Our Beliefs

First Baptist Church Affirmation of Faith 

About the Bible: 

• We affirm that the Bible is the inerrant and infallible word of God in its original manuscripts. It is true and trustworthy and the final authority for every generation on all matters of faith and right living. All of the Bible is God-breathed, written down by human agents under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It is the record of God’s disclosure of Himself in history culminating in the revelation of Jesus Christ. The Bible is intended by God to serve as a living testimony of his nature, character and plans for history. 

Exodus 24:4, Deuteronomy 4:1-2, Joshua 8:34, Psalms 19:7-10, 119:11, 89, 105, 140, Isaiah 34:16, 40:8, Jeremiah 15:16, 36, Matthew 5:17-18, 22:29, Luke 21:33, 24:44-46, John 5:39,16:13-15,17:17, Acts 2:16ff., 17:11, Romans 15:4, 16:25-26, 2 Timothy 3:15-17, Hebrews 1:1-2, 4:12, 1 Peter 1:25, 

2 Peter 1:19-21 

About God: 

• We affirm that there is one living God, the Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer of the universe. He is all powerful, loving, knowing and wise. His holiness is infinite and perfect and He exists solely for His own glory. He is therefore worthy of our complete reverence, respect, obedience, and love, and our deepest satisfaction is in Him alone. He reveals Himself to humanity as God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but without any division in nature or purpose. 

God the Father: 

• We affirm that God the Father is sovereign over the universe and that He exercises His sovereignty and providence over creation in ways that are perfectly loving, wise and just. His plan for the redemption of the world is revealed fully in His Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Genesis 1:1, 2:7, Exodus 3:14, 6:2-3, 15:11 ff., 20:1 ff., Leviticus 22:2, Deuteronomy 6:4, 32:6, 

1 Chronicles 29:10, Psalm 19:1-3, Isaiah 43:3, 15, 64:8, Jeremiah 10:10, 17:13, Matthew 6:9 ff., 7:11, 23:9, 28:19, Mark 1:9-11, John 4:24, 5:26, 14:6-13, 17:1-8, Acts 1:7, 

Romans 8:14-15, 1 Corinthians 8:6, Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 4:6, Colossians 1:15, 1 Timothy 1:17, Hebrews 11:6, 12:9, 1 Peter 1:17, 1 John 5:7 

God the Son (Jesus Christ):

• We affirm that Jesus is God’s eternal Son, fully God and fully man. He is the divine Word. In His incarnation He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born to a virgin named Mary. By taking on flesh Jesus became fully human, but without sin, living a life of perfect obedience to God. He died on a cross according to God’s plan, making Himself our substitutionary atonement for sin, completely satisfying God’s demand for justice. When we surrender to Him in faith His righteousness is imputed (or given over to us) and our sin is imputed (or given over to Him) making intimacy with a just, holy and loving God possible forever. Jesus was raised from the dead in a physical yet glorified body and appeared to his disciples in a completely recognizable way. He ascended bodily into heaven where He now reigns with God as the Lord of history, interceding continuously with the heavenly Father on behalf of those who are His children by faith. Jesus is the only Mediator between God and humanity, i.e., the only way to eternal salvation. One day He will return in power and glory at which time all the world will see and recognize Him for who he is. He will then judge the living and dead and consummate history according to God’s holy and eternal plan. 

Genesis 18:1 ff., Psalms 2:7 ff., 110:1 ff., Isaiah 7:14, 53, Matthew 1:18-23, 3:17, 8:29, 11:27, 14:33, 16:16, 27, 17:5, 28:1-6, Mark 1:1, 3:11, Luke 1:35, 4:41, 22:70, 24:46, John 1:1-18, 29, 10:30, 38, 11:25-27, 12:44-50, 14:7-11, 16:15-16, 28, 17:1-5, 21-22, 20:1-20, 28, Acts 1:9, 2:22-24, 7:55-56, 9:4-5, 20, Romans 1:3-4, 3:23-26, 5:6-21, 8:1-3, 34, 10:4, 1 Corinthians 1:30, 2:2, 8:6,15:1-8, 24-28, 2 Corinthians 5:19-21, Galatians 4:4-5, Ephesians 1:20, 3:11, 4:7-10, Philippians 2:5-11, Colossians1:13-22,2:9,1 Thessalonians 4:14-18, 1 Timothy 2:5-6, 3:16, Titus 2:13-14, Hebrews 1:1-3, 4:14-15, 7:14-28, 9:12-15, 24-28, 12:2, 13:8, 1 Peter 2:21-25, 3:22, I John 1:7-9, 3:2, 4:14-15,5:9, 2 John 7-9, Revelation 1:13-16, 5:9-14, 12:10-11, 13:8, 19:16 

