Mt. Pisgah

Baptist Church

Statement of Faith

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Statement of Faith a. Introduction- pg. 3 b. Statement of Faith Overview- pg. 4 c. Article 1- Holy Scripture- pg. 5 d. Article 2- The Trinity, one God as Three Persons- pg. 8 e. Article 3- God the Father- pg. 10 f. Article 4- God the Son- pg. 12 g. Article 5- God the Holy Spirit- pg. 15 h. Article 6- Creation- pg. 17 i. Article 7- Mankind- pg. 18 j. Article 8- Salvation- pg. 20 k. Article 9- The Church- pg. 26 l. Article 10- Baptism and the Lord’s Supper- pg. 29 m. Article 11- Worship and the Lord’s Day- pg. 30 n. Article 12- Civil Government and Religious Liberty- pg. 32 o. Article 13- Marriage and the Family- pg. 33 p. Article 14- Life, Justice, and Social Order- pg. 14 q. Article 15- Last Things- pg. 42 r. Historical Documents- pg. 45

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We Believe

An Introduction to the Statement of Faith

This Statement of Faith of Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church is intended to guide our teaching and discipleship. It is a partial summary of what we believe and is creedal in nature. The word creed derives from the Latin credo, “I believe.” It is a body of beliefs and a confession of faith. From the earliest days of the Christian Church, God’s people have sought to clarify and systematize what they confess in an ever- changing world. This Statement of Faith is not an antithesis of Scripture, but a reflection of it. The first creeds can be found in Scripture itself; from the Shema (Deut. 6:4-9), to the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20), the eunuch’s confession of Christ (:37), to the hymns of Christ (Philippians 2:5-11 and Colossians 1:15-20).

The purpose of this Statement of Faith is fourfold.

1. Doctrinal. We wish to express the teachings of Christ as articulated in Scripture in such a manner to leave no doubt in whom we have believed. (2 Tim. 1:12) We are not creating new doctrine but are earnestly contending for the faith once for all delivered to the saints. (Jude 3) The rise of heresy and philosophies of men that are in contradiction to Scripture require a clear response from the Church. 2. Instructional. We wish to use this Statement of Faith for catechetical instruction of the believer. We wish to preach, teach, and disciple one another in unity and harmony. We wish to teach faithful men who will teach others also (2 Tim. 2:2). We wish to make disciples of Christ. 3. Liturgical. We wish to worship the Lord in Spirit and Truth (John 4:23) and to give God His proper glory. To that end we wish to be informed in our worship, to remove hindrances to our worship, and to worship in an acceptable manner. 4. Evangelistic. We have good news for the world, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We wish to make clear the teachings of the Gospel in such a way as to complete belief in them. The Scriptures “are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:31) This Statement of Faith humbly has the same objective.

This Church’s first Statement of Faith was written and adopted in 1866 by the members and documented in the Church’s official record book. Other creeds and statements have been adopted and have influenced our Church over the years. In this Statement we reclaim our heritage as a confessional people, independent and accountable only to God for our faith and practice.

Therefore, we wish to facilitate public confession, form a succinct basis of teaching, safeguard pure doctrine, and constitute an appropriate focus for this Church’s fellowship in faith by adopting this Statement of Faith for Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church of Austell.

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Statement of Faith Overview

1. Holy Scripture - We believe God wrote the through men without error.

2. The Trinity, one God as Three Persons - We believe that within the one Being that is God, there exists eternally three coequal and coeternal persons, namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

3. God the Father - We believe God the Father Almighty.

4. God the Son - We believe in Jesus Christ, Son of God, our Lord.

5. God the Holy Spirit - We believe in the Holy Spirt who indwells all believers.

6. Creation - We believe God created the Heavens and the Earth in six days.

7. Mankind - We believe all people are made in the image of God but have fallen into sin.

8. Salvation - We believe that sinners are saved by grace alone, though faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.

9. The Church - We believe that meaningful and enduring fellowship in a local congregation is absolutely essential to the Christian’s life and ministry.

10. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper - We believe in the two ordinances of the church: Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper.

11. Worship and the Lord’s Day - We believe that the church assembles each Sunday, the Lord’s Day, to worship the Lord in Spirit and in Truth.

12. Civil Government and Religious Liberty - We believe that all civil authorities are established by God for the protection of the free worship of God and for human flourishing.

