What We Believe

I. The Scriptures

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. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is the focus of divine revelation.

II. God

There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections.

God the Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise.

God the Son — 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. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and by His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God.

God the Holy Spirit — The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. He exalts Christ, convicts men of sin, calls men to the Savior, and effects regeneration. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church.

III. Man

Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. Though originally innocent, man sinned through Satan's temptation, bringing sin into the human race. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God.

IV. Salvation

Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. Salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification.

V. God's Purpose of Grace

Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

VI. The Church

A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons.

VII. Baptism and the Lord's Supper

Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord's Supper.

VIII. The Lord's Day

The first day of the week is the Lord's Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion.

IX. Last Things

God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. 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 righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.

X. Evangelism and Missions

It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations. It is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle.

XI. Stewardship

God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual. All that we have and are we owe to Him. Christians have a spiritual debtorship to the whole world and are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions; and should recognize all these as entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for helping others.

XII. The Family

God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord.

XIII. Religious Liberty

God alone is Lord of the conscience, and He has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are contrary to His Word or not contained in it. Church and state should be separate. A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal.

The above is a summary of our core doctrinal convictions. Our full doctrinal statement also includes articles on The Kingdom, Education, Cooperation, Peace and War, and additional details on each section above.

Read the full Baptist Faith & Message 2000 →