Doctrinal Statement
For over fifty years, Tri-State Bible College has faithfully equipped stewards, shepherds, and servants to fulfill their ministries in Christ’s commission by offering access to a community of biblical scholarship. We are a non-denominational school in the robust tradition of the evangelical movement. Doctrinally, we are first Christian—affirming the essentials of our faith with all Christians for all times and in all places. Our community and institutional distinctives find their shape in the Protestant Reformed and Dispensational traditions.
Christian Doctrinal Essentials
Authority: We believe in the truthfulness of God and therefore the sufficiency and authority of holy Scripture (Jn. 17:17; 2 Tim. 3:16–17; 2 Pet. 1:21).
Trinity: We believe that the one God eternally exists in three equal Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19; Jn. 1:1, 14; Acts 5:3–4; 2 Cor. 13:14; Heb. 1:1–3; Jude 20–21; Rev. 1:4–6).
God the Father: We believe in God the Father, who created all things in heaven and earth, both visible and invisible, through his Word and by his Spirit. He is the one from whom all things come and to whom all things shall return (Gen. 1; Rom. 11:36; 1 Cor. 8:6).
God the Son: We believe in the eternal Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man. He eternally possesses all the attributes of deity, became incarnate by being born of the virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, shed His blood on the cross to satisfy the righteous demands of the holy God against sin, arose bodily from the grave, ascended into heaven to become our High Priest, and will return (Isa. 53; Mic. 5:2; Matt. 1:16; Lk. 24:36–43; Jn. 1:1, 14; Acts 1:9–11; 1 Cor. 12:3; 15:3–4; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:14–16; 1 Pet. 3:18; 1 Jn. 1:1–4; 2:1–2; 4:2–3).
God the Holy Spirit: We believe in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit regenerates, indwells, and seals all believers. The Spirit of God restrains evil and reproves the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (Jn. 16:8–11; 1 Cor. 6:19; Eph. 1:13; Tit. 3:5).
Humanity & Sin: We believe that God created man in His own image and through disobedience man fell into sin. Man is a sinner by nature and by choice (Gen. 1:26; 6:5; Jer. 17:9; Acts 17:24–29; Rom. 3:23; 5:12).
Salvation: We believe that salvation is by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who substitutionally sacrificed His life on the cross to satisfy the justice of God and to provide a righteousness that enables sinners who believe on the Savior to be accepted by God (2 Cor. 5:21; Eph. 1:6; 2:8–10; 1 Pet. 3:18).
Church: We believe in the Church, which has always been marked by the ordinances of the Lord’s Supper and Baptism, the officers of New Testament leadership, and the orthodoxy of sound doctrine. The Church has always organized locally to practice the works of evangelism, edification, and exaltation (Matt. 28:19; Lk. 22:14–23; Acts 1:8; 2:41–42; 6:1–7; 10:34–48; 16:14–15, 30–34; 20:28; 1 Cor. 1:2; 11:23–26; Eph. 4:11–16; Phil. 1:1; Col. 2:11–12; 1 Tim. 3:1–13; Tit. 1:5–16).
Resurrection & Judgment: We believe the just will have part in the resurrection of life and enjoy eternal fellowship with God in the new creation; the ungodly will come forth unto the resurrection of damnation. After judgment, the ungodly will abide in conscious existence in the torments of eternal hell (Dan. 12: 2; Jn. 5:28–29; Acts 1:11; 2 Thess. 2:1; Rev. 20:11–15).
TSBC Doctrinal Distinctives
Scripture
We believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Old and New Testaments (e.g., Gal. 3:16). The entire Bible is inerrant, complete (in the 66 books of the Protestant canon), and authoritative (Matt. 4:4).
Creation
We believe that God directly created the universe as literally set forth in the book of Genesis (Gen. 1–2; Ex. 20:11; Job 38:4–7; Ps. 19; Isa. 42:5; Acts 17:24–29).
Baptism & Filling of the Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit baptizes all believers into the Church, the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit controls believers who yield their lives to God in obedience to the Word of God (Acts 1:5; 11:15–16; 1 Cor. 12:13; Gal. 5:16; Eph. 5:18).
Local Church
We believe that a local church is a self-governing, voluntarily gathered body of believers, having been baptized on a creditable basis of faith (Acts 2:42; 6:1–7; 10:34–48; 16:14–15, 30–34; 20:28; Eph. 4:11–16; Tit. 1:5; Heb. 10:25).
Perseverance & Priesthood
We believe that “God’s saints are preserved forever” (Ps. 37:28; 1 Jn. 5:13). We believe in the priesthood of all believers (1 Pet. 2:5), the separation of church and state (1 Tim. 2:1–2), the believer’s obligations to be a responsible citizen (Jer. 29:7; Phil. 4:8; 1 Pet. 2:13, 17), individual and ecclesiastical separation from apostasy (Gal. 1:6–9; 2 Pet. 2:1; Jude 17–23) , and the responsibility of all believers to live a dedicated Christian life (Rom. 12:1–2).
Rapture
We believe in the pretribulational return of Jesus Christ (1 Thess. 1:10; 4:13–18; Rev. 3:10; 12:5).
Interpretation, Covenants, and Kingdom
We believe in the literal, grammatical, historical method of biblical interpretation. Our approach to the biblical covenants, the relationship between Israel and the Church, and the development of the biblical theme of the kingdom of God functions broadly within the premillennial and dispensational theological tradition (Ezra 7:10; Lk. 24:25–27, 44; Jn. 1:14–18; Acts 3:18; 10:43; 13:27; 24:14; 28:23; Rom. 1:2; 9–11; Gal. 4:4; Eph. 1:10; 3:5, 9; 2 Tim. 2:15; 1 Pet. 1:10–12; Rev. 20:4–7).
Glory
We believe that the eternal purpose of God is to glorify Himself (Ex. 14:4, 17; 24:16; 29:43; 33:18, 22; Lev. 9:6, 23; Num. 14:21; Ps. 19:1; 29:1–2; Hab. 2:14; Dan. 7:14; Hag. 2:9; Matt. 5:16; Jn. 17:5, 24; Acts 7:2, 55; Rom. 5:2; 11:36; 16:27; 1 Cor. 10:31; Rev. 21:11, 23).