1. God
We believe that there is one, and only one, true and living God; that He is absolute in nature, perfect in attributes, holy in character, the maker and supreme ruler of heaven and earth; that He is infinite in wisdom, marvelous in power, and amazing in love; that He is holy, righteous, and true, worthy of all confidence and love; that He unites in Himself the infinite, the eternal, and the Almighty Three – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit; that the three persons of the Godhead subsist in the same divine nature, essence and being; and that they are co-existent and co-equal in every divine attribute, each one executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.
2. The Divine Trinity
a. God the Father: We believe that God the Father is the first person set forth in the Divine Trinity; that He is almighty, merciful, and just; that He is holy, righteous, and true; that He is eternally existent, glorious in nature, possessing the attributes of omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence; and that He, in harmony with His divine office, loves, provides, and protects, thus exercising providential watchcare over the sons of men, and especially a fatherly care over the children of God.
b. God the Son – Virgin Born: We believe that god the Son is the second person set forth in the Divine Trinity; that He is Very God of Very God; that He is almighty, merciful, and just; that He is holy, righteous, and true; that He is eternally existent, glorious in nature, possessing the attributes of omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence; that God the Father, through the Holy Spirit, is actually and eternally His divine father, and Mary the Virgin is actually and innocently His human mother; and that He, in harmony with His divine office, mediates, seeks, and saves, thus exercising the mediatorial office of redemption.
c. God the Holy Spirit: We believe that God the Holy Spirit is the third person set forth in the Divine Trinity: that He is almighty, merciful, and just; that He is holy, righteous, and true; that He is eternally existent, glorious in nature, possessing the attributes of omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence; that He restrains the world, the flesh and the devil; that He witnesses to the Truth, convicts the lost, extols the Christ, and testifies to the righteous judgments of God; that He, in harmony with His divine office, comforts, teaches, testifies, preaches, guides; regenerates, empowers, sanctifies, and anoints, thus exercising the quickening role in the works of saving the lost and the supervising role in the life of the saved.
3. The Devil
We believe that Satan is an actual person, and not an imaginary influence; that he once enjoyed high heavenly honors and glorious heavenly privileges; that he, through pride, ambition, and self-will attempted to betray the Almighty and brought down upon his head the judgment of God; that he operates today as the god of this world and the prince of the power of the air; that he is a diabolical inventor, and arch-deceiver, and the father of all lies; that he is the greatest enemy, the mightiest tempter, and the most relentless accuser of the saints; that he shall one day be incarnated in the person of the Anti-Christ and in that role will finally meet the Christ in the battle of Armageddon; that there "The seed of woman shall bruise the serpents' head;" and that he shall eventually be cast into the lake of fire, the eternal place of punishment, prepared for the devil and his angels.
4. The Holy Bible
We believe that the Holy Bible is a supernatural Book; that it is the very God-breathed Word; that it is the full, the final, and the complete revelation of God's will to man; that it has God the Holy Spirit for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without any admixture of error for its matter; that it was written by holy men of old as they were moved by the Holy Spirit; that it is verbally inspired and a perfect treasure of holy instruction; and that it reveals the principles by which God will judge us, and is, therefore, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions shall be tried. We believe the Authorized King James Version of 1611 to be the preserved Word of God for the English speaking people, faithful and true to the original autographs; that other versions are inferior and flawed, with some being outright perversions of God's Word; that other versions are totally unnecessary, as the King James is not only faithful, but an absolutely effective conveyance of God's message to mankind.
5. Creation
We believe that the Genesis record of creation is literal, and not allegorical or figurative; that God personally created the heaven and the earth in six literal days; that He miraculously brought forth all original matter out of nothing; that He actually fashioned all organic forms as specific creations subject to limited changes within the specie; that He definitely ordained each specie to bring forth after its kind; that He finally formed man out of the dust of the ground, not by any process of evolution but by instant action, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became immediately a living soul; that He created man in the image and likeness of God; that His every creative act was complete and perfect in itself; and that not one of His creations was conditioned upon antecedent changes naturally wrought during interminable periods of time.
