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WHAT WE BELIEVE
Since God is a speaking-God we celebrate the fact that the God of Heaven can be known, for He has sought us out and made Himself known in the pages of Scripture (Hebrews 1:1-4; 2 Timothy 3:16). Below is a summary of our core theological beliefs. For a fuller expression of our beliefs, please see our doctrinal statement The Baptist Faith & Message (2023)
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THE BIBLE
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In a unique and glorious way, God wrote a book. We believe the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments are the very words of God, written by historical authors under the divine inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit. They make up the authoritative and inerrant Word of God, our supreme rule for faith and practice.
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THE LIVING GOD
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There is one true and living God who is the Creator of all things, the gracious Savior of sinners, and the sovereign King of the universe. God is one in essence and eternally exists in three distinct Persons — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three Persons are one with each other, equal in their eternity and divine attributes, and partner together in the creation and control of the universe, the redemption of human beings, and the restoration of all things.
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MANKIND
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In the creation of all things, God created human beings, male and female, in His own glorious image. God bestowed on them the glory and joy of loving fellowship with Himself, He made them sinless and equal in dignity and worth, and He wisely created them for complimentary roles in the contexts of marriage, family, and the local church.
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THE FALL
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As a result of the disobedience and rebellion of our first parents (Adam and Eve), the human race fell from its perfect condition in fellowship with God into a condition of decay, sorrow, sin, death, and separation from God. The world we see is not the world that was, and who we are is not who we were originally meant to be. We are far from home. In this fallen condition, all men and women are now sinful by nature and by choice, deserving of divine punishment, and entirely unable to remedy the situation. We stand utterly in need of God’s redeeming grace, which He is pleased to give through His Son, Jesus Christ.
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THE REDEEMER
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The just God (who must pronounce judgment on the guilty) is an infinitely merciful God (who gives everything for their forgiveness and rescue.) From eternity, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit formed a plan to redeem fallen sinners and restore them to God's favor and fellowship.
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The Son of God came into the world as a man amongst men—God in the flesh. Jesus was and remains fully divine and fully human in his one Person. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of a virgin, He lived a life of perfect righteousness on our behalf, He bore the divine punishment for our sins in His death at the cross, and He bodily rose from death on the third day—proving His divine identity and overcoming the reign of sin, death, and Satan.
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He now sits at God’s right hand in heaven, He is gathering His people to Himself from all corners of the earth through the ministry of the gospel, He continually intercedes for us, and He will return one day to finish God’s restoration process.
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SALVATION
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God’s gift of salvation in Christ is freely offered to all and is received, not by works or merit, but by faith alone in Christ alone. All who by God’s grace come to saving faith in Christ: the Spirit of God now dwells within them and has given them new spiritual life (regeneration), they are eternally forgiven of all sins and credited with the righteousness of Christ in a new standing before the Father (justification), they are made the beloved sons and daughters of God (adoption), they are being shaped into the likeness of Christ through life’s pilgrimage (sanctification), they will never perish or fall from grace (preservation), and they will be kept by God until they inherit glorified bodies in God’s eternal, glorified kingdom (glorification).
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THE CHURCH
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All who place their faith in Jesus Christ are brought into His one universal Church, composed of all believers and true churches world-wide. A local church is an outpost of Christ’s eternal Kingdom and is meant to be a foretaste of what will come upon His return. Each local church is commissioned by God to proclaim His gospel, preach His Word, love and serve one another, do the work of faithful evangelism, make disciples, and observe the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
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THE RESTORATION
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In the culmination of God’s purposes, Jesus Christ will visibly, physically, and personally return to the earth to judge the living and the dead, defeat all evil, bring His Church into eternal glory, and set up His eternal Kingdom of righteousness and peace. All those who are in Christ will be raised to everlasting joy and life on the basis of His saving work (e.g Heaven). All those outside of Christ will be raised to judgement and everlasting misery, receiving the just penalty of sin (e.g. Hell). God will create a new heavens and a new earth, wherein we will dwell in the endless glory and joy of His fellowship. The old things will have passed away and God will make all things new.
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* Other helpful statements on Christian theology:
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Together For The Gospel's Affirmations & Denials
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New Hampshire Baptist Confession of Faith
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The Chicago Statement On Biblical Inerrancy
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