Our faith is rooted and grounded in Jesus Christ, who is our sole authority for faith and practice. Throughout their history, Baptists have issued statements of faith that comprise a consensus of their beliefs, but have never been regarded as complete, infallible statements of faith, nor as authoritative official creeds (1963 Baptist Faith & Message, pp. 3-4). The following is a summary of our beliefs, most of which were taken from the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message:

 

• We believe the Bible is the inspired and infallible Word of God. “It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter.” (1963 Baptist Faith & Message, p.4) It is our guidebook for daily living.

 

• We believe there is only one living and true God, Creator and Ruler of the universe. He is the eternal triune God, revealing Himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

 

• We believe in the deity and humanity of Jesus Christ, his virgin birth, his sinless life and his miracles. We believe in his vicarious and atoning death on the cross, his bodily resurrection and his ascension to the right hand of the Father. We believe in his present rule as Head of the church, his indwelling presence in all believers and his personal return in power and glory.

 

• We believe in the Holy Spirit of God, who inspired men to write the Scriptures. We believe he exalts Christ, convicts men of sin, righteousness and judgment, and seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. We believe in his indwelling presence in a Christian from the moment of conversion and in his empowering each believer with spiritual gifts to be used for the edification of the church.

 

• We believe in salvation by God’s grace for sinful man through repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that all true believers whom God has accepted and sanctified in Christ will never fall away from the state of grace, but will persevere to the end.

 

• We believe in the final resurrection of the saved and the lost. The saved will have everlasting life with the Lord in heaven with a glorified body and the lost will be confined to everlasting punishment in hell.

 

• We believe the church is a local body of baptized believers, with Christ as the head and the pastors and deacons as its Scriptural officers. The church is an autonomous body, voluntarily cooperating with churches, associations, and conventions. We believe in the spiritual unity of the church as the body of Christ, including all believers everywhere, with equality across gender, racial, and class differences.

 

• We believe the two Scriptural ordinances of the church are baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We believe in baptism by immersion after conversion is a symbol of one’s faith and a testimony to new life in Christ. We believe the Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church periodically partake of the bread and fruit of the vine to memorialize the death of Jesus and anticipate His second coming.

 

• We believe it is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church to endeavor to make disciples of all nations, to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by any and all methods consistent with the gospel of Christ.