ARTICLE II

ARTICLE II =

COVENANT AND STATEMENT= OF FAITH

SECTION 2.01 – COVENANT

Having been led, as we believe, by the Spirit of God= , to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, and on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we so now in the presence of God, angels, and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another, as one body in Christ.

We engage, therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit,= to walk together in Christian love; to strive for the advancement of this Chur= ch in knowledge, holiness and comfort; to promote its prosperity and spiritual= ity; to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline and doctrines; to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the gospel through all nations.

We also engage to maintain family and secret devotio= ns; to religiously educate our children; to seek the salvation of kindred and acquaintances; to walk circumspectly in the world; to be just in our dealin= gs, faithful in our engagements and exemplary in deportment; to avoid all tattl= ing, back-biting, gossip, and excessive anger; to abstain from the sale and use = of intoxicating drinks as beverage; and to be zealous in our efforts to win so= uls and advance the kingdom of our Savior.

We further engage to watch over one another in broth= erly love; to remember each other in prayer; to aid each other in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and courtesy in speech= ; to be slow to take offense but always reach for reconciliation and, mindful of= the rules of our Savior, to secure it without delay.

We moreover engage that when we remove from this pla= ce we will, as soon as possible, unite with some other church where we can carry = out the spirit of this Covenant and the principles of the Word of God.

SECTION 2.02 – STATEMENT OF FAITH

<= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family= :"Times New Roman"'>1.&n= bsp; We believe in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as verba= lly inspired of God, and inerrant in the original writing, and that they are of supreme and final authority in faith and life (II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:19-20).

<= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family= :"Times New Roman"'>2.&n= bsp; We believe that God is a sovereign, living, intelligent, rational B= eing and that He has a plan for man and for the universe. We believe He has the will, power,= and authority, and is actively engaged in carrying that plan to completion (Gen= esis 18:25; Isaiah 57:15; Ephesians 2:10; Romans 8:28-29).

We believe in one God, eternally existing in t= hree Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; I Corinthians 8:6= ; I John 5:7; Matthew 28:19).

<= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family= :"Times New Roman"'>3.&n= bsp; We believe in the personality of Satan. We believe that the Devil or Satan= :

a.&n= bsp; Once was a holy angel and enjoyed heavenly honors, but through pride and

ambition to be as the Almighty, fell (Isaiah 14:12-13; Ezekiel 28:15-17).

b.&n= bsp; Drew after him a host of angels (I Thessalonians 3:5).

c.&n= bsp; Is now the prince of the power of the air, the unholy god of this w= orld (I Thessalonians 3:5; Matthew 4:13).

d.&n= bsp; Is man’s great tempter (I Peter 5:8)

e.&n= bsp; Is the enemy of God and His Christ.

f.&n= bsp; Is the accuser of the saints.

g.&n= bsp; Is the author of all false religions; the chief power back of the present apostasy (II Corinthians 11:13-15).

h.&n= bsp; Is the lord of the antichrist (I John 4:3; II John 7).

i.&n= bsp; Is destined to final defeat at the hands of God’s Son, and

j.&n= bsp; To the judgment of an eternal justice in hell, a place prepared for= him and his angels (Revelation 19:11, 16, 20, 12:7-9, 20:1-3; Matthew 25:41).

4. We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit and born of Mary,= a virgin, and is true God and true man (Matthew 1:18-20; Luke 1:26-38; John 1:1-2, 14, 18, 14:7-11, 20:28; Galatians 4:4-5; Colossians 2:9-10).

<= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family= :"Times New Roman"'>5.&n= bsp; We believe in the literal Genesis account of creation. We believe that man was created in= the image of God, that he sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death, = but also spiritual death, which is separation from God and that all human beings are born with a sinful nature, and in the case of those who reach the age of moral responsibility, are sinners in thought, word and deed (Genesis 1:26-2= 7; Romans 5:12, 3:23).

<= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family= :"Times New Roman"'>6.&n= bsp; We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice, and that = all who believe in Him are justified on the grounds of His shed blood (I Corinthians 15:1-4; Hebrews 10:9-12; Romans 3:24).

<= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family= :"Times New Roman"'>7.&n= bsp; We believe in the eternal security of the believer; that is impossi= ble for one born into the family of God ever to be lost (John 1:12, 6:27, 10:27= -30, 5:24; Hebrews 7:24-25).

<= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family= :"Times New Roman"'>8.&n= bsp; We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord; in His ascension into heaven; and in His present life there as High Priest and Advocate (I Corinthians 15:1-20; John 20:24-29; Acts 1:10-11; Hebrews 1:3, 4:14-16, 7:24-25; I Timothy 2:5; I John 2:1-2).

<= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family= :"Times New Roman"'>9.&n= bsp; We believe in that blessed hope – the personal, premillennial, pretribulational and imminent return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, w= hen the church will be gathered together unto Him (Titus 2:13; Acts 1:10-11; I Thessalonians 4:13-15).

<= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family= :"Times New Roman"'>10.&= nbsp; We believe in the lite= ral fulfillment of the prophecies and promises of the Scriptures which foretell= and assure the future regeneration and restoration of Israel as a nation (Ezeki= el 37:11-14, 21-28; Isaiah 11:1-2; Romans 11:26-27).

<= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family= :"Times New Roman"'>11.&= nbsp; We believe that all who receive by faith the Lord Jesus Christ are born again of the Holy Spirit and thereby become children of God (John 1:12, 3:5; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 8:9, 16-17; Galatians 3:26; Titus 3:5; I John 3:1-2).

<= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family= :"Times New Roman"'>12.&= nbsp; We believe in the soul liberty of every individual. = Soul liberty is the implementation of the truth that “We must obey God rat= her than man.” Every man mu= st give answer to God individually, and therefore no other man, and no church,= can act as his conscience now. He= has the right to interpret the Scriptures for himself and the responsibility to answer to God for the way in which he does so. He has, as a believer, the Holy Sp= irit to guide and enable him apart from another other ministry of man or the chu= rch (I John 2:27; Romans 14:5; II Timothy 2:15; I Corinthians 2:9-12).

<= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family= :"Times New Roman"'>13.&= nbsp; We believe in the prie= sthood of all believers; that all believers have immediate access into the Holiest= by the blood of Jesus; that we need no human agency to intercede for us before= the throne of grace; and that Jesus Christ is our only mediator before God (Heb= rews 10:19, 13:15; I Peter 2:1-10; I Timothy 2:5).

<= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family= :"Times New Roman"'>14.&= nbsp; We believe in the bodi= ly resurrection of the just and the unjust; the everlasting blessedness of the saved and the everlasting punishment of the lost. For a sequence of events see Artic= le 16-a (John 5:21-30; Daniel 12:2-3; Revelation 20:4-6, 11-15, 21:8; II Thessalonians 1:7-10; John 14:1-6).

<= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family= :"Times New Roman"'>15.&= nbsp; We believe that the tr= ue church is the mystical body of Christ, of which He is the living head, and = the regenerate believers from the day of Pentecost to the rapture of the church= are the members (Ephesians 5:23-32, 1:22-23; Matthew 16:18; Acts 2; Colossians 3:11; I Corinthians 12:13).

a. The local church is a body of baptized belie= vers organized to meet together for the purpose of observing the ordinances and = to carry out the principles, precepts and commission of Christ – see Constitution, Article II – Purpose (I Timothy 3:15; Acts 2:1-47, 14:2= 3; Ephesians 4:11-16; Matthew 28:18-20).

b.&n= bsp; We believe that the Scriptural ordinances of the church are baptism (single immersion), and the Lord’s Supper; that baptism should be administered to believers onl= y, as a symbol of their belief in the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord = and Savior Jesus Christ, and as a testimony to the world of that belief and the= ir identification with Him in His death, burial and resurrection; and that the Lord’s Supper should be partaken of by baptized believers only, to sh= ow forth His death till He comes, and as a memorial of His death (Matthew 3:16; Acts 8:26-39, 2:41-14; Romans 6:3-5; Colossians 2:12; I Corinthians 11:23-2= 8).

16. We= believe in the sovereignty and independence of the local church from any controlled power, whether from other churches, denominations, or the State. We believe in the separation of Ch= urch and State. We believe in obey= ing the “powers that be” of government except where they violate the commands of God’s Word (Romans 13:1-7; Acts 5:29, 15:3, 19-31).We bel= ieve in this, the Church Age, that the Holy Spirit indwells in each and every be= liever from the moment he receives Jesus Christ as Savior. We believe this indwelling alone m= akes it possible to live a victorious Christian life. We believe that the modern-day spe= aking in tongues and divine healing movements are not related as outward evidence= of the Spirit-filled life. We be= lieve that the Spirit-filled life is to be the normal experience of every born ag= ain Christian and that regardless of one’s occupation or profession, he is filled with the Spirit when he is occupied with Jesus Christ and His Word f= or the purpose of reaching others for Christ (I Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 8:1-14; John 14:16-18, 16:7-13; Ephesians 6:17, 5:18; Hebrews 4:12).

&nb= sp; a. We believe this age will end = with the rapture of the mystical body of Christ, the church, referred to under Article 8. At that time the H= oly Spirit as the restrainer and indweller will be removed from the world, thus paving the way for the following events:

1. The Day of God’s Wrath, commonly known= as the Great Seven-Year Tribulation Period, and the last week of the prophetic seven weeks given to Daniel (Daniel 9:24-27, 12:1; Revelation 6:16-17; I Thessalonians 1:10, 5:9).

2. The revealing and judgment of the wicked one, commonly known as the antichrist, or son of perdition (II Thessalonians 2:3= -17; Revelation 19:20, 20:10).

3. The revelation of Jesus Christ when He comes back to the earth with His saints to stand on the Mount of Olives, in the f= ull radiance of His eternal glory (Matthew 24:27-31; Jude 14-15; Zechariah 14:1= -9).

4. The judgment of the nations (Matthew 25:31-3= 2).

5. The resurrection of the righteous dead (Revelation 20). The dead of = the church will have been resurrected at His coming in the Rapture (I Corinthia= ns 15:22-23; I Thessalonians 4:13-15).

6. The Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ –= a literal reign of 1,000 years by Christ on earth over all the people, nations and tongues. This will especi= ally be the fulfillment of the promises to Israel for the Messiah the King to re= ign on the throne of David – see Article 9 (Revelation 20:4-6; Philippians 2:9-11).

7. The resurrection of the wicked dead (Revelat= ion 20:5).

8. The Great White Throne Judgement, and eterni= ty (Revelation 20:11-15, 21, 22; I Corinthians 15:22-23).

“And the Spirit and the= bride say, Come. And let him that h= eareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him ta= ke the water of life freely.”

= &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = = &nb= sp; Revel= ation 22:17

<= /p>

“. . . that in all thin= gs he might have the preeminence.”

= &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = Colossian 1:18