I. GOD
We believe that there is only one true and living God who is absolute in His nature, perfect in His attributes and holy in His character. God is the maker and supreme ruler of Heaven and earth and He is infinite in wisdom, marvellous in power and amazing in love. God is holy, righteous and true, and He is worthy of all of our confidence and love. The God of the Bible is united in the infinite, eternal and Almighty Three in One—God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. These three Persons of the Godhead subsist in the same divine nature, essence and being, and are co-existent and co-equal in every divine attribute, each One executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption. [Gen. 1:1; Deut. 4:39; Mark 12:29; Gen. 17:1; Matt. 5:48; Isa. 6:3; 1 Chr. 29:11-12; Psa. 103:19; Rom. 11:33-34; Matt. 19:26; Psa. 19:9; Matt. 28:19; 1 Pet. 1:2-3; 1 John 5:7; Exod. 3:14; Gen. 1:26; and Titus 3:3-7.]
II. THE DIVINE TRINITY
A. GOD THE FATHER:
We believe that the Bible clearly teaches that God the Father is the first Person set forth in the divine Trinity. God the Father is Almighty, merciful, just, holy, righteous, true, eternally existent, glorious in nature, possessing the attributes of omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence. In harmony with His divine office He loves, provides, protects and exercises providential watch-care over the sons of men, and especially a fatherly care over the children of God. [Matt. 28:19; Gen. 17:1; Matt. 19:26; Psa. 19:9; Isa. 6:3; Psa. 100:5; Prov. 15:3; Psa. 139:1-6, 13-14; Psa. 103:13, Matt. 6:25-30; Matt. 10:29-31; and Matt. 7:11.]
B. GOD THE SON—VIRGIN-BORN:
We believe that the Bible identifies the Son as the second Person set forth in the divine Trinity. God the Son is Almighty, merciful, just, holy, righteous, true, eternally existent, glorious in nature, possessing the attributes of omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence. Without giving up His deity, He became a man by the miracle of the virgin birth, begotten by the Holy Spirit and born of a woman named Mary, a virgin. This Son is named Jesus, and as the perfect and spotless Lamb of God He gave Himself willingly in death upon the cross, and shed His blood to make an atonement for the sins of all mankind. Jesus was then placed in a tomb where He lay for three days and three nights and then arose bodily and soon after ascended into Heaven where He is our High Priest and Advocate with the Father. In harmony with His divine office He is our sole Mediator at the right hand of God, and is seeking and saving the lost, thus exercising the mediatorial office of redemption. [Matt. 28:19; John. 1:1-3,14, and Isa. 9:6; Matt. 28:18; Titus 3:5-6; John 8:15-16; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 13:8; Phil. 2:6; John. 2:24: Matt. 28:20; Luke 1:35 and 2:7-14; 1 Tim. 2:5-6; Luke 19:10; and John 3:16.]
C. GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT:
We believe that God the Holy Spirit is the third person set forth in the divine Trinity; that He is almighty, merciful, and just; that He is holy, righteous, and true; that He is eternally existent, glorious in nature, possessing the attributes of omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence; that He restrains the world, the flesh and the devil; that He witnesses to the Truth, convicts the lost of sin, extols the Christ, and testifies to the righteous judgments of God; that He, in harmony with His divine office, comforts, teaches, testifies, preaches, guides, regenerates, empowers, sanctifies, and anoints, thus exercising the quickening role in the works of saving the lost and the supervising role in the life of the saved. The Holy Spirit indwells the born-again believer at salvation and fills him as he yields himself to the will and Word of God. The Holy Spirit also seals and keeps eternally secure all who are saved by grace through faith.
Jn. 14:16-17 and 26; Jn. 15:26; Jn. 16:7-13; Heb. 9:14; 1 Pet. 4:14; Isa. 40:12-15; 1 Cor. 2:10-12; Psa. 139:7-12; 2 Thess. 2:6-7; Jn. 3:6,8; Eph. 1:13-14; Acts 1:8; 1 Pet. 1:2; and Isa. 61:1.
III. THE DEVIL
We believe that Satan is an actual person, and not an imaginary influence; that he once enjoyed high heavenly honours and glorious heavenly privileges; that he, through pride, ambition, and self-will attempted to betray the Almighty and brought down upon his head the judgment of God; that he operates today as the god of this world and the prince of the power of the air; that he is a diabolical inventor, an arch deceiver, and the father of all lies; that he is the greatest enemy, the mightiest tempter, and the most relentless accuser of the saints; that he shall one day be incarnated in the person of the Antichrist and, in that role, will finally meet the Christ in the Battle of Armageddon; that there “the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head;” and that he shall eventually be cast into the lake of fire, the eternal place of punishment, prepared for the devil and his angels.