13. Marriage and the Family - We believe that marriage is the union between one man and one woman, and children are a blessing from the Lord.

14. Life, Justice, and Social Order - We believe all are obligated to seek peace, order, and the protection of the vulnerable in society.

15. Last Things - We believe in the sudden and soon physical return of Jesus Christ to judge the living and the dead.

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Article 1- Holy Scripture, the Word of God Written

We believe God wrote the Bible through men without error.

1.1 The Holy Scriptures are the only sufficient, certain, and infallible standard of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience.1 The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter.

1.2 We believe that the Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, is the infallible Word of God, verbally inspired by God,2 and without error3 in the original manuscripts.

The Bible is Holy Scriptures, and the Word of God written, consisting of all the books of the Old and New Testaments. These are:

THE OLD TESTAMENT: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.

THE : Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, Revelation.

All of these are given by the inspiration of God to be the standard of faith and life.

The books commonly called the Apocrypha were not given by divine inspiration and so are not part of the canon or standard of the Scriptures. Therefore, they have no authority for the church of God and are not to be recognized or used in any way different from other human writings.4

1.3 We believe that God’s intentions, revealed in the Bible, are the supreme and final authority in testing all claims about what is true and what is right. In matters not addressed by the Bible, what is true and right is assessed by criteria consistent with the teachings of Scripture.5

The supreme judge for deciding all religious controversies and for evaluating all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, human teachings, and individual interpretations, and in whose judgment we are to rest, is nothing but the Holy Scripture delivered by the Spirit. In this Scripture our faith finds its final word.6

1.4 We believe God’s intentions are revealed through the intentions of inspired human authors, even when the authors’ intention was to express divine meaning of which they were not fully aware, as, for

1 2 Timothy 3:15–17; Isaiah 8:20; Luke 16:29, 31; Ephesians 2:20 2 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21, 3:16; I Corinthians 14:37 2:13; Matthew 22:43-44; John 14:26, 16:13-14 3 Proverbs 30:5, Numbers 23:19, Psalm 12:6, Hebrews 6:18, Matthew 24:35, Titus 1:2, John 17:17, Matthew 22:29 4 Luke 24:27, 44; Romans 3:2 5 :11 6 Matthew 22:29, 31-32; Ephesians 2:20; Acts 17:11, 28:23

Page 5 of 45 example, in the case of some Old Testament prophecies.7 Thus the meaning of Biblical texts is a fixed historical reality, rooted in the historical, unchangeable intentions of its divine and human authors. However, while meaning does not change, the application of that meaning may change in various situations. Nevertheless, it is not legitimate to infer a meaning from a Biblical text that is not demonstrably carried by the words which God inspired.8

1.5 Therefore, the process of discovering the intention of God in the Bible (which is its fullest meaning) is a humble and careful effort to find in the language of Scripture what the human authors intended to communicate. Limited abilities, traditional biases, personal sin, and cultural assumptions often obscure Biblical texts. Therefore, the work of the Holy Spirit is essential for right understanding of the Bible,9 and prayer for His assistance belongs to a proper effort to understand and apply God’s Word.10

Some things in Scripture are clearer than others, and some people understand the teachings more clearly than others.11 However, the things that must be known, believed, and obeyed for salvation are so clearly set forth and explained in one part of Scripture or another that both the educated and uneducated may achieve a sufficient understanding of them by properly using ordinary measures.12

1.6 We believe the authority of the Holy Scriptures obligates belief in them. This authority does not depend on the testimony of any person or church but on God the author alone, who is truth itself. Therefore, the Scriptures are to be received because they are the Word of God.13

1.7 We believe the whole counsel of God concerning everything essential for His own glory and man’s salvation, faith, and life is either explicitly stated or by necessary inference contained in the Holy Scriptures. Nothing is ever to be added to the Scriptures, either by new revelation of the Spirit or by human traditions.14

Nevertheless, we acknowledge that the inward illumination of the Spirit of God is necessary for a saving understanding of what is revealed in the Word.15 We recognize that some circumstances concerning the worship of God and government of the church are common to human actions and organizations and are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian wisdom, following the general rules of the Word, which must always be observed.16

1.8 The infallible rule for interpreting Scripture is the Scripture itself. Therefore, when there is a question about the true and full meaning of any part of Scripture (and each passage has only one meaning, not many), it must be understood in light of other passages that speak more clearly.17

