The Bible is the most important thing to us, and that is why the “Bible” stands on first place. Everything that is preached, taught and practiced must be measured against the standard of the Bible - God's written Word.
The Bible is our only authority.
The Bible is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16). It is wholly inspired, that is, the original manuscripts of the Bible were written by men who, under the control and guidance of the Holy Spirit, and using their individuality and talents, wrote in such a way that the result was a perfect and error-free rendering of every word that God wanted to give to mankind (2 Peter 1:21).
The Bible is without error. Jesus Christ, Himself said: Your word is truth. (John 17:17b) And: For verily I say unto you, Until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or tittle shall pass away from the law, until all is fulfilled. (Matthew 5:18)
The Bible is the source of our faith. So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. (Romans 10:17) The Bible shows us how to live properly and joyfully. In the Bible we find a plan for families, marriage, raising children, relating to others and solving problems (Ephesians 5:22-6:9).
From the beginning, the local churches had to wage a fight on two sides. Outwardly against unbelief and persecution and inwardly against heresies. Despite all the warnings of the apostles, many errors crept into many local churches. Though the LORD has been faithful to maintain a remnant of faithful bible-believing, bible-practicing Christians from the first century to the present with whom we as Baptists identify, others in the larger established churches longed for biblical preaching and teaching.
As a result, those who wished to hold fast to the Bible's teaching were compelled by conscience to separate from the existing established church and gather into new congregations. The best known is the Reformation in the 16th century, brought about by men like Luther and Calvin.
Even then there was a group of determined Christians who rejected infant baptism because they did not find the practice of infant baptism in the Bible, which was the standard for their faith and daily life.
They recognized that the people of the New Testament first made a conscious decision for Jesus Christ before they were baptized. One group of this movement had been “baptized” as children and then, in adulthood, were biblically baptized according to their new beliefs. Therefore, this group was derisively called “Anabaptists” because they held to the biblical form and meaning of baptism. Numerous such “Anabaptist communities” formed, especially in Switzerland and southern Germany.
The Baptists are spread all over the world today. They number about 34 million church members who are baptized by immersion because of their personal creed.
The Baptists are not a sect. We understand a sect to be a religious group which, may or may not believe in salvation in Jesus Christ through faith alone, but (also) has other teachings and regards these as necessary for salvation. A characteristic of every sect is that it sees itself as the only group that possesses salvation. We believe that everyone who accepts Jesus Christ as Savior will go to heaven, regardless of their church affiliation.
The local church is a gathering of immersed believers bound together by a covenant of faith and fellowship of the Gospel. Members meet in one place in the name of the Lord to worship God, bear testimony, pray, discipline, and glorify God (Acts 2:41-42).
The local church has one head: Jesus Christ. In the New Testament there are pastors and deacons who minister and lead the local church (Philippians 1:1). The terms elder, bishop, and pastor refer to the same person. His function is to lead, teach, and preach God's Word (Acts 20:17, 20, 28, 31).
The local church is one body (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). The body represents a unity, yet it consists of many members. Every organ and limb is important, and the functions of each limb must work together. In this way, the different church members with their different talents form a body that can do the will of God.
The local church lives on the voluntary gifts and contributions of its members. Everyone gives as he has purposed in his heart: not with grudgingly or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7)
We believe that the entire Bible, the Old and New Testaments, is inspired (given, ie breathed of God) of God (2 Timothy 3:16). In every detail, without destroying their own individuality, literary style, or personal interests, God led the human writers to write exactly what God wanted, with the result that the Bible is truly God's Word (2 Peter 1:21).
We believe in the verbal (every word), plenary (in it's entirety) inspiration of the original manuscripts, meaning that every sentence, word and letter was chosen by God (Matthew 5:18).
We believe the Bible is fully inspired, meaning all parts of the Bible are equally inspired. The Bible is infallible, without contradiction, and is the only authority and guide for our life and faith (John 17:17). Because the Bible is God's inerrant Word in human language, it must be grammatically (Matthew 22:29-32; 41-46), historically (Matthew 12:1-8, 40) and dispensationally (2 Timothy 2:15) contextual (Matthew 4:3-11) to be interpreted under the leading of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:10-16).
We believe in one true, eternal, sovereign, unchanging God, ie, One Being (Deuteronomy 4:35) existing as three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). These three persons are equal, have the same qualities, and deserve equal reverence, affection, and faith. God is spirit, perfect and not created (John 4:24). He is eternal, sovereign, unchanging, holy, omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent.