Job 1:6-12 and Job 2:1-7; Ezk. 28:12-19; Isa. 14:12-27 and Gen. 3:14; 2 Cor. 4:4 and Eph. 2:2; Mt. 24:11 and 2 Thess. 2:7-11 and Jn. 8:44; 1 Pet. 5:8 and Gen. 3:1-6 and Rev. 12:10; Dan. 7:8; Rev. 13:1-10; Rev. 19:20; Gen. 3:15; 2 Cor. 11:13-15; Jn. 14:30; Eph. 2:2.
IV. THE HOLY BIBLE
We believe that the Holy Bible is a supernatural Book; that it is the very Word of God; that it is the full, the final, and the complete revelation of God’s will to man; that the Word of God is our sole rule for faith and practice; that it has God the Holy Spirit for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without any admixture of error for its matter; that it was written by holy men of old under the immediate and direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit; that it is verbally inspired and a perfect treasure of holy instruction; that it has been supernaturally preserved inerrant in the Authorized Version (1611-KJV) for all generations; and that it reveals the principles by which God will judge us, and is, therefore, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions shall be tried.
Psa. 119:89; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; Jer. 1:9; Rev. 22:18-19; Jn. 17:17; Jn. 3:32-34; 2 Pet. 1:19-21; 1 Pet. 1:10-12; Zeph. 1:1; Psa. 19:7-11; Ex. 20:3-17; Psa. 1:2; Psa. 12:7, Jn.12:48; and Mk. 7: 6-13.
V. CREATION
We believe that the Genesis record of creation is literal, and not allegorical or figurative; that any theory of evolution is a contradiction of the Genesis account and therefore false; that God personally created the heaven and the earth in six 24-hour days; that He miraculously brought forth all original matter out of nothing; that He actually fashioned all organic forms as specific creations subject to limited changes within the specie; that He definitely ordained each specie to bring forth after its kind; that He finally formed man out of the dust of the ground, not by any process of evolution but by instant action, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became immediately a living soul; that He created man in the image and likeness of God; that He created Eve from a rib in Adam’s side and that she is the mother of all living; that His every creative act was complete and perfect in itself; and that not one of His creations was conditioned upon prior changes naturally wrought during boundless periods of time.
Gen. 1:1 and Jn. 1:1-3, 14 and Heb. 11:3; Gen. 1:21, 24-27; and Gen. 2:7, 21-23 and Gen. 3:20; and Col. 1:16.
VI. THE FALL OF MAN
We believe that man, originally created in holiness and actually associated with God in innocence under His law, did, by voluntary transgression of the Lord’s command, fall from the high and happy state in which he was created, and, as a consequence, became a sinner alienated from God and brought upon himself and all mankind just condemnation; and that he is now, by virtue of his fallen nature, utterly void of holiness, positively inclined to evil, and actually condemned to eternal ruin, without defense or excuse.
Gen. 1:26-27 and Eccl. 7:29; Gen. 3:6; Gen. 3:23-24; Ezk. 18:4; Rom. 5:12; Rom. 1:21-23 and Rom. 3:10-18; and Rev. 21:8.
VII. THE BLOOD ATONEMENT
We believe that the lost sinner is guilty and already under just condemnation; that he is by nature alien to God and because of sin condemned to die; that atonement for sin was effected through the mediatorial office of the Son who by divine appointment, freely took upon Himself our nature, yet without sin; that He, through obedience during His earthly walk, personally honoured the divine Law by keeping it, and, through His death on the cross, actually satisfied the penalty of the offended Law by suffering in the sinner’s stead; that He, through His obedience and sacrificial death, made full and vicarious atonement for all sin; that the O.T. sacrificial lamb is a type of Christ; that He died, the just for the unjust, bearing our sins in His body on the tree; and that He, through the shedding of His blood on the cross of Calvary, evidenced eternal provision for cleansing, for pardon, for peace and for rest.
Isa. 53:6; Rom. 6:7 and Rom. 8:23; 1 Tim. 2:5-6 and Heb. 2:17 and 2 Cor. 5:21; Mt. 5:17-18 and 1 Pet. 2:24; Heb. 10:10-12; 1 Pet. 3:18; Rev. 1:5; Isa. 55:7; Jn. 14:27; Mt. 11:28; 1 Jn. 1:7; Eph. 1:7; and Heb. 9:22.
