We
have been asked many times concerning the doctrine and beliefs
of our Church. Of course the simplest statement of faith that
we could make is this: "We believe the whole Bible from Genesis
1:1 to Revelation 22:21." However, we believe that it would be
good to set forth some of the things which are most surely believed
among us. The following statements are not made in an effort to
establish a new set of articles of faith, but rather to make plain
some of the things that we believe. There are five words that
fairly set forth what we believe. Those five Words are: Baptist,
Fundamental, Premillennial, Missionary, and Independent.
We Are Baptist
By
this we mean that we hold to the historic beliefs and practices,
which have prevailed among Baptists from the time of Jesus.
In every period of Time, since Christ established His church
during His earthly ministry, there have been churches that were
Baptist in faith and practice. They did not always wear the
name Baptist, but they believed and practiced Baptist Doctrine,
which is none other than Bible doctrine.
Baptists did not come out of the Reformation
under Martin Luther, for they were never a part of the Catholic
Church. In fact Baptists were on the Scene long before the Catholic
Church ever came into existence. For those who are interested
in studying more on this subject we highly recommend the Trail
of Blood, by J. M. Carroll.
We do not believe in a so-called "Universal
Invisible Church." We believe That Jesus established a local,
visible church, and we are sure that this Is the only kind of
true church that is in existence today.
We Are Fundamental
By this we mean, that we accept the so-called fundamentals
of the faith as Opposed to modernism, which denies the fundamentals
of the faith. We believe In the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures,
the Genesis account of Creation, the Virgin Birth of Christ,
His sinless life, His blood Atonement, His glorious bodily resurrection,
His ascension, and His second coming.
When we say that we are fundamental,
we do not mean that this is all that we believe because we do
believe every doctrine and truth in the Word of God without
any reservation. No Church or Christian has any right to single
out any doctrine of the Word of God and say that it is non-essential.
If any of it were non-essential, then God would not have wasted
the space by putting it in the Bible.
We Are Premillennial
We believe that Jesus Christ is coming back before
the Millennial Kingdom is established. Under the government
of man, the world is growing worse and worse morally. This is
a fulfillment of the Scriptures, which says, "But evil men and
seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived."
(II Timothy 3:13).
When Christ shall come in the air,
"the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we, which are alive
and remain (the living Christians) shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so
shall we ever be with the Lord.” (I Thessalonians 4:16-17).
Then the Anti-Christ will be manifested here upon the earth
and the seven years of tribulation shall begin. At the end of
the seven years of tribulation, the Lord will return with His
saints and utterly defeat the armies of the Anti-Christ. Satan
will be bound and cast into the bottomless pit, and then the
Lord will establish his kingdom here on earth and reign for
a thousand years. (See Revelation 19-21).
We Are Missionary
Every true New Testament Baptist Church
should be missionary. Jesus gave the commandment to His Church
in Matt. 28:18-20, that they were to "teach all nations." He
also said, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel
to every creature" (Mark 16:15). He also said, "ye shall be
witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in
Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8).
If people are to be saved, they must hear the Word of God. "For
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?
And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they
preach, except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring
glad tidings of good things!... So then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:13-15,17). To be
obedient to Christ, we must send missionaries to the foreign
field, while we are missionaries on the home field.
It is not enough to be missionary
in name, but we must be missionary in practice. This means that
we should pray for missions, and support missions with the finances
that God has placed in our hand. We receive a mission offering
every week. We practice Faith Promise Mission giving.
We support sound Bible believing missionaries.
Instead of sending the money to some denominational headquarters
where 80% or 90% of it is used up in administration costs, we
send it direct to the missionary, through their home church.
This way he gets 100% of the money and not just 10% or 20%.
We Are Independent
We are not independent to do as we please, but we
are independent and unaffiliated, in order that we might do
as God pleases. God forbid that we should ever want to be independent
from God. We are not "affiliated with" nor do we "belong to"
any association or convention. Jesus established the local New
Testament Church, and we do not believe that He established
any convention or association to lord it over the churches.
It is our contention that a true church cannot scripturally
join anything nor become affiliated with any outside religious
organization.
Churches may work together in the
work of Christ, but should beware of entangling alliances, which
bring them under the domination of boards and denominational
secretaries. Men of good faith usually start conventions, associations,
and other like denominational organizations, but they enter
into such organizations without one verse of Scriptural authority.
Eventually these extra Scriptural organizations become the citadels
of compromise and doctrinal laxness, with an insatiable desire
to dominate and lord it over the churches.
During the period of time covered
in the book of Acts the greatest evangelistic missionary effort
in the history of Christianity may be seen. In those days travel
was slow, radio, television, and even the printing press was
unheard of, yet the gospel spread like a flame. In no other
period of Church history was so much done by so few. In 30 short
years greater progress was made than in any other period of
history, in establishing churches and carrying out the Great
Commission. Yet, there was no convention, association, or outside
the church denominational organization. The plan used in the
book of Acts worked, and it is working today among churches
that are trying to use it.
It is our desire to contend for the
faith without being contentious. We can disagree without being
disagreeable. We can stand for the faith without kicking. We
do rejoice when the gospel is preached and when souls are saved,
even though we might not agree completely with the method that
is used. Criticism of another man's method does not constitute
obedience to Christ's command to carry the gospel to the ends
of the earth. We must not only believe in the right way, but
we must demonstrate the right way.
The church of the living God does
not have time for petty arguments, foolish and unlearned questions
and the like. This is not the time for factions, friction, and
foolish divisions. This is the time for action. We are approaching
the zero hour when we shall soon face Christ. Let us gird up
the loins of our mind, put on the whole armor of God and press
forward in the battle for Christ.
|