I. The Scriptures
The Holy Bible is the God-breathed 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. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God
judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and
the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All
Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.
Psalms 119:105; John 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21.
II. God (The Trinity)
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 is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past,
present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love,
reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.
Genesis 1:1, 26; 1 John 5:7.
A. God the Father
God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the
stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all knowing, all
loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus
Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men
Matthew 6:9; John 17:1-8.
B. God the Son
The eternal Word made flesh, Christ is the only begotten Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus
Christ, His human body was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. Jesus perfectly revealed
and did the will of the Father, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and
identifying Himself completely with mankind, yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal
obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men
from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person
who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand
of God where He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation
between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His
redemptive mission.
John 1:1-18; Romans 1:3-4; Philippians 2:5-11; Luke 1:26-35.
C. God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He moved holy men of old to speak the
prophecies of the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ.
He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Savior, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He indwells every believer. He cultivates Christian character,
comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals
the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will
bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and
the church in worship, evangelism, and service.
Romans 8:9-11,(14-16); Ephesians 4:30; 1 John 5:6-7.
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. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his
Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice, man sinned against God and brought sin into the
human race. Through the temptation of Satan, man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his
original innocence; whereby his posterity inherited a nature and an environment inclined toward sin.
Therefore, as soon as they are capable of moral action, they become transgressors and are under
condemnation. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the
creative purpose of God. The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His
own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore, every person of every race possesses full dignity
and is worthy of respect and Christian love.
Genesis 1:26-30; 3: 6-8; Romans 1:17-32; Romans 3.
IV. Salvation
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole person, and is offered freely to all who accept
Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, Jesus offered His own blood and thus obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense, salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and
glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.
A. Regeneration, or the new birth, is a gift of God’s grace whereby believers become new
creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of
sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance (a genuine turning from sin) towards God, and
faith (acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and
Savior). Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace. Titus 3:5
B. Justification is God’s gracious and full pardon, upon principles of His righteousness, of all
sinners who repent and believe in Christ. Justification brings the believer into a relationship of
peace and favor with God, causing the believer to become the child of God. John 1:12
C. Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set
apart to God’s purposes, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual maturity through
the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. Growth in grace should continue
throughout the regenerate person’s life. Titus 2:11-14
D. Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the
redeemed. 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 53; 1 Corinthians 2:9
John 1:11-14; Romans 10:9-10,13.
V. God’s Purpose of Grace (Eternal Security)
God by His grace regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the
free will of man, and comprehends all the means in connection with that end. It is the glorious display of
God’s sovereign goodness, and is, holy, and unchangeable. It excludes boasting and promotes humility.
Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state
of grace, but shall persevere to the end. Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation,
whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, and bring reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on themselves; yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.
Romans 5:8-10; Ephesians 2:8,9; Ephesians 4:30; 1 John 5:1, 11-13.
VI. The Church
A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an independent local congregation of baptized
believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances
(baptism and the Lord’s supper) 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
church operates under the Lordship of Christ. In such a church, each member is responsible and
accountable to Christ as Lord. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women
are gifted for service in the church, these offices of pastor and deacon are limited to men as qualified by
Scripture. The New Testament speaks also of the church as the Body of Christ which includes all of the
redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation.
Acts 2:41-42,47; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14.
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 by a biblically proper administrator or his designee. It is an act of obedience symbolizing
the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, 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 testimony to his faith in the final
resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church
membership.
The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of
the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second
coming.
Matthew 26:26-30; Acts 8:35-39; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29.
VIII. Sunday
Sunday, the first day of the week, is a Christian institution for regular assembly. It commemorates
the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, in
both public and private life. Activities on Sunday should be commensurate with the Christian’s conscience
under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Mark 16:1-7; Acts 20:7; Hebrews 10:25.
IX. Last Things
God will one day bring the world to its justifiable end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will
appear in the clouds and gather His church unto Himself. Then, after the Great Tribulation, He will return
personally and visibly in glory to reign on the earth for 1,000 years. Finally, Christ will judge all men in
righteous judgement. The unrighteous will then be consigned to the Lake of Fire, a place of everlasting
punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will
dwell forever with the Lord.
