Trinity Baptist Church Statement of Faith
1. Scriptures
We believe that the Scriptures (containing the
39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament) are
without error and that they alone govern every aspect of life with absolute
authority. This Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s
revelation of Himself to all people. All Scripture is a testimony to Jesus
Christ.
2. God
There is one God. He is infinite, eternal,
all-knowing, all-powerful, personal, and perfect in holiness, truth and love.
To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune
God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct
personal attributes, but without division of nature or being.
God the Father
God the Father is the
all-knowing, all-loving, and all-wise Creator of heaven and earth. By His word
and for the praise of His glory, He freely and supernaturally created the world
out of nothing. Through the same word, He reigns with sovereign sustaining care
over everything, at all times, according to the purposes of His grace. He
desires for all people to live in fellowship with Him, but God is Father only
to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ; however, He
is fatherly in His attitude toward all people.
God the Son
Jesus Christ, the one
and only Son of God, is the fulfillment of God’s promised plan of redemption
throughout the Old Testament. He is the eternal Word made flesh, supernaturally
conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary. He is fully God and fully
man, perfect in nature, in teaching, and in obedience to the Law even as He
took on human nature with its demands and necessities. He is the image of the
invisible God, the authority over all creation, and in Him dwells the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. Through Him all things came into being and were created.
In Him all things hold together by the word of His power. He is the only Savior
for the sins of the world, and through His shed blood and substitutionary death
on the cross He made provision for the redemption of people from sin. On the
third day, He rose bodily from the grave; then, after forty days, He ascended
into heaven where, exalted at God’s right hand, He is the One Mediator who intercedes
for His people and rules as Lord over all. One day He will return in power and
glory to judge the world and to complete His redemptive mission.
God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the
Spirit of God, fully divine. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness and
judgment, and through illumination He enables people to understand the truths
of God. Through the proclamation of the gospel, He calls people to the Savior
Jesus Christ and leads them to trust in divine mercy. The Holy Spirit brings
about the new birth, unites believers to Jesus Christ in faith, dwells within
those who are born again, seals the believer unto the day of final redemption,
and empowers the believer to obey God’s Word. At the moment of regeneration He
baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He will lead the church into a
right understanding and growing application of the truth of God’s Word. He
comforts believers and gives the spiritual gifts by which they serve God
through His church. The Holy Spirit has come to glorify the Son Who, in turn,
came to glorify the Father.
3. Man*
God made man – male and female – in His own
image, as the crown of creation so that man might glorify Him through enjoying
fellowship with Him. Tempted by Satan, man chose to rebel against God by
disobeying Him and thus fell from his original innocence. Being now separated
from his Maker yet responsible to Him, he became subject to divine wrath, brought
the effects of sin into the world, and, apart from a special work of grace, is incapable
of returning to God. Man’s resulting sinful nature corrupts his mind, will and
affections. Unregenerate man has been given over to and lives under the
dominion of sin and Satan and is at enmity with God. Fallen, sinful people,
whatever their character or attainments, are lost and without hope apart from
salvation in Jesus Christ alone.
(*Scripture often uses the term “man” to represent the
entire human race. This sense is intended here.)
4. The Gospel
The gospel is the good news that the just and
gracious God of the universe looked upon hopelessly sinful people and sent His only
Son, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, to live a perfectly sinless life, to bear God’s
wrath for mankind’s sin through His substitutionary death on the cross, and to
show His power over sin and death in His resurrection from the grave, so that
all who trust in Jesus Christ and confess Him as Lord and Savior will be
reconciled to God forever.
5. Salvation
Salvation is the rescue from the guilt and the consequence
of our sin, which is receiving God’s wrath for all eternity in hell. In the
good news of the gospel, salvation is offered as a free gift to all who trust
in Jesus Christ and confess Him as Lord and Savior. By shedding His own blood
on the cross Jesus Christ brought salvation, which revealed divine love, upheld
divine justice, removed our guilt, and reconciled us to God. By His
resurrection He earned victory over death and the powers of sin and darkness in
order to give us a living hope. There is no salvation from sin apart from
personal faith in Jesus Christ.
