STATEMENT OF FAITH AND DOCTRINE
This church receives the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, as its sole authority in matters of faith and practice.
As a member of the National Association of Free Will Baptists this church accepts the Treatises of Faith and Practices of the Original Free Will Baptist Church as adopted November 7, 1935, by the National Association of Free Will Baptist and its Church Covenant.
I. Scriptures: We believe that holy men of old wrote the Bible as they were moved (literally “being borne along”) by the Holy Spirit (II Peter 1:21), which harmonizes with II Timothy 3:16, which teaches that all Scripture is inspired (literally “God breathed”) or “breathed out by God”. This means that the Holy Spirit so superintended the writers of the Holy Scripture that, although they utilized their own vocabularies and experiences, they wrote the very exact message God intended without any omissions, addition, or error which means that the Bible is theologically, historically, scientifically, and geographically correct since the Holy Spirit is incapable of erring. Being plenary verbally inspired by the Holy Spirit guarantees the infallibility and inerrancy of the Bible in every area in which it speaks and makes it the highest authority and guide for the believer. We accept the King James Version of the Scriptures as the official standard of use for this church, both in the Sunday school classroom and public worship services.
II. Trinity: We believe there is but one true and living God whose essence is spirit and who exists in a Trinity of equal persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and that they are each equal and infinite in their being, power, glory, and attributes.
III. The Father: We believe that God the Father is the First Person of the divine Trinity who is absolute in His deity possessing all the attributes of deity and equal with the Son and the Holy Spirit.
IV. Jesus Christ: We believe in the absolute deity of Jesus Christ our Lord and that He shares equally in all the attributes of deity with the Father and the Holy Spirit. We believe in His virgin birth, in His perfect and sinless humanity, in His miracles and in their literalness, in His substitutionary, satisfactory, propitiatory, atoning death on Calvary, in His bodily resurrection, in His intercessory ministry, and in His personal return for the Church.
V. Holy Spirit: We believe in the absolute and full deity of the Holy Spirit, the Third Member of the blessed Trinity, who is equal with the Father and the Son. It was the Father who gave His Son, the Son who gave His life, and it is the Holy Spirit who today gives spiritual life to those who believe in Christ. He indwells the believer and empowers him and Christ’s Church for service giving the various gifts to the members of the body of Christ to aid the Church in accomplishing the Great Commission.
VI. Salvation: We believe in salvation by grace totally apart from any human merit. Salvation is bestowed by a gracious God upon unworthy man conditioned solely upon his faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work on Calvary (Ephesians 2:8-10; John 3:16).
VII. New Birth: We believe that all men are born with a depraved nature and are sinful by nature and by choice and as such are alienated from God, born dead in trespasses
and sin. We believe that this condition can only be reconciled by the new birth, which is a work of regeneration wrought by the Holy Spirit (John 3:5-6; Titus 3:5), conditioned upon a man’s personal faith in the atoning work of Jesus on Calvary as sufficient payment for his sins (Eph. 2:8-10).
VIII. Security of the Believer: We believe that the Word of God teaches the security of the believer, that God will keep securely in His hand (John 10:25-30) those who are trusting in Jesus but offers absolutely no hope for that person who is not trusting in Christ (I Peter 1:5). The link that unites God and man is faith (John 3:16). The security of the believer is based upon a continuous faith in Jesus Christ (Col. 1:21-23; John 3:16; Heb. 3:12-1 3). We believe that the Scriptures present the possibility of an authentic believer ceasing to believe (I John 2:24; Heb. 3:12- 13) but not in the probability (Heb. 6:9-12). We believe that apostasy is committed by willful unbelief and is without remedy (Heb.6:4-6).
IX. Resurrection: We believe in future bodily resurrection of the believer, at which time he will receive a resurrected glorified body, and that the new body will be joined with the soul so that the child of God will spend eternity to come as a body/soul being. We likewise believe that the unbeliever will be resurrected with a body and soul, which will forever suffer in the torments of hell.