Satan is a real, spiritual being who originally was created a holy and perfect being, but through pride and
wicked ambition rebelled against God, thus becoming utterly depraved in character, the great adversary of God and His people, leader of all other evil angels and wicked spirits, the deceiver and god of this present world: that his powers are vast, but strictly limited by the permissive will of God who overrules all his wicked devices for good; that God’s redeemed may overcome Satan only in the armor of God, by the
blood of the Lamb and through the power of the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 15:24-28; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 2 Peter 3:7; Revelation 20:1; 21:7,8; Isaiah 14:12-15;
Ephesians 6:12; 1 Peter 5:8.
X. Evangelism and Missions
The Lord Jesus Christ has commanded the preaching of the gospel to all nations. It is the duty of
every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness reflected by a Christian
lifestyle, and by other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ.
Matthew 9:37-38; Matthew 28:18-20; Romans 10:13-15.
XI. Stewardship
God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him.
We are therefore under obligation to serve Him with our time, talents, and material possessions; and
should recognize all these as entrusted to us to use for the glory of God and for helping others. According to the Scriptures, Christians should contribute of their means cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancement of the Redeemer’s cause on earth.
Malachi 3:8-10; Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 9:7.
XII. Personal Holiness and Separation
All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in their own lives, in
order to yield their members as instruments of righteousness for the service of Christ and guard their
hearts and minds from the deceptive powers of sin. In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose
racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery,
homosexuality and pornography. This means that personal liberty should be voluntarily set aside in order
to avoid entanglement with evil or bring reproach on the name of Christ. For this reason, entertainments
and recreational activities that involve or promote gambling, non-medical use of drugs and/or alcohol, or
tobacco should also be avoided. (Christians should abstain from all appearances of evil.)
Romans 6:13; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; 1 Thessalonians 5:22.
XIII. Peace and War
It is the duty of Christians to seek peace with all men on principles of righteousness. In accordance
with the spirit and teachings of Christ they may serve in law enforcement or military service and, if they
do, should be in proper subjection to the authority over them within the bounds of Christ’s commands.
Christians are to pray for their leaders and for protection of their nation and family, but should not attempt to advance the Kingdom of God or His righteousness through force or coercion and are opposed to any attempts to do so.
Matthew 5:9; John 18;36; Romans 12:18-19.
XIV. Religious Liberty
God alone is Lord of the conscience through His Holy Spirit. Church and state should be separate. It is the duty of Christians to render loyal obedience to human government in all things not contrary to the revealed will of God. The church should not resort to the civil power to carry on its work. The gospel of Christ uses spiritual means alone for the pursuit of its ends. A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal, and this implies the right to propagate God’s truth in the sphere of religion without interference by the civil power.
Acts 4:18-20; Romans 13:1 Galatians 5:13.
XV. Statement of Faith Concerning the Family
God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of
persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption.
We believe that God created mankind male and female with the command and purpose to be fruitful, to multiply, and to replenish the earth. Accordingly, God ordained marriage exclusively as one male and one female (according to their gender at birth) becoming one flesh. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman as recognized by the Pastor of First Baptist Church, according to God’s Word.
Genesis 2:18-24; Matthew 19;3-6; Romans 7:2; Ephesians 5:22-25
We believe children, the natural fruit of God’s design of marriage, are a heritage of the Lord, to be taught spiritual and moral values by their parents, who are to rear them with loving discipline following the example and instruction of the Lord. Children are to honor and obey their parents.
Genesis 33:5; Deuteronomy 6:6-7; Psalm 78:4-7; 127:3-5 Proverbs 22:6; Ephesians 6:1-
4.
We believe that God designed the marriage union for life, and has provided for intimate sexual relations exclusively between husband and wife within the bonds of marriage; sexual relations outside of the bonds of marriage, including fornication, adultery, incest, sodomy, bestiality, among others alluded to in God’s Word, are sins. We believe acts that defile God’s human creation, such as gender modification, through medical procedures or by appearance, and participation in the sexual degradation of others through pornography, are attacks against the family unit, and therefore are against the will of God, and are sins.
Genesis 2:24; 19:5-7; Leviticus 18:1-30; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 7:3-5; Hebrews
13:4.
We believe in the sanctity of human life. We believe human life begins at conception, and from conception through elderly adult years should be respected as a creation of God. We believe abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, suicide, assisted suicide, and other similar acts are acts of murder and therefore are against the will of God.
Genesis 1:27; Exodus 20:13; Leviticus 19:32; Job 12:12; Isaiah 44:2, 24; Jeremiah1:5;
Romans 9:20-22; I Timothy 5:1-2.