What We Believe

First Baptist Church Statement of Faith

THE SCRIPTURES

We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired; that it has truth for its
matter without mixture of error; that it is and shall remain to the end of the age the only
complete and final revelation of the will of God to man; and that it is the true center of
Christian union and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and
opinions shall be tried. By "Holy Bible" we mean that collection of sixty-six books from
Genesis to Revelation which does not only contain and convey the Word of God, but is the
very Word of God. By "inspiration" we mean that the books of the Bible were written by
holy men of old as they were moved by the Holy Spirit of God in such a definite way that
their writings were supernaturally and verbally inspired and free from error. First Baptist
Church believes that we have the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God preserved in the
King James Version of the Bible for the English-speaking people; and, therefore, it is the
only Bible used by our ministries.

ONE TRUE GOD

We believe there is one and only one living and true God, an infinite intelligent Spirit, the
Maker and Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth; that He is inexpressible, glorious in
holiness, and worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love; that in the unity of the
Godhead there are three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, equal in every
divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of
redemption.

THE HOLY SPIRIT

We believe the Holy Spirit is a divine person, equal with God the Father and God the Son
and of the same nature; that He was active in creation; that in His relation to the
unbelieving world He restrains the evil one until God’s purpose is fulfilled, and He convicts
of sin, of judgment, and of righteousness; that He bears witness to the truth of the Gospel in
preaching and testimony; that He is the agent in the new birth; and that He seals, endues,
guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies, and helps the believer.

THE DEVIL OR SATAN

We believe that Satan was once holy and enjoyed heavenly honors, but through pride and
ambition to be as the Almighty, fell and drew after him a host of angels; and that he is now
the malignant prince of the power of the air and the unholy god of this world. We hold him
to be man’s greatest tempter, the enemy of God and His Christ, the accuser of the saints,
the author of all false religions, the chief power back of the present apostasy, the lord of the
Antichrist, and the author of all the powers of darkness. He is destined, however, to final
defeat at the hand of God’s Son and the judgment of an eternal justice in Hell, a place
prepared for him and his angels.

THE CREATION

We believe in the Genesis account of creation and that it is to be accepted literally and not
allegorically or figuratively; that man was created directly by God in God’s own image and
after His own likeness; that man’s creation was not a matter of evolution or evolutionary
change of species or developments through interminable periods of time from lower to
higher forms; and that all animal and vegetable life were made directly, and God’s
established law was that they should bring forth only "after their kind."

THE FALL OF MAN

We believe that man was created in innocence under the law of his Maker, but by voluntary
transgression fell from his sinless and happy state; consequently, all mankind are now
sinners, not by constraint but by choice, and therefore are under just condemnation
without defense or excuse.

THE VIRGIN BIRTH

We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten of the Holy Ghost in a miraculous manner: born
of Mary, a virgin, as no other man was ever born or can ever be born of woman; and He was
born the Son of God and God the Son.

THE ATONEMENT FOR SIN

We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace through the mediatorial offices of
the Son of God, who by appointment of the Father freely took upon Himself our nature yet
without sin, who honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and who by His death
made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins, thus we have redemption through His
blood; that His atonement consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr,
but was the voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner’s place, the Just dying for the
unjust, Christ the Lord bearing our sins in His own body on the tree; that, having risen from
the dead, He is now enthroned in heaven and uniting in His wonderful person the most
tender sympathies with divine perfection; and that he is in every way qualified to be a
suitable, compassionate, and all-sufficient Saviour.

SALVATION BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH

We believe that, in order to be saved, sinners must be born again; that the new birth is a
new creation in Christ Jesus; that it is instantaneous and not a process; that in the new
birth the one dead in trespasses and in sins is made a partaker of the divine nature and
receives eternal life, the free gift of God; that the new creation is brought about in a manner
above our comprehension and is not by culture, nor by character, nor by the will of man,
but wholly and solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with divine truth so as
to secure our voluntary obedience to the Gospel; and that proper evidence of the new birth
appears in the holy fruits of repentance and faith and newness of life.

