STATEMENT OF FAITH

1. Scriptures
I believe that the Holy Bible, consisting of the Old Testament and the New Testament Scriptures, was written by men divinely inspired and is a perfect treasure of Heavenly instruction; that it has God for its Author, salvation for its end, and truth without any error for its matter; that it reveals the principles by which God will judge us and therefore is and shall remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds and opinions should be tried.
2nd Tim. 3:16-17, 1st Thes. 5:21

2. God
I believe in the triune God, the Creator, Preserver and ruler of all things; eternally existing in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost; these three are one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes and perfections.
Gen. 1:1, 26; Deut. 6:4: Matt. 28:19-20; John 1:1-2; 10:30)

3. The Lord Jesus Christ
I believe in: a) His eternal existence as God: b) His incarnation by means of the virgin birth; c) His death on the cross as the substitutionary atonement for sin; d) His literal bodily resurrection from the dead; e) His present ministry of intercession in heaven; f) His personal return to earth.
Heb. 1:8; Isa. 7:14; Luke 1:35; Rom. 3:25; Heb. 9:14; Luke 24:36-43; Acts 10:40-41; Heb. 8:1-2; I John 2:1; Acts 1:11; 1st Thess. 4:16

4. The Holy Spirit
I believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person; equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature; that He was active in creation; that in His relation to the unbelieving world He restrains the evil one until God's purpose is fulfilled; that He convicts of sin, of judgment and of righteousness; that He bears witness to the Truth of the Gospel in preaching and testimony; that He is the agent in the New Birth; and that He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies, indwells and helps the believer.
Gen. 1:1; Matt. 28:19; Luke 1:35; John 3:5-6; John 14:16-17; John 14:26; John 15:26-27; John 16:7-8; Acts 1:8; Acts 5:30-32; Rom. 8:9, 14, 16, 26, 27; 1st Cor. 6:11; Eph. 1:13-14: 2nd Thess. 2: 7

5. Man
I believe that; a) God created man in His own image and in a state of innocency; b) Man fell through the sin of disobedience; c) because of this all men are corrupted in body, mind, and soul; d) all men are in the need of redemption.
Gen. 1:26-27; Rom. 5:19; 5:12; Eph. 2:3

6. Salvation
I believe; a) that salvation is soley by grace through faith in the sacrificial death of our Lord Jesus Christ and His resurrection from the dead; b) that all who repent and receive Jesus are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and become children of God; c) that all who are truly saved are kept forever by the power of God.
Eph. 2:8-9; John 1:12; 1st Peter 1:5

7. Repentance
I believe the Bible teaches repentance is a must for salvation. Repentance is to have a change of mind and to turn to Christ. A change of mind about self, sin, and Jesus.
Matt. 21:28,32; Acts 3:19; Acts 2:38; Acts 17:30; Mark 1:15

8. Justification
I believe Justification is being accounted righteous before God. The sinner accepts the righteousness of Jesus Christ by faith and God see's him perfect in the righteousness of Christ. Justification is the judicial act of God, whereby those who put their faith in Christ are declared righteous in His eyes, free from guilt and punishment.
Rom. 5:1,2,9

9. Sanctification
I believe that sanctification is the process by which, according to the will of God, we are made partakers of His holiness; that it is a progressive work; that it is begun in regeneration; and that it is carried on in the hearts of believers by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, the Sealer and Comforter, in the continual use of the appointed means, especially the Word of God, self-examination, self-denial, watchfulness, and prayer.
1st Thess. 4:3; 1st John 2:29; Rom. 8:5; Phil. 2:12-13

10. Eternal Security
I believe once a person has truly become a child of God that he/she is eternally secure and that they will forever be a child of God. They are kept secure by the promise and power of God.
Eph. 1:13; Phil. 1:6; John 10:28-29; John 3:16,36

