Keys to our Faith

Keys to our Faith: What Baptists Believe

As Christians, Baptists are identified by what they believe. It is this thinking that both distinguishes us as well as unifies us.

01 We believe in the whole Bible. We believe that the Bible is true without any mixture of error. We look to the Scriptures alone for our doctrinal beliefs. We believe that the Bible is the supreme standard by which God will judge us. We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by and through the inspiration of God. The Scriptures are God’s message to mankind. Thereby they are the only sufficiently certain and authoritative rule of all saving knowledge, faith and obedience.

02 We believe that there is but one true, living God – the Maker, Preserver and Ruler of all things, having in and of Himself all knowledge and perfection and being infinite in them all. It is to God that all creatures owe the highest love, reverence, honor, praise and obedience.

03 We believe that in the Trinity, God is revealed to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each with distinct personal attributes, but equal in divine perfection without division of nature, essence or being and executing harmonious offices in the great work of the redemption.e

04 We believe in Divine Providence. God foresees and foreknows all things. God is above the universe, but also in it – not standing aloof as if He was a powerless being. God from eternity decrees or permits all things that come to pass and perpetually upholds, directs and governs all creatures and all events, yet He is not the author or approver of sin nor the destroyer of man’s free will and responsibility.

05 We believe that Election is God’s eternal choice of some persons into everlasting life – not because of foreseen merit in them, but because of God’s mercy in Christ – in consequence of which choice they are called, justified and will be glorified.

06 We believe that God originally created man in His own image, free from sin; but by voluntary transgression man fell from this state when he allowed himself to be tempted by Satan. As a consequence, man fell from his original holiness and righteousness, inheriting a corrupt nature, wholly given to worldly gratification and opposed to God and His Law and is under condemnation.

07 We believe that Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, is the divinely appointed mediator between God and man. We believe that God, having taken upon Himself the human nature, yet without sin, perfectly fulfilled the law, as the perfect sacrificial lamb – Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ suffered and died upon the cross as atonement for our sins and assuring our salvation. He was buried, rose again the third day, and ascended to His Father at Whose right hand He now lives to make intercession for His people. We realize that our salvation is wholly of God’s grace.

08 We believe that in order to be saved, we must be regenerated or born again. We believe that regeneration is a change of heart and mind caused by the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in a manner above human comprehension. In regeneration, the Holy Spirit quickens the believer from trespass and sin and enlightens the mind spiritually for understanding and obedience to God’s Word. Through this rebirth the believer can review his nature through God’s eyes and can learn to love God and practice holiness.

09 We believe that repentance is an evangelical grace within a person brought on by the Holy Spirit. Through this grace the new Christian becomes aware of his sinful nature and humbles himself before God in sorrow and a desire to submit to God’s will with a determination to never return to sin. Further, he endeavors to walk with God and to please Him in all things.

10 We believe that Faith is the belief on God’s authority and whatsoever is revealed in His Word. Faith is God’s word leads to the acceptance of Christ, power through the Holy Spirit and a right to eternal life. Faith is wrought in the heart by the Holy Spirit and is accompanied by all other saving graces and leads to a life of holiness.

11 We believe that Justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal of sinners who believe in Christ, from all sin through the sacrifice that Christ has made. Justification is not based on any works or righteousness that we have but solely thorough the redemption and righteousness of Jesus Christ (and by faith is imputed to us of God). It is gained only through acceptance of Christ as God’s only Son who sacrificed His life that we might through His blood receive satisfaction before God.

12 We believe that sanctification is the process by which , according to the will of God, we are made partakers of His holiness. We believe that Sanctification is a progressive work; that it is begun in regeneration and is carried on in the hearts of believers by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. We believer that the Holy Spirit supplies this divine strength through the Word of God, self-examination, prayer and obedience.

13 We believe that those whom God has accepted in the Beloved and sanctified by His Spirit will never totally nor irrevocably fall away from the state of grace but shall certainly persevere to the end. And although through neglect, temptation and sin they may cause grief to the Spirit, impair their grace and comforts and bring reproach on the Church and temporal judgments on themselves yet, they shall be renewed again unto repentance and be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

14 We believe in the church with Christ the supreme head. We believe that through Christ (in whom all power is invested), a visible church of Christ is a congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the 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.

15 We believe that Baptism is an ordinance of the Lord Jesus Christ. Baptism is obligatory upon every believer wherein he is immersed in water in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit as a sign of his fellowship with the 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. It is prerequisite to the privileges of a church relationship (fellowship) and participation in the Lord’s supper.

16 We believe that the Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of Jesus Christ to be administered with the elements of bread and wine and to be observed by His Church until the end of the world. It is designed to commemorate His death, to confirm the faith and other graces of Christians and to be a bond, pledge and renewal of their communion with Him and of their church fellowship.

17 We believe that the first day of the week (Sunday) is the Lord’s day, or Christian Sabbath, and is to be kept sacred to religious purposes by the devout observance of both public and private worship.

18 We believe in Liberty of Conscience. God alone is Lord of the conscience and To God and to God alone, must persons give account. He has left it free from any doctrines or commandments of men which are contrary to His Word.

19 We believe in the Resurrection. The bodies of men after death returns to dust but their spirits return immediately to be reserved under darkness until the Last Day. At the last day, the bodies of all the dead – just and unjust – shall be raised for judgment. We believe that there is a radical difference between the righteous and the wicked; that such only as through faith are justified in the name of Lord Jesus and sanctified by the Spirit of God are truly righteous in His esteem.

20 We believe in the Judgment. We believe that God has appointed a day in which He will judge the world by Jesus Christ. In this day, the righteous (who only receive their righteousness through Jesus Christ) will receive everlasting life and joy while the wicked (those who have not accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior) will receive eternal damnation and punishment. This judgment will fix forever the final state of men in Heaven or hell.