We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person; equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature; that He was active in the creation; that in His relation to the unbelieving world He restrains the Evil One until God's purpose is fulfilled; that He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment; that He bears witness to the truth of the Gospel in preaching and testimony; that He is the Agent in the New Birth; that He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies, and helps the believer. ; 1 John 2:28; 3:2; Jude 14; Revelation 1:18; 3:11; 20:122:13. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being. 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 a woman, and He is both the Son of God, and God the Son. The Kingdom of God includes both His general sovereignty over the universe and His particular kingship over men who willfully acknowledge Him as King. The new birth opens all human faculties and creates a thirst for knowledge. Faith Baptist Academy is a ministry of Faith Baptist Church. To refrain from the violation of any civil or criminal law that could adversely affect Boston Baptist College or bring reproach upon the cause of Christ. The chief purpose for the existence of the New Testament Church is to evangelize the world and complete itself through the winning of lost souls to Christ. A Statement of Faith is just a summary. We join thousands of Baptist churches, associations, and ministries thathave adopted the Baptist Faith and Message as our confession of faith. Why are we Baptists? It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. The Scriptures. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ provide for rescue and redemption from sin. The Churchs purpose of existence is to evangelize the world and complete itself through the winning of lost souls to Christ. (Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 5:8-10; Philippians 1:23; Philippians 3:21; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Revelation 20:4-6), We believe the souls of unbelievers remain in conscious misery after death until the second resurrection when the soul and body are reunited and they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment. Means and methods used for the improvement of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can be truly and permanently helpful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ. According to Bruce Gourley, who served as executive director of the Baptist History & Heritage Society, there are four prominent opinions on how Baptists originated. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. Genesis 1:27; 2:7; Matthew 6:67, 24; 16:26; 22:21; John 8:36; Acts 4:1920; Romans 6:12; 13:17; Galatians 5:1, 13; Philippians 3:20; 1 Timothy 2:12; James 4:12; 1 Peter 2:1217; 3:1117; 4:1219. We believe that in His relation to the unbelieving world, He restrains the evil one until Gods purpose is fulfilled. In accordance with the spirit and teachings of Christ they should do all in their power to put an end to war. Chinese 5:1921; Eph. Insults, slurs and other forms of derogatory speech or actions have no place in a Christian community or thoughtful dialogue, and will be worthy of disciplinary action. Expressing our love in worship that is as sincere, vibrant, and artful as it is scriptural. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. Jesus said He is the Door (singular), and any other path is . It is Gods unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race. ; 10:21; Luke 4:1821; 10:2737; 20:25; John 15:12; 17:15; Romans 1214; 1Corinthians 5:910; 6:17; 7:2024; 10:2311:1; Galatians 3:2628; Ephesians 6:59; Colossians 3:1217; 1 Thessalonians 3:12; Philemon; James 1:27; 2:8. An In-depth Study of Our Baptist Distinctives & Heritage. To be a model of biblical character in all aspects of deportment and interactions and so to avoid any offensive or inappropriate activity or appearance that could impugn the integrity of the institution. Inclusion of a statement that Baptists honor the principles of soul competency and the priesthood of believer. Our Statement of Faith summarizes essential Christian beliefs, shows unity in Christ, and guards the church from error. Article I. 6. In the introduction to his classic work, A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God, published in 1738, Jonathan Edwards, pastor of the Congregational Church in Northampton, Mass., described the behavior of the town youth prior to the awakening of 1733: Licentiousness for some years prevailed among the youth of the town; there were many of them very much addicted to night-walking, and . As Gods created beings, living under His Lordship, all other sexual activity, including premarital sex, extramarital sex, polygamy, bisexual acts, same-sex marriage, homosexual acts, and bestiality violate clear biblical teaching on sexual purity (Rom. The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible and God-breathed, and therefore are the final authority of faith and life. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ, He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. ; 119:11; Proverbs 3:13ff. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption. We believe He arose bodily from the dead on the third day in the same body in which He suffered and died. B. Justification is Gods gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society. An independent, fundamental church in Royal Center, Indiana Joel Sharp, Pastor, Prayer Meeting & Bible Study We believe the Bible to be the center of true Christian unity and the supreme and final authority against which all matters of doctrine, faith, human conduct, creeds, and opinions shall be tested. Founded in 2019, FBA offers a full day, in-person environment that uses the well-known Abeka Christian curriculum with a combination of video instruction and teacher-led classes. Confessions serve us due to their helpful summary of the essential teachings of Scripture so as to both . They are for the strengthening of God's people (the Church) and proof of God's existence and power to unbelievers. God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him. Mr. Biden, perhaps the most religiously observant commander in chief in half a century, regularly attends Mass and speaks of how his Catholic faith grounds his life and his policies. Genesis 1:2630; 2:5, 7, 1822; 3; 9:6; Psalms 1; 8:36; 32:15; 51:5; Isaiah 6:5; Jeremiah 17:5; Matthew 16:26; Acts 17:2631; Romans 1:1932; 3:1018, 23; 5:6, 12,19; 6:6; 7:1425; 8:1418, 29; 1 Corinthians 1:2131; 15:19, 2122; Ephesians 2:122; Colossians 1:2122; 3:911. It is God's revelation to man, inerrant as originally written by Spirit-controlled men. The Church. Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end. Portuguese Deuteronomy 4:1, 5, 9, 14; 6:110; 31:1213; Nehemiah 8:18; Job 28:28; Psalms 19:7ff. 10. They are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions; and should recognize all these as entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for helping others. There is no other "way" (religion, etc.) Man, spirit, soul, and body, were created by a direct work of God and not from previously existing forms of life; and that all men are descended from the historical Adam and Evethe first parents of the human race. Christians have a spiritual debtorship to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel, and a binding stewardship in their possessions. Each article or position is followed by Scripture which they use to support their position.[a]. (Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Revelation 20:11-15), (Statement of Faith ratified February 5th, 2017), exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word. True repentance is inseparably related to true faith causing one to purposely turn away from sin and move instead toward God as an act of faith. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. We further believe the wedding ceremony is an act of worship before God where one man and one woman are joined in holy matrimony. The denomination's statement of faith was revised in 2000 to state: "While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture." By "Inspiration" we mean that the books of the Bible were written by holy men of old, as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, in such a definite way that their writings were supernaturally and verbally inspired and free from error, as no other writings have ever been or ever will be inspired. Watch Live Here : https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&q=https://bit.ly/Highschoolbasketball_BoysThe Faith Baptist (Davison, MI) varsity . We believe the true mission of the church is found in the Great Commission: first, to make individual disciples; second, to build up the church; third, to teach and instruct as He commanded. 5. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Saviour. It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations. 11. through faith, plus nothing, and believers are eternally secure. (Exodus 15:11; 20:2-3; Psalm 90:2; 147:5; Jeremiah 10:10; Mark 12:30; Romans 11:33; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 4:6; 1 Timothy 1:17; Revelation 4:11). (John 3:15; Acts 4:12; 16:31; Romans 10:9-13; Ephesians 2:8-9), Section 13: Separation and Sanctification, We believe that sanctificationis the divine setting apart of the believer unto God, and that the Scriptures clearly teach non-conformity to the world for every believer. This is a family that we are not born intorather, the Father of this family willfully and purposefully brought us in. He is the Maker and Supreme Ruler of Heaven and earth. The consequence of that sin causes all men to be totally depraved and partakers of Adams fallen nature. It is the responsibility of each Christian to learn, believe, and live every doctrine taught in Gods Word. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. (Genesis 2:18-25; Leviticus 18:1-30; Matthew 19:3-9; Romans 1:26-32; 1 Corinthians 5:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 1 Corinthians 7:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4). Bible, the only rule of faith and practice. . (Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:1-47; Acts 15:13-18; Acts 20:17-28; Romans 1:16; Romans 3:22; 1 Corinthians 11:2; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 1:22-23; Ephesians 2:13-16; Ephesians 3:1-6; Ephesians 4:11-13; Ephesians 5:23-24; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 3:1-7). Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of the Father, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. Genesis 12:13; Exodus 19:58; 1 Samuel 8:47, 1922; Isaiah 5:17; Jeremiah 31:31ff. As a part of the Southern Baptist Convention, IMB is guided by a board of trustees elected by the convention in its annual meetings. We further believe that from the time of Christ until now God has continued to provide complete and chronological evidence through the writers of history. 12. The living in Christ shall then be caught up to meet the Lord in the air without tasting death, and all shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air before the seventieth week of Daniel. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. (Mark 16:19; John 3:16; Romans 5:8-9; Hebrew 5:9; Hebrew 7:25; Hebrew 8:1; Hebrew 9:11-12 and 1 John 2:1), We believe in the Blessed Hope, the personal, pre-millennial, pre-tribulation, and imminentreturn of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, which is known as the Raptureof the Church. It summarizes key Southern Baptist thought in the areas of the Bible and its authority, the nature of God as expressed by the Trinity, the spiritual condition of man, God's plan of grace and salvation, the purpose of the local church, ordinances, evangelism, Christian education, interaction . It is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle, and by other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ. We believe that God instituted the family for the well-being of mankind and designed it to be a unit of order and blessing. 14. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture. 11:79; 1 Tim. Boston Baptist College | 950 Metropolitan Avenue, Hyde Park, MA 02136, Call: (617) 364-3510 | Email: info@boston.edu, Boston Baptist College, 950 Metropolitan Avenue, Hyde Park, MA 02136, United States. Autonomy and independence of the Local Church. ; Acts 1:1314; 2:1ff. While not stated in the 2000 BF&M, some churches also apply this interpretation to deacons, being a pastoral office of the church, and will not ordain women or allow them to serve as deacons. