Doctrinal Statement
This statement of beliefs summarises the main doctrinal beliefs of Bible Baptist Church. We realise that some of these paragraphs carry more weight than others. Some are salvation doctrines that must be believed by all true believers, while others reflect our view on issues which are understood differently within the global Christian community. While we recognise that people come to our church from a variety of evangelical backgrounds, this statement of beliefs represents the teaching position of our church, and we ask that church members be able to live in harmony with this statement of beliefs in good conscience and without a spirit of divisiveness.
The Bible
1. We believe that every part of the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments is verbally inspired of God and is inerrant in the original writings and that they are of supreme and final authority in faith and life (II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:19-21).
God
2. We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, equal in essence, while distinct in personality and function (Ex 20:2-3; Mat 28:19; I Cor 8:6).
Creation
3. We believe in God’s direct creation of the heavens and earth without the use of pre-existent material and apart from any process of evolution whatsoever, according to the Genesis account. We believe that human beings were created in the image of God as either male or female, that gender identity and roles are aspects of God’s creative design, that God’s design for marriage is the joining of one man and one woman for life, and that sexual intimacy is to be expressed only within the bond of biblically defined marriage. We believe that human life should be treated with great dignity from conception until death. (Gen 1:1-31, 2:18, 2:24-25; Ex 20:11; Ps 139:13-14; Mat 19: 4-6; Col 1:16-17; Heb 11:3, 13:4)
Jesus
4. We believe that Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of Mary, a virgin, and is true God and true man (John 1:1, 14; Luke 1:35; Isaiah 7:14; Galatians 4:4).
5. We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord, in His ascension into heaven, and in His present life there as High Priest and Advocate (Matthew 28:1-7; Acts 1:8-11; I Corinthians 15:4-9; Hebrews 4:14-16).
The Holy Spirit
6. We believe that the Holy Spirit is the agent of the new birth through conviction and regeneration and that He seals, indwells, and baptises every believer into the body of Christ at the moment of conversion. We believe that the Holy Spirit fills, empowers, helps, teaches, sanctifies and graciously equips believers for service. We believe that the miraculous gifts God gave believers during the apostolic age (such as tongues, prophecy, healing, etc, ) were signs and wonders to validate the apostles’ message about the risen Lord and the equality of Jew and Gentile in one body, and having served their foundational purpose, are not presently operative among God’s people. (Jn 3:5; 14:16,26; Acts 2:43; 5:12; Rom 8:9,13,16; 12:6-8; I Cor 12:13; Gal 5:22-23; Eph 1:13; 2:20; 4:11-12, 30; 5:18; Heb 2:3-4).
Mankind
7. We believe that man sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death, which is separation from God, and that all human beings are born with a sinful nature and are sinners in thought, word, and deed (Genesis 1:26-27; 3:1-6; Romans 5:12, 19; 3:10-13; Titus 1:15-16).
Salvation
8. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died as the substitutionary sacrifice for all men. The blood atonement He made was unlimited in its potential. It is limited only in its application, effectively saving those who are brought by the Holy Spirit to repentance and faith (Isaiah 53:4-11; II Corinthians 5:14-21; I John 2:1-2; II Peter 2:1; I Timothy 4:10; John 3:5-8; 16:8-13).
9. We believe that all who receive by faith the Lord Jesus Christ are born again of the Holy Spirit and thereby become children of God (John 1:12-13; 3:3-16; Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:8-9).
10. We believe in the eternal security of the believer, that it is impossible for one born into the family of God ever to be lost, because he is forever kept by the power of God (John 6:39,40; 10:28-29; Romans 8:35-39; Jude 1; I Peter 1:5).
Things to Come
11. We believe in “that blessed hope”—the personal, premillennial, pretribulational, and imminent return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, when the church will be “gathered together unto Him” (Titus 2:13; John 14:1-3; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Corinthians 15:51-58; II Thessalonians 2:1-3).
12. We believe in the literal fulfillment of the prophecies and promises of the Scriptures which foretell and assure the future regeneration and restoration of Israel as a nation (Genesis 13:14-17; Jeremiah 16:14-15; 30:6-11; Romans 11).
13. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, the everlasting blessedness of the saved, and the everlasting punishment of the lost
(Matthew 25:31-46; Luke 16:19-31; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 21:1-8).
The Church
14. We believe that the Church, which is Christ’s body, is the spiritual organism consisting of all born again believers in this New Testament dispensation. We believe that the local church is the agency through which God has chosen to accomplish His work in the world. A New Testament Baptist church is an organised body of baptised believers; immersed upon a credible confession of faith in Jesus Christ; having two offices (pastor and deacon); congregational in governance; autonomous in nature; and banded together for work, worship, edification, the observance of the ordinances (baptism and the Lord’s supper), and the worldwide fulfilment of the Great Commission. We believe that the local church, under Christ’s headship, is to be free from any external hierarchy and should not associate itself with any organisation compromising the truth (Acts 2:41-47; Eph 3:10; Mat 28:18-20; I Tim 3; I Pet 5:1- 3; Eph 1:22-23; Rom 16:17; 1 Cor 12:13; II Cor 6:14-17; I Tim 6:3-5).