VIII. SALVATION BY GRACE
We believe that grace is elective and saving; that it embraces the personal triune, and redemptive ministry of God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit; that it comprehends all of the labors put forth by the Almighty in the interest of perfect righteousness and the salvation of the lost soul; that it encompasses foreknowledge, fore ordination, and predestination; that it, and it alone, saves even unto the uttermost all who repent toward God and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ; and that salvation thus wrought is wholly by grace, “The free gift of God,” requiring neither culture nor works in any form to secure it or to keep it.
2 Tim. 1:8-9 and Eph. 2:8-9; Tit. 3:3-7 and 1 Pet. 1:2-5; Mt. 23:37; Rom. 8:28-30; Heb. 7:25 and Acts 20:20-21; Rom. 6:23; Rom. 11:6; Rom. 5:20; Isa. 1:18; and Isa. 55:1.
IX. REPENTANCE AND FAITH
We believe that repentance and faith are solemn and inseparable prerequisites of salvation; that they are inseparable graces wrought in the heart by the quickening Holy Spirit; that the alien sinner, being deeply convicted of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment to come by the personal ministry of the Holy Spirit, and by Him having his understanding enlightened so that he can see the way of salvation through Christ, does actually repent, turning to God with unfeigned contrition, confession, and supplication, and does actually believe, surrendering himself wholeheartedly to the Lord Jesus, immediately receiving Him as personal and all sufficient Saviour and openly confessing Him before all men.
Acts 20:21-22 and Mk. 1:15; Acts 11:18 and Eph. 2:8 and Jn. 6:44; Jn. 16:8-11; Mt. 3:1-2, 8; Acts. 3:19; Lk. 13:3 and Lk. 18:9-14; Acts 9:6 and Rom. 10:10.
X. REGENERATION
We believe that in order to be saved lost sinners must be regenerated, or born again; that regeneration is a recreative act, far beyond comprehension, wrought in the believer’s heart by the direct personal ministry of the Holy Spirit; that it is instantaneous, miraculous, and non-evolutionary or cultural; that it embraces the divine acts of cleansing the heart from all inward sins and of pardoning the soul of all outward guilt, in connection with the work of begetting a new creature in Christ Jesus; that the dead sinner is made to live through the new birth, becoming thereby a regenerated spirit, possessing eternal life, the gift of God; that the new birth comes after the Holy Spirit secures voluntary repentance and belief in the gospel; that it is the actual importation of the divine life, not a mere transformation of the human life; and that the proper evidence of regeneration appears in the holy fruits of the obedient and willing faith of the followers of the Lord Jesus.
Jn. 3:3-5, 7; 2 Cor. 5:17; Jn. 3:8, and Jn. 3:16; Jn. 1:12-13; Isa. 1:18 and Tit. 3:5-7; Eph. 2:1, 5 and Rom. 6:23; Jn. 16:8-11; Mt. 7:16-18 and Jas. 2:17-20.
XI. JUSTIFICATION
We believe that justification is one of the great gospel blessings secured through Christ for all who trust Him; that it is a legal and divine decree, declaring the believing sinner just; that it is thus a state of being free from condemnation, including forgiveness for inward sins and pardon for outward sins; that it secures through faith freedom from legal bondage, exemption from the wrath of God, and possession of peace which passes all understanding; that it is bestowed, not in consideration of any works of righteousness which we have done, but solely upon the evidence of faith in God and the Redeemer’s blood; and that it brings us into a state of unchanging peace and favour with God and secures every other blessing needful for time and for eternity.
Rom. 3:24-25; Rom. 3:28; Rom. 8:33; Rom. 8:1 and Jn. 5:24 and Rom. 4:3-8; Rom. 6:6; Rom. 5:9; Rom. 5:1 and Phil. 4:7; Rom. 8:31-33; Gen. 15:6 and Heb. 2:4.
XII. THE SECURITY OF THE BELIEVER
We believe that salvation wrought by grace is everlasting; that the saved soul journeying through the valley of the shadow of death need fear no evil; that the Holy Spirit-begotten and born are kept by the power of God; that the believer in Christ Jesus shall not be brought into judgment; that no one can lay anything to the charge of God’s elect; that they are securely held in both the hand of the Father and the Son; and that the age-old Baptist doctrine, “Once in grace, always in grace,” is heavenly and gloriously true.
Jn. 3:16; Jn. 3:36; Jn. 5:24; Jn. 6:37; Psa. 23:4; Isa. 37:23-24; Phil. 1:6 and Jn. 5:24 and Rom. 8:1; Jn. 10:27-29 and Rom. 8:31-33 and Rom. 8:35-39 and 2 Tim. 1:12.
