Immanuel Baptist Church Articles of Faith
1. THE SCRIPTURES
We believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Old and New Testament as originally written, and the product of Spirit controlled men; and therefore is truth without admixture of error for its matter. We believe the Bible with no additional revelation to be the true center of Christian unity and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds and opinions shall be tried. (II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:19-21) (We use the KJV Bible for all teaching and preaching at Immanuel Baptist Church)
2. THE TRUE GOD
We believe there is one and only one living and true God, and infinite sovereign spirit, the maker and supreme ruler of heaven and earth, inexpressibly glorious in holiness and worthy of all possible honor, confidence and love. That in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, equal in every divine perfection, yet one in substance and executing distinct, but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption. (Exodus 20:2-3; I Corinthians 8:6; I John 5:7; Revelation 4:11; John 10:30; II Corinthians 13-14)
3. GOD THE FATHER
We believe that God the Father is a spirit being, supremely above all manner of creation, having complete independence, being eternal, all sufficient, unchangeable, infinite, holy and righteous. He is everywhere, has all knowledge, and can do all things. He is the sovereign creator of the universe. In His office is the plan of redemption. He has given His only begotten Son to die for man’s redemption. (Hebrews 11:3; Psalm 139:7-10; Acts 15:18; John 3:16)
4. THE SON
We believe in the absolute deity of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ; that He was divine as no other man can be, being very God of very God, existing from all eternity, co-equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit; that He never ceased to be God for one instant, and that His humiliation did not consist in laying aside His deity, that as man He was miraculously begotten of the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary. (John 1:1-2; I John 5:20; Matthew 1:20; Luke 1:26-38)
5. THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, equal with God the Father, God the Son, and of the same substance and nature; that in His relation to the unbelieving world He restrains the evil one until God’s purpose is fulfilled; that He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment; that He bears witness to the truth; that He is the agent of the new birth, and that He seals, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies, and helps the believer, indwelling in every true child of God.
We reject the speaking in tongues as a sign of the infilling of the Holy Spirit. We believe the tongues movement to be unscriptural. The gifts of tongues and healing were sign-gifts which God used until the scriptures were completed. These gifts ceased at that time. (John 14:16-17; Matthew 28:19; Hebrews 9:14; John 14:26; Luke 1:35; Genesis 1:1-3; John 16:8-11; Acts 5:30-32; John 3:5-6; Ephesians 1:13-14; Mark 1:8; John 1:33; Acts 11:16; Luke 24:48; Romans 8:14, 8:16, 8:26-27; Hebrews 2:4; I Corinthians 13:8; Romans 15:19)
6. THE DEVIL OR SATAN
We believe that Satan was created by God as a perfect being. That he was the highest of all angelic beings until the day iniquity was found in him, and he was forever banished from the realm of Heaven as his abode. Since then, he has become the archenemy of God and all that is good and Holy. He is at present working evil in the world of men and accusing the brethren in Heaven. Satan was eternally defeated at Calvary by the vicarious death of Christ and His glorious resurrection. He shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire. (Revelation 20:10; II Corinthians 4:3-4; Isaiah 14; Ezekiel 28; Matthew 4:1-3)
7. CREATION
We believe the Genesis account of Creation, as being literal, not allegory or myth. We believe it to be the historical account of the direct immediate creative act of God without any evolutionary process; that man, body, soul and spirit was created by a direct work of God and not from any previously existing form of life, and all men are descended from Adam and Eve; that the time of creation was a literal six day week with 24 hour days. (Genesis 1-2; Colossians 1:16-17; John 1:3)
8. HELL
We believe in a literal hell, the Lake of Fire, and brimstone, which shall be the place of eternal punishment of Satan, fallen angels, demons and the unbelieving dead. (Luke 16:19-31; Revelation 20:14-15; Revelation 21:8)
9. HEAVEN
We believe in a literal place called Heaven where God’s immediate presence is manifested, where angels dwell and where the redeemed shall ultimately dwell, from whence Christ descended and to which He ascended again, where He maketh intercession for the Saints, and whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. (John 14:1-4; Revelation 20-22)
10. THE VIRGIN BIRTH
We believe that Jesus was begotten of the Holy Spirit in a miraculous manner, born of Mary, a virgin, as no other man was ever born or can ever be born of woman, and that He is both the Son of God and God the Son. (Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:35; John 1:14; Hebrews 1:18)
11. THE FALL OF MAN
We believe that man was created in innocence under the law of his maker, but by voluntary transgression fell from his sinless and happy state in consequence of which all mankind are now sinners. This act of deception of Satan’s part, and Adam’s choice in the Garden of Eden brought forth both spiritual and physical death. We believe that the world is defiled by sin; the word sin is defined as anything short of the Glory of God (Romans 2:23) and the whole world without exception is guilty before God being sinners by a depraved nature, and practice. We believe that sin separated man from the life and fellowship of God and will be the final cause for man’s judgment. (Genesis 3:1-6; Romans 3:10-19; Romans 5:12-19; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 6:23)
