Statement of faith
This church subscribes to the doctrinal statement of “The Baptist Faith and Message” as adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention on June 14, 2000. Listed below are the basic tenets in abbreviated form:
1. The Bible: Alive & Active
We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired; and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. (II Timothy 3:16, John 5:39, Matthew 4:4, Psalm 119:160.)
2. The True God: Alpha & Omega
We believe there is one and only one living and true God. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being. (Hebrews 9:14, Matthew 3:16, 17, II Corinthians 3:14, I Corinthians 8:6.)
A. God the Father
God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future. (Genesis 1:1; 2:7; Exodus 3:14; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 4:6.)
B. God the Son
We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. (Philippians 2:6-11, John 1:1, 14, John 3:13, 16, John 14:6.)
C. God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand Truth. He exalts Christ. He is the life of the believer, and He empowers the preaching, teaching and understanding of the Gospel. (John 16:4-7, Acts 2:1-4, Genesis 1:2, II Peter 1:21.)
3. The Enemy: Satan & Sin
We believe in the personality of Satan. That he is the great deceiver, the unholy god of this age, and the author of all the powers of darkness, and is destined to the judgment of an eternal justice in the lake of fire. Through the temptation of Satan man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original innocence whereby his posterity inherited a nature and an environment inclined toward sin. (Isaiah 14:12- 14, Luke 4:6, 7, John 8:44, I John 3:8, Matthew 4:1-13; Romans 3:10-18, 5:12; II Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 20:10.)
4. The Fall: Hopeless & Helpless
We believe that mankind is the special creation of God, made in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God’s creation. By his free choice mankind sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. As a result of this original sin, all human beings are born with a sinful nature. Man has absolutely no personal ability to merit God’s favor, change his nature or his spiritual condition. (I Corinthians 15:22, Romans 5:12, 14, 17, I Corinthians 2:14, Romans 6:23- 25.)
5. The Solution: Death & Resurrection
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice, and that all who believe in Him are justified on the grounds of His shed blood. We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord, His ascension into Heaven and His present life there as High Priest and Advocate for us. (I John 4:10, Romans 6:3, Matthew 20:28, I John 2:2, I Peter 1:18, 19, I Peter 2:5, Hebrews 1:3, I Corinthians 15:4, Acts 1:9.)
6. Our Salvation: New & Glorious
We believe that Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. We believe that all who receive by faith the Lord Jesus Christ are born again of the Holy Spirit, made just in the sight of God, and thereby become children of God and heirs of eternal life, apart from any works of the law. (Ephesians 4:30, Romans 3:20, 28; 8:31-39, I John 5:6, Philippians 1:6; I Peter 1:5, John 10:28. I John 4:10, Romans 6:3, Matthew 20:28, I John 2:2, I Peter 1:18-19.)
7. The Church: Gathered & Scattered
We believe in the Church, the Body and Bride of Christ, whose mission it is to preach the Gospel to all the world, with all of its endeavors being supported by God’s financial plan of the tithe and freewill offerings and gifts of the people. (Ephesians 5:23-32, Ephesians 4:11-13, Ephesians 1:22, 23, Colossians 1:24, Colossians 1:18, I Timothy 3:15, Acts 20:28.)
8. The Ordinances: Baptism & Lord’s Supper
We believe Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are prescribed practices for the Church, that is, for believers only. Baptism, by immersion following conversion, is a testimony portraying the believer’s union with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. Baptism is a prerequisite of church membership and to the Lord’s supper. Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper so that we will remember and proclaim His death until He comes again. (Matthew 26:26-30, I Corinthians 11:18-32, Matthew 3:13- 15, Matthew 28:19-20, Romans 6:3-4, Galatians 3:27, Colossians 2:12, 1 Peter 3:21.)
9. The Kingdom: Now & Forever
The Kingdom of God includes both His general sovereignty over the universe and His particular kingship over men who willfully acknowledge Him as King. Christians ought to pray and to labor that the Kingdom may come and God’s will be done on earth. The full consummation of the Kingdom awaits the return of Jesus Christ and the end of this age. (Matthew 24:27-31, 36, Matthew 25:31, Colossians 3:4, I Thessalonians 3:13, Jude 14, Zechariah 14:4-5.)
10. The End of Days: Heaven & Hell
God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord. (Acts 24:15, I Corinthians 15:12-58, II Corinthians 4:14, I Thessalonians 4:15-16.)
For further information, see The Baptist Faith and Message 2000.