7 1 Peter 1:10-11, John 11:51 8 2 Peter 3:16, Matthew 4:6-7 9 1 Corinthians 2:12-16 10 Psalm 119:18, Psalm 119:12, Ephesians 1:18 11 2 Peter 3:16 12 Psalm 19:7; Psalm 119:130. 13 2 Peter 1:19–21; 2 Timothy 3:16; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 John 5:9 14 Revelation 22:18-19 15 John 6:45; 1 Corinthians 2:9–12 16 1 Corinthians 11:13, 14; 1 Corinthians 14:26, 40. 17 2 Peter 1:20-21; :15-16

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1.9 The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, the native language of the ancient people of God.18 The New Testament was written in Greek, which at the time it was written was most widely known to the nations. These Testaments were inspired directly by God and by his unique care and providence were kept pure down through the ages. All God’s people have a right to and a claim on the Scriptures and are commanded in the fear of God to read19 and search them.20 Not all of God’s people know these original languages, so the Scriptures are to be translated into the common language of every nation to which they come.21 In this way the Word of God may dwell richly in all, so that they may worship Him in an acceptable manner and through patience and the comfort of the Scriptures may have hope.22

1.10 The light of nature and the works of creation and providence so clearly demonstrate the goodness, wisdom, and power of God that people are left without excuse; however, these demonstrations are not sufficient to give the knowledge of God and His will that is necessary for salvation.23 Therefore, the Lord was pleased at different times and in various ways to reveal himself and to declare His will to His people.24 To preserve and propagate the truth better and to establish and comfort the church with greater certainty against the corruption of the flesh and the malice of Satan and the world, the Lord put this revelation completely in writing. Therefore, the Holy Scriptures are absolutely necessary, because God’s former ways of revealing his will to his people have now ceased.25

18 Romans 3:2, We also recognize portions of the Old Testament written in Aramaic. 19 Acts 15:15 20 John 5:39 21 1 Corinthians 14:6, 9, 11, 12, 24, 28 22 Colossians 3:16. 23 :19–21; Romans 2:14,15; Psalm 19:1–3 24 Hebrews 1:1 25 Proverbs 22:19–21; Romans 15:4; 2 Peter 1:19-20.

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Article 2 - The Trinity, One God as Three Persons

We believe that within the one Being that is God, there exists eternally three coequal and coeternal persons, namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

2.1 We believe in one1 living,2 true,3 self-existent,4 sovereign,5 and all-glorious6 God, eternally existing in three7 infinitely excellent, perfect, and admirable Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—each equally deserving worship and obedience. These three are united in nature, essence, mission, will, and being yet are distinguished by several distinctive characteristics and personal relations. This truth of the Trinity is the foundation of all our fellowship with God and of our comforting dependence on Him.

2.2 We believe that God is supremely joyful8 in the fellowship of the Trinity, each Person beholding and expressing His eternal and unsurpassed delight in the all-satisfying perfections of the triune God.

2.3 We believe that the three Persons of the Trinity have the same substance, power, and eternity, each having the whole divine essence without this essence being divided.9 The Father is not derived from anyone, neither begotten nor proceeding. The Son is eternally begotten of the Father.10 The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.11 All three are infinite and without beginning and are therefore only one God, who is not to be divided in nature and being.

2.4 We believe that God, from all eternity,12 in order to display the full extent of His glory13 for the eternal and ever-increasing enjoyment14 of all who love Him,15 did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His will,16 freely and unchangeably17 ordain18 and foreknow19 whatever comes to pass. He did this without reference to anything outside Himself,20 but by the perfectly wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeably.21

