


| We believe: The Word of God is eternal. It always has and always will exist. It governs the existence of all life and matter. It is the supreme authority over all things, including our lives. It is infallible and inerrant. God and His Word are one. God and His Word are eternal and complete, but the revelation of God and His Word to man is still being written and communicated to man. The Bible represents the written Word of God. It was written by men as they were moved on by the Holy Spirit so that the writings retain the individuality and humanity of the writer but fully contain the thoughts, intents and purposes that God desired to reveal to Man through them. There is one God existing as the eternal Godhead but manifested in three forms, the Father, the Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. They are all fully God but represent different manifestations of God. God created man in His image and gave him dominion and authority over creation. Man sinned and gave his dominion and authority to Satan. Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, is both God and man. Jesus Christ the man was born of a virgin impregnated with the seed of God in order for God himself to take on the form of a man. As such, He was both fully man and fully God. During His time on earth he was sinless and perfect. He was crucified and buried and entered Hell and defeated Satan, regaining the authority and dominion that God gave to Adam and returning it to mankind in covenant with Him. He was resurrected and ascended to Heaven where he now sits as the perfect mediator and intercessor between God and man. He eternally retains both the nature of the resurrected man and the nature of God. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead who was sent to the earth when the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven. His ministry upon earth is primarily to help the believer as teacher, revealer of truth, comforter, helper, intercessor, advocate, standby and strengthener, and He dwells in the hearts of men from the moment of salvation on. There is to be a separate empowerment by the Holy Spirit at the time of or subsequent to salvation to be His witness, which is called the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. The initial evidence of this baptism is speaking with other tongues and other manifestations as set forth in Acts 2. There is one baptism but many subsequent infillings of the Holy Spirit to empower the believer to be his witnesses. All men will live eternally in Heaven or Hell. The choice is made by man while he is on the earth. Man is fully responsible for his choice to accept or reject eternal salvation of his soul. The choice to accept is made when man confesses with his mouth that Jesus is Lord and believes in his heart that God has raised him from the dead. Salvation is a free gift of God to man received by faith and is available to all men. God desires all men to be saved. Declarations 5-30-05 |