We teach that man was directly and immediately created by God in His image and likeness. Man was created free of sin with a rational nature, intelligence, volition, self-determination, and moral responsibility to God (Genesis 2:7, 15–25; James 3:9). We teach that God’s intention in the creation of man was that man should glorify God, enjoy God’s fellowship, live his life in the will of God, and by this, accomplish God’s purpose for man in the world (Isaiah 43:7; Colossians 1:16; Revelation 4:11).

We teach that in Adam’s sin of disobedience to the revealed will and Word of God, man lost his innocence, incurred the penalty of spiritual and physical death, became subject to the wrath of God, and became inherently corrupt and utterly incapable of choosing or doing that which is acceptable to God apart from divine grace. With no recuperative powers to enable him to recover himself, man is hopelessly lost. Man’s salvation is thereby wholly of God’s grace through the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ (Genesis 2:16–17; 3:1–19; John 3:36; Romans 3:23; 6:23; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Ephesians 2:1-3; 1 John 1:8). We teach that because all men were in Adam, a nature corrupted by Adam’s sin has been transmitted to all men of all ages, Jesus Christ being the only exception. All men are thus sinners by nature, by choice, and by divine declaration (Psalm 14:1–3; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:9–18, 23; 5:10–12).

We teach that legitimate sexual relations are exercised solely within marriage (Hebrews 13:4). Hence, sexual immorality or impurity, such as, but not limited to, adultery, fornication, incest, homosexuality, pedophilia and bestiality amount to idolatry, are condemned by God, and are not even to be named among believers (Ephesians 5:3–5; 1 Corinthians 6:9–10). Such condemnation explicitly extends to deviant and lascivious behavior such as the creation and/or distribution and/or viewing of pornography, and efforts to alter one’s gender (1 Thessalonians 4:3–5). We teach that marriage has been established by God (Genesis 2:18–25), and that He designed it to be an exclusive covenant, and lifetime commitment between one man and one woman (Matthew 19:3–6; Mark 10:2–9).