Principles
A STATEMENT OF OUR PRINCIPLES
1—The eternal existence, sovereignty, immutability, omnipotence, and perfections of Jehovah God; He has revealed Himself as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and these sacred Three are One; Jesus Christ was and is God manifest in the flesh, and in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
2—The Old and New Testaments in their original languages are the verbally inspired word of God, and they are the complete and only valid guide of faith and practice; the King James Version is the preferred English translation;
3—The will of the eternal God is the first cause of all causes;
4—The absolute predestination of all things;
5—The eternal personal election of the redeemed in Christ, before the world began, and their eternal, vital union with Him; their number is fixed, certain, and sure, and can neither be increased nor diminished; their fall in their federal head Adam into spiritual death, total depravity, and just condemnation; their utter inability to recover themselves from this fallen state;
6—The blood atonement and redemption by Jesus Christ are for the elect only, and are both efficacious and effectual in accomplishing the will and purpose of God to reconcile His people unto Himself;
7—The sovereign, irresistible, effectual work of the Holy Spirit in quickening the elect of God; the new birth is by the direct operation of the Holy Spirit without the use of any means;
8—The final preservation, perseverance, and eternal happiness of all the sons of God, by grace alone;
9—No works are good works other than those which God Himself has so designated; none of the works called good are left up to men to perform or not, at the creature’s discretion; nor do the works of the creature, either before or after regeneration, result in merit accruing to his account in God’s sight;
10—The peaceable fruits of righteousness are the certain result of God’s working in His people both to will and to do of His good pleasure, and His people will be found walking in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake;
11—The separation of church and state;
12—The principles outlined in the Black Rock Address of 1832;
13—The bodily resurrection, first of Christ, and also that of all the dead;
14—The final and eternal judgment;
15—The bliss of the redeemed and the torment of the wicked are both eternal and everlasting.