Man is made in the image of God, and therefore all people are created with equal worth and deserve dignity and respect. God created humans exclusively as male and female as part of His good creation. God created the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, without sin. But through their choice to rebel against Him, the entire human race has been plunged into sinful rebellion. Humans all inherit a sinful nature from Adam and thus choose to join in with his rebellion against God. This means that all humans are equally guilty before a holy God, and all humans require the same need for redemption through Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ, He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Although Jesus never sinned and obeyed God’s law perfectly, He chose to take upon Himself the sins of all His people so that all who turn to Him in faith may be saved. After His atoning death on the cross, Jesus rose three days later, demonstrating that He has victory over sin and death. Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father where He sits today, ruling and reigning over all things.

Salvation refers to the entire process by which God redeems sinners who turn to Him in faith. Salvation is a free gift of God to all those who turn to Christ in faith alone, not gained through any amount of penance, merit, or good works. Salvation as a whole entails regeneration (change of heart resulting from repentance of sin and new birth), justification (right legals standing before God), sanctification (growth in holiness into the image of Christ), and glorification (the final state of perfection realized after a believer dies and goes to Christ).

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired the writers of Scripture, so that they wrote the inerrant words of God. He is the one who illuminates the Word of God to the people of God, and empowers the people of God to accomplish the purposes God has set for them. The Holy Spirit desires to exalt Christ in all that He does, and He produces unity within His body (the Church). The Spirit pours out gifts upon the people of God for the purpose of building up the body and making Christ known among the nations. The Holy Spirit also works in the lives of believers to convict us of sin, empower us to obey Christ, and strengthen us to carry on until we finish the work God has for us.

The Bible is the inerrant, infallible words of God to all men. The whole of divine revelation to mankind is revealed within its 66 books, and it is totally sufficient on all matters pertaining to life and godliness. All Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is the true center of Christian union and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried.

The Church is both local and global. The local church refers to an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. 

The global Church refers to the Body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation.

(Matthew 16:15-19; 18:15-20; Acts 2:41-42,47; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; Ephesians 2:19-22; 3:8-11,21; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 2:9-14; Hebrews 11:39-40; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Revelation 21:2-3.)

Christ gave two ordinances to the Church: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Baptism refers to the immersion of a believer in water symbolizing their faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, as well as their union with Him in His death and resurrection. This ordinance is given only to those who have professed faith in Jesus Christ and is a sign of God’s covenant faithfulness to them. 

The Lord’s Supper, also called communion, is a practice whereby the local church comes together to eat bread and drink wine to remember Christ’s body broken and His blood spilled for us. The bread and wine symbolize the body and blood of Jesus, and do not literally contain them. Through this ordinance, the church remembers and proclaims Christ’s death until He comes again. 

(Matthew 26:26-30; 28:19-20; Mark 1:9-11; 14:22-26; Luke 3:21-22; 22:19-20; John 3:23; Acts 2:41-42; 8:35-39; 16:30-33; 20:7; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 10:16,21; 11:23-29; Colossians 2:12.)

The family unit is a gift of God, as it is the foundation for all civilization. God designed the family unit for the flourishing of His creation and the edification of mankind. God created marriage, as the foundational institution of the family, to be the lifelong covenant union of one man and one woman. This special gift to mankind is meant to provide a picture of the covenant between Christ and His Church. Because God created marriage, any form of “marriage” that alternates or abrogates God’s design is illegitimate. God created sex to be enjoyed exclusively between a husband and wife within the covenant of marriage. Any expression of sex outside of the marriage covenant is an act of rebellion against the Creator. 

God has called husbands to serve as the heads of their homes, alongside their wives who joyfully submit to the headship of their husbands. Husbands and wives strive together to raise, discipline, and disciple their children to love and serve God. Children are a blessing from the Lord, and are to be regarded as image bearers worthy of dignity from the moment of conception to their natural death. 

(Genesis 1:26-28; 2:15-25; 3:1-20; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Joshua 24:15; 1 Samuel 1:26-28; Psalms 78:1-8; 127; Proverbs 1:8; 6:20-22; 12:4; 22:6,15; 23:13-14; 31:10-31; Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; 9:9; Matthew 18:2-5; 19:3-9; Mark 10:6-12; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 7:1-16; Ephesians 5:21-33; 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Timothy 5:8,14; 2 Timothy 1:3-5; Titus 2:3-5; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 3:1-7.)