We believe in the Genesis account of creation and
that it is to be accepted literally and not allegorically or
figuratively; that man was created directly by God in God’s own image
and after His own likeness; that man’s creation was not a matter of
evolution or evolutionary change of species or developments through
interminable periods of time from lower to higher forms; and that all
animal and vegetable life were made directly, and God’s established law
was that they should bring forth only “after their kind.”
THE FALL OF MAN
We believe that man was created in innocence under
the law of his Maker, but by voluntary transgression fell from his
sinless and happy state; consequently, all mankind are now sinners, not
by constraint but by choice, and therefore are under just condemnation
without defense or excuse.
THE VIRGIN BIRTH
We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten of the Holy
Ghost in a miraculous manner: born of Mary, a virgin, as no other man
was ever born or can ever be born of woman; and He was born the Son of
God and God the Son.
THE ATONEMENT FOR SIN
We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of
grace through the mediatorial offices of the Son of God, who by
appointment of the Father freely took upon Himself our nature yet
without sin, who honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and
who by His death made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins, thus
we have redemption through His blood; that His atonement consisted not
in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was the voluntary
substitution of Himself in the sinner’s place, the Just dying for the
unjust, Christ the Lord bearing our sins in His own body on the tree;
that, having risen from the dead, He is now enthroned in heaven and
uniting in His wonderful person the most tender sympathies with divine
perfection; and that he is in every way qualified to be a suitable,
compassionate, and all-sufficient Saviour.
GRACE IN THE NEW CREATION
We believe that, in order to be saved, sinners must
be born again; that the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus;
that it is instantaneous and not a process; that in the new birth the
one dead in trespasses and in sins is made a partaker of the divine
nature and receives eternal life, the free gift of God; that the new
creation is brought about in a manner above our comprehension and is not
by culture, nor by character, nor by the will of man, but wholly and
solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with divine truth
so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the Gospel; and that proper
evidence of the new birth appears in the holy fruits of repentance and
faith and newness of life.
THE FREENESS OF SALVATION
We believe in God’s electing grace: that the
blessings of salvation are made free to all by the Gospel; that it is
the immediate duty of ail to accept them by a cordial, penitent, and
obedient faith; and that nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest
sinner on earth but his own inherent depravity and voluntary rejection
of the Gospel, which rejection involves him in an aggravated
condemnation.
JUSTIFICATION
We believe that the great Gospel which Christ secures
to such as believe in Him is justification; that justification includes
the pardon of sin and the gift of eternal life on principles of
righteousness; and that it is bestowed not in consideration of any works
of righteousness which we have done, but His righteousness is imputed
unto us solely through faith in the Redeemer’s blood.
REPENTANCE AND FAITH
We believe that repentance and faith are solemn
obligations, and also inseparable graces, wrought in our souls by the
quickening Spirit of God; thereby, being deeply convicted of our guilt,
danger, and helplessness, and of our need of salvation by Christ, we
turn to God with unfeigned contrition, confession, and supplication for
mercy and at the same time heartily receive the Lord Jesus Christ and
openly confess Him as our only and all sufficient Saviour.
THE CHURCH
We believe that the New Testament knows only one type
of church, and that being a local, visible assembly. and that the Lord
Jesus Christ established His Church during His earthly ministry prior to
Acts chapter two and the Day of Pentecost.
A Baptist church is a congregation of baptized
believers associated by a covenant of faith and fellowship of the
Gospel, observing the ordinances of Christ governed by His laws, and
exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His
Word; and that its officers of ordination are pastors or elders and
deacons whose qualifications, claims and duties are clearly defined in
the Scriptures. We believe the true mission of the church is found in
the Great Commission: first to make individual disciples; second, build
up the church; third, to teach and instruct as He commanded. We do not
believe in the reversal of this order, and we hold that the local church
has the absolute right of self-government, free from the interference of
any hierarchy of individuals or organizations. We believe that the one
and only superintendent is Christ through the Holy Spirit 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 every church is
the sole and only judge of the measure and method of its cooperation;
and that on all matters of membership, of policy, of government of
discipline, of benevolence, the will of the local church is final.
BAPTISM AND THE LORD’S SUPPER
We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion in
water of a believer in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost, by the authority of the local church, to show forth a solemn
and beautiful emblem of our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen
Saviour with its effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new
life; and that it is prerequisite to the privileges of a church
membership and to the Lord’s Supper, which the members of the church by
the use of bread and the fruit of the vine are to commemorate together
the death and coming of the Lord, preceded always by solemn
self-examination. We believe that the ordinances of the local church are
to be restricted to the membership of individual churches. Therefore, we
do not recognize “alien immersion”, but accept only baptism from
scriptural Baptist churches. In addition, we believe that communion is
to be observed only in the local church, and to be served only to its
members.
THE SECURITY OF THE BELIEVER
We believe that all the redeemed are kept by the
power of God and are secure in Christ. It is a work of God which
guarantees that the gift of salvation, once received, cannot be lost and
believers are eternally secure.
THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED
We believe that here is a radical and essential
difference between the righteous and the wicked; that all such as trough
faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and sanctified by the
Spirit of our God are truly righteous in His esteem; while all such as
continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked and under
the curse; and that this distinction holds among men both in and after
death in the everlasting happiness of the saved and the everlasting
conscious suffering of the lost.
CIVIL GOVERNMENT
We believe that civil government is ordained of God;
that its purpose is to punish evil doers and to praise good works that
we may lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty; that
we are commanded to pray for those in authority; that we are to render
to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom
custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. We are to render to
government the things which belong to the government and to God the
things that belong to God.
THE RESURRECTION AND RETURN OF CHRIST AND RELATED
EVENTS
We believe in and accept the sacred Scripture upon
these subjects at their face and hail value. Of the resurrection, we
believe that Christ arose bodily the third day according to the
Scriptures; and that He alone is our merciful and faithful high priest
in things pertaining to God. Of the return of Christ, we believe that
this same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in
like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven. Jesus will come in the
air for His saints before the tribulation period. After the tribulation,
He will return to the earth and reign a thousand years.
MISSIONS
We believe that the command to give the Gospel to the
world is clear and unmistakable; and that this commission was given to
the churches to go, make disciples, baptize them, and teach them.
THE GRACE OF GIVING
We believe that God’s method of financing His earthly
work, which is the spreading of the Gospel to all nations, the care of
the churches, and the support of the ministry, is by the tithes and
offerings of His people t it is to be given to the Lord through His
church or storehouse to be distributed as directed by the leadership of
the Spirit as the need arises; that the time to tithe is upon the first
day of the week; that everyone is accountable to the Lord for one-tenth
of his income; and that tithing was instituted long before the law was
given.