God the Holy Spirit:

• We affirm that the Holy Spirit is God, the third person of the Trinity. He was from the beginning, but He came into the world in a new and dynamic way on the day of Pentecost to glorify Christ. He convicts us of sin, calls us to repentance, invites us to faith, saves us by grace and transforms us over time, while we are still sinners, into the spiritual likeness of Christ. From the beginning the Holy Spirit inspired men to write the Bible and He illumines the minds and hearts of men and women of faith so they can understand and apply Biblical truth to their lives. He literally lives within believers, lovingly conveying the comfort and power of Christ. The Holy Spirit also gives certain gifts or abilities to believers so they can honor Christ by effectively building God’s Kingdom on earth. His residence in the believer is the ongoing inner assurance that he or she is an adopted child of God. 

Genesis 1:2, Judges 14:6, Job 26:13, Psalms 51:11, 119:7 ff., Isaiah 61:1-3, Joel 2:28-32, Matthew 1:18, 3:16, 4:1, 12:28-32, 28:19, Mark 1:10, 12, Luke 1:35, 4:1, 18-19, 11:13, 12:12, 24:49, John 4:24, 14:16-17, 26, 15:26, 16:7-14, Acts 1:8, 2:1-4, 38, 4:31, 5:3, 6:3, 7:55, 8:17, 39, 10:44, 13:2, 15:28, 16:6, 19:1-6, Romans 8:9-11, 14-16, 26-27, 1 Thessalonians 5:19, 1 Timothy 3:16, 4:1, 2 Timothy 1:14, 3:16, Hebrews 9:8, 14, 2 Peter 1:21, 1 John 4:13, 5:6-7, Revelation 1:10, 22:17 

About Humankind:

• We affirm that man was created in the image of God by a distinct act and is not merely the culmination of an evolutionary process. Man was created to glorify God by worshiping and serving Him and in so doing to live in perfect relational harmony with Him. However, man in his willful rebellion (original sin) against God irreparably damaged this relationship for all time bringing physical and spiritual death down upon himself, i.e., he succumbed to Satan’s temptation and paid the ultimate price. Man’s nature is now corrupted, a condition the Bible describes as being “dead in trespasses and sins” and because of this corruption his longing for relational restoration with the heavenly Father cannot be satisfied by his own merit or effort, no matter how zealously applied, but solely by the grace of Jesus. 

Genesis 1:26, 2:6, 17, 3:17-24, Psalm 1, 8:3-6, 32:1-5, 51:5, Isaiah 59:1-2, 64:6, Jeremiah 17:5, Matthew 16:26, Luke 18:26-27, Acts 17:26-31, Romans 1:19-32, 3:9-19, 23, 5:8, 6:23, 8:1, 

1 Corinthians 15:22, Ephesians 2:8-9, 13, Colossians 1:21-22, 3:9-11 

About Salvation:

• We affirm that the Bible teaches there can be no atonement for sin apart from the sacrificial shedding of blood and that the only perfect sacrifice for sin was Jesus Christ whose shed blood on the cross is sufficient to cover all sin for all persons who truly submit to Him in faith. This submission begins with an honest recognition of man’s sinful condition and is characterized by repentance, a deliberate turning away from sin in the direction of Christ. The Bible refers to this turning as being “born again”. Theologians call it spiritual regeneration and it is a miraculous work of the Holy Spirit. A born again believer is justified before God because Christ’s righteousness covers his sin. In this way the sinner is saved, i.e., his relationship with the Father is rescued or restored. Once a believer is saved the Holy Spirit gradually transforms his inner character into the likeness of Christ’s character, a lifelong progression called sanctification and a process the Bible refers to as “working out one’s salvation”. Glorification is the culmination of the salvation process. It is the final, complete and perfect makeover of the believer into the spiritual likeness of Jesus. It is the indescribable blessing that awaits all believers in heaven. 