1 Deuteronomy 6:4, 1 Corinthians 8:4, Isaiah 43:10-11, James 2:19, 1 Timothy 2:5 2 Matthew 16:16, 2 Corinthians 6:16, 1 Timothy 4:10, Hebrews 3:12, Revelation 7:2, Jeremiah 10:10 3 Isaiah 45:5-7 4 Isaiah 48:12, Exodus 3:14 5 Job 42:2, Psalm 115:3, Daniel 4:25, Daniel 4:34-35, Ephesians 1:11, James 4:15 6 Psalm 138:5 7 Matthew 28:19, 2 Corinthians 13:13 8 1 Timothy 1:11, Matthew 25:23, John 15:11, John 17:26, Matthew 12:18, Proverbs 8:27-30 9 Exodus 3:14, John 14:11, 1 Corinthians 8:6 10 John 1:14,18 11 John 15:26, Galatians 4:6 12 2 Timothy 1:9, Ephesians 3:11, Ephesians 1:4, 1 Peter 1:20, Revelation 13:8 13 Romans 11:36, Isaiah 60:21, Isaiah 43:7, John 12:17-28, John 17:1,4, Philippians 2:11 14 Psalm 37:4, Philippians 4:4, Matthew 25:23, Revelation 21:4 15 1 Corinthians 2:9, Romans 8:28 16 Ephesians 1:11 17 Numbers 23:19, 1 Samuel 15:29 18 Isaiah 46:9-10, Proverbs 16:33, Proverbs 19:21 19 Isaiah 41:21-23, Isaiah 42:8-9 20 Isaiah 46:10, Ephesians 1:11, Hebrews 6:17, Romans 9:15, 18 21 Ephesians 1:11, Psalm 33:11, Danial 4:35, Isaiah 25:1, Philippians 2:13, Ephesians 3:11,

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2.5 We believe that God by His decree upholds and governs all things-- and has perfect knowledge of all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures– from galaxies22 to subatomic particles,23 from the forces of nature24 to the movements of nations,25 and from the public plans of politicians26 to the secret acts of solitary persons27 – all in accord with His eternal, all- wise28 purposes to glorify Himself, yet God did this in such a way that He is neither the author of sin nor has fellowship with any in their sin,29 nor ever condemns a person unjustly;30 but that His ordaining and governing all things is compatible with the moral accountability31 of all persons created in His image. This decree does not violate the will of the creature or take away the free working or contingency of second causes. On the contrary, these are established by God’s decree.32 In this decree God’s wisdom is displayed in directing all things, and His power and faithfulness are demonstrated in accomplishing His decree.33

2.6 God knows everything that could happen under any given conditions.34 However, His decree of anything is not based on foreseeing it in the future or foreseeing that it would occur under such conditions.35

22 Job 9:7, Isaiah 40:26 23 Matthew 10:29-30 Colossians 1:16-17 24 John 37:6-13, Psalm 147:15-18, Mark 4:39-41 25 Psalm 33:10-11, Amos 3:6, Lamentations 3:37-38, Genesis 50:20 26 Revelations 17:16-17, Proverbs 21:1, Proverbs 16:33 27 Proverbs 20:24, Proverbs 16:9 28 Psalm 104:24, Romans 16:27, 1 Corinthians 1:21 29 James 1:13, 1 John 1:5, Deuteronomy 32:4, Romans 3:4 30 Romans 1:20, Romans 2:11-12, Daniel 4:37 31 Romans 3:19 32 :27-28, John 19:11 33 Numbers 23:19; Ephesians 1:3–5. 34 Acts 15:18 35 Romans 9:11,13,16,18

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Article 3 – God the Father

We believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of Heaven and Earth

3.1 We believe in God the Father,1 fountain of all being2 and creator of all things;3 He is a perfectly pure spirit.4 He is invisible and has no body, parts, or changeable emotions, dwelling in light that no one can approach.5 He is unchangeable,6 immense,7 eternal,8 incomprehensible, almighty,9 in every way infinite, absolutely holy,10 perfectly wise, wholly free, completely absolute. He works all things according to the counsel of His own unchangeable and completely righteous will11 for His own glory.12

3.2 We believe as creator He is father to all mankind, but He is spiritual father only to believers.13 He is most loving14, gracious, merciful,15 and patient.16 He overflows with goodness17 and truth18, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin.19 He rewards those who seek Him diligently.20 At the same time, He is perfectly just and terrifying in His judgments.21 He hates all sin22 and will certainly not clear the guilty.23

3.3 We believe that God has all life,24 glory,25 goodness,26 and blessedness in and of Himself; He alone is all-sufficient in Himself. He does not need any creature He has made, nor does He derive any glory from them.27 Instead, He demonstrates His own glory in them, by them, to them, and upon them. He alone is the source of all being, and everything is from Him, through Him, and to Him.28 He has absolute sovereign rule over all creatures, to act through them, for them, or upon them as He pleases.29

