We Believe

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired by God. All that is affirmed and taught in the Bible is called Scripture and it stands as the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation. (2 Tim. 3:15-17, 2 Peter 1:19-21, Psalm 19:7-10, Psalm 119)

Among the increasing influence of false teaching, even under the guise of being from Scripture, we believe every teaching, including any from First Baptist Church, must viewed through the filter of four questions in order to ensure consistency and accuracy with the message and intent of God’s Word

Who is the main subject of the teaching? (1 John 5:6-12) The main point of the Bible is Jesus Christ, any attempt to make anybody else the point is inconsistent with Scripture.

What is the main objective the teaching is accomplishing? (1 Timothy 6:3-8) If this objective does not line up with something the Bible clearly teaches is promised from God it is inconsistent with Scripture.

Can you find multiple passages from different books in the Bible that teach the same message? (Proverbs 12:19) God’s Word is a unified canon, Old Testament and New Testament, and because God’s Truth never changes, theological doctrine is to be found across multiple books.

Does the teaching change any of the terms or details of the Gospel clearly defined by Christ and His Apostles? (Romans 1:16) The Good News of salvation God made available to sinners is the reason for God’s redemptive revelation in His Word. It is not a creation of man and we must understand its terms and read everything in God’s Word through it.

There is only one living and true God. He is the beginning of all things, a creative, intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being. God is all powerful, all knowing, everywhere, and outside of time. As his creation we owe him complete love, reverence, loyalty, and obedience. God while being only one reveals himself and is manifested in a triune nature. He is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, all distinct personal attributes but without division in any way of nature, essence, or being. (Genesis 1:1-2, Psalm 19:1-3, 1 Chronicles 29:10-13, Mark 1:9-11)

Men and Women are the special and unique creation of God. We are made in his image and are the crowing work of His creation. The decision of sin against God brought the reality and death of sin into the human race and the world for all. The greatest consequence of sin is that it separates us from God, we do not cease to be God’s crowning work and God does not cease loving us as his creation, but our sin separates and breaks our relationship with Him. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship once again. Thus, the most important need of humanity is to be forgiven by a Holy God, restore right relationship with Him, and walk in obedience to Him. (Romans 1:19-32, Genesis 1-3, 1 Corinthians 1:21-31, Ephesians 2:1-22)

Jesus is both Savior and Lord. Jesus Christ is the only one by which any man or woman can be saved. He is the Messiah and mediator of God who although He is God did not hold on to his equality with God but gave it up to become a man and live the perfect sinless life no other man is capable of living. Thus Jesus Christ is the only one who can fully know what it means to be man and fully knows what it means to be God and he mediates between the two. He paid the price necessary for sin (death) and then offers all who believe in Him his very life which is full and eternal. This means salvation is offered and available to all who would believe in Jesus as Savior and that God raised Him from the dead as Lord of all. (John 1:1-9, Philippians 2:5-11, 1 Peter 2:21-25, Matthew 1-4, Isaiah 7:14)

Salvation happens when a sinner turns away from his or her sin, asks God to forgive, and trusts their life completely at the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ. Salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification within the heart of the believer. Salvation is based on faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. (Romans 3:23-25, 5:8-10, 6:1-23, 8:1-39, 10:9-13, 13:11-14, Galatians 5)

Regeneration - is the work of God’s grace whereby believers become new after the likeness of Christ. It is a complete change of the heart described in Ezekiel 11:18-20.

Justification - is God’s gracious and full acquittal of all sinners who repent and believe in Jesus Christ based upon principles of God’s righteousness.

Sanctification - is the work of the Holy Spirit causing the experience, beginning with regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God’s purposes, continuing to realize spiritual maturity defined by the life and actions of Jesus Christ.

Glorification - The finality of salvation, it is a result of God coming back again and establishing a new heaven and a new earth or our soul going to be with Him through death. All evil is vanquished and the believer is in a final state of blessing and abiding with God for all eternity.

The Christian Church is a prophetic community of faith in Jesus Christ. It is prophetic in that it is designed and given authority to transform the culture through the power of the Gospel. It is a community of faith in Jesus Christ in that it is a gathering of likeminded believers who all answer the question Jesus asked Peter in Matthew 16:15 (Who do you say that I am?) in the same way Peter answered in Matthew 16:16 (You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.) The Church operates under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the authority of the Word of God. The Church exists in the local community and congregation all the way to the worldwide Church of all believers and disciples of Jesus. (Acts 2, 5, 6:3-6)

The Biblical definition of a disciple of Jesus is one who is…

1. A follower of Jesus Christ, believer in the Gospel and possesses an open willingness to its total impact in their lives

2. Is committed to allowing God to do the work of training in their lives through discipleship instruction in the local church

3. Is active in one form or another and concerned about the work God is doing through outreach and missions.

When one of these three distinct things is missing from the life of a disciple, the disciple suffers and it is the job of the church to encourage, instruct, and provide opportunities for service for each disciple to continue to grow in all three of these. (Matthew 4:19)

The first context of practice for the disciple is within his or her family. The family is an institution intentionally designed by God for the purpose of creating godly offspring.(Malachi 2:15) God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society, it is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption.

Marriage is held as sacred as designed by God as the union between a man and a woman for life. The gift of marriage has been given for the purpose of procreation of the human race, the enjoyment of intimate companionship, and the only channel of sexual expression keeping to Biblical standards.

Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God’s pattern from marriage and live out in front of them the standards and teaching of God’s Holy Word. Children are to honor and obey their parents. (Genesis 1:26-27, 2:15-25, 3:1-20, Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Psalm 127:3, Ephesians 5:21-33, 6:1-4, Titus 2:3-5)