11. Church
I believe that the Lord's church is a visible body of scripturally baptized believers who can trace a succession of churches of like faith and order clean back to the days of Christ, and who are associated together by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the Gospel, observing the ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, and exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word; that its only Scriptural officers and bishops or pastors and deacons, whose qualifications, claims and duties and defined in the Epistles to Timothy and Titus.
Matt. 18:17; 28:20; 1st Cor. 1:1-13; 11:2; Acts 2:41-42; 1st Tim. 3

12. Baptism (Ordinance)
I believe that Scriptural Baptism is done by the authority of a New Testament Baptist Church and is immersion in water of a believer, in the name of the Faher, the Son, and the Holy Ghost to show forth in a solemn and beautiful manner our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Saviour with its effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life.
Matt. 3:13; 28:19
13. The Lord's Supper (Ordinance)
It was left to us as an ordinance by the Lord Himself for a memorial of His death, resurrection and return. This should not be taken inadvisably but after examination of one's relationship and attitude toward this ordinance.
Mark 14:22-24; 1st Cor. 11:23-25

14. The Lord's Day
I believe that the first day of the week is the Lord's Day and is to be kept sacred to religious purposes by abstaining from all secular labor, except works of mercy and necessity; by the devout observance of all means of grace, both private and public; and by preparation for that rest which remaineth for all the people of God.
Acts 20:7; Heb. 10:24-25; Beb. 4:3-11; Psalms 118:24; Isa. 58:13-14
15. Heaven

I believe in a literal place called Heaven where God's immediate presence is manifested, from whence Christ descended and to which He ascended again, where He now makes intercession for the Saints, who will ultimately dwell there with Him.
John 14:1-3; Rev. 21:1-2

16. Hell
I believe in a literal hell, the lake of fire, which shall be a place of eternal punishment for Satan, the fallen Angels, and all the unbelieving dead.
John 14; Acts 1:11; 1st Cor. 15:51-58; 1st Thess. 4:5; Rev. 4:1-2; 19:11-16; 20:1-6; 19:20; 20:10,15; 21:8

17. Seperation
I believe a Christian will desire to please Christ in all areas of his life, which now belongs to Christ because He purchased it with His own blood. I believe we as Christians should therefore separate ourselves from worldly practices by following Christ in self-denial and living wholly for Him.
Rom. 12:1-2; 1st John 2:15-17

18. Missions
Because all men everwhere without Christ are lost and bound for eternal punishment, and because men cannot believe in Him of whom they have not heard, I believe we are debtors to all men to present them with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God commanded all Saints to witness for Him, to faithfully carry out this command we must witness by out life and by word to all we come in contact with and that we must support by prayer and finances those who go out under sound missionary agencies to represent us in other parts of the world.
Rom. 1:18-20; 10:14; Acts 1:8; Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15

19. Return of Christ
I believe that the next coming of our Lord Jesus will be two-fold. He will come in the air and every believer, both living and dead will be caught up to meet Him, receiving their resurrection bodies and will appear before the judgment seat of Christ, to be judged not for salvation but for rewards. Following this catching away (rapture) there will be a seven-year period of judgment and great tribulation on the earth in which the wrath of God will be poured out on unsaved man because of their rejection of God and Christ. Then Christ shall come to the earth in power, and glory to reign for a thousand years.
John 14:1-3; Rev. 20:1-6; 1st Thess. 4:13-18
20. The Last Things
At the end of the millennium, the unsaved then will be raised then, judged according to their works separated from God forever in the Lake of Fire. Satan, whose a real personality and the source of all evil in the universe, will also be consigned forever to the Lake of Fire. Those who are saved will live forever in the presence of Christ, enjoying the fellowship for which they were created and which was secured for them through the reconciling work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Rev. 19:7,8,20; Rev. 20:7-15; Rev. 22:11-12; John 14:1-4