1 John 1:18, John 5:18, John 6:46, John 20:17, :33, Romans 1:7, Romans 15:6, Philemon 1:3 2 1 Corinthians 8:6 3 Genesis 1:1-31, Ephesians 3:9 4 John 4:24 5 1 Timothy 1:17, Deuteronomy 4:15-16 6 Malachi 3:6 7 1 Kings 8:27, Jeremiah 23:23 8 Psalm 90:2, Leviticus 19:2 9 Genesis 17:1 10 Isaiah 6:3 11 Psalm 115:3 12 Proverbs 16:4, Romans 11:36 13 Ephesians 4:6, John 1:12-13, Romans 8:14, 2 Corinthians 6:18 14 1 John 4:8, Jerimiah 31:3 15 Ephesians 2:4, Exodus 34:6, 1 Chronicles 21:13 16 Numbers 14:18, Romans 15:5, Nahum 1:3 17 Mark 10:18, Psalm 119:68 18 John 14:6, Numbers 23:19, Psalm 31:5, John 3:33, 1 John5:20, Revelation 15:3 19 Romans 3:24-25, Ezra 9:13, 1 John 1:9, Micah 7:18 20 Exodus 34:6-7 21 Nehemiah 9:32-33 22 Psalm 5:5-6 23 Exodus 34:7, Nahum 1:2-3 24 John 5:26 25 Psalm 148:13 26 Psalm 119:68 27 Job 22:2-3 28 Romans 11:34-36 29 Daniel 4:25, 34-35

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3.4 We believe that in His sight everything is open and visible.30 His knowledge is infinite and infallible. It does not depend upon any creature, so for Him nothing is contingent or uncertain.31 He is absolutely holy in all His plans, in all His works,32 and in all His commands. Angels and human beings owe to Him all the worship,33 service, or obedience that creatures owe to the Creator and whatever else He is pleased to require of them.

30 Hebrews 4:13 31 Ezekiel 11:5, Acts 15:18 32 Psalm 145:17 33 Revelation 5:12-14

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Article 4 – Jesus Christ, God the Son

We believe in Jesus Christ, Son of God, our Lord.

4.1 We believe in God the Son,1 Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, eternally begotten,2 not made, without beginning,3 being of one essence4 with the Father, possessing all the divine excellencies, and in these He is coequal, consubstantial, and coeternal with the Father.5

4.2 We believe the Bible ascribes the characteristics of deity to Jesus Christ. He is described as eternal,6 omnipresent,7 all knowing,8 all powerful,9 and unchanging.10

4.3 We believe Jesus Christ is equal with God the Father. He is worshiped as God.11 Christ performed works which only God can do. He is creator.12 He is the upholder of all things.13 He forgives sin.14 He will raise the dead and execute judgment.15 Jesus Christ Himself claimed deity. He taught His disciples to pray in His name.16 He claimed that He and the Father were one and that He was the Son of God.17 He claimed that to know Him was to know God, to see Him was to see God, to receive Him was to receive God, to believe Him was to believe in God and to honor Him was to honor God, while to hate Him was to hate God.18

4.4 We believe that in the incarnation (God becoming man) Christ laid aside His right to the full prerogatives of coexistence with God, assumed the place of a Son, and took on an existence appropriate to a servant while never divesting Himself of His divine attributes nor of the divine essence, either in degree or kind. In His incarnation, the eternally existing second person of the Trinity accepted all the essential characteristics of humanity and so became the God–man.19 Two whole, perfect, and distinct natures were inseparably joined together in one person, without converting one into the other or mixing them together to produce a different or blended nature. Jesus Christ represents humanity and deity in indivisible oneness.20

