The creation of man was a direct act of God on the sixth 24-hour day of God's creation as recorded in Genesis 1 and 2. We reject evolution, the Gap Theory, the Day-Age Theory, and Theistic Evolution as unscriptural theories of origin. God took the dust of the ground, formed Adam, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; therefore, man's origin is not the result of an evolutionary process (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7). Man was created in the image of God possessing a moral, but not a physical likeness to God (Genesis 1:26). In a state of innocence, he willfully sinned by disobeying God's command (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:6).

Section 7. Sin and Condemnation

Sin is the transgression of God's law (I John 3:4). It is the inability to conform to God's righteous standard (Romans 5:6). It is a "missing of the mark" of God's perfect glory (Romans 3:23). Every human being is born with an inherited sin nature because of Adam's disobedience in the garden of Eden. Therefore, all humanity became subject to sin and death, and are without excuse before God (Romans 3:10, 19-20, 23; 5:12, 19; Psalm 51:5; John 3:19). All are condemned to physical, spiritual, and eternal death without Jesus Christ (John 3:19; Romans 6:23; Revelation 20:11-15). We believe that young children are protected from this condemnation before they reach an age of understanding (II Samuel 12:23).

Section 8. Salvation

Salvation is a free gift of God that cannot be merited on any basis of good works (Romans 6:23b; Titus 3:5). It is wholly by God's grace (Ephesians 2:8-9) on the merit of faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:24-26). The elements of conversion are repentance and faith (Acts 20:21). Once an individual repents of sin and places faith in Jesus Christ (I Thessalonians 1:9), he is eternally secure and can never lose his salvation (John 3:16, 36; Ephesians 1:13; I John 5:11-13). At the point of salvation, a believer is justified by the faith of Christ (Romans 5:1; Galatians 2:16). We reject the doctrines of Calvinism represented by the TULIP as misinterpretations of Scripture (II Peter 3:9; I Timothy 2:1-6; I John 2:1-2).

Section 9. The Church of Jesus Christ

The church that Jesus established is a local, organized, self-governing assembly of regenerated, baptized believers, voluntarily united together for the purpose of fulfilling the Great Commission, and with Jesus Christ as its Head (Matthew 18:15-17; Acts 2:41-42; 13:1-3; 15:23-28; Ephesians 5:23; Colossians 1:18). The ordinances of the church are baptism and the Lord's Supper (Matthew 26:26-28; 28:19). Believer's baptism is by immersion under water through the authority of the local church (Acts 8:36-39). Baptism is an outward expression of the believer's identification with Christ's death, burial, and resurrection (Romans 6:4-5) and unites that believer to the particular local church in which he is baptized (Acts 2:41, 47). The Lord's Supper is a memorial picturing the broken body of Christ that was sacrificed on the cross and his blood that was shed to pay for man's sin (I Corinthians 11:23-30). Acts 2:41-42 sets a pattern for those eligible to partake of the Lord's Supper (i.e., those who believed, were baptized, and belonged to the local church). Neither baptism or the Lord's supper has any sacramental merit for salvation.

The offices of the church are pastor (elder, bishop) and deacon. The qualifications for these offices are clearly defined in Scripture (I Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:6-9; Acts 6:1-7). While we believe that men and women have spiritual equality before God, God has ordained distinct and separate leadership roles for men and women in the home, the church, and nation. The husband is to be the head of the home, and men are to be the leaders (pastors and deacons) of the church. Accordingly, only men are eligible for licensing and ordination by the church (Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:18; I Timothy 2:8-15; 3:4-5, 12).

We reject as a misinterpretation of Scripture the concept of an universal (catholic) church. The Greek term translated as church in the King James Bible refers to a called out assembly. Something universal cannot assemble. Additionally, throughout Scripture, the word churches (plural) is used by the Holy Spirit (Revelation 2-3). After the translation of the saints to New Jerusalem, there will be for the first time a called out, universal assembly referred to as the church of the firstborn (Hebrews 12:22-24).