We, as New Testament Baptists, hold the historical Baptist belief that a scriptural church is a democracy of believers meeting in some local place, sovereign and autonomous in deciding matters of church policy and affiliation, and composed only of persons who profess to have been born again and have been immersed in water upon their confession of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.
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The Holy Scriptures
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the verbal, plenary, inspired word of God, the final authority for faith and practice, inerrant in the original writings, infallible, and God-breathed. (II Timothy 3: 16-17, II Peter 1: 20-21, Matthew 5: 18, and John 16: 12-13).
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The Godhead
We believe in one triune God existing eternally and manifested in three distinct personalities known respectively as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who are coeternal in being, co-identical in nature, coequal in power and glory, each having the same attributes and perfections. (Deuteronomy 6: 4, Mark 12: 29, Luke 1: 31-32, I Peter 1: 2-3, and II Corinthians 13: 14).
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The Person and Work of Christ
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 reveal God and redeem sinful man. (John 1: 1-3, Luke 1: 35)
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His 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. (Romans 3: 24--4: 25, I Peter 2: 24, Ephesians 1: 7, I 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 7: 25, 9: 24, Romans 8: 34, I John 2: 1-2).
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The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and that He is the supernatural agent in regeneration, baptizing all born-again believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption. (John 16: 8-11, I Corinthians 3: 6, 12: 12-14, Romans 8:9, Ephesians 1: 13-14).
We believe that He is the divine teacher who guides believers into all truth, and that it is the privilege and responsibility of all born-again believers to be filled with the Holy Spirit. (John 16: 13, I John 2: 20, 27, Ephesians 5: 18).
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The Total Depravity of Man
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God and by the direct act of God. But because of Adam’s sin, the entire human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God. Therefore, man is totally depraved and of himself utterly unable to remedy this lost condition. (Genesis 1: 26-27, Romans 3: 22-23, 5: 12, Ephesians 2: 1-3,12).
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Salvation
We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. (Ephesians 2: 8-10, John 1: 12, Ephesians 1: 7, I Peter 1: 18-19).
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The Eternal Security and Assurance of the Believer
We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever. (John 6: 37-40, 10: 27-30, Romans 8: 1, I Corinthians 1: 4-8, I Peter 1: 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 sin. (Romans 13:13-14, Galatians 5: 16, Titus 2: 11-12).
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The Believer
The Believer’s Two Natures—We believe that every saved person possesses two natures, with provision made for victory of the new nature over the old nature through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and that all claims to the eradication of the old nature in this life are unscriptural. (Romans 6: 13, 8: 12-13, Galatians 5: 16-25, Ephesians 4: 22-24, Colossians 3: 10, I Peter 1: 14-16, I John 3: 5-9).
The Believer and Separation—We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord; that separation from worldly pleasures and activities should be practiced; that everything we do should be to the glory and honor of the Lord. (II Timothy 3: 1-5, Romans 12: 1-2, 14, I John 2: 15-17, II John 9-11, II Corinthians 6: 14—7: 1, Colossians 3: 17).
The Believer and Missions—We believe the obligation of the saved is to witness by life and by word the truths of the Holy Scriptures and to seek to proclaim the Gospel to all mankind. (Mark 16: 15, Acts 1: 8, II Corinthians 5: 19-20).
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The Ministry and Spiritual Gifts
We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowment of all His gifts; that the gifts of evangelists, pastors and teachers are sufficient for the perfecting of the saints today; and that speaking in tongues and the working of miracles ceased as the church moved out of her infancy and the New Testament Scriptures were completed and its authority became established. (I Corinthians 12: 4-11, 13: 8-12, 14: 22, II Corinthians 12: 12, Ephesians 4: 7-12)
We believe that God does hear and answer the prayer of faith, in accord with His own will, for the sick and afflicted. (John 15: 7, I John 5: 14-15).
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Marriage and the Home
We believe God has established and sanctified marriage for the procreation, welfare, and happiness of mankind; that marriage is between one man and one woman; and that all sexual activity outside the marital relationship is sinful. (Genesis 2: 18, 24, Matthew 19: 4-6, I Corinthians 7: 1-4)
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The Church
We believe that the church is the body and bride of Christ, who is the bridegroom, and is made up of all born-again persons of this present church age. (Ephesians 1: 22-23, 5: 25-27, I Corinthians 12: 12-14, II Corinthians 11: 2).
We believe that this church is manifested through the local church, which is a congregation of true believers who have been baptized by immersion upon their confession of faith in Christ and associated by covenant of faith and fellowship of the gospel; that it observes the ordinances of Christ; that it is governed by His laws; that it exercises the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in it by His Word; and that its officers’, pastors’ and deacons’ qualifications, claims and duties are clearly defined in the scripture. We hold that the local church has the absolute right of self- government free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations—ecclesiastical or political—and that the one and only superintendent is Christ through the Holy Spirit. (II Timothy 3, Titus 1: 6-9).
We believe the church and state must forever be separate entities as each having different functions, and each with responsible duties, free from dictation or patronage of the other. We believe that it is scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the gospel; that each local church is the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation; and that on all matters of membership, of policy, of government, of discipline, and of benevolence, the will of the local church is final. (I Thessalonians 5: 12-26, Pastoral epistles).
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The Ordinances
We believe that the ordinances committed to the visible church are baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism is the immersion, in water, of a believer in Christ, in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, and it symbolizes his/her spiritual resurrection to newness of life and identification with Christ. The Lord’s Supper is a commemoration of His sacrificial death, and it symbolizes the fact that the believer is continuously fed and nourished by Christ. (Matthew 3:6, 28:19-20, Mark 1: 9-11, Acts 8: 36-38, Romans 6: 4, Colossians 2: 12, Matthew 26: 26-30, Mark 14: 22-25, Luke 22: 19-20, Acts 2: 41-42, I Corinthians 11: 23, 29.)
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The Personality of Satan
We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the cause of the fall; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and that he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire. (Job 1: 6-7, Isaiah 14: 12-17, Matthew 4: 2-11, 25: 41, Revelation 20:10)
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The Eternal State
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, 12-15)
We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and immediately present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when the spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord. (Luke 23: 43, Revelation 20: 4-6, II Corinthians 5: 8, Philippians 1; 23, I Thessalonians 4: 16-17.)
We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain after death in conscious misery until the second resurrection and judgment of the Great White Throne at the close of the millennium, when, with the soul and body reunited, they shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment. (Luke 16: 19-26, Matthew 25: 41- 46, II Thessalonians 1: 7-9, Mark 9: 43-48, Revelation 20: 11-15.)
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The Lord’s Day
We believe that the first day of the week is to be observed as the Lord’s Day, and that it is a day of rest, Christian fellowship, worship, and communion with God. (John 20: 10, 26, Acts 20: 7, I Corinthians 16: 1-2.)
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Civil Government
We believe that the civil government is ordained by God for the interest and good order of human society, and that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed, except in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only Lord of the conscience and the Prince of the Kings of the Earth. (II Samuel 23: 3, Matthew 22: 21, Titus 3: 1, I Timothy 2: 1-8, Romans 13: 1-7, Acts 4: 18-20, Revelation 19: 16.)
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The Second Advent of Christ
We believe in the “Blessed Hope,” the personal, imminent, pretribulational and premillenial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones, and in His subsequent return to earth with His saints to establish His Millennial Kingdom. (I Thessalonians 4: 13-18, Zechariah 14: 4-11, Revelation 19: 11-16, 20: 1-6, I Thessalonians 1: 10, 5: 9, Revelation 3: 10.)