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The
Scriptures – We believe
the Holy Bible was written by men supernaturally
inspired. We believe the Holy Bible has truth
without any admixture of error for its matter,
and shall remain to the end of the age the only
complete and final revelation of the will of God
to man. We believe the Holy Bible to be the true
center of Christian union and the supreme standard
by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions
should be tried.
- By “The Holy Bible” we mean that
collection of sixty-six books, from Genesis
to Revelation, which as originally written is
the very Word of God.
- By “inspiration” we mean that
the books of the Bible were written by holy
men of old as they were moved by the Holy Spirit
in such a definite way that their writings were
supernaturally and verbally inspired and free
from error, as no other writings have ever been
or ever will be inspired.
The
True God – We believe
there is one, and only one, living and true God,
the maker and supreme ruler of heaven and earth
inexpressibly glorious in holiness and worthy
of all possible honor, confidence, and love. We
believe that in the unity of the Godhead there
are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost, equal in every divine perfection and
executing distinct but harmonious offices in the
great work of redemption.
The Holy Spirit
– We believe the Holy Spirit is
a divine person, equal with God the Father and
God the Son and of the same nature. We believe
the Holy Spirit was active in creation and that
in His relation to the unbelieving world He restrains
the Evil one until God’s purpose is fulfilled.
We believe the Holy Spirit convicts of sin, of
judgment and of righteousness, and that He bears
witness to the Truth of the Gospel in preaching
and testimony. We believe the Holy Spirit is the
agent in the New Birth in that He seals, guides,
teaches, witnesses, sanctifies, and helps the
believer.
The
Devil, or Satan
– We believe Satan was once holy
and enjoyed heavenly honors, but through pride
and ambition to be as the Almighty, fell and drew
after him a host of angels. We believe Satan is
now the malignant prince of the power of the air
and the unholy god of this world. We believe Satan
to be man’s great tempter, the enemy of
God and His Christ, the accuser of the saints,
the author of all false religions, the chief power
back of the present apostasy, the lord of the
antichrist, and the author of all the powers of
darkness. We believe Satan is destined, however,
to final defeat at the hands of God’s own
Son, and to the judgment of an eternal justice
in hell, a place prepared for him and his angels.
Creation
– We believe in the Genesis account
of creation and that it is to be accepted literally,
and not allegorically or figuratively. We believe
man was created directly in God’s own image
and that man’s creation was not a matter
of evolutionary change of species, or development
through interminable periods of time from lower
to higher forms. We believe that all animal and
vegetable life was made directly, and God’s
established law is that they should bring forth
only after their kind.
The
Fall of Man
– We believe man was created in
innocence under the law of his maker, but by voluntary
transgression fell from his sinless and happy
state, in consequence of which all mankind are
now sinners, not by constraint, but of choice;
and are therefore under just condemnation without
defense or excuse.
The
Virgin Birth – We
believe Jesus Christ was miraculously begotten
of the Holy Ghost and was born of a virgin, as
no other man was ever born or can ever be born
of woman. We believe Jesus Christ is both the
Son of God, and God, the Son.
The
Atonement of Sin –
We believe the salvation of sinners is wholly
of grace through the mediatorial offices of the
Son of God, who by appointment of the Father freely
took upon Him our nature, yet without sin honored
the divine law by His personal obedience, and
by His death made a full and vicarious atonement
for our sins. We believe His atonement consisted
not in setting us an example by His death as a
martyr, but was the voluntary substitution of
Himself in the sinner’s place, the Just
dying for the unjust, Christ the Lord bearing
our sins in His own body on the tree. We believe
Jesus Christ, having risen from the dead, is now
enthroned in heaven and uniting in His wonderful
person the tenderest sympathies with divine perfection.
We believe Jesus Christ is in every way qualified
to be a suitable, a compassionate, and an all-sufficient
Savior.
Grace
in the New Creation –
We believe that in order to be saved, sinners
must be born again and that through the new birth
an individual becomes a new creation in Christ
Jesus. We believe the new birth is a process but
is instantaneous in which one dead in trespasses
and in sins is made a partaker of the divine nature
and receives eternal life, the free gift of God.
We believe the new creation is brought about in
a manner above comprehension, not by culture,
not by character, nor the will of man, but wholly
and solely the power of the Holy Spirit in connection
with the divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary
obedience to the gospel. We believe proper evidence
of the new creation appears in the holy fruits
of repentance, faith, and newness of life.