THE FREENESS OF SALVATION

We believe in God’s electing grace: that the blessings of salvation are made free to all by the
Gospel; that it is the immediate duty of all to accept them by a cordial, penitent, and
obedient faith; and that nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth but
his own inherent depravity and voluntary rejection of the Gospel, which rejection involves
him in an aggravated condemnation.

JUSTIFICATION

We believe that the great Gospel which Christ secures to such as believe in Him is
justification; that justification includes the pardon of sin and the gift of eternal life on
principles of righteousness; and that it is bestowed not in consideration of any works of
righteousness which we have done, but His righteousness is imputed unto us solely
through faith in the Redeemer’s blood.

REPENTANCE AND FAITH

We believe that repentance and faith are solemn obligations, and also inseparable graces,
wrought in our souls by the quickening Spirit of God; thereby, being deeply convicted of
our guilt, danger, and helplessness, and of our need of salvation by Christ, we turn to God
with unfeigned contrition, confession, and supplication for mercy and at the same time
heartily receive the Lord Jesus Christ and openly confess Him as our only and all-sufficient
Saviour.

THE CHURCH

We believe that a Baptist church is a congregation of baptized believers associated by a
covenant of 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; and that its officers of ordination are pastors or elders and deacons whose
qualifications, claims and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures. We believe the true
mission of the church is found in the Great Commission: first, to make individual disciples;
second, build up the church; third, to teach and instruct as He commanded. We do not
believe in the reversal of this order, and we hold that the local church has the absolute
right of self-government, free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or
organizations. We believe that the one and only superintendent is Christ through the Holy
Spirit; that it is scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other in contending for
the faith and for the furtherance of the Gospel; that every church is the sole and only judge
of the measure and method of its cooperation; and that on all matters of membership, of
policy, of government, of discipline, of benevolence, the will of the local church is final.

BAPTISM AND THE LORD’S SUPPER

We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion in water of a believer in the name of the
Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, by the authority of the local church, to show
forth a solemn and beautiful emblem of our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Saviour
with its effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life; and that it is prerequisite to
the privileges of a church membership and to the Lord’s Supper, which the members of the
church by the use of bread and the fruit of the vine are to commemorate together the death
and coming of the Lord, preceded always by solemn self-examination.

THE SECURITY OF THE BELIEVER

We believe that all the redeemed are kept by the power of God and are secure in Christ. It is
a work of God which guarantees that the gift of salvation, once received, cannot be lost,
and believers are eternally secure.

THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED

We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the
wicked; that all such as through faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and
sanctified by the Spirit of our God are truly righteous in His esteem; while all such as
continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked and under the curse; and that
this distinction holds among men both in and after death in the everlasting happiness of the
saved and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost.

PRE-MILLENNIAL

We believe in and accept the sacred Scripture upon these subjects at their face and full
value. Of the resurrection, we believe that Christ arose bodily the third day according to
the Scriptures; and that He alone is our merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining
to God. Of the return of Christ, we believe that this same Jesus which is taken up from you
into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven. Jesus will
come in the air for His saints before the tribulation period. After the tribulation, He will
return to the earth and reign a thousand years.

MISSIONS

We believe that the command to give the Gospel to the world is clear and unmistakable;
and that this commission was given to the churches to go, make disciples, baptize them,
and teach them.

THE GRACE OF GIVING

We believe that God’s method of financing His earthly work, which is the spreading of the
Gospel to all nations, the care of the churches, and the support of the ministry, is by the
tithes and offerings of His people; that it is to be given to the Lord through His church or
storehouse to be distributed as directed by the leadership of the Spirit as the need arises;
that the time to tithe is upon the first day of the week; that everyone is accountable to the
Lord for one-tenth of his income; and that tithing was instituted long before the law was
ever given and was practiced by the early church.