8. THE ATONEMENT FOR SIN. We believe that the salvation of sinners is divinely initiated and wholly of grace through the mediatorial offices of the Son of God Who, by he appointment of the Father, freely took upon Him our nature, yet without sin, honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and by His death made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins; that His atonement consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was a voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner's place, the Just dying for the unjust, Christ, the Lord, bearing our sin in His own body on the tree.
(Jonah 2:9; Eph. 2:8; Acts 15:11; Rom, 3:24,25; John 3:16; Matt. 18:11; Phil, 2:7,8; Heb. 2: 14: Isa. 53:4-7; I John 4:10; I Cor. 15:3; II Cor. 5:21)
9. GRACE IN THE NEW CREATION. We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be born again; that the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus; that it is instantaneous and not a process; that in the new birth the one dead in trespasses and in sins is made a partaker of the divine nature and receives eternal life, the free gift of God; that the new creation is brought about by our sovereign God in a manner above our comprehension, solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection·with divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the gospel; that its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance, faith and newness of life.
(John 3:3; II Cor. 5:17; I John 5:1; John 3:6,7; Acts 16:J0-33; II Pet. 1:4; Rom. 6:23; Eph. 2:1,5; II Cor. 5:19; Col. 2:13; John 3:8)
10. RESURRECTION AND PRIESTHOOD. We believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ, in His ascension into Heaven, where He now sits at the right hand of the Father as our High Priest.
(Matt. 28:6,7; Luke 24:39; John 20:27; I Cor. 15:4; Mark 16:6; Luke 24:2-6,51; Acts 1:9-11; Rev. 3:21; Heb. 8:6; 12:2; 7:25; I Tim. 2:5; I John 2:1; Heb. 2:17; 5:9,10)
11. JUSTIFICATION. We believe that justification is the judicial act of God whereby He declares us to be righteous through faith in Christ Jesus; that justification includes the pardon of sin and the imputation of God's righteousness; that it is bestowed, not in consideration of any works of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in the Redeemer's blood.
(Acts 13:39; Isa. 53:11; Zech. 13:1; II Cor, 5:18-21; Rom. 5:1,9; 8:1)
12. REPENTANCE. We believe that repentance is a change of mind and purpose toward God prompted by the Holy Spirit; that it is characterized by godly sorrow for sin as offensive to God and ruinous to the soul; and that true repentance is inseparably related to true faith.
(Luke 13:1-3; 15:7; Acts 8:22; Rom. 2:4; II Cor. 7:10; Acts 20:21)
13. FAITH AND SALVATION. We believe that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation.
(Acts 16:31; Rom. 10:9-10; Eph. 2:8-9)
14. SANCTIFICATION. We believe that sanctification is the divine setting apart of the believer unto God accomplished in a threefold manner: first, an eternal act of God, based upon redemption in Christ, establishing the believer in a position of holiness at the moment he trusts the Savior; second, a continuing process in the saint as the Holy Spirit applies the Word of God to the life; third, the final accomplishment of this process at the Lord's return.
(Heb. 10:10-14; 3:1; John 17:17; II Cor. 3:18; I Cor. 1:30; Eph. 5:25,26; I Thess. 4:3,4; 5:23,24; Eph. 5:27; John 3:2; Jude 24,25; Rev. 22:11)