6. The Fall of Man
We believe that man, originally created in holiness and actually associated with God in innocence under His law, did, by voluntary transgression of the Lord's command, fall from the high and happy state in which he was created, and as a consequence, became a sinner alienated from God and brought upon himself and all mankind just condemnation; and that he is now, by virtue of his fallen nature, utterly devoid of holiness, positively inclined to evil, and actually condemned to eternal ruin, without defense or excuse.
7. The Blood Atonement
We believe that the lost sinner is guilty and already under just condemnation; that he is by nature alien to God and because of sin condemned to die; that atonement for sin was effected through the mediatorial office of the Son who by divine appointment, freely took upon Himself our nature, yet without sin; that He, through obedience during His earthly walk, personally honored the divine Law by keeping it, and, through His death on the cross, actually satisfied the penalty of the offended Law by suffering in the sinner's stead; that He, through His obedience and sacrificial death, made full and vicarious atonement for all sin; that He died, the just for the unjust, bearing our sins in His body on the tree; and that His blood shed on the cross of Calvary provides for eternal cleansing, for pardon, for peace and rest.
8. Repentance and Faith
We believe that repentance and faith are solemn and inseparable prerequisites of salvation; that they are inseparable graces wrought in the heart by the quickening Holy Spirit; that the alien sinner, being deeply convicted of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment to come by the personal ministry of the Holy Spirit, and by Him having his understanding enlightened so that he can see the way of salvation through Christ, does actually repent, turning to God with unfeigned contrition, confession, and supplication, and does actually believe, surrendering himself wholeheartedly to the Lord Jesus, immediately receiving Him as personal and all-sufficient Saviour and openly confessing Him before all men.
9. Salvation by Grace
We believe that grace is elective and saving; that it embraces the personal triune and redemptive ministry of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; that it comprehends all of the labors put forth by the Almighty in the interest of perfect righteousness and the salvation of the lost soul; that it and it alone, saves even unto the uttermost all who repent toward God and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ; and that salvation thus wrought is wholly by grace, "The free gift of God." requiring neither culture nor works in any form to secure it or to keep it; that it is God's plan that those who are saved be "Holy and without blame before him in love;" that ALL who believe will receive the adoption, which is related to the redemption of the body (cf. Rom. 8:22-23), when all our inheritance based upon sonship is received; that predestination pertains to God's plan that we be conformed to the image of Christ; that we are to begin that process in this life, but God's sovereign purpose will be performed in perfection when all who have been saved are changed and are in the presence of Christ.
10. Regeneration
We believe that in order to be saved lost sinners must be regenerated, or born again; that regeneration is a recreative act, far beyond comprehension, wrought in the believer's heart by the direct personal ministry of the Holy Spirit; that it is instantaneous, miraculous, and not evolutionary or cultural; that it embraces the divine acts of cleansing the heart from all inward sins and of pardoning the soul of all outward guilt, in connection with the work of begetting a new creature in Christ Jesus; that the dead sinner is made to live through the new birth, becoming thereby a regenerated spirit, possessing eternal life, the gift of God; that the new birth comes after the Holy Spirit secures voluntary repentance and belief in the gospel; that it is the actual impartation of the divine life, not a mere transformation of the human life; and that the proper evidence of regeneration appears in the holy fruits of obedient followers of the Lord Jesus.
11. Justification
We believe that justification is one of the great gospel blessings secured through Christ for all who trust Him; that it is a legal and divine decree, declaring the believing sinner just; that it is thus a state of being free from condemnation, including forgiveness for inward sins and pardon from outward sins; that it secures through faith freedom from legal bondage, exemption from the wrath of God, and possession of peace which passes all understanding; that it is bestowed, not in consideration of any works of righteousness which we have done, but solely upon the evidence of faith in God and the Redeemer's blood; and that it brings us into a state of unchanging peace and favor with God and secures every other blessing needful for time and for eternity.
12. Security of the Believer
We believe that salvation wrought by grace is everlasting; that the saved soul journeying through the valley of the shadow of death need fear no evil; that the Holy Spirit-begotten and born are kept by the power of God; that the believer in Christ Jesus shall not be brought into judgment; that no one can lay anything to the charge of God's elect; that they are securely held in both the hand of the Father and the Son; and that the age-old Baptist doctrine, "Once saved, always saved," is heavenly and gloriously true.