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. Our Baptist forefathers have held to the above noted distinctives since the time of Christ creating an unbroken trail of Truth from that day till this one. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Baptist Faith and Message I. He exalts Christ. The problem arises, however, when we make being Baptist a badge of honor rather than a method of identification. 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 coming King of kings. ; 5:810; 6:123; 8:118, 2939; 10:910, 13; 13:1114; 1 Corinthians 1:18, 30; 6:1920; 15:10; 2 Corinthians 5:1720; Galatians 2:20; 3:13; 5:2225; 6:15; Ephesians 1:7; 2:822; 4:1116; Philippians 2:1213; Colossians 1:922; 3:1ff. ; 28:1920; Luke 2:40; 1 Corinthians 1:1831; Ephesians 4:1116; Philippians 4:8; Colossians 2:3, 89; 1 Timothy 1:37; 2 Timothy 2:15; 3:1417; Hebrews 5:126:3; James 1:5; 3:17. He bears witness to the truth of the Gospel in preaching and testimony. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. His atonementconsisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was a voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinners place. We believe that Gods design for the family is modeled in the leadership of the church. Each local church is the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation. We further believe that water baptism by immersion is to be observed once, and is a sign of identification and a testimony to the believers new life in Christ. 216 views, 5 likes, 5 loves, 3 comments, 0 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from New Hope Baptist Church, Marshville, NC: sunday service The gospel of Christ contemplates spiritual means alone for the pursuit of its ends. The will of the local church is final on all matters of membership, policy, procedure, government, discipline, and benevolence. Section 201 of the United States Copyright Act specifies that the employeris considered the author of a work made for hire, and owns all the rights comprised in the copyright except in cases where the employer and the employee have expressly agreed otherwise in a written instrument signed by them.. phone: 615-944-0348, Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress, Why We Are Baptists? NOVEMBER 1994. We also believe in the personal, visible, and glorious return of Christ to the earth with His saints at the end of the Great Tribulation. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. The full consummation of the Kingdom awaits the return of Jesus Christ and the end of this age. A spokesman for Prestonwood Baptist Church, where Mr. Graham is pastor, said the church "categorically denies" the way the report characterizes an incident under his leadership in which it . She will be re-gathered in the Holy Land and, after the completion of the Church, will be saved as a nation at the second advent of Christ. . ; 4:3137; 13:23; 15:135; 1 Corinthians 1:1017; 3:515; 12; 2 Corinthians 89; Galatians 1:610; Ephesians 4:116; Philippians 1:1518. It is instantaneous and not a process. Children are to honor and obey their parents. Statement of Faith. We believe in the Genesis account of creation; that it is to be accepted literally, and not allegorically or figuratively; that man was created directly 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; that all animals and vegetable life were made directly; and that God's established law was that they should bring forth only "after their kind.". We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired, and is a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction; that it has God for its author, salvation for its end, and . We believe the Lord's coming to be imminent. Watch Live Here : https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&q=http://bit.ly/3J5mjB4The Faith Baptist (Davison, MI) varsity basketball team has. He ascended into heaven and is exalted at the right hand of God the Father where He is our Advocate and High Priest, the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. 2:1214) and thus the college community unites in the conviction that God opposes any attempt to alter ones gender by surgery or appearance. Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate persons life. By "The Holy Bible" we mean that collection of sixty-six books, from Genesis to Revelation, which, as originally written, does not only contain and convey the Word of God but IS the very Word of God. It is the duty of Christians to seek peace with all men on principles of righteousness. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. Dr. H.L. In this Statement of Faith, our Constitution, and all other documents, policies, and ministries of Baptist Christian Church, wherever the word man/men appears, it shall always mean a person who is born, according to Gods sovereign plan and design, male; and wherever the word woman/women appears, it shall always mean a person who is born, according to Gods sovereign plan and design, female. What We Believe. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private. [5] The most controversial points were in the areas of male priority (in marriage and in ministry, specifically the pastorate), the exegetical standard by which the Bible is to be interpreted, and a catalogue of specific sins.[6]. (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-14; 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 1:8-9), We believe that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures as a representative and as a substitutionary sacrifice. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It is composed solely of born-again believers who have been called out from among the Jews and Gentiles. The state has no right to impose penalties for religious opinions of any kind. The new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever-present Lord. The college desires to help students who face all types of sexual temptation, encouraging single students to live chaste, celibate lives and married students to live together as God intends. There are several Baptist Associations that have been formulated for their volunteer member churches. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.