21.  The Devil or Satan
I believe that 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; that he is now the malignant prince of the power of the air, and the unholy god of this world.  He is 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 - 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.
Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:14-17; Matthew 4:1-3; 13:25; 25:41; 27:39; Mark 13:21-22; Luke 22:3-4; John 14:30; Ephesians 2:2; 2Corinthians 11:13-15; 1Thessalonians 3:5; 2Thessalonians 2:8-11; 1Peter 5:8; 2Peter 2:4; 1John 2:22; 3:8; 4:3; 2John 7; Jude 6; Revelation 12:7-10; 13:13-14; 19:11,16,20; 20:1-3,10

22.  The Creation
I believe in the Genesis account of creation, and that it is to be accepted literally, and not allegorically or figuratively; that man was created directly in God's own image and after His own likeness; that man's creation was not a matter of evolution or evolutionary change of species, or development through interminable periods of time from lower to higher forms; that all animal and vegetable life was made immediately and directly by God in seven literal twenty-four hour days.
Genesis 1:1,11,24,26-27; 2:21-23; Exodus 20:11; Nehemiah 9:6; Jeremiah 10:12; John 1:3; Acts 4:24; 17:23-26; Romans 1:20; Colossians 1:16-17; Hebrews 11:3; Revelation 10:6
23.  Civil Government
I believe that civil government is of divine appointment, for the interests and good order of human society; that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed; except only in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ; who is the only Lord of the conscience, and the coming Prince of the kings of the earth.
Exodus 18:21-22; 2Samuel 23:3; Psalm 72:11; Daniel 3:17-18; Matthew 10:28; 22:21; 23:10; Acts 4:19-20; 23:5; Romans 13:7; Philippians 2:10-11; Titus 3:1; 1Peter 2:13-14,17

24.  Giving
Scriptural giving is one of the fundamentals of the Faith.
2Corinthians 8:7, "Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also."
We are commanded to bring our gifts into the storehouse (common treasury of the church) upon the first day of the week.
1Corinthians 16:2, "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come."
Under grace we give, and do not pay, the tithe - "Abraham GAVE the tenth of the spoils," (Hebrews 7:2,4) and this was four hundred years before the law, and is confirmed in the new Testament; Jesus said concerning the tithe, "these ought ye to have done", (Matthew 23:23).
We are commanded to bring the tithe into the common treasury of the church.
Leviticus 27:30, "The tithe ... is the Lord's." Malachi 3:10, "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."
In the New Testament, it was the common treasury of the church.
Acts 4:34,35,37, "And brought the prices of the things that were sold and laid them down at the apostles' feet ... Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it AT THE APOSTLES' FEET."

24.  Human Sexuality
I believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of marriage between a man and a woman. I believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex.
Genesis 2:24; Genesis 19:5,13; Genesis 26:8-9; Leviticus 18:1-30; Romans 1:26-29; 1Corinthians 5:1, 6:9; 1Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4
I believe that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman.
Genesis 2:24; Romans 7:2; 1Corinthians 7:10; Ephesians 5:22-23
I  believe that men and women are spiritually equal in position before God, but that God has ordained distinct and separate spiritual functions for men and women in the home and church. The husband is to be the leader of the home and men are to be the leaders (pastors and deacons) of the church. Accordingly, only men are eligible for licensure and ordination by the church.
Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:18; 1Timothy 2:8-15; 3:4-5,12

25.  Divorce and Remarriage
I believe that God hates divorce, and intends marriage to last until one of the spouses dies. In the Bible, divorce and remarriage is regarded as adultery, except on the grounds of fornication. Although divorced and remarried persons or divorced persons may hold positions of service in the Church and be greatly used of God for Christian service, they cannot be considered for the offices of pastor or deacon.
 Malachi 2:14-17; Matthew 19:3-12; Romans 7:1-3; I Timothy 3:2, 12; Titus 1:6.
26.  Abortion
I believe that human life begins at conception, and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused taking of unborn human life. Abortion is murder. I reject any teaching that abortions of pregnancies due to rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, birth or population control, or the mental well-being of the mother are acceptable.
Job 3:16; Psalm 51:5, 139:14-16; Isaiah 44:24, 49:1,5; Jeremiah 1:5, 20:15-18; Luke 1:44