1 John 20:31, John 1:1-3, John 5:18, John 6:46, Matthew 1:23, Matthew 11:27, John 10:30, John 10:38, John 12:45, John 14:7, Romans 9:5, Colossians 2:9, Titus 2:13, Hebrews 1:3, Hebrews 1:8, 2 Peter 1:1, Revelation 22:13 2 Colossians 1:15-16, Hebrews 1:5-6, John 1:14,18 3 John 1:1 4 Colossians 2:9 5 John 1:1-2, John 10:30, John 14:9 6 Isaiah 9:6; Micah 5:2; John 1:1–2; 8:58; 17:5; 24; Colossians 1:15, 17; 1 John 1:1; Revelation 1:8 7 Matthew 18:20; 28:20; John 3:13 8 John 2:24, 25; 16:30; 21:17; Revelation 2:23 9 Isaiah 9:6; Philippians 3:21; Revelation 1:8; cf. John 5:17; Hebrews 1:3; Matthew 28:18 10 Hebrews 1:10–12; 13:8 11 John 20:28; :59; Hebrews 1:6; cf. Exodus 34:14 and Matthew 4:10 12 John 1:3, 10; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2,10 13 Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3; cf. Luke 10:22; John 3:35; 17:2; Ephesians 1:22 14 Matthew 9:2–7; cf. Mark 2:7; Luke 7:47, 48; Colossians 3:13 15 John 11:25; cf. John 5:25, 28–29; 6:39, 40, 54; John 5:22 16 John 16:23-24 17 John 10:30, 36; 14:9; 17:11 18 John 8:18; 14:7; John 12:45; 14:9; Mark 9:37; John 12:44; 14:1; John 5:23; John 15:23 19 Philippians 2:5-8, Colossians 2:9 20 Micah 5:2, John 5:23, John 14:9-10, Colossians 2:9

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This person is truly God and truly man, yet one Christ, the only mediator between God and humanity.21 The purpose of the incarnation was to reveal God, redeem men, and rule over God’s kingdom.22

4.5 We believe that in the fullness of time, He took upon himself human nature, with all the essential properties and common weaknesses of it23 but without sin.24 Our Lord Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary.25 Thus, He was born of a woman from the tribe of Judah, a descendant of Abraham and David in fulfillment of the Scriptures.26 His life was governed by His Father’s providence with a view to fulfilling all Old Testament prophecies concerning the One who was to come,27 such as the Seed of the woman,28 the Prophet like Moses,29 the Priest after the order of Melchizedek,30 the Son of David,31 and the Suffering Servant.32

4.6 We believe that Jesus of Nazareth was sanctified and anointed with the Holy Spirit beyond measure.33 He had in Himself all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.34 The Father was pleased to make all fullness dwell in Him35 so that—being holy, harmless, undefiled, and full of grace and truth.36

4.7 We believe that Jesus Christ lived without sin, though He endured the common infirmities and temptations of human life.37 He preached and taught with truth and authority unparalleled in human history.38 He worked miracles, demonstrating His divine right and power over all creation: dispatching demons,39 healing the sick,40 raising the dead,41 stilling the storm,42 walking on water,43 multiplying loaves,44 and foreknowing what would befall Him and His disciples,45 including the betrayal of Judas.46

21 Romans 9:5, 1 Timothy 2:5 22 Psalms 2:7–9, Isaiah 9:6, John 1:29, Philippians 2:9–11, Hebrews 7:25-26; 1 Peter 1:18-19 23 John 1:14, Galatians 4:4 24 Romans 8:3, Hebrews 2:14, 16-17, Hebrews 4:15 25 Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23,25, Luke 1:26-35 26 Matthew 1:22, 23, Luke 1:27, 31, 35 27 Luke 24:25-26 28 Genesis 3:15, Romans 16:20 29 Deuteronomy 18:18, :20-23 30 Psalm 110:4, Hebrews 5:5-6 31 Isaiah 9:7, Matthew 1:1, Matthew 22:42 32 Isaiah 52:13, 53:3-6, Mark 10:45 33 Psalms 45:7; :38; John 3:34 34 Colossians 2:3 35 Colossians 1:19 36 John 5:22, 27; Matthew 28:18; Acts 2:36 37 Hebrews 4:15 38 John 7:46, Mark 1:27, Matthew 22:16, Matthew 7:28-29 39 Mark 1:27 40 Matthew 4:23 41 Matthew 11:4-6 42 Mark 4:39 43 Matthew 14:25 44 Matthew 14:19-20 45 John 13:19 46 John 6:64, John 13:21, John 13:26, Matthew 26:2, John 13:27

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4.8 We believe that Jesus Christ suffered voluntarily47 in fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan,48 that He was crucified under Pontius Pilate,49 that He died,50 was buried51 and on the third day rose from the dead52 to vindicate the saving work of His life and death53 and to take His place as the invincible, everlasting Lord of glory.54 During forty days after His resurrection, He gave many compelling evidences of His bodily resurrection55 and then ascended bodily into heaven,56 where He is seated at the right hand of the Father,57 interceding for His people58 on the basis of His all-sufficient sacrifice for sin, and reigning until He puts all His enemies under His feet.59

