FAITH IS THE KEY

Faith

Faith in God leads to a knowledge and acceptance of Jesus Christ into our lives. Faith leads to power through the Holy Spirit and a right to eternal life. At the moment that Christ is accepted into your life "by faith", God came into your life. At that moment, you began your life as a Christian. You have accepted the fact that Christ has taken away your sins and you are now ready to grow. It is our faith that saves us, not our works or even our keeping the commandments. God’s Word in Ephesians 2:8-9, states "For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the Gift of God."

As Baptists, we believe that we are saved by Faith alone. "That if Thou shalt confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead; thou shalt be saved." Romans 10:9

We believe God’s Word when it says that eternal salvation rests in our Lord’s finished redemption, not in anything we can do (Titus 3:5). Our faith should not be stagnant, but in order to grow in faith, we must supply our body with spiritual food. The Bible is our spiritual food. Jesus said in Matthew 4:4, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Your Christian growth will be in direct proportion to your increasing knowledge of God's Word.

CONFESSION OF FAITH

"With the heart, man believeth unto righteousness, and with the heart confession is made unto salvation." Romans 10:10. Our love of Christ is the bond between all Christians, binding us into a common hope with one center in our life. We believe that there must be a verbal confession of saving faith in Christ. Our confession of faith is also made by our participation in ceremonial baptism. As Baptists, we are immersed in water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit In this symbolic act, we declare ourselves dead to the world and to sin and raised up in the newness of life through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a sign of our fellowship with the Christ’s sacrificial suffering, death, burial and resurrection of Christ for the remission of sins and of His giving Himself up to God, to live and walk in the newness of life. We believe that Baptism is a prerequisite to Church fellowship and participation in the Lord’s Supper.

CONFESSION OF SIN

"If we confess our sins to God, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). When we confess our sins to God, we tell Him the very sins we have committed. He knows what our sins are, but our confession is our honest acknowledgment to Him that we are aware of our sins, that we are sorry, that we want to forsake our sins and that we want to be forgiven. Sincere confession of our sins leads to the forsaking of our sin (Proverbs 28:13).

When we sincerely confess our sins, we receive:

Forgiveness and cleansing

Restoration of fellowship

Joy of victory over sin

REPENTANCE AND TRANSFORMATION

Repentance is a necessary act of faith in order to receive forgiveness of sins. Jesus said in Luke 13:3, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Repentance is not regret. Many regret or feel sorry for their sins, but this only leads to personal remorse or a deep torturing sense of guilt. Sometimes we blame other people for our problems. This is reprisal. Reprisal only degenerates our relationship with others. It is also rejected by God.

Repentance is you turning from your sin and giving your life to God. It is an about face. It is a turn around. Repentance is the only way to God. Through repentance, Faith comes into your life. The life you now live is by faith.

Those who trust Christ are new creatures. The Lord Jesus brings new desires and a new way of life. We began to experience a growing desire to seek the companionship of Christians instead of unbelievers. Repentance and Faith also affects the family and friends around you by generating (in you) a new interest and understanding of their problems. You will also discover a new desire to help them and to bring them to Christ. Sin in our own life becomes abhorrent and we hate ourselves when we commit it (Romans 7:19-20). This is our transformed life which is the result of our belief in and obedience to God’s Word and of the working of the Holy Spirit. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Finally through repentance you will receive a new revelation from God. His Word will speak to you. As Christians we no longer have to serve our own desires and be slaves to sin as we once did, prior to our acceptance of Christ.