Doctrine

Doctrinal Statement

1. We believe in THE HOLY SCRIPTURES:

A. accepting fully the writings of the Old and New Testaments as the very Word of GOD;
B. verbally inspired in all parts and therefore, wholly without error as originally given by GOD; Using only the King James Version.

C. altogether sufficient in themselves as our only infallible and authoritative rule of faith and practice. (II Timothy 3:16,17; II Peter 1:19-21)

2. We believe in THE ONE TRIUNE GOD:

A. who is personal, Spirit and sovereign;

B. perfect, infinite and eternal in His Being, holiness, love, wisdom and power;

C. absolutely separate and above the world as its Creator, yet everywhere present in the world as the Upholder of all things;

D. self-existent and self-revealing in three distinct persons – – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, each having a distinct ministry in GOD’s relation to His creation and people. (Genesis 1:1; I Corinthians 8:6; I John 5:7; John 4:24; John 10:30)

3. We believe in THE LORD JESUS CHRIST:

A. the eternal Word and only Begotten Son;

B. without any change in his divine Person, He became man by miracle of the Virgin Birth, thus to continue forever as both true God and true Man;

C. that as Man, He was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin;

D. that as the perfect Lamb of God, He gave Himself in death upon the cross becoming there the sin of the world and suffering its full penalty of divine wrath in our place;

E. that He arose bodily from the grave and was glorified;

F. that as our great High Priest He ascended into Heaven, there to appear before the face of God as our Advocate and Intercessor. (John 1:1-2; I John 5:20; Matthew 1:20; Luke 2:26-28)

4. We believe in THE HOLY SPIRIT:

A. who is the divine Agent in revelation and redemption;

B. that He convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment;

C. that He regenerates, indwells, seals, and anoints all who become children of God through Christ;

D. that all children of God receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit at salvation.

E. He further empowers, guides, teaches, sanctifies and fills believers who daily surrender to Him. (II Corinthians 13:14; John 14:16-17; Romans 8:14-27; I Corinthians 12:13)

5. We believe ALL MEN ARE BY NATURE AND CHOICE SINFUL AND LOST:

A. that man was the direct creation of God, made in His image and likeness;

B. that by personal disobedience to the revealed will of God, man became a sinful creature, the father of a fallen race which is universally sinful in both nature and practice;

C. thus alienated from the life and family of God, under the righteous judgment and wrath of God, and has within himself no possible means of salvation. (Romans 3:23, 5:12; Galatians 3:22; Ephesians 2:1-5; Colossians 2:13)

6. We believe in SALVATION BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH AND NOT OF WORKS:

A. that salvation is the free gift of God, neither deserved nor earned in part or in whole by any virtue or work of man but received only by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom all true believers have as a present possession, the gift of eternal life, a perfect righteousness, sonship in the family of God, deliverance, security from all condemnation, and the divine guarantee that they shall never perish;

B. that this salvation affects the whole man;

C. that apart from Christ there is no possible salvation. (Ephesians 2:8-9; II Corinthians 5:21, 7:9-10; Romans 6:23, 10:9, 10:10,13)

7. We believe in RIGHTEOUS LIVING AND GODLY WORKS:

A. not as a means of salvation in any way, but as its proper evidence and fruit;

B. as Christians, we should obey the Word of our Lord, seek the things which are above, walk as He walked, and accept as our solemn responsibility the duty and privilege of bearing the Gospel to a lost world;

C. remembering that a victorious and fruitful Christian life is possible only for those who have presented themselves wholly to Christ; (Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians 2:10; Matthew 5:13-16; Titus 3:14; James 2:17, 20)

8. We believe in THE EXISTENCE OF SATAN:

A. who originally was created a holy and perfect being, but through pride and wicked ambition rebelled against God, thus becoming utterly depraved in character;

B. that he is the great adversary of God and His people, leader of all other evil angels and spirits, the deceiver, and god of this present world;

C. that his powers are vast, but strictly limited by God who overrules all his wicked devices for good;

D. that he was defeated and judged at the cross and his final doom is certain;

E. that we are able to resist and overcome him only in the armor of God, by the blood of the Lamb, and through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Revelation 12:9-12; Ezekiel 28:14-17; Isaiah 14:12-15; Genesis 3:1-5, 13-15; II Corinthians 11:3; Revelation 20:1-10; Ephesians :11; II Corinthians 4:4; I John 4:4; John 8:44; John 10:10)

9. We believe in THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST:

A. that His return from Heaven will be personal, visible and glorious;

B. a blessed Hope for which we should constantly watch and pray;

C. the time being unrevealed, but always imminent;

D. that when He comes, He will first remove the saved from the earth, by resurrection of the dead and translation of the living (the Rapture), and then pour out upon the unbelieving world the righteous judgments of God (the Tribulation), afterwards descend with His Church and establish His glorious and literal kingdom over all the nations for a thousand years (Second Coming). (Acts 1:11; I Thessalonians 4:13-17; Revelation 19:11-16, 20:6; Titus 2:13; I Corinthians 15:51-58; I Thessalonians 5:1-11; Matthew 24:36-51; II Thessalonians 2:1-8; Jude 14; II Peter 3:3-14)

10. We believe in THE LOCAL CHURCH:

A. that the Scriptures teach that a local church is an assembly of immersed believers, associated by a covenant of faith and fellowship of the Gospel;

B. observing the ordinances (Baptism and the Lord’s Supper) of Christ and exercising the gifts, rights and privileges invested in them by His Word;

C. we believe the true mission of the church is the faithful manifestation of Christ in the lives of its members; fulfilling the Great Commission by witnessing to others as we have opportunity, the building up and edifying of the saints, and the establishment of other churches;