Genesis 3:15, Exodus 3:14-17, 6:2-8, Matthew 1:21, 4:17, 16:21-26, 27:22-28:6, Luke 1:68-69, 2:28-32, John 1:11-14, 29, 3:3-21, 36, 5:24, 10:9, 28-29, 15:1-16, 17:17, Acts 2:21, 4:12, 15:11, 16:30-31, 17:30-31, 20:32, Romans 1:16-18, 2:4, 3:23-25, 4:3ff., 5:8-10, 6:1-23, 8:1-18, 29-39, 10:9-10, 13, 13:11-14, 1 Corinthians 1:18, 30, 6:19-20, 15:10, 2 Corinthians 5:17-20, Galatians 2:20, 3:13, 5:22-25, 6:15, Ephesians 1:7, 2:8-22, 4:11-16, Philippians 2:12-13, Colossians 1:9-22, 3:1ff., 

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, 2 Timothy 1:12, Titus 2:11-14, Hebrews 2:1-3, 5:8-9, 9:24-28, 11:1-12:8, 14, James 2:14-26, 1 Peter 1:2-23, 1 John:6-2:11, Revelation 3:20, 21:1-22:5 

About the Local Church:

• We affirm that the local church is a gathering of women and men who are committed to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and who are bonded to each other by His love into a covenant community. In the New Testament the church is described metaphorically as the body of Christ with Jesus as the head. Its purpose in the world is to serve as Jesus served when he physically dwelled on earth, declaring and demonstrating the rescuing nature of God to all who are lost in sin and suffering. The church does this with the hope, prayer and expectation that those who don’t know Him, i.e., the lost, will see in their efforts the exquisiteness of God’s transforming love and through the power of the Holy Spirit be drawn to saving faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. The church is more than an organization. It is a living organism, a spiritual family comprised of persons who have promised God that they will work diligently to worship together, love each other, grow in faith, serve their neighbors in the name of Jesus and proclaim the good news around the world. 

Matthew 16:15-19, 18:15-20, John 17, Acts 2:1-8, 41-42, 47, 5:11-14, 6:3-6, 13:1-3, 14:23, 27, 15:1-30, 16:5, 20:28, Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:2, 3:16, 5:4-5, 7:17, 9:13-14, 12, Ephesians 1:22-23, 2:19-22, 3:8-11, 21, 4:1-6, 12-16, 5:22-32, Philippians 1:1, Colossians 1:18, 24-29, 1 Timothy 3:1-15, 4:14, 1 Peter 5:1-4, Revelation 2-3, 21:2-3 

About the Christian Life:

• We affirm that the Christian life is more than simple belief in Jesus and more than moral goodness. It is a loving, joyful and obedient submission to Christ’s commands, a demanding challenge that involves the daily surrender of personal comfort and self-preoccupation in the service of others, particularly those with demonstrative need. We affirm what Jesus taught, namely, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” The Christian life can only be carried out faithfully by dependence on the inner strength of the Holy Spirit, the counsel and correctives of the Bible and the support of a believing community of faith. The Christian life is referred to as personal discipleship and is best described as “growing in the spiritual likeness of Christ”. It is characterized by prayer, good works and sacrificial acts of kindness directed not just toward the lovable, but also the unlovable, the unloving and the unlovely. The Christian life glorifies Christ, not self and serves as a visible expression of God’s transforming love. 

Luke 22:27, Galatians 2:20, 1 Peter 1:15-16, 2:11, 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, Romans 6:11-13, Ephesians 2:10, 4:11-12, 4:22-24, 1 Peter 4:10-11, Acts 1:8, Matthew 28:18-20, Colossians 1:10, John 15:8, 16, Luke 9:23 

About Baptism and the Lord’s Supper:

• We affirm that Christian baptism is an outward symbolic act representing the inward spiritual cleansing from sin that occurs when a person professes faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Baptism is an ordinance (i.e., a decree) of the Lord and should be carried out subsequent to a profession of faith in Him. Our Lord commanded that Christians “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” Baptism is therefore a matter of obedience, a testimony to the believer’s death to sin and resurrection to a new and Godly way of life. We do not practice infant baptism, but we recognize and affirm that many born again, biblical Christians believe in the legitimacy of infant baptism, understanding it not as a sacramental act that effects salvation, but as a sacred act that introduces a child into the covenant community of faith. Jesus himself was baptized, not because of sin, but as an initial public testimony to His complete identification with sinful humanity, culminating in the cross. Because Jesus was baptized publicly baptism ought to take place in the context of a believing community where it serves as a joyous expression of personal witness. Immersion is our preferred mode of baptism since the Gospels suggest that Jesus was baptized in this way. 

