WHAT WE BELIEVE

  • We believe in the authority and sufficiency of the Holy Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, and that it is inspired by God, both verbally (every word) and in its entirety, in its original writings (II Timothy 3:16-17), and is therefore infallible and inerrant in all matters to which it speaks (Proverbs 30:5-6; John 17:17; Revelation 22:18-19). It was communicated through Spirit-controlled men (II Peter 1:19-21; Acts 3:21; Hebrews 1:1-3), and is preserved in totality by the existing manuscripts.

    We believe the Bible is the complete revelation of God’s will for mankind and is sufficient for all matters pertaining to life and godliness (II Peter 1:3-4) with salvation being its chief end (II Timothy 3:15; I Peter 1:10-12; John 5:38-39). We believe the Holy Scriptures are the true center of Christian unity and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creed, and opinions shall be tried, and therefore it should serve as the Christian’s supreme and final authority in faith and practice. For the purpose of continuity and consistency, the King James Version of the Bible shall be the official translation used by Faith Baptist Church.

  • We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense reveal divinely determined dispensations or rules of life, which define man’s responsibilities in successive ages. These dispensations are not ways of salvation, but rather are divinely ordered stewardships by which God directs man according to His purpose. (Genesis 1:28; 1 Corinthians 9:17; II Corinthians 3:9-18; Galatians 3:13-25; Ephesians 1:10; 3:2-10; Colossians 1:24-25, 27; Revelation. 20:2-6)

  • We believe that Old Testament Israel is to be distinguished from the New Testament Church. Yet both Jews and Gentiles must be saved by grace through faith in Christ alone. We believe in the literal fulfillment of the Scriptural prophecies and promises that foretell and assure the future restoration of Israel as a nation. God in His sovereign selection has chosen Israel as his eternal covenant people, though they are now dispersed because of their disobedience and rejection of Christ. They will be regathered in the Holy Land and, after the completion of the Church, will be saved as a nation at the Second Coming of Christ (Genesis 13:14-17; Jeremiah 16:14-15; Ezekiel 37; Romans 11:1-32; 10:12-13).

About the Bible

  • We believe that there is only one true and living God (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Jeremiah 10:10), infinite (Psalms 147:5), eternal (Isaiah 57:15), self-existent (Exodus 3:14), holy (Isaiah 6:1-5), perfect (Matthew 5:48), and spirit (John 4:24). He is a personal being, the creator, sustainer and ruler of the universe (Genesis 1-3; Psalms 2). God is a “Tri-unity,” three persons in one triune God. There is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; Matthew 3:16-17; 2 Corinthians 3:14; John 1:1; John 5:18; Acts 5:3-4). Each is equal in essence, power, glory, and every divine attribute (John 10:30; John 17:5; Philippians 2:5-6; I Corinthians 8:6), while executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption (John 3:16; John 15:26).

  • We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might maintain sinlessness to reveal God and redeem sinful men. (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-2, 14; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; Galatians 4:4-5; Philippians 2:5-8)

    We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His shed blood and death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and, that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead. (Acts 2:18-36; Rom. 3:24-25; 1 Pet. 2:24; Eph. 1:7; 1 Peter 1:3-5)

    We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate (Acts 1:9-10; Hebrews 9:24; 7:25; Romans 8:34; 1 John 2:1-2).

    We believe there is a future visible, personal, bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ when He will come to rapture those who have trusted in Him for their salvation, set up the throne of David, and establish His kingdom on Earth (Acts 1:11; I Thessalonians 4:13-18).

  • We believe that the Holy Spirit convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8-9), bears witness to Christ and to the truth of the gospel in preaching and testimony (John 15:26; John 16:13), and is the supernatural agent of the new birth (John 3:5; Titus 3:5), baptizing all believers into the Body of Christ (I Corinthians 12:13). He seals (Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 4:30), fills (Acts 4:31), guides (Romans 8:14), teaches (John 14:26), witnesses to (John 14:17), sanctifies (John 16:13; John 17:17), aids the believer (Romans 8:26; I Corinthians 12:4-11), and indwells every true child of God, empowering them to do the will of God for the glory of God (John 14:17; Ephesians 5:18).