Salvation in its broadest sense includes
election, regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification:
Election
Election is God’s sovereign,
gracious choice, from before the foundation of the world, of some persons unto
eternal life. According to that choice they are also called, justified, and
glorified. This choice is not because of any foreseen merit in them but of
God’s mere mercy in Christ. Election is ultimately for His own pleasure and is
the glorious display of His sovereign goodness, thus it excludes human boasting
and promotes humility. Election does not contradict or negate a person’s
responsibility to trust in Christ alone for salvation, which leads us to
sincerely preach the gospel of grace to all people in all nations.
Regeneration
Regeneration, or the new
birth, is a work of God's grace whereby a person believes in and becomes a new
creation in Christ Jesus. It is a conversion of heart fashioned by the Holy
Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner is awakened to respond in
repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Justification
Justification is God’s
gracious and full declaration of righteousness for all sinners who trust in
Christ; it cannot be earned. In justification, the believer’s sin—past,
present, and future—is forgiven and Christ’s righteousness is counted as his or
her own. It reconciles the believer into a relationship of peace and favor with
God, adopted as His child.
Sanctification
While standing perfectly
righteous in Christ, sanctification is the experience, beginning in
regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God's purposes, and is
enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual maturity through the presence
and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him or her. Growth in Christlikeness
should continue throughout the regenerate person's life, and all believers are
exhorted to persevere in the faith.
Glorification
Glorification is the completion
of salvation in the presence of God, where believers are delivered from the
very presence of sin and are completely and finally sanctified.
6. Perseverance of the
Saints
All the redeemed—those whom God has justified
in Christ and sanctified by His Spirit—will never fall away from salvation but
shall persevere to the end. These saints may fall into sin through neglect and
temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their fellowship with God, bring
disgrace on the cause of Christ, lose eternal rewards, and suffer the earthly consequences
of their sin; yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto
salvation. It is the privilege of true believers to rejoice in the assurance of
their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, which, however, forbids
the use of Christian liberty as an excuse for sinful and irresponsible living.
7. The Church
A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ
is an autonomous local body of baptized believers, associated by covenant* in
the faith and fellowship of the gospel. The church is to observe the two
ordinances of Christ and to equip its members to exercise the gifts and the
power of the Holy Spirit to love each other and to extend the gospel to the
ends of the earth. Each church operates under the Lordship of Christ and His
Word, and each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. The
church’s scriptural offices are elders and deacons. While both men and women
are gifted for service in the church, the office of elder or pastor is limited
to men that meet the qualifications in Scripture. The New Testament speaks also
of the Church as the Body of Christ including all of the redeemed of all the
ages, believers from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation.
(*See Section ________ for our local church covenant.)
8. The Ordinances of
the Church: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
Christian baptism is the immersion of a
believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It
is a one-time act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified,
buried, and risen Savior—the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old
life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus.
The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of
obedience whereby followers of Christ memorialize the death of the Redeemer and
anticipate His second coming through partaking of the bread and the fruit of
the vine. This ordinance symbolizes the breaking of Christ’s body and the
shedding of His blood on our behalf, and it is to be observed repeatedly
throughout the Christian life.
9. The Family
God
has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is
composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption.
God’s
exclusive model for marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in
covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique gift to illustrate the
union between Christ and His Church. Marriage provides the framework for
intimate companionship, sexual expression according to biblical standards, and
the means for procreation of the human race; and it is God’s foundation for the
family. The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are
created in God's image, but He has ordained complementary roles for each. A
husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the Church. A wife is to submit
herself to the leadership of her husband. Also, God has called some to
singleness, either by choice or circumstances beyond their control, and we
encourage them to follow the Lord in all godliness and sexual purity.
Children,
from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents
are to demonstrate and teach their children God's pattern for life and are to
be their primary spiritual influencers. Children are to honor and obey their
parents.
10. The Kingdom
The Kingdom
of God includes both His
general sovereignty and authority over the universe and His particular kingship
over a people and its society who willfully acknowledge Him as King.
Particularly the Kingdom regards the realm of salvation into which people enter
by trustful, childlike commitment to the resurrected Jesus Christ as King. The
Church ought to pray and to labor that the Kingdom may come and God’s will be
done on earth—for the good of others and the world. The full completion of the
Kingdom awaits the return of Jesus Christ and the end of this age.
