STATEMENT OF FAITH
The Scriptures
We believe that all of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments were inspired by God as originally written. We believe that the Bible is therefore inerrant, and that it is the supreme standard for faith and practice. We believe that God’s word for man has been preserved in all of the extant manuscripts, and not in any single family, manuscript or translation.
Policy on Bible Translations: For the sake of uniformity, classes at FBC will use the New King James Version of the Bible.
God
We believe that there is only one true and living God who is revealed in the three distinct personalities known as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each person of the Godhead is spirit in His essence, infinite in His nature, and eternal in His existence. As creator God is the sovereign sustainer of everything and ineffably majestic in glory. He is just and kind in all His works, and so worthy of all man’s love, honor, and praise. God is omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent and immutable.
Jesus Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ is the second person of the Holy Trinity, that He was begotten of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the virgin Mary, that He is very God and very man, the Messiah of Israel and the only savior of all mankind.
The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Holy Trinity, a divine person equal with God the Father and God the Son, and the divine agent in creation, revelation, and redemption. We believe that He convicts sinners, that He is the indwelling earnest and seal of saints, and that He fills, empowers, guides, gifts, teaches, and sanctifies believers in accordance with His own good pleasure. We believe in the cessation of the sign gifts.
Satan
We believe that the angelic personality known as Satan and the Devil was created by God. Through pride he and a host of other angels fell and began to oppose God and His work. He is now known as the prince of the power of the air, the unholy god of this world, the ruler of all the powers of darkness, the enemy of God, the great tempter of mankind, the destroyer, and the accuser of the saints. He is destined to final defeat at the hands of the Son of God, and he will suffer everlasting punishment in the lake of fire prepared for him and his angels.
The Creation
We believe that the Biblical account of creation is to be understood literally. We believe that creation occurred by direct, immediate, creative acts of God in six literal, 24-hour days, that Adam was created in God’s own image and after His own likeness as the federal head of the human race.
The Fall of Man
We believe that Adam and Eve were created innocent but by disobedience fell. In consequence they became sinners, depraved in nature and subject to Satan’s power. Therefore, all of Adam’s descendants are sinful by nature, choice, and practice.
The Atonement
We believe that salvation is exclusively by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. By the appointment of God the Father the Son voluntarily took upon Himself our nature without sin, honored the divine law by perfect obedience, and through the merit of His shed blood made full payment for the sin of all humanity. His atonement was the voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner’s place, bearing the penalty of God’s holy law against the disobedient.
The Resurrection of Christ
We believe that Christ literally and bodily rose from the grave; that He ascended into heaven and is now at the right hand of God to make intercession for the saints; that He is our merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, and that He will return imminently, personally, visibly, and bodily.
The New Birth
We believe that sinners must be regenerated in order to be saved from sin; that regeneration consists of being created anew in Christ Jesus; that it is instantaneous and not a process; and that in the new birth those dead in sin are made partakers of the divine nature and receive eternal life as the gift of God. We believe that though the Spirit’s work in regeneration is incomprehensible, it is nevertheless accomplished solely by the power of the Holy Spirit through divine truth so as to secure the person’s voluntary obedience in believing the Gospel. Its proper evidence appears in the fruits of repentance, faith and newness of life.
Repentance
We believe that repentance is part of saving faith; that it is wrought in our souls by God; and that by it the sinner becomes convinced of personal sin and of the singular way of salvation by Christ. Repentance is the change of one’s mind about what saves from the guilt and penalty of sin. The blessings of salvation are made available only to those who repent.
Salvation
We believe that salvation consists in election (God’s choice of those to be saved before the foundation of the world), in justification (the legal declaration of the sinner to be righteous through the merits of Christ), in reconciliation (the restoration of the fellowship of the sinner with his creator), in propitiation (the satisfaction of the Father’s righteous wrath against the sinner and his sin), in redemption (the purchase of the sinner out of slavery to sin through the payment of Christ’s death as a ransom), and in forgiveness (the pardon of sin on behalf of Christ’s atonement). Salvation is a free gift offered by God to sinful man on the basis of his faith in Christ apart from any works of righteousness. Upon the exercise of faith the individual receives forgiveness of sin and Christ’s imputed righteousness, and he is brought into a state of peace and favor with God.
Faith
We believe that faith is a gift of God by which man comes to know and embrace the truth of the Scriptures, and that it consists of knowing truth, assenting to it, and then committing one’s whole person to it. The same faith that converts to Christ is able to carry the soul through all duties, temptations, conflicts, and sufferings. All believers who are progressively sanctified by faith will experience the love of God manifested in their souls and find their faith increased through patient continuance in sufferings and temptations.
Eternal Security
We believe that salvation is secure in the grace of God alone; that those who have accepted Christ are forever sealed and will never come into the condemnation of the lost; that a special providence watches over their welfare; and that they are securely held in both the hand of the Father and the hand of the Son through faith unto eternal salvation. Genuine Christians will most certainly continue to bear spiritual, evidentiary fruit, and God will most certainly save those whose faith is genuine.
The Church
We believe that a church is a congregation of immersed believers associated by a covenant of faith in the Gospel and who observe the ordinances commanded by Christ; that its officers are pastors and deacons as defined in the Scriptures; and that the mission of the church is the Great Commission. We believe that the local church is autonomous, and that the only superintendent is Christ. We believe that on matters of membership, polity, government, discipline, and benevolence the will of the local church is final.
The Ordinances
- Baptism. We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit to show forth his union with the crucified, buried and risen Christ, his death to sin, and his resurrection to a new life. It is not a means of grace for salvation, but it is a condition for membership in the church.
- Lord’s Supper. We believe that the Lord’s Supper was instituted by our Lord as the commemoration of His death until He comes; that it is the privilege and obligation of all obedient believers; and that it should be preceded by solemn examination.
The Believer
We believe that every saved person possesses two natures, with provision made for victory over the old nature through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. All claims to the eradication of the old nature in this life are unscriptural. We believe that every believer should walk in Christian love and holiness, exhibiting honesty, integrity, forbearance, and forgiveness; and that progress in these virtues will be manifested by humility and zeal for the advancement of the cause of Christ.
Eschatology
We believe in the imminent, pretribulational return of Christ to rapture the living church and raise the righteous dead. The church will then appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ to receive what each has done in his earthly body. The seven-year tribulation period will culminate in the premillennial return of Christ in great power and glory to destroy the world system and establish His visible, literal reign upon earth. We believe that the lost will be sent to suffer the righteous wrath of God for eternity, while the righteous in Christ will enjoy fellowship in glory with God forever.