    We believe that He is the divine Teacher who assists believers to understand and appropriate the Scriptures and that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be controlled by the Spirit (Ephesians 1:17-18; 5:18; 1 John 2:20, 27)

    We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowal of spiritual gifts to every believer. God uniquely uses evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip believers in the assembly in order that they can do the work of the ministry. (Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 28; Ephesians 4:7-12)

    We believe that the sign gifts such as prophecy, speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, miracles, and healing were temporary in nature and ceased with the completion of the Scriptures. Speaking in tongues was never the common or necessary sign of the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit, and that ultimate deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection, though God frequently chooses to answer the prayers of believers for physical healing. (1 Corinthians 1:22; 13:8; 14:21-22)

About God

About Man & Sin

  • We believe that man was originally created in the image of God in innocence and without sin (Genesis 1:27, 31; Ecclesiastes 7:29). The first man, Adam, voluntarily chose to disobey God and thereby sinned, incurring a curse upon himself and the whole of his posterity (Genesis 3:1-6; Romans 5:12,15-19; I Corinthians 15:22) so that all humanity is now sinful by state, disposition, and willful act (Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:9-18; John 3:5; Galatians 3:22). Each is born with a sinful nature and is thoroughly a sinner in thought, word, and deed. Having sinned, man incurred the punishment of both physical death and spiritual separation from God. He is alienated from God and is utterly unable to remedy his lost condition, being totally depraved and spiritually dead (Ephesians 4:18; 2:1, 5). He can only obtain salvation and spiritual life through faith in Jesus Christ and regeneration by the Holy Spirit (Acts 16:31; Titus 3:5).

  • We believe that Satan (the devil) is a literal and personal individual created by God as an angelic being who through pride and rebellion fell from his original estate and became the enemy of God (Isaiah14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:14-17). He is the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2), man’s great tempter, the unholy god of this age, the ruler of all the powers of darkness, and the author of sin. He is a murderer from the beginning, the father of lies, and the accuser of the brethren (John 8:44; Revelation 12:10). There is absolutely no truth in him. He is a deceiver and blinds the minds of men to the end that the light of the gospel and glory of Christ may not dawn upon them (II Corinthians 4:4). Demons are other angels who sinned and are now Satan’s helpers. These evil spirits have the ability to make people sick and try to cause them to disobey God. Christians cannot be possessed by demons, but they can be oppressed by them. Satan was defeated by Christ on the cross and is destined to an everlasting punishment in the lake of fire (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10).

About Salvation

  • We believe that man, because of his sin and lost condition, needs a Savior and cannot get to heaven on his own. Therefore, the salvation of sinners is divinely initiated, wholly of grace, and is made possible only by the substitutionary, atoning death of God’s son, Jesus Christ, who having fulfilled all the righteousness of the Law died in the sinner’s place (Romans 3:21-26; I Peter 1:18-19; 2:22-24). Only His shed blood and resurrection can provide the ground for our justification before God. This salvation is wholly apart from any works or good deeds performed by man and is received through genuine repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is a gift from God (Romans 6:23) with both repentance and faith being gifts of God extended to the sinner in grace (Acts 5:31; Ephesians 2:8, 9).

    Those who trust in the finished work of Christ on the cross are born again into the family of God by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit and become the recipients of a new divine nature. They are declared righteous before God on the basis of the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to them (II Corinthians 5:21; Romans 5:17, 19; Philippians 3:9; Romans 3:24-26; 4:22-25; I Corinthians 1:30).

  • We believe that every true believer at conversion enters the protective graces of his heavenly Father. His salvation is made eternally secure by the sealing of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30) and the joint efforts of the Father and the Son (John 10:28-29; I Peter 1:5; Philippians 1:6; Romans 8:35-39). The quality of salvation being eternal, and immediately received at the time of conversion, argues against the view that a believer can lose his salvation (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Romans 8:1; 38-39; 1 Corinthians 1:4-8; Colossians 2:9-14; 1 Peter 1:4-5).