We believe in Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God (John 1:1; Hebrews 1:8), who was begotten as a true man by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary (Matthew 1:18-25; Philippians 2:5-8 ).
As true God and true man, he lived a sinless life on this earth (1 Peter 2:22; Hebrews 4:15).
He shed His blood and died on the cross a vicarious death, i.e. he took God's penalty for every sin, which was a sacrifice acceptable to God (Hebrews 9:22; John 1:29; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
He rose bodily from the dead on the third day (Matthew 28:1-10; Romans 1:4), ascended bodily into heaven (Acts 1:9-10) and is seated at the right hand of the Father as our high priest (1 John 2:1; Hebrews 4:14-16).
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the third person of God (Matthew 28:19). He convicts the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment (John 16:8-11). Being born again is a work of the Holy Spirit making us new creatures in Jesus Christ (Titus 3:5).
Believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30), He dwells in them (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) and give them gifts (Romans 12:6-8). The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and temperance (Galatians 5:22).
We believe that in the beginning God created the heavens, the earth and all living things in six 24-hour days and rested on the seventh day (Genesis 1:1-2:3). God's creation was a complete and finished work (Hebrews 4:3,10; Exodus 31:17), i.e. without any evolutionary process. A day of creation was 24 hours and not a long period of time.
We believe that God created human beings innocent, good, and in his own image (Genesis 1:26-27,31; 2:7). Man has willingly and knowingly sinned against God (Romans 5:12-14), bringing spiritual and physical death upon himself and his posterity (Genesis 2:17; Ephesians 2:1-3). All people are spiritually separated from God through this death. Their nature became morally corrupt and people have been living in slavery to sin ever since (Ephesians 2:1-3).
We believe that man is saved by faith alone, not by works of the law (Romans 3:19-20; Galatians 2:16), but by trusting in Jesus Christ alone (Romans 3:24, 28; Ephesians 2:8-9).
Faith is knowing the facts about sin, Jesus Christ, and salvation, holding them to be true, and placing your trust in Jesus Christ by accepting him as your personal Lord and Savior (John 1:12). Faith that saves includes repentance (a change of heart). Repentance and faith cannot be separated (1 Thessalonians 1:9).
When a person believes, that same moment he is born to new life by the Holy Spirit (John 3:3-7), has all his sins forgiven (Colossians 1:14), and is justified, i.e. God declares him justified and righteous and treats him as such. Salvation is an undeserved gift of God that man can neither earn nor buy by his own doing.
We believe that the believer can never lose his salvation (John 10:27-30). Jesus Christ offered himself once for all sins, and because of that one and only perfect sacrifice, believers are made holy and perfect forever (Hebrews 10:10,14).
This is not license to sin, for when a Christian lives in sin intentionally, he loses the joy of his salvation (Psalm 51:14), he loses fellowship with God (1 John 1:6), and comes under the discipline of the Father (Hebrews 12:6-11).
We believe that the truly born again are to walk in a new life of sanctification and separation from all evil (Romans 6:12-19; 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1), and serve their Lord with joy (Eph 2:10; Titus 2:14).
We believe that all the righteous, those who have been saved from their sins, will go to heaven (Matthew 25:46). Heaven is a place of great beauty. The walls and foundations of the city are set with jewels and transparent gold (Revelation 21:18-21).
In heaven there is no death, nor suffering nor pain (Revelation 21:4) and it is completely sinless there (Revelation 21:27). We believe that all of the dead who are unsaved are in "Hades" (hell) and are conscious and in full possession of their faculties (Luke 16:23-24).
This state lasts until the final judgment, when all the lost and "Hades" are thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:13-15).
We believe that the government is ordained by God to maintain order (Romans 13:1-7), and that its laws and obligations are to be obeyed so long as they do not conflict with obedience to God (Acts 5:29).
The functions and responsibilities of the local church and the state are different and must therefore not be mixed up. Prayer for government is a solemn duty of the Christian (1 Timothy 2:1-2).
We believe that angels are created spirits. There are good angels and bad angels. The good worship God, carry out His commands, and serve the righteous (Hebrews 1:14). Many angels who were originally holy fell into sin and became evil spirits.
The head of the evil angels is called Beelzebub, Satan, the devil and the god of this world. The evil angels oppose the will of God and tempt people to sin (Jude 6; 1 Peter 5:8; Eph. 6:12).