• We affirm that the celebration of the Lord’s Supper or Communion is also an act of obedience (i.e., an ordinance or decree) to a command of Christ who said, “…do this in remembrance of me”. It is a reminder of the shed blood and broken body of Christ on the cross, a death he endured for the remission of our sins. When believers receive the bread and cup, through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit we enter into spiritual union with the Lord and with one another, united as one body by his sacrificial love. The Lord’s Supper is also an earthly preview of the glorious oneness with Christ that will be ours when believers from every nation, tribe and language come together in heaven at the so-called messianic banquet. 

Matthew 3:13-17, 26:26-30, 28:19-20, Mark 1:9-11, 14:22-26, Luke 3:21-22, 22:19-20, John 3:23, 

Acts 2:41-42, 8:35-39, 16:30-33, Acts 20:7, Romans 6:3-5, 1 Corinthians 10:16, 21, 11:23-29, 

Colossians 2:12 

Evangelism and Missions:

• We affirm that it is the privilege of every Christian believer and every Christian church to “make disciples of all nations…” Done rightly this is not an act of duty or obligation, but the response of a loving soul that has truly been saved and transformed by the atoning work of Jesus Christ. It is an overflow of God’s love. As the Apostle Peter said to the Jewish Sanhedrin, “…we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard”. We also affirm that the work of evangelism and missions is done both by proclamation and example, i.e., by word and deed and that the outcome of this work is completely dependent on the sovereign power of God’s Holy Spirit. As the Apostle Paul declared, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth”. Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. We believe all persons need Christ even though they may not be cognizant of their need. Our vision for evangelism and missions emerges from Acts 1:8, “You shall be my witnessses in Jerusalem, Judea, and to the ends of the earth.” 

Genesis 12:1-3, Exodus 19:5-6, Isaiah 6:1-8, Matthew 9:37-38, 10:5-15, 13:18-30, 37-43,16:19, 22:9-10, 24:14, 28:18-20, Luke 10:1-18, 24:46-53, John 14:11-12, 15:7-8, 17:15, 20:21, Acts 1:8, Acts 2, Acts 8:26-40, 10:42-48, 13:2-3, Romans 10:13-15, Ephesians 3:1-11, 1 Thessalonians 1:8, 

2 Timothy 4:5, Hebrews 2:1-3, 11:39-12:2, 1 Peter 2:4-10, Revelation 22:17 

About Last Things:

• We affirm that history is under the sovereign control of Almighty God and that in the fullness of time He will send Jesus Christ to earth again, in glory, to consummate His redemptive plan for creation. The exact time and full details of this glorious event are a mystery, but we know by the Lord’s own word that He “…will come down from heaven…and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” At the end time Jesus will hold all human beings accountable for their sins. Those who haven't been forgiven will be separated from God for eternity to experience what the Bible refers to as "the second death". However, those who have received Christ's forgiveness will be resurrected to eternal life in their glorified bodies, to remain with the Lord forever. 

Isaiah 2:4, 11:9, Matthew 16:27, 18:8-9, 19:28, 24:27, 30, 36, 44, 25:31-46, 26:64, Mark 8:38, 9:43-48, Luke 12:40, 48, 16:19-26, 17:22-37, 21:27-28, John 14:1-3, Acts 1:11, 17:31, Romans 14:10, 

1 Corinthians 4:5, 15:24-28, 35-58, 2 Corinthians 5:10, Philippians 3:20-21, Colossians 1:5, 3:4, 

1 Thessalonians 4:14-18, 5:1 ff., 2 Thessalonians 1:7 ff., 2, 1 Timothy 6:14, 2 Timothy 4:1, 8,

Titus 2:13, Hebrews 9:27-28, James 5:8, 2 Peter 3:7 ff., 1 John 2:28, 3:2, Jude 14, Revelation 1:18, 3:11, 20:1-22:13