13. Sanctification
We believe that sanctification is a divine work of grace; that it is not a state of sinless perfection attained through a "second blessing" or through a special "Baptism of the Holy Ghost;" that it is an act of grace by which the believer is separated unto God and dedicated unto His righteous purpose; that by it we enter into divinely appointed privileges and thus become larger partakers of His holiness; that it is a progressive work, begun in regeneration, and carried on in the life of every believer by the presence and the power the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, and that it is nurtured only by heaven's appointed means, especially by the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, and the saved through his self-examination, obedience, self-denial, watchfulness, and prayer.
14. The Resurrection
We believe that Christ Jesus arose bodily from the grave on the first day of the week, which day we now observe as the Lord's Day, a day of worship; that His miraculous emergence from the tomb forecasted a like bodily resurrection for every member of the Adamic race; that the dead in Christ, those of the first resurrection, shall be raised, and we which are alive and remain shall be changed and taken out of this world preceding the seven years of tribulation; that those who are of the Bride of Christ will be united to the Bridegroom at the marriage to be witnessed by the friends of the Bridegroom (Jn. 3:29; Rev. 19:9) who will share in the marriage supper of the Lamb after being rewarded at the Judgment Seat of Christ, and await completion of the first resurrection as the dead Tribulation saints are rewarded at the close of the seven years; that all the saved will then rule and reign with Christ in His Millennial Kingdom; that the Bride of Christ is the local Baptist church; that those who are saved and not members of a local Baptist church will be present as "Friends of the Bridegroom;" that the dead in trespasses and sins, or the dead out of Christ, shall rise at the close of the Millennium; and that they shall be brought before the Great White Throne Judgment and there face the Judge of the quick and the dead.
15. The Lord's Return
We believe that Christ Jesus is coming back again; that His return shall be personal, audible, visible, and bodily and that the saved shall be caught up together with Him in the clouds; that this return shall precede the tribulation and millennium; that He shall return to earth at the end of the tribulation; and He shall at that time turn the tables on Satan, take up the throne of David, put down all His enemies, rule with a rod of iron, triumph over sin, and give the world an example of righteous government during His thousand years of personal reign on earth.
16. The Righteous and the Wicked
We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked. We believe the righteous are they who believe in Christ Jesus, are justified by faith, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit and the Word; that the righteous are heirs of God and joint-heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ; and that eternal life, the gift of God, is the matchless possession of the just. We believe that the wicked are they who do not believe in Christ Jesus, condemned because of unbelief and corrupted by the god of this world; that the unjust spurn the privileges of God's grace, choosing the life of sin and rebellion; and that eternal damnation is the inescapable portion of the unjust.
17. The Local Church
We believe that a Baptist Church, according to divine purpose and plan, is a visible, local, organized body; that it is composed of baptized believers associated together by a covenant of faith and fellowship in the Gospel; that New Testament validity flows from strict obedience to essential principles of New Testament Law; that it is a sovereign, independent, democratic, and militant body; that its ministry is gloriously blessed with the presence and leadership of the Holy Spirit and the light and revelation of the written Word; that its work should ever be from within to without and never from without to within; that it is a self-governing body and is the sole judge, under the limitations of the Scriptures, of the measure and method of co-operation; that it is the only ecclesiastical tribunal the Lord has on earth; that its judgment concerning membership, missions, benevolence, and support is final; that it was personally founded by Christ Jesus during His ministry on earth; that it is the only organization with authority to administer the Lord's Supper and Baptism; that it is subject to His laws and is the custodian of His ordinances; that the perpetuity of our faith, our doctrines and practices, ordinances and ordinations, has been effected through the Holy Spirit personally planting and preserving local Baptist Churches of like faith and order down through the centuries even until now; that the local Church is the only body with authority to carry out the Lord's work upon the earth in this age, and as such, all authority over membership, affairs, and missions is autonomous to the local Church; that the only organization authorized to do mission work is the local Church, and that the pattern of Acts 13 is the only one sanctioned and permitted by God; that the authority to send out missionaries is not in name or formality only, but is a matter of the practical aspects of sending, supervising, and authorizing missionaries to win souls, baptize, and teach, with the goal of establishing a New testament Baptist church; that no place in Scripture allows for mission boards, fellowships, or conventions to do this work; that a sponsoring church is responsible for the activities and doctrine of missionaries authorized by her, and is responsible to the missionary for his needs and well-being; that the Local church cannot surrender this authority and responsibility to any organization and remain faithful to Scripture. We believe that the Bride of Christ is comprised of only, and all the members who have been scripturally baptized into a New Testament Baptist Church, and that Christ will present this Bride to Himself at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. We totally reject the false doctrine of the universal invisible church.
