FBC Articles of Faith

Articles of Faith

The following articles set forth in this statement of faith are not intended in any sense as a substitute for the Word of God. They are only to be used as an expression of the views of the constituent member as to the prominent teachings of the Scriptures, for the peaceful, efficient, and unified sentiment among its members as to what the Bible teaches. The Bible shall be first and final in all matters.

We believe that the Bible is the Word of God; that it was written by individuals who were moved by the Holy Spirit so that their writings, in the original, were supernaturally, verbally, and completely inspired, free from error, as no other writings have ever been or ever will be. The Bible (39 Old Testament and 27 New Testament books) is a God-breathed treasure of the complete and final revelation of the will of God to man, and is the only absolute authority in all matters of faith and conduct. God has preserved His Word through the ages, so that it is completely trustworthy and eternal. (Matthew 24:35; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21)

We believe that there is only one true God, existing eternally in three distinct but equal persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This uniquely Divine unity is best described as the Trinity. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19-20; 2 Corinthians 13:14)

A. God the Father. We believe in God the Father who is perfect in holiness, boundless in love, infinite in wisdom, measureless in power. We believe that He hears and answers prayers and that He elects and saves from sin all who will come to Him through Jesus Christ His Son. (Leviticus 11:44; Psalm 139; Daniel 2:21; 4:17; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 Corinthians 8:6)

B. God the Son. We believe in Jesus Christ, God the Son, pre-existent with the Father, conceived of the Holy Spirit and truly man, sinless in His life and nature, infallible in His teaching, providing salvation for the sins of the world by His substitutionary death on the cross. We believe in His bodily resurrection, His ascension to the Father’s right hand where He presently and continually intercedes for His people, and His glorious and personal Second Coming. (John 8:58; 10:30-33; Colossians 1:14-18; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23; Hebrews 4:15; 7:26; Ephesians 1:7; 1 John 2:2; Matthew 20:28; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; 1 Corinthians 15:20; Acts 1:11; Revelation 19:11-16)

C. God the Holy Spirit. We believe in the deity and person of the Holy Spirit. We believe He came from God to convict, to regenerate, to baptize, to indwell, to sanctify, to seal, to fill, to dispense spiritual gifts, and to comfort those who believe in Jesus Christ. (John 14:26; Acts 5:3-4; John 16;8-11; Titus 3:5; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Ephesians 1:13; 5:18; 1Corinthians 12:11)

We believe the Genesis account of creation to be completely accurate and literal, all things being the result of the direct creation of God without any evolutionary process whatsoever. (Genesis 1, 2; John 1:3; Colossians 1:15-18)

We believe in the reality and person of Satan, the Devil; that he was created by God as an angel, but through pride and rebellion became the enemy of the Creator; that he became the unholy prince and poser of the air; and that he is destined to the judgment of an eternal justice in the Lake of Fire.
(Isaiah 14:12-14; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 6:11-13; Revelation 20:10)

We believe that man, according to the Scripture, was created a moral being in the image and likeness of God; who through an act of voluntary disobedience, fell from his original sinless state. Consequently, the entire human race, having fallen in Adam, have been found guilty, are now sinners, depraved in nature, unable to redeem themselves, void of holiness, inclined to evil, and hopeless apart from Divine grace. (Genesis 1:26-28; Genesis 3: Romans 3:9-23; 5:12)

We believe that the salvation of sinners, to be initiated by God, is completely by grace, through faith, plus nothing. The basis of the sinner’s salvation is the finished work of Jesus Christ, who became the sinner’s substitute before God, providing the only acceptable sacrifice for the sins of the whole world; and that all who by faith and repentance of sin receive Him as their personal Savior are justified by God and are born again by the Holy Spirit, thereby become the children of God. (Ephesians 2:8-9; John 3:16; Hebrews 9:26; 1 John 2:2; Acts 16-31; John 1:12)

We believe that justification is the means by which God declares righteous the sinner. Thus, it is God’s gracious and full acquittal of every sinner who will believe on Christ. The source of justification is the grace of God, the basis of justification is the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the means of justification is through faith. (See 2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 3:24; 5:1, 9; Titus 3:7)

We believe that all who are justified by Jesus Christ are saved forever and cannot lose their salvation. Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (John 3:16; 10:28-29; Romans 8:35-39; 2 Timothy 1:12; Titus 1:2; 1 John 5:11-13)

We believe that sanctification is the divine setting apart of the believer unto God, accomplished in a threefold matter: first, upon redemption the believer is given a position of holiness which places him “in Christ”; second, it is a continuing process by which the Holy Spirit, through application of the Word of God, causes a believer to grow into spiritual maturity; and third, the final work of sanctification takes place when the Lord returns and we will ultimately be made like Him. (Romans 8:15-17; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; 1 John 3:2)

