Since its founding in 1933, the college has maintained an un-qualified commitment to an historic, orthodox position on essential doctrines of the faith as expressed in this document. A statement of faith is central to the college's identity, serving as a unifying and clarifying document in an age of theological shifting and confusion. Hermeneutically, the college approaches Scripture from a grammatical, historical, and contextual viewpoint.
The Scriptures
We believe the Scriptures of the Old Testament and the New Testament are the Word of God and are verbally inspired of God and inerrant in the original writings. We believe that this inspiration extends equally and fully to all parts of the Scriptures, and that they are the supreme and final authority in faith and life. John 17:17; Galatians 3:16; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21.
The Godhead
We believe in one God eternally existing in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, each having precisely the same nature, attributes, and perfections. Matthew 28:19-20; John 1:1-2; Acts 5:3-4; Colossians 2:9.
Jesus Christ-His Person and His Work
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. He was eternally begotten of the Father, conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary. We believe that Jesus Christ died for the sins of the whole world as the substitutionary sacrifice, that His crucified body was raised from the dead, and that He ascended into heaven to appear before the Father as our High Priest, Advocate, and Mediator. Luke 1:35; Romans 9:5; 1 Corinthians 15:1-3; Philippians 2:6-11; Colossians 1:15-17; 2:9; Hebrews 4:15; 9:24; 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 Peter 1:3; 2:24; 3:18; 1 John 2:2.
The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit came in a special sense on the Day of Pentecost, indwelling every believer. In this age, the Holy Spirit carries out the ministries of restraining evil in the world; convicting people of sin, righteousness, and judgment; regenerating and indwelling all believers; baptizing them into the Body of Christ; sealing them unto the day of redemption; and empowering them for sanctification and service. We believe that some gifts of the Holy Spirit are permanent and are intended for use throughout the entire Church Age. Other gifts were temporary and were given in the Apostolic Age for the purpose of founding the church. These include the gifts of apostleship, prophecy, miracles, healings, tongues, and the interpretation of tongues. At the same time, we affirm that God performs miracles as He wills. John 14:16-17; 16:7-15; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 12:13, 28-30; Ephesians 2:20-22; 4:1-16, 30; Hebrews 2:1-4; Titus 3:5.
Humanity
We believe God created humanity, male and female, reflecting the image and likeness of God. Each person's biological sex has been sovereignly appointed by God and is an irreversible aspect of his or her nature. The first human, Adam, sinned and thereby incurred the judgment of both physical death and spiritual death which is eternal separation from God. Therefore, all human beings, with the exception of Christ Jesus, are born with a fallen nature, are accountable for their sin, and need to be born again. Rejection of one's God-ordained biological sexuality reflects a rejection of God's plans and purposes. God has established and revealed in Scripture a divine order to regulate humanity. Human institutions reflecting that order are marriage of a man and a woman, family, and human government. Genesis 1:1,26,27; Psalm 51:5; Jeremiah 17:9; John 3:3-7; Romans 1:21-32; 3:10-12; 5:12; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; Ephesians 2:1-10; 1 John 1:8-10; Genesis 2:18-25; Colossians 3:18-21; Romans 13:1-7.
Salvation
We believe that salvation was provided for everyone in the whole world and was accomplished solely by the finished work of Christ shedding His blood upon the cross, and no work on the part of any person can merit this salvation. Whoever believes solely in the finished work of Jesus Christ receives the new birth, becomes a partaker of the divine nature, and thus becomes a child of God, once for all, forever. John 3:16; 6:37; 10:27-30; 2 Corinthians 5:14; Ephesians 2:8-9; 1 Timothy 2:3-6; 1 Peter 1:18-19, 23; 2 Peter 1:3-4.
The Church
We believe the Church universal began at Pentecost with the baptism of the Holy Spirit and consists of all those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the Head of the Church, called His Body. The local church is a body of believers in Christ who are joined together under scriptural leadership for the worship of God, for edification through the Word of God, for prayer, for fellowship, for the proclamation of the Gospel, and for observance of the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper. Matthew 16:16-18; Acts 1:4-5; 2:42-47; 11:15-16; Romans 12:5; Ephesians 1:20-23; Philippians 1:1; 1 Corinthians 12:13; 1 Timothy 3:15.
The Future
We believe in the imminent return of Jesus Christ to rapture the Church Age saints, followed by the tribulation period, and the visible return of Jesus Christ with His saints for His millennial reign on earth. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and unjust, in the reward and everlasting conscious blessedness of the just, and in the judgment and everlasting conscious punishment of the lost. Luke 16:19-26; John 11:25; 1 Corinthians 15:51-57; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 20:1-15; 21:1-8.