11. Last
Things
God, in His own time and in His
own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise,
Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead
will be raised; souls will be reunited with bodies; and Christ will judge all people
in righteousness. Those not clothed in the righteousness of Christ will be thrown
into the place of everlasting and continual destruction (hell), away from the
presence of the Lord and the glory of His might. Those clothed in the righteousness
of Christ, in their resurrected and glorified bodies, will receive their reward
and will dwell forever in the new heavens and the new earth with the Lord.
Scripture References:
(ff. means “and following”)
Scriptures
Exodus 24:4; Deuteronomy 4:1–2; Psalm 19:7–11;
119:89,105,151; Matthew 5:17–18; Luke 24:44–46; John 5:39; 17:17; Acts 2:16ff.;
17:11; Romans 15:4; 16:25–26; 2 Timothy 3:15–17; Titus 1:9; Hebrews 1:1–3; 4:12–13;
2 Peter 1:19–21.
God the Father
Genesis 1:1; 2:7; Exodus 3:14; 6:2–3; 15:11ff.;
20:1ff.; Leviticus 22:2; Deuteronomy 6:4; 32:6; 1 Chronicles 29:10–11; Psalm
19:1–3; Isaiah 43:3,15; 64:8; Jeremiah 10:10; 17:13; Matthew 6:9ff.; 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
Genesis 18:1ff.; Psalms 2:7ff.; 110:1ff.;
Isaiah 7:14; 53; Matthew 1:18–23; 3:17; 8:29; 11:27; 14:33; 16:16,27; 17:5; 27;
28:1–6,19; 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; 8:9;
Galatians 4:4–5; Ephesians 1:20; 3:11; 4:7–10; Philippians 2:5–11; Colossians
1:13–22; 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; 9:11–15,24–28; 12:2; 13:8; 1 Peter 2:21–25;
3:22; 1 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
Genesis 1:2; Judges 14:6; Job 26:13; Psalms
51:11; 139:7ff.; 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 Corinthians 2:10–14;
3:16; 12:3–11,13; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:13–14; 4:30; 5:18; 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.
Man
Genesis 1:26–30; 2:5,7,18–22; 3; 9:6; Psalms 1;
8:3–6; 32:1–5; 51:5; Isaiah 6:5; Jeremiah 17:5; Matthew 16:26; Acts 17:26–31;
Romans 1:19–32; 3:10–18,23; 5:6,12,19; 6:6; 7:14–25; 8:14–18,29; 1 Corinthians
1:21–31; 15:19,21–22; Ephesians 2:1–22; Colossians 1:21–22; 3:9–11.
The Gospel
Isaiah 43:6–7; John 3:14–16; 10:27–30; Romans
1:16–25; 2:1–16; 3:9–26; 4:22–25; 5:6–10,18; 6:11–14,23; 8:1–4,10–11; 10:9–15;
1 Corinthians 15:1–4; Ephesians 2:8–9; 1 Timothy 1:16–17; Hebrews 9:12; 1 John
5:11–13.
Salvation
Genesis 1; 3:15; 12:1–3; Exodus 3:14–17; 6:2–8;
19:5–8; 1 Samuel 8:4–7,19–22; Isaiah 5:1–7; 55:6–9; Jeremiah 31:31ff.; Matthew
1:21; 4:17; 16:18–26; 21:28–45; 24:22,31; 25:34; 27:22–28:6; Luke 1:68–79; 2:28–32;
19:41–44; 24:44–48; John 1:11–14,29; 3:3–21,36; 5:24; 6:44–45,65; 10:9,27–29;
15:1–16; 17:6,12,17–18; 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; 8:1–18,28–39; 9; 10:9–15;
11:5–7,26–36; 13:11–14; 1 Corinthians 1:1–2,18,27–30; 6:19–20; 15:10,24–28,42–44;
2 Corinthians 3:18; 5:1–8,17–21; Galatians 2:20; 3:13; 5:22–25; 6:15; Ephesians
1:4–23; 2:1–22; 3:1–11; 4:11–16; (cont.)
Philippians 1:6; 2:12–13; Colossians 1:9–22;
3:1ff.; 1 Thessalonians 5:23–24; 2 Thessalonians 2:13–14; 2 Timothy 1:12;
2:10,19; Titus 2:11–14; Hebrews 2:1–3; 5:8–9; 9:24–28; 11:1–12:8,14; James
1:12; 2:14–26; 1 Peter 1:2–23; 2:4–10; 3:18; 1 John 1:6–2:11,19; 3:2; Revelation
3:20;
21:1–22:5.
