Loving God, Loving People
1) The Holy Scriptures
We
teach that
the Bible is God's written revelation to man, and thus the sixty six
books of
the Bible given to us by the Holy Spirit constitute the plenary
(inspired
equally in all parts) Word of God (1Corinthians 2:7 14; 2 Peter 1:20
21).
We
teach that
the Word of God is an objective, propositional revelation (1
Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Corinthians 2:13),
verbally inspired in every
word (2 Timothy 3:16), absolutely
inerrant in the original documents, infallible, and God breathed. We
teach the
literal, grammatical historical interpretation of Scripture which
affirms the
belief that the opening chapters of Genesis present creation in six
literal
days (Genesis 1:31; Exodus
31:17).
We
teach that
the Bible constitutes the only infallible rule of faith and practice
(Matthew 5:18;
24:35; John 10:35;
16:12
13; 17:17;
1 Corinthians 2:13; 2
Timothy 3:15
17; Hebrews 4:12;
2 Peter 1:20
21).
We
teach that
God spoke in His written Word by a process of dual authorship. The Holy
Spirit
so superintended the human authors that, through their individual
personalities
and different styles of writing, they composed and recorded God's Word
to man
(2 Peter 1:20
21) without
error in the whole or in the part (Matthew 5:18; 2 Timothy 3:16). We
teach
that, whereas there may be several applications of any given passage of
Scripture, there is but one true interpretation. The meaning of
Scripture is to
be found as one diligently applies the literal grammatical historical
method of
interpretation under the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit (John 7:17;
16:12
15; 1 Corinthians 2:7 15; 1 John 2:20). It is the
responsibility of
believers to ascertain carefully the true intent and meaning of
Scripture,
recognizing that proper application is binding on all generations. Yet
the
truth of Scripture stands in judgment of men; never do men stand in
judgment of
it.