X. Judgment: We believe in the future Judgment Seat of Christ at which time the believer will stand before Christ and be judged and rewarded for the deeds done in the body whether they be good or bad (2 Cor. 5:10). We also believe in the Great White Throne Judgment for the unsaved where their lives will be reviewed and judged according to their works, which will determine the degree of their punishment in the eternal flames of hell (Revelation 20:11-15).
XI. Devil: We believe in the existence of a literal personal evil and malicious being called Satan or the Devil who led a rebellion against God at some point before creation and was cast out of heaven along with the angels who followed him. He and his demonic hordes seek to tempt men to sin and thereby doom them to eternity in the fires of hell. His doom and that of mankind who follow him has been pronounced as the lake of fire where he will one day be banished and shut up forever.
XlI. Creation: We believe in the literal Genesis account of God’s creating this earth and
man in six literal twenty-four hour days, and that He rested on the seventh day sanctifying it as a day of rest (Genesis 1:1 - chp. 2:3).
XIII. Human Sexuality: 1. We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. (Gen. 2:24; Gen. 19:5, 13; Gen. 26:8-9; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom. 1:26-29; I Cor. 5:1; 6:9; I Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4).
2. We believe that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman by mutual covenant. (Gen. 2:24; Rom. 7:2; I Cor. 7:10; Eph. 5:22-23)
3. We believe that men and women are spiritually equal in position before God, but that God has ordained distinct and separate spiritual functions for men and women in the home and the church. The husband is to be the leader of the home and men are to be the leaders (pastors and deacons) of the church. Accordingly, only men are eligible for licensure and ordination by the church. (Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:18; I Tim. 2:8- 15; 3:4-5,12)
XIV. Abortion: We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused taking of unborn human life. Abortion is murder. We reject any teaching that abortions of pregnancies due to rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, birth or population control, or mental well being of the mother are acceptable. (Job 3:16; Psalms 51:5; 139:14- 16: isa. 44:24; 49:1, 5; Jer. 1:5; 20:15-18; Luke 1:44)
XV. Ordinances: 1. Baptism: Baptism by immersion of believers in Christ is recognized as a Scriptural Ordinance (Matt. 3:13-1 5; 28:18-20; Acts 8:35-39) 2. The Lord’s Supper: (I Cor. 11:17-34 We believe that the Lord’s Supper is for the truly born again believer. The Lord’s Supper shall be administered at least once a quarter. It shall be observed in connection with the Washing of the Saints’ Feet. 3. The Washing of the Saints’ Feet: The Washing of the Saints’ Feet shall be recognized as a Scriptural Ordinance and administered at least once a quarter in connection with the Lord’s Supper. (John
13:1-1 7)
SECTION 1 Time: The actual date and time for the observance of the ordinances shall be determined by the Pastor and Board of Deacons.
COVENANT
Having given ourselves to God, by faith in Jesus Christ, and adopted the Word of God as our rule of faith and practice, we now give ourselves to one another by the will of God in this solemn covenant.
We promise by His grace, to love and obey Him in all things, to avoid all appearance of evil, to abstain from all sinful amusements and unholy conformity to the world, from all sanction of the use and sale of intoxicating beverages, and to “provide things honest in the sight of all men.”
We agree faithfully to discharge our obligations in reference to study of the Scriptures, secret prayer, family devotions, and social worship; and by self denial, faith, and good works endeavor to “grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
We will not forsake the assembling of ourselves together for church conferences, public worship, and the observance of the ordinances of the Gospel: nor fail to pay according to our ability for the support of the church, of its poor, and all its benevolent work.
We agree to accept Christian admonition and reproof with meekness, and to watch over one another in love, endeavoring to “keep the unity of the Spirit”: in the bonds of peace, to be careful of one another’s happiness and reputation, and seek to strengthen the weak, encourage the afflicted, admonish the erring, and as far as we are able, promote the success of the church and of the Gospel.
We will everywhere hold Christian principle sacred and Christian obligations and enterprises supreme; counting it our chief business in life to extend the influence of Christ in society, constantly praying and toiling that the kingdom of God may come, and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
To this end we agree to labor for the promotion of educational and denominational enterprises, the support of missions, the success of Sunday schools, and evangelistic efforts for the salvation of the world. And may the God of peace sanctify us wholly, and preserve us blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.