12. THE ATONEMENT FOR SIN
We believe that the only escape from the condemnation of sin is through the redemption wrought by Jesus Christ; that the salvation of sinners is divinely initiated and wholly of grace through the mediatorial office of the Son of God who by appointment of the Father voluntarily took upon Himself a human body and nature, yet without sin honored the divine law by His perfect obedience and by His blood made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins; that the sacrifice fulfilled the demands of God’s righteousness; that the blessings of this salvation are given on the grounds of grace to all who repent and believe and confess and that it is the immediate duty of all to accept this offer of grace and mercy. (John 1:1-3; John 14; John 3:1-7; Hebrews 10:4-14; Acts 16:30-33; Jonah 2:9; Ephesians 2:8; Acts 15:11; Romans 3:24-25; John 3:16; II Corinthians 5:21; I Peter 2:24)
13. RESURRECTION AND PRIESTHOOD
We believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ, in His ascension into heaven, where He now sits at the right hand of the Father as our high priest. (Matthew 28:6-7; Luke 24:39; John 20:27; I Corinthians 15:4; Mark 16:6; Luke 24:2, 6, 51; Acts 1:9-11; Revelation 3:21; Hebrews 8:6, 12:2, 7:25; I Timothy 2:5; I John 2:1; Hebrews 2:5, 9, 10, 17)
14. THE ETERNAL STATE
We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment. We believe that the souls of the unbelievers remain after death in a conscious misery until the second resurrection when, with a dead spirit, soul and body reunited, they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment and shall be judged and cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting punishment. We believe that the souls of the redeemed are at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord where, in constant bliss, they await the rapture, a living spirit, soul and body, and to be reunited and glorified forever with the Lord. (Revelation 20)
15. MAN
We believe that God created man in His own image and likeness, and that man was innocent and sinless in his perfect state, but by an act of his own will transgressed and fell into a state of spiritual death, and subsequently physical death. As a result of this fallen state, all mankind became polluted with the sin of Adam and are born in sin and shaped in iniquity and are destitute of original righteousness, that they are abiding in a state of spiritual death, and because of the depravity of their fallen natures they are incapable of producing good works, either moral or spiritual which would satisfy the holy demands of God; that man through our Lord Jesus Christ may be restored to the image of God through the agent of the New Birth of regeneration. (Isaiah 64:6, 53:6; Romans 5:12; Genesis 3; Romans 3:10-19)
16. SALVATION
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that He was buried; that He arose from the dead on the third day according to the scriptures; that He ascended into Heaven where as our Great High Priest and Advocate, He ever lives to make intercession for us; that all who believe on His name are justified on the ground of His shed blood; thereby, receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit and eternal life by the grace of God. (Romans 10:9-10; John 5:24)
We believe that faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation from sin and this salvation is wholly by the grace of God, that no works, however good, make the salvation more secure. (Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7; Romans 10:9-13) We believe that all who take Christ as their Saviour are born from above, made new creatures in Christ Jesus, and are eternally secure in Christ. (John 10:28-29; Romans 8:35-39; Philippians 1:16; Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7)
17. REGENERATION
We believe that regeneration is absolutely essential to salvation; that it is the starting point of our Christian experience and that apart from regeneration or the New Birth as it is commonly called, no man shall enter the Kingdom of God. By regeneration we mean the impartation of a new and divine life made possible by the Holy Spirit, by the use of the Word of God. (John 3:5) In the experience of regeneration we become partakers of a divine nature. (II Peter 1:4)
18. JUSTIFICATION
We believe that justification is the change of man’s relation or standing before God. It is a change from guilt and condemnation to acquittal and acceptance. To be justified means to be declared righteous on the basis of the atoning death of our Lord Jesus Christ; that justification includes the pardon of sin and the imputation of God’s righteousness; that it is bestowed not in consideration of any works of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in the Redeemer’s blood that by virtue of our standing before God we have access to the riches of God’s treasures in heavenly places by the merit of Jesus Christ. (Acts 13:39; Isaiah 53:11; Zechariah 13:1; II Corinthians 5:18-21; Romans 5:1-9, 8:1)
19. REPENTANCE
We believe that repentance is a change of mind and purpose toward God, prompted by the Holy Spirit; that it is characterized by godly sorrow for sin as offensive to God and ruinous to the soul; and that true repentance is inseparably related to true faith. (Luke 13:1-3; Luke 15:7; Acts 8:22; Romans 2:4; II Corinthians 7:10; Acts 20:21)
20. FAITH AND SALVATION
We believe that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation. (Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:8-9; Hebrews 11)
21. SANCTIFICATION
