THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
The Old and New Testament Scriptures are verbally inspired of God and without error in the original manuscripts. The Bible is the supreme and final authority in faith and life and is the ONLY written revelation of God to humanity. (Psalm 119:89; John 10:35,17:17; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21).
THE GODHEAD
There is but only one eternal, all-powerful, all-present, all-knowing God manifested in Three Persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit: one in nature, equal in attributes, power and glory. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:18-19; Mark 12:29; John 1:1-4, 10:30; Acts 5:3-4; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Hebrews 1:1-3; Revelation 1:4-6).
JESUS CHRIST
Jesus Christ is God Incarnate, very God and very man, begotten by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, who lived a sinless life, and offered Himself on the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice, suffering the full and final penalty for sinners. He bodily rose on the third day and ascended into heaven, where He is seated at the right hand of God the Father, interceding for us as our Advocate and Great High Priest. (Isaiah 7:14, 9:6, 53:6; Matthew 1:16, 20:28; John 1:14, 17; Acts 1:9-11; Romans 1:4, 3:25, 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13, 4:4; 1 Timothy 1:15, 2:5-6; Hebrews 4:14-15, 7:25; 1 Peter 2:24, 3:18; 1 John 2:1-2; Revelation 1:18)
THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit's ministries are to restrain evil in the world, to convict, convert, and regenerate the sinner, and to indwell, seal, anoint, illuminate, and teach all true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. He baptizes each believer at the moment of conversion, uniting the believer to the body of Christ. He is the Source of all power, acceptable worship and service in the Christian life. Each believer is responsible to yield control of his life to Him for guidance and power for one's life and service. (John 16:8-10; Romans 8:9-16; 1 Corinthians 1:21-22, 12:13; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22; Galatians 5:16, 22-23; Ephesians 1:13-14, 5:18; 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7; 1 John 2:27)
HUMANITY
Man was created free from sin, pure and innocent before God. The consequence of Adam's deliberate disobedience to the revealed word of God was that he lost his innocence, became subject to sin, incurred the penalties of both physical and spiritual death, became subject to the wrath and justifiable condemnation of God and wholly unable to save himself. Apart from God's salvation, humanity is eternally lost. (Genesis 1:26-27, 2:16-17; Jeremiah 17:9; John 3:36; Romans 3:9-18, 6:23, 5:10-12; Ephesians 2:1-3; James 2:10; 1 John 1:8)
SALVATION
Salvation is wholly of God by His Sovereign grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and not from any ordinance, ritual, human merit, or works of man. It is the free gift of God. Once it is received, it cannot by any means be lost. The Christian is secure in Christ forever. (Matthew 11:28-30; John 1:12-13, 3:16, 36, 5:24, 6:37, 10:27-30; Acts 4:12; Romans 4:4-5, 5:1, 6:23, 8:1, 37-39; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Ephesians 2:8-9, 4:30; 2 Timothy 2:12; Titus 3:5; Hebrews 9:22, 13;5; 1 Peter 1:5, 18-19; 1 John 5:13, Jude 1:24)
SATAN AND FALLEN ANGELS
Satan is a created angelic being and the author of sin. He incurred the judgment of God by rebelling against Him. Satan introduced sin into the human race through the deception and temptation of Eve in Eden. He is the sworn enemy of God and man. He is referred to as the prince of this world, defeated through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He and his fallen angels, known as demons, will all be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire. (Genesis 3:1-15; Job 1:6-7; Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:11-19; Matthew 4:1-11, 25:41; Hebrews 2:14; Revelation 12:3-4, 20:10)
SPIRITUAL GIFTS
The Lord Jesus gives to every believer at their conversion through the Holy Spirit some gift or gifts to equip them to serve the Lord and edify other believers. They are given to the believer by the Sovereign act of God and not by response to the desires or prayers of others. Each believer should strive to discover and use their gifts for the edification of the body of Christ and the accomplishment of HIs work in the world. There are permanent edifying gifts such as teaching, helps, administration, service, exhortation, giving, mercy, leadership, evangelism, and the role and office of pastor-teacher. There were temporary gifts given to the apostles to verify the claims of Jesus Christ but after the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their authority firmly established, they were no longer needed. We are to be content with what God gives us for His service and seek nothing else. (Luke 18:1-6; John 5:7-9; Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, 13:8-13, 14:22; 2 Corinthians 12:6-10; Ephesians 2:20, 3;5, 4:11-12; Hebrews 2:3-4; James 5:13-16; 1 Peter 4:10-11; 1 John 5:14-15)
LAST THINGS
I believe in the personal and imminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ to take up, or rapture His church from the earth, set in motion the events of the Tribulation and judgment of the world, and return with His saints to establish a literal one-thousand-year reign upon the earth from Jerusalem. He will resurrect everyone who has ever lived, with some brought into eternal life, and others eternally condemned to the lake of fire. (Jeremiah 30:7; Daniel 12:1-3; Matthew 24:15-31, 25:31; John 14:1-3; 1 Corinthians 15:55-58; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12; Revelation 19:11-21, 20:1-7, 11-15, Chapters 21-22)
For further study, I recommend the following books:
"The End" by Dr. Mark Hitchcock
"I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist" by Drs. Frank Turek and Norman Geisler
"Cold Case Christianity" by J. Warner Wallace
"Major Bible Themes" by Lewis Sperry Chafer and John F. Walvoord
"Why Believe the Bible?" by John MacArthur