The
Freeness of Salvation
– We believe that by God’s grace the
blessings of salvation are made free to all by
the gospel and that it is the immediate duty of
all to accept salvation by a cordial, penitent
and obedient faith. We believe nothing prevents
salvation of the greatest sinner on earth but
his own inherent depravity and voluntary rejection
of the gospel, which rejection involves him in
an aggravated condemnation.
Justification
– We believe the great
gospel blessing which Christ secures to such as
believe Him is Justification, which includes the
pardon of sin and the gift of eternal live on
principles of righteousness. We believe justification
is bestowed not in consideration of any works
or righteousness which we have done, but solely
through faith in the Redeemer’s blood, whereby
His righteousness is imputed unto us.
Repentance
and Faith – We believe
that Repentance and Faith are solemn obligations,
and also inseparable graces wrought in our souls
by the quickening spirit of God. Being deeply
convicted of guilt, danger and helplessness, and
of the way of salvation by Christ, we believe
all mankind must turn to God with unfeigned contrition,
confession, and supplication for mercy, at the
same time heartily receiving the Lord Jesus Christ
and openly confessing Him as the only and all-sufficient
Savior.
The
Church – We believe
the Baptist Church is a congregation of baptized
believers associated by a covenant of faith and
fellowship of the gospel, observing the ordinances
of Christ; governed by His laws; exercising His
gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them
by His Word. We believe the officers are pastors
and deacons whose qualifications, claims, and
duties are clearly defined in scriptures. We believe
the true mission of the church is to make individual
disciples, to build up the church, and to teach
and instruct as He has commanded. We hold that
the local church has the absolute right of self
government; free from the interference of any
hierarchy of individuals or organizations; and
the only true superintendent is Christ through
the Holy Spirit. We believe it is scriptural for
true churches to cooperate with each other contending
for the faith and for the furtherance of the Gospel
and that every church is the sole and only judge
of the measure and method of its cooperation.
On all matters of membership, of policy, of government,
of discipline, of benevolence, the will of the
local church is final.
Baptism
and the Lord’s Supper
– We believe that Christian baptism is the
immersion in water of a believer in the name of
the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,
to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem
our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen
Savior. We believe baptism is prerequisite to
the privileges of a church relation and to the
Lord’s Supper, in which the members of the
church, by sacred use of bread and fruit of the
vine are to commemorate together the dying love
of Christ, preceded always by solemn self-examination.
The
Perseverance of the Saints
– We believe real believers endure to the
end and that their persevering attachment to Christ
is the grand mark which distinguishes them from
superficial professors. We believe a special Providence
watches over each believer’s welfare; and
that he/she is kept by the power of God through
faith unto eternal salvation.
The
Righteous and the Wicked
– We believe there is a radical and essential
difference between the righteous and the wicked.
We believe only those justified by faith in the
name of the Lord Jesus, and sanctified by the
Spirit of our God are truly righteous in His esteem,
while all such as continue in impenitence and
unbelief are in His sight wicked, and under the
curse. We believe this distinction holds among
men both in and after death, in the everlasting
felicity of the saved and the everlasting conscious
suffering of the lost.
Civil
Government – We
believe civil government is of divine appointment
for the interests and good order of a human society.
We believe magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously
honored and obeyed in all things except those
opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who is the only Lord of the conscience, and the
coming Prince of kings of the earth.
The Resurrection and Return
of Christ and Related Events
– We believe and accept
the sacred Scriptures upon these subjects at their
face and full value. Of the resurrection, we believe
that Christ rose bodily on the third day and that
He alone is our merciful and faithful high priest
in things pertaining to God. We believe Jesus
Christ will return someday for the living saints
along with those dead in Christ – bodily,
personally, and visibly. We believe the Lord God
shall give unto Him the throne of His Father David
and Christ shall reign a thousand years in righteousness
until He hath put all enemies under His feet.
Missions
– We believe the command to give the gospel
to the world is clear and unmistakable and this
Commission was given to the churches.
The
Grace of Giving –
We believe Scriptural giving is one of the fundamentals
of the faith. We believe all Christians are commanded
to bring all their tithes and offerings to the
common treasury of the church upon the first day
of the week.
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