XIII. SANCTIFICATION
We believe that sanctification is a divine work of grace; that it is not a state of sinless perfection attained through a “second blessing” or through a special “Baptism of the Holy Ghost”; that it is an act of grace by which the believer is separated unto God and dedicated unto His righteous purpose; that by it we enter into divinely appointed privileges and thus become larger partakers of His holiness; that it is a progressive work, begun in regeneration, and carried on in the life of every believer by the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God; and that it is nurtured only by Heaven’s appointed means, especially by the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, and the saved through his self-examination, obedience, self-denial, watchfulness, and prayer.
1 Thess. 4:3 and 1 Thess. 5:23; Rom. 15:16 and Jer. 1:5; Prov. 4:18 and Jn. 17:17 and 2 Cor. 3:18; 1 Jn. 2:29 and Rom. 8:5; 1 Tim. 4:5; Lk. 9:23; Mt. 24:42; and Mt. 7:7-11.
XIV. THE RAPTURE AND SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
We believe in the imminent, premillennial return of Christ for His saints, and that at that moment the dead in Christ shall be raised in glorified bodies, and the living in Christ shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air before the seventieth week of Daniel. We believe that the Great Tribulation, which follows the Rapture of the saints, will be culminated by the personal, audible, visible, and bodily return of Christ to the earth in power and great glory to sit upon the throne of David and to establish a literal millennial reign. He shall then put down all of His enemies, rule with a rod of iron, triumph over sin, and give the world an example of righteous government.
1 Thess. 4:13-18; 1 Cor. 15:42-44, 51-54; Phil. 3:20-21; Rev. 3:10; Dan. 9:25-27; Matt. 24:29-31; Lk. 1:30-33; Isa. 9:6-7; 11:1-9; Acts 2:29-30; Rev. 20:1-4, 6; Job 19:25,26 and Isa. 9:6,7; Mal. 4:2; 2 Pet. 3:10.
XV. THE RESURRECTION
We believe that Christ Jesus, after having been three days and three nights in the tomb, arose bodily on the first day of the week, which day we now observe as the Lord’s Day, a day of worship; that His miraculous emergence from the tomb forecasted a like bodily resurrection for every member of the Adamic race; that the dead in Christ shall rise first and in glorified bodies like His; that they shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air; that the dead in trespasses and sins, or the dead out of Christ, shall rise at the close of the millennium; and that they shall be brought before the Great White Throne Judgment and there face the Judge of the quick and the dead.
Mt. 28:6 and Lk. 24:1-12; 1 Cor. 15:12-22; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; Rev. 20:5-6; Rev. 11:15; Dan. 12:3; 1 Sam. 2:6; Isa. 26:19; Hos. 13:14; and Isa. 25:6-8.
XVI. INDIVIDUAL REWARDS
We believe that reward and salvation are not one and the same thing. We believe that the Lord shall reward His own; that He Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout; that the dead in Christ shall rise first; that a solemn separation shall take place; that the blood-washed and Holy Spirit-begotten shall be caught up to meet Him in the air, and there be rewarded according to the deeds done in the body; and that the place called the New Heaven and the New Earth is ordained the everlasting dwelling place of the children of God. We believe that the wicked are children of the devil; that they are rebels against God; that they reject the free offer of salvation through Christ; that they ignore the wooing of the Holy Spirit; and that they, as a consequence, are hell bound, being under a death sentence; that they shall spend eternity in the Lake of Fire which burneth with fire and brimstone where the Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet shall ever be.
1 Cor. 3:11-15; 2 Jn. 8; 1 Thess. 4:16-18 and Mt. 24:40-41 and Mt. 13:47-50; 1Cor. 3:8 and Rev. 21:1-8; Jn. 8:44; Rom. 8:7; Jn. 3:18; Rev. 20:10-15; and Rom. 6:23.
XVII. THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED
We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked. We believe the righteous are they who believe in Christ Jesus, are justified by faith, and are sanctified by the Holy Spirit and the Word; that the righteous are heirs of God and joint-heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ; and that eternal life, the gift of God, is the matchless possession of the just. We believe that the wicked are they who do not believe in Christ Jesus, are condemned because of unbelief, and are corrupted by the god of this world; that the unjust spurn the privileges of God’s grace, choosing the life of sin and rebellion; and that eternal damnation is the inescapable portion of the unjust.
Mal. 3:16-18 and Jn. 3:6; Rom. 3:22, 24 and Rom. 4:3 and Rom. 1:17; Rom. 8:1-17; and Acts 20:32 and Jn. 15:3; Rom. 8:17; Rom. 6:23; 2 Cor. 4:4; Rev. 21:8 and Mt. 23:37 and Prov. 29:1 and Mt. 25:41.