    We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh. (Romans 13:13-14; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11-15)

About the Church

  • We believe the universal church is a living spiritual body of which Christ is the head and all regenerated persons are members. We also believe the Scriptures teach that the visible representation of this Body of Christ is a local church (Matthew 18:17; Acts 5:11) with an organized congregation of believers who have been immersed upon a credible confession of faith in Jesus Christ, having two offices (pastor and deacon); sovereign in polity; banded together for work, worship, the observance of the ordinances, and the worldwide proclamation of the gospel; governed by God’s laws (Ephesians 4:22,23); and exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by the Word (Ephesians 4:11; I Corinthians 12:4). The Holy Scriptures clearly outline the qualifications, claims, and duties of pastors and deacons, and teach that these officers are limited to men only (Acts 6:1-6; I Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9).

    We believe the local church has the power and right within itself to confess its own faith in accordance with the New Testament (I Timothy 3:15; Revelation 2, 3); and that each congregation recognizes its own democratic, self-governing structure as its highest authority for carrying out the will of the Lord Jesus Christ (I Timothy 3:1; Matthew 18:15-18; Acts 6:3-5; I Corinthians 5:4, 5, 13).

    We believe the true mission of the local church is to glorify God through fulfilling Christ’s Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-39) and Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) in each part, no part being less important than any other in doing so.

    We believe the Scriptures teach the following distinctives: the sole authority of the Bible for faith and practice (II Timothy 3;16,17), the autonomy of the local church (Colossians 1:18), the individual priesthood of every believer (I Peter 2:5,9), two symbolic ordinances – baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Acts 2:41,42), individual sole liberty (Acts 5:29), a saved church membership (Acts 2:47), two offices – pastor and deacon (Philippians 1:1), and the separation of church and state (Mark 12:17).

  • We believe the Scriptures teach the Christian should be separated from all forms of apostasy, heresy, and theological compromise as exemplified in ecclesiastical organizations such as the World Council of Churches, the National Council of Churches, the charismatic movement, and those who teach contrary to the Word of God and this statement of faith.

    We believe Scripture teaches that true believers are to evaluate all teachings of men to determine their compliance with Scripture, identify those whose teachings do not conform to the Word of God, rebuke those who embrace such false teaching, and separate ourselves from them. We believe ecumenical evangelism, which involves apostates, violates the principles taught in God’s Word (I John 4:1; Romans 16:17; Titus 1:13; Ephesians 5:11; II Thessalonians 3:6; II John 10, 11; II Thessalonians 3:14; II Corinthians 6:17).

About Eternity

  • We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46; John 5:28, 29; 11:25-26; Revelation 20:5-6, 12-13).

    We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul, and body are reunited and will be glorified forever with the Lord (Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; 3:21; I Thessalonians 4:16-17; Revelation 20:4-6).

    We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious punishment and torment until the second resurrection, when with soul and body reunited, they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment and torment (Matthew 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Revelation 20:11-15).

  • We believe that Christ arose bodily from the grave (Matthew 28:6,7; John 20:27; I Corinthians 15:4); that He ascended bodily to the Father’s right hand (Acts 1:9-11; Hebrews 12:2; Revelation 3:21); that He is our great High Priest (Hebrews 12:17; 4: 14-18; 5:9,10); that He is coming again (John 14:3; Acts 1:11; James 5:8); and that when He comes, He will come to rapture His church before the “tribulation period” (I Thessalonians 4:13-5:11).

    We believe in the resurrection of the righteous dead at the time of His coming (I Corinthians 15:42-44, 51, 54; I Thessalonians 4:15-18); and that those living in Christ will be transformed (I Corinthians 15:51-53; Philippians 3:20, 21; I Thessalonians 4:13-18). Furthermore, we believe that Christ will reign on Earth upon the throne of David (Luke 1:32; Acts 2:29-30; Isaiah 9:6-7) for a thousand years (First Corinthians 15:25; Revelation 20:1-4; Isaiah 11:1-5), after which the wicked will be forever punished in hell (Revelation 20:11-15).