18. The Ordinances
We believe that Baptism and the Lord's Supper are ordinances personally set in the church of the living God by the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that Baptism is the burial of a believer in water by the authority and instruction of the local Baptist church; that it symbolizes the death and the burial and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ; that it also typifies the believer's death to sin, the burial of his old nature, and his resurrection unto a new life; and that it is administered in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; that Baptism places a believer into the membership of a New Testament Baptist Church. We believe the Lord's Supper is a memorial spread and administered by the authority and instruction of the local Baptist church; that participation in the observance of the Lord's supper is restricted to a closed communion within the membership of our local Baptist church; that it symbolizes the broken body and the shed blood of the Son of God; that its observance points backward to the crucified Lord on Calvary and forward to the returning Lord in glory; that the elements of the Lord's Supper are unleavened bread and grape juice, referred to as "The cup" and "The fruit of the vine;" We believe that these ordinances are not sacraments, but are sacred symbols, pointing to the world's only Saviour, and bidding the sons of men to look unto and everlasting fellowship with the King of kings and Lord of lords when He shall return to take over the reins of all government.
19. Church Administration
We believe that the local Baptist church and the State should be kept completely separate; that civil officers should be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed; that diligence should be had in seeking the will of God in all church matters; that missionary endeavor should ever be executed from within the local church to without; that pastors and deacons are the only divinely appointed church officers; that the Lord's Day, the first day of the week should be honored by the saints; that the Bible teachings should be constantly and consistently fostered by local Baptist churches; that members should be voted into the fellowship of the local body by the local body; that unruly church members should be prayerfully and Scripturally disciplined by the local Baptist church; and that letters of membership should be granted to sister local Baptist churches of the same faith and practice.
20. Church Co-operation
We believe that it is the privilege and the right of local Baptist churches to co-operate with each other in carrying out the commission of the Lord; that such co-operation is righteously effected only when the principles of Christ are preserved in the work fostered; and that all associated endeavors of local Baptist Churches should be carried on in such a way as to preserve the sovereign integrity of each local Baptist Church in all matters of faith and practice.
21. Civil Government and Religious Liberty
We believe that civil government is of divine appointment, for the interests and good order of human society; and that all civil authorities are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed; except only in the things opposed by the Word of God which reveals the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only Lord of the conscience, and the Prince of the kings of the earth. That church and state should be separate, the state owing the church protection and full freedom. No ecclesiastical group or denomination should be preferred above another by the state. The state should not impose taxes for the support of any form of religion. A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal.
22. Heresy and Apostasy
We believe in total and complete separation as taught in the Word of God, from all heresy and ecclesiastical apostasy. We believe the Scripture teaches that we are to: Try them, I John 4:1. Mark them, Rom. 16:17. Rebuke them, Titus 1:13. Have no fellowship, Eph. 5:11. Withdraw ourselves, II Thes. 3:6. Receive them not, II John 10,11. Have no company with them, II Thes. 3:14. Reject them, Titus 3:10. Separate ourselves, II Cor. 6:17.
23. Missions
The command to give the gospel to the world is clear and unmistakable and this Commission was given to the churches, not individuals.
24. Giving
Scriptural giving is one of the doctrines of the faith. II Cor. 8:7
We are commanded to bring our gifts into the storehouse (common treasury of the church) upon the first day of the week.
I Cor. 16:2 "We are commanded to bring the tithe into the common treasury of the church. Jesus said concerning the tithe "these ye ought to have done".
Mat. 23:23. "Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils"
Heb.7:2,4, "this was four hundred years before the law".
Lev. 27:30. "The tithe ... is the Lord's".
Mal.3:10. "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it."