What We Believe

Doctrinal Statement

1.         THE HOLY SCRIPTURES

 We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally inspired Word of God, the final authority for faith and practice, inerrant in the original writing, infallible and God-breathed.

II Tim. 3:16-17; II Peter 1:20-21; Matt. 5:18; John 16:12-13

 2.         THE GODHEAD

 We believe in one triune God, eternally existing in three beings - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory and having the same attributes and perfection.

Deuteronomy 6:4; II Corinthians 13:14

 3.         THE PERSON AND WORK OF CHRIST

 We believe the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, in order that he might reveal God and redeem sinful men.

Romans 3:24-25; I Peter 2:24; Ephesians 1:7

 4.         THE PERSON AND WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

 We believe that the Holy Spirit is the agent Who convicts the world of sin, or righteousness, and of judgment; and that He is the supernatural agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption.

John 16:8-11; II Corinthians 3:6; I Cor. 12:12-14; Romans 8:9

 We believe that He is the divine teacher who guides believers into all truth; and that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be yielded to the Spirit.

John 16:13; I John 2:20,27; Ephesians 5:18

5.         THE DEPRAVITY OF MAN

 We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam's sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature and became alienated from God; and that man is totally depraved, and of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition.

Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 3:22-23; Romans 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3,12

 6.         SALVATION

 We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the remission of sins.

Ephesians 3:8-10; John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7; I Peter 1:8

 7.         THE ETERNAL SECURITY AND ASSURANCE OF BELIEVERS

 We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God's power and are thus secure in Christ Jesus forever.

John 6:37-40; John 10:27-30; Romans 8:1,38-39; I Corinthians 1:4-8; I Peter 1:5

 We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God's Word, which clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to sin.

Romans 13:13-14; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11-15

 8.         THE TWO NATURES OF THE BELIEVER

 We believe that every saved person possesses two natures, with provision made for victory of the new nature over the old nature through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and that all claims to the eradication of the old nature in this life are unscriptural.

Romans 6:13; Romans 8:12-13; Gal 5:16-25; Eph. 4:22-24; Col 3:13; I Peter 1:14-16; I John 3:5-9

9.         SEPARATION

We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord; and that separation from all religious apostasy, all worldly sinful pleasures, practices and association is commanded of God.

II Timothy 3:15; Romans 12:1-2; Romans 14:13; I John 2:15-17; II John 9-11; II Cor 6:14; II Cor 7:1

 10.          MISSION OF THE SAVED

 We believe that it is the obligation of the saved to witness by life and by word to the truths of the Holy Scripture and to seek to proclaim the Gospel to all mankind.

Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; II Corinthians 5:19-20

11.         THE MINISTRY AND THE SCRIPTURAL GIFTS

 We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowment of all His gifts; and that the gifts of evangelists, pastors, and teachers are sufficient for the perfecting of the saints today; and that speaking in tongues and working of sign miracles gradually ceased as the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their authority became established.

I Corinthians 12:4-11; II Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 4:7-12

 We believe that God does hear and answer prayer of faith in accord with His own will, for the sick and afflicted.

John 15:7; I John 5:14-15

12.           THE CHURCH

 We believe that the church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again persons of this present age.

Ephesians 1:22-23; Ephesians 5:25-27; I Cor. 12:12-14; II Corinthians 11:2

 We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures.

Acts 14:27; Acts 20:17,28-32; I Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11

13.           DISPENSATIONALISM

We believe in the dispensational view of Bible interpretation but reject the extreme teaching known as "hyper-dispensationalism" such as that teaching which opposes either the Lord's Table or water baptism as a scriptural means of testimony for the church in this age.

Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; Acts 18:8; I Corinthians 11:23-26

14.           THE PERSONALITY OF SATAN

We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the cause of the fall; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and that he shall be eternally punished in the lake of fire.

Job 1:6-7; Isaiah 14:12-17; Matthew 4:2-11; Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:20

15.          THE SECOND ADVENT OF CHRIST

We believe in that "blessed hope", the personal, imminent, pre-tribulation, and pre-millennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones; and in His subsequent return to earth, with His saints, to establish His millennial kingdom.

I Thes. 4:13-18; Zech. 14:4-11; Rev. 19:11-18; Rev. 2:1-6; I Thes. 1:10; I Thes. 5:9; Rev. 3:10

16.           THE ETERNAL STATE

We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men: the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment.

Matthew 25:45; John 5:28,29; John 11:25-26; Rev. 20:5,6,12-13

We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul, and body will be reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord.

Luke 23:43; Rev. 20:4-6; II Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; I Thes. 4:16-17

17.           THE LORD'S SUPPER

We believe that the Lord's Supper is commemoration of His death and coming again and should be so observed.  Observance should be preceded by self-examination.

I Cor. 11:23-28;

18.           BAPTISM

We believe in water baptism by immersion for the believer, that the scriptural procedure is that of hearing the Gospel, believing the Gospel, and then baptism as an outward evidence of having received Jesus Christ as Savior.  Water baptism in no way adds to salvation by faith.

Matthew 28:29; I Peter 3:21; Acts 10:44-48

We by no means set aside, or undervalue any of the scriptures of the Old and New Testament, but we deem the knowledge, belief and acceptance of the truth as set forth in our Doctrinal Statement to be essential to sound faith and faithful practice of Community Baptist Church.