Essential Christian Beliefs

God

There is one God. He is the Creator and Ruler of the universe. He exists in three personalities: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are co-equal and one. He is perfect in His many attributes of holiness, love, power, knowledge, justice, and mercy.


Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ is God's only begotten son. He is co-equal with the Father. He is both God and man. He was born of a virgin. He lived a sinless, human life and offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice for the sins of His people by dying on a cross. He died to become a substitutionary atonement for the sins of His people. He arose from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended to Heaven's glory and will return again someday to earth to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.


Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and the Son of God. He is the divine helper, assistant, counselor, and instructor. He is present in the world to make individuals aware of their need for Jesus Christ. He also lives in every Christian from the moment of salvation. He provides the Christian with power for living, understanding of spiritual truth and guidance in doing what is right. He gives every believer a spiritual gift when they are saved. He restrains sin and Satan. As Christians, we seek to live under His control daily.


God's Word

The Bible is God's Word to us. It was written by human authors, under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is the supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs and living. The Bible is inspired by God and is the truth without any mixture of error. It is the sole authority for life.


Human Beings

Human beings are made in the spiritual image of God, to be like Him in character. As the supreme object of God's creation, we were designed for dignity. However, Adam's sin catapulted the creation into a fallen state and plunged all his descendants into depravity. Thus, all of us are marred by rebellion and disobedience, which is called "sin," toward God. Sin separates people from God and causes many problems in life.


Salvation

Salvation is God's free gift to all. We receive this gift through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ alone. Repentance means turning away from our sin and turning toward Christ. Faith means trusting in Christ alone for the remission of our sins. When we place our faith in Jesus Christ, His perfect obedience is credited to us so that God sees us as the righteousness of Christ. Every person who truly is saved is eternally secure in the Lord Jesus Christ and will not lose their salvation.


Eternity

People were created to exist forever. We will either exist eternally separated from God by sin or eternally with God through forgiveness and salvation. To be eternally in union with Him is eternal life. Heaven and Hell are real places of eternal existence.

Baptist Beliefs

Baptism

Baptism is a picture and an illustration- a symbolic act. Baptism by immersion best illustrates the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ on our behalf and our subsequent faith in Him. It is not necessary for salvation but is strongly associated with salvation, as it best illustrates our new identity with Jesus Christ.

We believe in believer's baptism. A person must first exercise faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior, believing that He died for their sins, was buried, and rose from the dead. An infant or person who does not understand God's plan of salvation cannot make that kind of commitment. The Scriptural order is belief first followed by baptism.


Lord's Supper

The Lord's Supper is an ordinance of the church. It was instituted when the Lord had the Passover meal before His crucifixion. We observe the Lord's Supper on a regular basis in remembrance of Jesus Christ's atonement for our sins. It is a proclaimation of His death and an assurance of His second coming. We ask only those who have made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ to participate in the Lord's Supper. The elements of bread and grape juice are used as symbols of Christ's body that was broken and His blood that was shed for the remission of our sins.


Church Government

We believe in the local autonomy of the church. The church is a local assembly of baptized believers, under the discipline of the Word of God and the lordship of Christ. It is organized to carry out the commission to evangelize, to teach, and to administer the ordinances of believer's baptism and the Lord's supper. Its offices are pastors and deacons, and it is self-governing. Its functions through the ministry of gifts given by the Holy Spirit to each believer.


Marriage

We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female.  These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God (Gen. 1:26-27).  Rejection of one's biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person.


We believe that the term "marriage" has only one meaning:  the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture, and is an extension of our worship services and our worship to God. (Gen. 2:18-25)  We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other. (1 Cor. 6:18; 7:2-5; Heb. 13:4)  We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman.


We believe that any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest and use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God. (Matt. 15:18-20; Rom. 1:26-29; 1 Cor. 6:9-10)  We believe that God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one's gender by surgery or appearance.