Perseverance of the
Saints
Genesis 12:1–3; Exodus 19:5–8; Joshua 1:5; 1
Samuel 8:4–7,19–22; Psalm 37:23–24,28,31; 51; Proverbs 2:8; Isaiah 5:1–7; 43:6;
59:1–2; Jeremiah 31:31ff.; 32:40–41; Matthew 16:18–19; 21:28–45; 24:22,31;
25:34; Luke 1:68–79; 2:29–32; 24:44–49; John 1:12–14; 3:16; 5:24; 6:37–40,44–45,65;
10:27–30; 15:16; 17:6,12,17–18; Acts 20:32; Romans 5:9–10; 6:1–22; 8:1,28–39;
10:12–15; 11:5–7,26–36; 13:13–14; 1 Corinthians 1:1–2,4–9; 3:10–15; 15:24–28;
Galatians 5:13,25–26; Ephesians 1:4–23; 2:1–10; 3:1–11,4:30; Colossians 1:12–14;
2 Thessalonians 2:13–14; 2 Timothy 1:12; 2:10,19; Titus 2:11–14; Hebrews 6:11–12;
7:25; 10:35; 11:39–12:2; 13:5; James 1:12; 1 Peter 1:2–5,13; 2:4–10; 1 John 1:7–9;
2:19; 3:2; Jude 24.
The Church
Matthew 16:15–19;
18:15–20; Acts 2:41–42,47; 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; 4:11–16;
5:22–32; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 2:9–14; 3:1–15; 4:14;
Titus 1:5–9; Hebrews 11:39–40; 1 Peter 5:1–4; Revelation 2–3; 21:2–3.
The Ordinances of the
Church:
Baptism and the Lord’s
Supper
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,
20:7; Romans 6:3–5; 1 Corinthians 10:16,21, 11:23–29; Galatians 3:27; Colossians
2:12.
The Family
Genesis 1:26–28; 2:15–25; 3:1–20; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy
6:4–9; Joshua 24:15; 1 Samuel 1:26–28; Psalms 51:5; 78:1–8; 127; 128; 139:13–18;
Proverbs 1:8; 5:15–22; 6:20–22; 12:4; 13:24; 14:1; 17:6; 18:22; 22:6,15; 23:13–14;
24:3; 29:15,17; 31:10–31; Song of Solomon 1–8; Ecclesiastes 4:9–12; 9:9;
Malachi 2:14–16; Matthew 5:31–32; 18:2–5; 19:3–9; Mark 10:6–12; Luke 1:41–42;
Acts 21:9; Romans 1:18–32; 1 Corinthians 7:1–16,27–29,32; Ephesians 5:21–33;
6:1–4; Colossians 3:18–21; 1 Timothy 5:8,14; 2 Timothy 1:3–5; Titus 2:3–5;
Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 3:1–7.
The Kingdom
Genesis 1:1; Isaiah 9:6–7; Jeremiah 23:5–6;
Matthew 3:2; 4:8–10,23; 5:20; 6:10,33; 7:21; 12:25–28; 13:1–52; 25:31–46;
26:29; Mark 1:14–15; 9:1; Luke 4:43; 8:1; 9:2; 12:31–32; 17:20–21; 22:24–30;
23:42; John 3:3; 18:36; Acts 1:6–7; 17:22–31; Romans 5:17; 8:19; 1 Corinthians
15:24–28; Colossians 1:13; Hebrews 11:10,16; 12:28; 1 Peter 2:4–10; 4:13;
Revelation 1:6,9; 5:10; 11:15; 21–22.
Last Things
Isaiah 2:4; 11:9; 61:10;
Zechariah 3:3–5; 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 10:3; 14:10; 1 Corinthians 3:11–15; 4:5; 15:24–28,35–58;
2 Corinthians 5:10,21; Philippians 3:20–21; Colossians 1:5; 3:4; 1
Thessalonians 4:14–18; 5:1ff.; 2 Thessalonians 1:7ff.; 2; 1 Timothy 6:14; 2
Timothy 4:1,8; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 9:27–28; James 5:8; 2 Peter 3:7ff.; 1 John
2:28; 3:2; Jude 14–16; Revelation 1:18; 3:11; 20:1–22:13.