XVIII. THE LOCAL CHURCH
We believe that a New Testament church, according to divine purpose and plan, is a visible, local, organized body; that it is composed of baptized believers associated together by a covenant of faith and fellowship in the gospel; that New Testament validity flows from strict obedience to essential principles of New Testament Law; that it is a sovereign, independent, democratic, and militant body; that its ministry is gloriously blessed with the presence and leadership of the Holy Spirit and the light and revelation of the written Word; that its work should ever be from within to without and never from without to within; that it is a self-governing body and is the sole judge, under the limitations of the Scriptures, of the measure and method of co-operation; that it is the only ecclesiastical tribunal the Lord has on earth; that its judgment concerning membership, missions, benevolence, co-operative alignments, and support is final; that it was personally founded by Christ Jesus during His ministry on earth; that it is subject to His laws and is the custodian of His ordinances, that the perpetuity of our faith, our doctrines and practices, ordinances and ordinations, has been effected through the Holy Spirit personally planting and preserving local Baptist churches of like faith and order down through the centuries from the first church in Jerusalem even until now.
Mt. 28:19-20; 1 Cor. 1:1-3; Acts 2:41-42; 2 Cor. 8:5; Mt. 16:19 and Mt. 18:15-17 and Jn. 14:16-17, 26; Acts 1;8 and Acts 13:1-4; Mt. 18:17-18; Mt. 16:18-19; Mt. 26:26-29 and Mt. 28:19-20; 1 Tim. 3:15; Mk. 3:13-14; and Lk. 6:12-13.
XIX. ORDINANCES
We believe that Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordinances personally set in the church of the living God by the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that Baptism is the burial of a believer in water by the authority and instruction of a local Baptist church; that it symbolizes the death and the burial and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ; that it also typifies the believer’s death to sin, the burial of his old nature, and his resurrection unto a new life; and that it is administered in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. We believe the Lord’s Supper is a memorial spread and administered by the authority and instruction of a local Baptist church; that it symbolizes the broken body and the shed blood of the Son of God; that its observance points backward to the crucified Lord on Calvary and forward to the returning Lord in glory. We believe that these ordinances are not sacraments, but are sacred symbols, pointing to the world’s only Saviour, and bidding the sons of men look unto an everlasting fellowship with the King of kings and Lord of lords when He shall return to take over the reins of all government. We believe the two elements are unleavened bread and “the fruit of the vine (unfermented grape juice).”
Mt. 26:26-29 and Mt. 28:19; Rom. 6:3-5 and Mt. 16:19 and Acts 10:47; 1 Cor. 11:23-24; 1 Cor. 11:24-25; and 1 Cor. 11:26 and Mt. 26:26-29 and Dt. 32:14.
XX. CHURCH ADMINISTRATION
We believe that the churches of God and the state should be kept completely separate; that civil officers should be prayed for, conscientiously honoured and obeyed; that diligence should be had in seeking the will of God in all church matters; that missionary endeavour should ever be executed from within the local church to without; that pastors and deacons, the only divinely appointed church officers, should be duly ordained and brought to understand the sacred duties devolving upon them; that the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week, should be honoured both by saint and sinner; that Bible teachings should be constantly and consistently fostered by local church bodies; that members should be deliberately and prayerfully voted into the fellowship of the local body; that unruly church members should be prayerfully and Scripturally disciplined by the local church; and that church letters should be granted to sister local churches of the same faith and practice.
Acts 1:8 and Acts 13:1-35; Rom. 13:1-7; Acts 14:23 and Acts 6:1-6; Acts 2:42; Rev. 1:10; Mt. 16:19 and Acts 10:47; Mt. 18:15-17; Acts 15:19-27 and Acts 18:27 and Rom. 16:1-2 and Mt. 28:19-20.
XXI. CHURCH CO-OPERATION
We believe that it is the privilege and the right of local churches to co-operate with each other in carrying out the commission of the Lord; that such co-operation is righteously effected only when the principles of Christ are preserved in the work fostered; and that all associated endeavour of local churches should be carried on in such a way as to preserve the sovereign integrity of each local body in all matters of faith and practice. Church co-operation shall only be carried on with other churches of like faith and practice that would hold to the position of this Baptist Confession of Faith. There will be no co-operation with para-church organizations.
2 Cor. 8:1-6, 16-24; 2 Jn. 1-4; Mt. 16:18-19 and Acts 15:19-27.
XXII. CHARISMATIC MOVEMENT
We believe the current charismatic movement is not a scriptural movement; that the gifts of tongues and healing were “sign-gifts” until the Scriptures were completed; that these gifts ceased at that time.
Mk. 16:15-20; 1 Cor. 13:8, 14:21-22.