D. we believe that the local church has the absolute right of self-government free from the interference of any denomination or organizations, and that the one and only head is Christ through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 16:18, 18:15-20; Acts 2:41,47, 14:23; Romans 16:17-20; I Corinthians 4:17, 11:23-34; Hebrews 10:25; Acts 16:5)

E. we believe that the two offices of the church are Pastor and Deacon. (I Timothy 3; Titus 1)

11. We believe in BAPTISM AND THE LORD’S SUPPER:

A. that Christian baptism is the immersion of the believer in water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, to show a beautiful picture of our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, with its effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life;

B. that it is a requirement for church membership;

C. that the Lord’s Supper is a memorial of the death of Christ until He comes again; it is remembered by the believer through the use of unleavened bread and the cup (grape juice-the unfermented, non-alcoholic fruit of the vine)

D. that before it is done, there must be serious self-examination.

E. that these ordinances do not save us. (Matthew 3:6,16, 28:19-20; John 3:23; Acts 2:41-42, 8:36-39; Romans 6:4-5; I Corinthians 11:23-28; Colossians 2:12; Acts 2:47, 48; Luke 23:39-43)

12. We believe in SEPARATION FROM ALL FORMS OF APOSTASY AND WORLDLINESS:

A. that modernism, liberalism, and any gospel form other than the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, are not of God;

B. that we as believers should have no fellowship with them, and separate ourselves from all alliances, churches, groups, and organizations that accept such doctrines;

C. that the ecumenical and Charismatic movements which are being used to unite “Christendom” into a one world church is against the teaching of the Word of God;

D. that the sign gifts of tongues, prophecy (predicting the future), and also the gifts of miracles and healings have ceased and therefore what is being done today in these areas is not of God. (Acts 19:8-10; Romans 16:17-18; I Corinthians 6:14-18, chapters 13 and 14; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Galatians 1:8-10; Ephesians 5:11; 2 Peter 2:1-2; I John 2:22; I John 4:1- 6; II John 1:7-11; Revelation 18:4-5)

E. that personal separation is necessary to live a life that is pleasing to God. We should separate from worldly practices such as going to bars, nightclubs, disco; drinking alcohol; smoking; music not pleasing to God; using drugs, inappropriate clothing; homosexuality, pornographic material; dishonesty; ect…;

13. We believe in PRAYER:

A. that believers are priests that have direct access to God through Jesus Christ

B. that prayer is the way for believers to communicate with God.

C. that God answers prayer (I Thessalonians 5:17; Philippians 4:6; Hebrews 4:16; Revelation 1:6; I Peter 2:9; Luke 18:1; Matthew 6:5-15; Matthew 7:7-11)

14. We believe in THE GREAT COMMISSION:

(Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; Romans 10:14-17)

Baptist Distinctives
Bible Baptist Church is an Independent, Fundamental Baptist Church. We are “Independent” meaning that we are not governed by a convention, denomination, or outside organization. We are “Fundamental” because we believe the entire Bible literally and hold to the fundamental foundational doctrines of the Bible. Although Independent Baptist Churches have no affiliation with a denominational headquarters, we also do not support the World Council of Churches, the National Association of Evangelicals, the Born Again Faith Federation, the Charismatic movement (including the tongues and healing movements, ect.) Ecumenical Evangelism, Liberalism, or Modernism. (II Thessalonians
3:6; Amos 3:3; Jude 3)

To maintain a commitment to the clear teaching of God’s Word without compromise, Bible Baptist Church strongly affirms our commitment to Biblical truth and to these distinctives that define our name. This simple acrostic helps to sum up the core distinctives of Baptists: Biblical Authority in all matters of faith and practice. We believe the Bible is inspired and infallible and is the final authority. It is from God’s Word that we understand and teach the fundamental doctrines of our faith as well as pattern our church polity. (See 2 Timothy 3:16; John 17:17; Acts 17:11; Hebrews 4:12; 2 Peter 1:20–21.)

Autonomy or self governing power of the local church. We believe that every local church should be independent of a hierarchical framework or outside governmental structure. (See Colossians 1:18; Acts 13–14, 20:19–30; Ephesians 1:22–23.)

Priesthood of believers. God’s Word assures believers that we have direct access to God through our relationship with Christ. We believe and teach that the priesthood of the believer is the unspeakably precious privilege of every child of God. (See Hebrews 4:14–16; 1 Timothy 2:5–6; 1 Peter 2:5–10.)

Two offices within the church. Scripture only mentions two church offices—pastor (also referred to as elder or bishop) and deacon. These two offices are to be filled by godly men of integrity in each local church. (See Philippians 1:1; Acts 6:1–7; 1 Timothy 3:1–13; Titus 1:6–9; 1 Peter 5:1–4.) Individual soul liberty. We believe that each person must make a personal decision of repentance and faith in Christ. (See Romans 10:9–17, 14:1–23.)

Separation of Church and Government. The government should have no power to intervene in the free expression of religious liberty. (See Matthew 22:21; Acts 5:29–31; Romans 13:1–4.) Two ordinances—baptism and the Lord’s Table (also called communion). These ordinances have no part in salvation and only serve as pictures of what Christ did for us. (See Matthew 28:19; 1 Corinthians 11:23–26; Acts 2:38–43, 8:36–38; Romans 6:1–6)

Separation and personal holiness. We believe that Christ’s ultimate sacrifice demands our complete consecration, and we desire that our daily living would reflect the holiness of our great God. (See 2 Corinthians 6:14; 1 Peter 1:16.)