We believe the local church is a gathering of baptized (immersed) believers bound together by a covenant of faith and the fellowship of the Gospel. The word for church in Greek means “the called out” and “the called together”.
Members come together in one place in the name of the Lord to worship God, bear testimony, pray, discipline, and glorify God on earth (Acts 2:41-47). Jesus Christ is the head of the church (Ephesians 5:23) or the sole authority over a church. We believe that the New Testament Church is independent.
It has the right and duty of self-sufficiency, self-government, correction (Matthew 18:15-18; 2 Thessalonians 3:15) of church members, and the duty of adjudication in disputes between church members (1 Corinthians 6:1- 8; Galatians 6:1), and that it is the task of the whole church to take the message of the Gospel to the whole world (Matthew 28:19-20).
The church lives on the free gifts and tithes of its members (2 Corinthians 9:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2). Each local church is meant to be a type of the future church, which is the totality of all Christians from the crucifixion of Jesus to the rapture (Hebrews 12:22-23).
We believe there are 2 offices in the church: pastors and deacons who minister and lead the church (Philippians 1:1). The terms "elder," "bishop," and "pastor" refer to the same person.
His function is: to govern, to keep order, to teach God's Word and to preach God's Word (Acts 20:17, 20, 28). The deacons are to assist the pastor in spiritual matters and relieve him in material matters so that he has enough time for the Word of God and prayer (Acts 6:2).
We believe that every true believer should be baptized (total immersion in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) according to Christ's command (Matthew 28:19; Romans 6:3-4).
Baptism is a symbolic act that figuratively represents the believer's salvation and is a confession that he has renounced his past and that he has become a new man. Baptism also represents the believer's unity with Jesus Christ, that is, his communion with Him in death, burial and resurrection.
Baptism is an act of obedience and testimony, not a necessity for salvation (Acts 2:41; 8:3-38; Romans 6:3-5). After baptism, Christians were "added to the church" (Acts 2:41).
We believe that the ordinance of the Lord's table is celebrated as a memorial and, like baptism, is symbolic. The bread and cup remind us of the body given for us and the blood shed for us by Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 11:23-31).
Anyone who has been born again, who has been baptized and who is in a proper relationship with the local church is invited to the celebration of the Lord's table.
We believe the present age will end with the rapture of the church (all born again Christians) into the presence of the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). It takes place before the tribulation period. After 7 years of tribulation, Jesus Christ will personally return with his church (Revelation 19:11-14) to set up His millennial kingdom on earth (2 Samuel 7:12-16; Zechariah 14:4-11).
After the millennium, all unbelievers will be resurrected bodily for judgment on the great white throne (Daniel 12:2; Revelation 20:11-15), where they will be irrevocably sentenced to eternal banishment from God in the lake of fire. At that time God will create new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness will dwell (Isaiah 65:17; 2 Peter 3:13).
We believe that church discipline is a biblical procedure to be exercised on a member when there is moral and personal offense (by members) against biblical doctrine (1 Corinthians 5:8; Romans 16:17; Matthew 18:15-17).
The believer avoids church discipline through a constant willingness to confess his sins before the Lord (1 John 1:9).
We believe that gifts such as speaking in tongues, the special gift of healing, and prophecy have ceased (1 Corinthians 13:8-10). God can heal at any time (James 5:15). God used such gifts to confirm and authenticate the preachers of new revelation... that it was proclaimed by the Lord, confirmed to us by those who heard it, at the same time God bearing witness through signs and wonders and various mighty works (Hebrews 2:3-4).
Those things ended in the past. Paul experienced their cessation during his lifetime. For example, he thought that a co-worker would die (Philippians 2:25-27). Church history testifies to the cessation of signs.
Chrysostomus lived in the 4th century and said: "They were useful in those days, but not today. Not the slightest trace of miraculous powers has remained." The church at Corinth did not lack the gifts, but Paul could not speak to them as spiritual, but only as to fleshly believers (1 Corinthians 1:7; 3:1).
We do not believe that the ecumenical movement is of God. God's children are not to be yoked with unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14-18). We are also to separate from believers who do not walk according to God's Word (Romans 16:17; 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15). This separation is our duty and not a division. Spurgeon wrote: “Nothing has called for the unity of true believers so much as breaking with those who allow fundamental error. This is not division, just what truth, conscience and God expect of all."