BAPTIST DISTINCTIVES

I am a Baptist by Conviction and not by preference.  I believe that the Bible points us to a Baptist position which follows the teachings of Jesus Christ and John the Baptist and the Apostle Paul.  The following B.A.P.T.I.S.T. acrostic gives the foundation of my Baptist Beliefs.
(B) The Bible is my sole authority for all faith, doctrine, and conduct. We need no other revelation from man, because God has given us everything He has desired for us. The Word of God is to be our guide (Psalm 119:133) and our standard of conduct (Titus 2:5). The Bible is the foundation of all doctrines and beliefs. If our thinking about the Bible is unsettled, all other areas of thinking will be unsettled.
(A) I hold to the autonomy of the local church. Baptists have always held to the autonomy of the local church. Autonomy simply means self-governing or self-ruling. I believe that the church is accountable to Christ, not to some council.  The local church has the final authority in its discipline of problems.
(P) Baptists hold to the priesthood of believers. All believers are part of a royal priesthood directed by our great High Priest, Christ Jesus.  As believers, we are able to come boldly before God’s throne (Hebrews 4:14-16).  As a child of God, we have the privilege and the right to go directly to the Lord. We are able to pray anytime and anywhere. We are commanded to pray without ceasing (I Thessalonians 5:17; Luke18:1-2). We have a God-given responsibility to pray for families, friends, other Christians, our government, and our church leadership.
(T) There are only two church offices. I believe the Bible teaches that there are only two New Testament Church offices. These two offices are the Pastor and Deacons. Each of these offices is met with strict qualifications. Character traits, past testimony, and present reputation are all to be considered.
I Timothy 3 gives a list of qualifications to follow. A pastor is to be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, well behaved, hospitable, able to teach; abstinent from drink, not a fighter, not greedy; patient; not covetous. On top of these qualifications, he must rule his house well, govern with wisdom, be a shepherd (not a dictator), and have his children in subjection to him. A pastor is an imperfect man, leading imperfect people.
A deacon is not a title of prestige; it comes from a word meaning servant. I Timothy 3 also gives qualifications to follow for a deacon. Deacons are to be grave, not double tongued, not greedy; of a good conscience, blameless.
(I) I believe in individual soul liberty. Every one of us will give an account for what he does. Each of us has a free will and can make his or her own choices. We are created as individuals, chosen as individuals (Acts 17:4), taught as individuals (IJohn2:27), treated as individuals (Acts 10:34), and judged as individuals (II Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 20:4-5).
(S) The local church is made up of a saved and baptized membership. The early church was  made up of those who were saved, baptized believers (Acts 2:41-47). We believe there are only two requirements to be a part of a local church, according to the Bible. First and foremost, the individual must be saved. The church is the Bride of Christ. An unsaved man has no part in that. The believer must also be baptized. This is his way of publicly identifying with his decision to trust Christ, with his desire to grow in grace, and with his desire to identify with a local church.
(T) I believe there are  only two, ordinances (orders) that Christ left the local church. The two ordinances are baptism and the Lord’s Table.  The Bible teaches that baptism is for believers only (Acts8:36?38). Christ is our example (Matthew 3:15), and we are baptized in obedience to Him (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts2:41). Baptism is by immersion (submersion). This is the only method of baptism that pictures Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.
The Lord’s Table is the second ordinance given to the local church. This is commemorative. It is the way the Lord asked us to remember what He has done for us.
(S) I believe in the separation of church and State. I believe Christians have a responsibility to obey civil authority as long as it does not violate Biblical principles or convictions.  Separation of church and state means just that – the church is not the State, any more than the State is the church. The church is in the realm of the heavenly sphere, and thereby comes under that authority. The State does not control the church
This doctrinal statement does not exhaust the extent of my faith. The Bible itself is the sole and final source of all that I believe.

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