We believe the local church is an organized congregation of immersed believers, observing the ordinances of the local church (baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper). We hold that the local church has the absolute right of self-government, free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations, and that Christ alone is the Head of the Church. We believe that each local church is the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation with other biblical groups; and that on all matters of membership, of procedure, of government, of discipline (1 Corinthians 5:1-3), or of benevolence, that the will of the local church is final. We also do hereby believe that the local church is to meet together for the purposes of worship, instruction in doctrine, fellowship, and the evangelization of the lost. We believe likewise the Body of Christ is composed of those who have true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 2:41-42; Matthew 28:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:2; 1 Corinthians 5:1-3; Ephesians 4:12; Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:18)

We believe in the pre-millennial return of Christ, at which time He will literally and physically return to the earth to establish His throne and His kingdom for a period of one thousand years where He will reign. We believe that a seven-year period of tribulation, known as the Seventy Weeks of Daniel, will occur. We believe that the Bride of Christ will be translated (raptured) into glory before the wrath of God’s judgment is poured out upon the earth. The Rapture of the Church is the moment for which every member of the Church should prepare and look toward. It is the blessed hope of every born again believer. (Isaiah 11:4-9; revelation 19:11-20:6; Matthew 24:3-46; 2 Thessalonians 2; Daniel 9:24-27; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; John 14:1-3; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Corinthians 15:51-58)

We believe in the bodily resurrection of all the dead, the saved or righteous to eternal life, and the unsaved or wicked to eternal condemnation and punishment. We believe that the spirit of the believer at death passes immediately into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that the spirit of the unsaved passes immediately upon death into conscious misery and torment until the final judgment, at which time those names not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will be cast eternally into the Lake of Fire. (John 5:28-29; Luke 16:19-26; Revelation 20:5-6,11-15; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23)

We believe that God has ordained and created all authority consisting of three basic institutions: 1) the home, 2) the church , and 3) the state. Every person is subject to these authorities, but all (including the authorities themselves) are answerable to God and governed by His Word. God has given each institution specific biblical responsibilities and balanced those responsibilities with the understanding that no institution has the right to infringe upon the other. The home, the church, and the state are equal and sovereign in their respective biblically-assigned spheres of responsibility under God. (Ephesians 5:22-24; Romans 13:1-7; Matthew 22:21; Acts 4:19-20; 5:29; 1 Peter 2:13-14; Hebrews 13:17)

We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity should be engaged outside of a marriage between one man and one woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication (pre-marital sex), adultery and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. (Genesis 2:24; 19:5, 13; 26:8-9; Leviticus 18:1-30; Romans 1:26-29; 1 Corinthians 5:1; 6:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4)

We believe that God hates divorce and intends marriage to last until one of the spouses dies. Divorce and remarriage are regarded as adultery except on the grounds of fornication or desertion. Those individuals having been divorced for a biblical reason (fornication or desertion) or those having lost a spouse to death are biblically free to remarry. Divorced and remarried persons or divorced persons may hold many positions of service in the church and be greatly used of God for His service. (Malachi 2:14-17; Matthew 19:3-12; Romans 7:1-3; 1 Corinthians 7:1-7)

We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. We believe that abortion is the taking of innocent life. We reject any teaching that abortion of pregnancies due to rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, birth or population control, or the mental well-being of the mother is acceptable. (Job 3:16; Psalm 51:5; 139-14-16; Isaiah 44:24; 49-1,5; Jeremiah 1:5; 20:15-18; Luke 1:44)

We believe that Christians are directed not to bring lawsuits against other Christians or the church to resolve personal disputes. We believe the church possesses all resources necessary to resolve personal disputes between its members. We believe the ultimate goal is to resolve the conflict and to bring glory to God by the restoration of relationships. (1 Corinthians 6:1-8; Ephesians 4:31-32)

We believe that God has given the church a great commission to proclaim the gospel and to make disciples so that there might be a great multitude from every nation, tribe, ethnic group, and language group who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As ambassadors of Christ, we must use every available means to go to our community and the world, not waiting for them to come to us. (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:20)

We believe that every Christian, as a steward of that portion of God’s wealth entrusted to him, is obligated to support his local church financially. We believe that God has established the tithe as a basis for giving, but that every Christian should give offerings sacrificially and cheerfully to the support of the church, the relief of those in need, and the spread of the gospel. We believe that a Christian relinquishes all rights to direct the use of the tithe or offering once the gift has been made. (Genesis 14:20; Proverbs 3:9-10; March 12:41-43; Acts 4:34-37; 2 Corinthians 8-9; Galatians 6:6; Ephesians 4:28; 1 Timothy 5:17-18; 1 John 3:17)

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