STATEMENT OF FAITH
D.A.P. believes Jesus Christ is the only way to God. We also believe the Bible is the final authority, God-breathed, infallible, and correct in all its teachings without adding or taking away anything.
We believe Jesus Christ was crucified, died on the cross, rose on the third day, and currently sits on the right hand of God, interceding for each of us continuously.
We believe in the holy trinity: God the Father, The Son Jesus The Christ, and the Holy Spirit Himself. We believe that every gift of the Holy Spirit is real and in operation at this very moment and beyond.
We believe that receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior are necessary to secure one’s salvation.
Word of God
We believe . . . that the sixty-six books of the Bible are the verbally inspired Word of God, without any mistakes, and completely accurate as originally written. God's Word is both true and everlasting, is the complete revelation of God's will for salvation, and is our supreme authority for faith and conduct.
(II Peter 1:20-21, II Timothy 3:16, I Peter 1:24-25, John 17:17)
God
We believe . . . there is only one true, living, sovereign, and infinite God, creator of all things, one in essence and eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that these three persons are of equal dignity and power each deserving worship and obedience. (Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 45:5-7, I Corinthians 8:4, Matthew 28:19, II Corinthians 13:14)
Jesus Christ
We believe . . . in the deity and eternal existence of Jesus Christ, true God, and true man; His miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit; His virgin birth; His sinless life; His substitutionary death on a cross; His bodily resurrection; His ascension to the right hand of the Father; and His personal, pending return. (John 8:57-58, Philippians 2:6-7, Matthew 1:23, Romans 5:8, I Corinthians 15:16-20, Acts 1:9-11, Hebrews 4:14-15)
Holy Spirit
We believe . . . in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit sent by God to comfort, convict, guide, and sanctify believers. The Holy Spirit regenerates and indwells all believers at conversion forever, thus enabling and empowering the believer's life and ministry. (John 16:5-16, Matthew 28:19, Titus 3:5-7, I Corinthians 6:19, Romans 8:9, Ephesians 5:18, I Corinthians12:7-11)
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Man
We believe . . . that man was the direct and instantaneous creation by and for God in His image; that by man's disobeying God, every man by nature and by practice incurred physical and spiritual death, which is eternal separation from God and punishment as a consequence. (Genesis 1:26-27, Romans 5:12, John 3:36, Ephesians 2:1-3, Romans 3:23, Romans 3:10-18, II Thessalonians 1:9)
Salvation
We believe . . . salvation is a gift from God to man. Man can never make up for his or her sin by self-improvement or good works. God's grace is demonstrated in the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, who died on our behalf. All who repent and put their trust in Christ are declared right with God due to His sacrificial death on the cross as a substitutionary atonement. At the point of salvation, each believer is a new creation eternally secure and will give some evidence of personal conversion through the actions of their life. (Ephesians 2:8-10, Acts 3:19, Romans 3:21-26, John 6:37-40, II Corinthians 5:17)
The Church
We believe . . . the universal church is composed of all believers who have repented of their sins and placed their trust in Jesus Christ. Christ serves as the head of this united spiritual organism called the church, aka “Ekklesia.” The formation of the church, the body of Christ, began on the Day of Pentecost and will be completed at the coming of Christ for His church at the rapture. The local church is made up of believers who have joined together for worship, instruction, fellowship, service, and observing the ordinances of baptism and communion. (Matthew 16:18, Ephesians 1:22, I Corinthians 12:13, Acts 2:42-47)
Social Issues
1. Human Sexuality. We believe God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged outside of marriage between one man and one woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God's gift of sex. We believe God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one's gender by surgery or appearance. We believe that the only Scriptural marriage (Matthew 19:4-6) is the joining of one man and one woman.
Church Leadership
We believe that men and women are spiritually equal in position before God, but God has ordained distinct and separate spiritual functions for men and women in the home and the church. The husband is to be the house leader, and men are to be the church's leaders (pastors and elders – 1 Timothy 3:1-7). Appropriately, women are eligible for licensure and ordination by the church to serve in the calling of a pastor, evangelist, minister, and deaconess