We believe that sanctification or setting apart has a two-fold meaning. First, that the believer is set apart eternally for God (Hebrews 10:10), and secondly, that sanctification is that purifying process affected by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit of God. That this purifying process is a day-by- day experience in the life of the believer from the time of his regeneration until our life on earth is ended. Sanctification will be completed at that hour spoken of in I Thessalonians 4, and commonly known as the Rapture of the Church, at which time I John 3:2 will be a reality and we are made like Christ forever. Sanctification does not mean the eradication of the sin nature, or sinless perfection. We are sinless, perfect in position, forever in Christ, but never through our experience in this life. We believe that one who is born of God will strive to evidence this separate life of Holiness to the Lord, as in our associations with the world. We will seek to be not conformed to this world (Romans 12:1-2); and as to our association with ecclesiasticism, we will seek to come out from among them, having no fellowship with apostasy. (Hebrews 10:10-14; Hebrews 3:1; John 17:17; II Corinthians 3:18; I Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 5:25-26; I Thessalonians 4:3-4; I Thessalonians 5:23-24; Ephesians 5:27; I John 3:2; Jude 24-25; Revelation 22:11)
22. ADOPTION
We believe that adoption is the gracious act whereby the Father, for the sake of Christ places new believers into the honored position of mature sons, in contrast with regeneration, whereby the believer receives the nature of God and becomes a child of God. The full benefit of the position accorded by adoption as the Sons of God awaits the glorification of the believer at the coming of the Lord. (Ephesians 1:5; Galatians 4:1-7; Ephesians 1:13-14; I John 3:1-2)
23. GLORIFICATION
We believe that we as believers on the Lord Jesus Christ shall share in His Glory, and then we shall reign and live with Him eternally, possessing resurrected and glorified bodies like his own.
24. ETERNAL SECURITY OF THE BELIEVER
We believe that all the redeemed are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever (John 10:28-29). We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh. (Philippians 1:6; Romans 8:35-39)
25. THE CHURCH
We Believe in one true church, the spiritual body and bride of the Lord Jesus Christ, composed of believers from Pentecost to the Rapture, into which believers are baptized in the Holy Spirit. We believe that the local church is a congregation of believers associated by a covenant of faith and fellowship of the Gospel, observing the ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws. We believe that the mission of the church is to win men to Christ, to strengthen the saints, and to teach and instruct as He commanded. We believe that the local church has the absolute right of self-government, free from the interference of individuals or organizations. We believe that the true superintendent is Jesus Christ; and that it is scriptural for true churches to be the sole judge of all matters of membership, policy, discipline, and the will of the local church is final. (Ephesians 4:4-12; Titus 1:5-9; I Timothy 3)
A. Ordinances of the Church:
1. The Lord’s Supper. This is the commemoration of our Lord’s death until He comes, and our continual fellowship with Him, and should be preceded always by solemn self-examination. (I Corinthians 11:23-28)
2. Baptism. We believe that Christian baptism, according to the scriptures, is the immersion of the believer in water, being performed in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. We believe that baptism is an outward act of the inward reality of one whom by virtue of the regeneration power of the Holy Ghost has died to self, being buried with Christ in His death, and has risen with Him in the newness of life, henceforth, demonstrates to the world the fact of the resurrection power in his life; that baptism is a prerequisite to the privileges of the church relation. (Acts 8:26-39; John 3:23; Romans 6:3-5; Matthew 3:16; Colossians 2)
26. THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED
We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked. Only such as through faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and sanctified by the Spirit of God are truly righteous in God’s esteem, while all such who continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked and under the curse and that this distinction holds among men both during life and after death in the everlasting conscious felicity of the saved and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost. (Malachi 3:18; Romans 6:17-23; Matthew 25:34-41; Luke 6:25; John 8:21)
27. CIVIL GOVERNMENT
We believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the interests and good order of human society. Magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored, and obeyed except in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only Lord of the conscience and the coming Prince of the Kings of the earth. We believe in the separation of church and state. (Romans 13:1-7; II Samuel 23:3; Exodus 18:21-22; Acts 23:5; Matthew 22:21; Acts 5:20, 4:19-20; Daniel 3:17-18)
28. THE RETURN OF CHRIST
We believe in the bodily, personal, pre-millennial return of Jesus Christ; that He will come before the seven-year tribulation period to catch away His church, coming only into the air. We believe that He will come with His church at the close of the tribulation to judge the living nations and to set up His Kingdom on earth. (I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 19:11-21; Acts 1:11)
29. THE RESURRECTION
We believe in the resurrection of the bodies of the dead, that believers who sleep in Jesus will be raised at the coming of Christ for His church, and caught up with the transformed living saints to meet the Lord in the air. We believe that the wicked dead will be raised at the close of the Millennial Kingdom and stand in their bodies at the Great White Throne Judgment to receive their final doom. (John 5:21-30; I Thessalonians 4:16; Revelation 7:9-17, 20:11-15)