Articles

Articles | Ordinances

These are our Articles of Faith adopted by our church in 1958.  In addition, our church is in alignment with the Baptist Faith and Message 2000.

Article 1 – ONE GOD– We believe in one God, eternally existing, in Three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  (John 4:23-24, 28; 10:30)

Article 2 – PERSONALITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT – We believe in the personality of the Holy Spirit and that His ministry is to reveal Christ to men in the regeneration and the sanctification of their souls.  (John 14:16-17, 26; 15:26)

Article 3 – INSPIRATION OF SCRIPTURES – We believe that the Holy Bible was inspired by God and inerrant in the original writings and is of supreme and final authority in faith and life. (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:19-20)

Article 4 – THE DEVIL – We believe that Satan is a personality, that he is the unholy god of this age, the author of all sin, and is destined to judgment in the lake of fire. (Matthew 4:1-2; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 20:10)

Article 5 – FALL OF MAN – We believe that man was created in the image of God and that he sinned and thereby incurred spiritual death.  (Genesis 1:27; 2:17; 3:11-12)

Article 6 – VIRGIN BIRTH – We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, and He is true God and true man and is the only and sufficient mediator between God and man. (Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1:27-35)

Article 7 – GOD’S PLAN OF SALVATION – We believe the plan of salvation to be repentance of sin (Luke 13:3) and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  We believe that Christ died for the sins of all mankind and that salvation is received only through personal faith in Him.  We believe in the absolute necessity of the new birth (John 3:1-8) wrought by the Holy Spirit.  This is a new life, a new heart, and a new spirit.  “Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature.”  (John 3:16, 18, 36; 5:24; Acts 4:12; 20:21; Romans 10:9-10; 2 Corinthians 5:17)

Article 8 – JUSTIFICATION – Justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal from sin of all who believe in Christ; this through no merit of our own but by His death which satisfied the law, which says man shall die because of his sin. (Acts 13:39; Romans 5:9)

Article 9 – SANCTIFICATION – We believe sanctification is the growth in grace of the Christian striving for spiritual perfection through the presence of the Holy Spirit dwelling in his heart.  It continues in the heart of the believer throughout the earthly life.  (Romans 8:5-17; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Philippians 3:13-14; 2 Peter 3:18)

Article 10 – SECURITY OF THE BELIEVER – We believe that those who are truly saved are saved eternally and though they may stray from the fellowship of God and lose the joy of their salvation, they shall not be cast off; they shall be kept by the power of God. (John 6:47; 10:27-29; Romans 8:35-39; 2 Timothy 1:12)

Article 11 – DISCIPLINE – We believe that, in the event an unhappy difference arises between members, it may be resolved in the Spirit of Christ as we are instructed by Matthew 18.  We further believe that when a member of the church shall be guilty of gross breach of the covenant, as of public scandal to the extent that his life becomes a reproach to the church, it shall be the duty of the pastor and deacons to prayerfully deal with the member, using every possible means to bring about restoration. (Galatians 6:1)

Article 12 – CIVIL OBLIGATION – We believe the Scriptures teach that civil government is of divine appointment, for the interest and good order of human society; and that civil authorities are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed; except only in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that we should consider it a Christian duty to exercise our voting privileges at all times. (Deuteronomy 16:16; Romans 13:1-8)