
d) Jesus’ Kingdom will be comprised of all believers throughout history and fulfill the Abrahamic, Mosaic, and Davidic Covenants.
e) After the 1000 years, all God’s enemies will be eternally punished. Jesus’ Kingdom will live on a new earth forever.
