Declaration of Faith
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Article VII - Justification, Regeneration, Adoption The Holy Scriptures declare that we are never accounted righteous before God through our works or merit, but that those who fully repent of their sins are justified or accounted righteous before God only by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Regeneration is the renewal of man in righteousness through Jesus Christ after the image of God by the power of the Holy Spirit, whereby we are made partakers of the divine nature and experience newness of life. This is initial sanctification. By this new birth the believer becomes a child of God, receives the spirit of adoption, and is made an heir of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Holy Spirit bears witness to this gracious work and immediately assures the regenerate believer that he has passed from death unto life, that his sins are all forgiven and that he is a child of God.		Isaiah 64:6 Galatians 2:16 Ephesians 2:8-9 Romans 5:1,2 Romans 4:3-5 Galatians 5:5,6 Titus 3:5 2 Corinthians 5:17 John 1:12 1 John 3:1 2 Corinthians 6:18 Romans 8:14-16 Galatians 4:4-7
Article VIII - Sanctification The Holy Scriptures declare that sanctification begins in the new birth and is the work of God's grace through the Word and the Holy Spirit, by which those who have been born again and delivered from the willful practice of sin are enabled to live in accordance with God's will, and to seek earnestly for holiness without which no one will see God. There is a clear distinction that must be made between consecration and entire sanctification. Consecration is that more or less gradual process of devoting oneself wholly to God, consummating in the crucifixion of the old self or death to the Adamic nature, by the help of the Holy Spirit which comes to a completion at a point in time. Total consecration of necessity precedes and prepares the way for that definite act of faith which brings God's instantaneous sanctifying work to the soul. Entire sanctification is that second definite, instantaneous work of God, wrought in the heart of the believer, subsequent to regeneration, by which God cleanses the heart from all inherited sin and fills the soul and spirit with the person of the Holy Spirit, thus enabling us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. This gracious work is conditioned upon total consecration of the whole self to God, total death to all inherited sin, and faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on Calvary. Entire sanctification does not deliver us from the infirmities, ignorance and mistakes common to man, nor from the possibility of further sin. A person is freed so that he may experience a continued growth in divine knowledge, spiritual strength and good works to the glory of God. The Christian must continue to guard against the temptation to spiritual pride and seek to gain victory over this and every temptation to sin. There also follows a life of Christian perfection which consists in a purity such as that of Jesus, resulting in the same mind which was also in Him, and enabling us to walk even as He walked.		Acts 15:8-9 Romans 8:1-4; 6:6 1 Thessalonians 5:23, 24 Hebrews 12:14 Matthew 22:37 Galatians 5:22,23 1 Peter 1:22 1 John 1:9 Romans 6:1, 2, 11-14; 12:1, 2 Hebrews 12:10-15 Philippians 2:1-5 Colossians 1:9-14 1 John 3:3 Philippians 2:2