47 John 10:18 48 Acts 2:23 49 Acts 4:27-28 50 John 19:30, 1 Corinthians 15:3 51 John 19:40-41, 1 Corinthians 15:4 52 1 Corinthians 15:4, Matthew 28:6 53 Romans 4:25 54 Philippians 2:9-11, Acts 17:31 55 :3 56 Acts 1:9-11 57 Luke 22:69, Acts 2:33, :31, Colossians 3:1 58 Romans 8:34, Hebrews 4:14, 1 John 2:1 59 Hebrews 1:13, 1 Corinthians 15:25

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Article 5 – God the Holy Spirit

We believe in the Holy Spirt who indwells all believers.

5.1 We believe in God the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, proceeding in the full, divine essence,1 as a Person,2 eternally from the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is co-equal with God the Father and God the Son and is of the same essence. Yet He is also distinct from them. Thus, each Person in the Godhead is fully and completely God.

5.2 We believe Scripture describes the Holy Spirit in personal terms, not as an impersonal force, when it says that He teaches, guides, comforts and intercedes.3 He possesses emotions, intellect and will.4 The Holy Spirit spoke to Philip and gave counsel to the church at .5 He was sinned against and lied to.6 The Scriptures also attest to the deity of the Holy Spirit. He is spoken of as God and is identified with the title of Jehovah.7 The Christian who is indwelt by the Spirit is indwelt by God.8 The Holy Spirit possesses the attributes of deity, such as omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence and eternality.9 He does works only God can do, such as creating, regenerating and sanctifying.10 He is equally associated with the other members of the Trinity.11

5.3 The Holy Spirit today plays a major role in the application of salvation to the individual. It is the Spirit who brings conviction to the unbeliever and causes him to see the truth of the gospel in a clear light.12 Those who respond to this conviction and place their faith in Jesus Christ receive eternal life and a new nature.13 The Holy Spirit unites the believer with Christ and places him in the body of Christ, the church.14 This is the one baptism of the Holy Spirit that occurs at the time a person is born again.15 He also unites the believer with Christ in His death, enabling him to live victoriously over sin.16 The Holy Spirit controls the believer who yields to God and submits himself to God's Word.17 When these conditions are met, the believer lives in the power of the Spirit and produces the fruit of the Spirit.18

5.4 The Holy Spirit indwells the believer permanently.19 While the child of God may sin and grieve the Spirit, the Spirit will never leave the true believer.20 Absence of the Holy Spirit is the mark of the

1 Acts 5:3-4, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 1 Corinthians 2:10-11, Romans 8:27 2 John 14:26, John 15:26, John 16:13-14, 1 Corinthians 12:11, Ephesians 4:30 3 John 14:26; Romans 8:14; John 14:26; Romans 8:26 4 Ephesians 4:30; 1 Corinthians 2:10–14; 1 Corinthians 12:11 5 Acts 8:29; 15:28 6 Acts 5:3-4 7 Acts 5:1–4; Isaiah 6:8–9 with :25; Jeremiah 31:31–34; with Hebrews 10:15 8 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; Ephesians 2:22 9 1 Corinthians 2:10–11; Psalm 139:7; Zechariah 4:6; Hebrews 9:14 10 Genesis 1:2; John 3:6; 2 Thessalonians 2:13 11 Matthew 28:19, 20; 2 Corinthians 13:14 12 John 16:8–11 13 John 3:3–7; Titus 3:5 14 1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Romans 12:4–5 15 Acts 2:38; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:13 16 Romans 6:1–10 17 Romans 12: 1, 2; Ephesians 5:18; Colossians 3:16 18 Galatians 5:16, 22, 23 19 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 20 Ephesians 4:30

Page 15 of 45 unsaved.21 The Holy Spirit seals the believer.22 This ministry guarantees the security of the believer "until the day of redemption."23

5.5 We believe that the Holy Spirit sovereignly bestows spiritual gifts or abilities for service to every believer.24 These gifts are for the edification of the church and for the common good.25 We distinguish between spiritual gifts and the sign gifts which are understood to have been manifestations of the Holy Spirit to authenticate the messenger and the gospel message during the foundational period of the church.26 Therefore, we hold that sign gifts are not normative for the church today.27

5.6 We believe that the Holy Spirit restrains evil in the world today, but His restraint will cease with the rapture.28 He will continue to be present in the earth. In the tribulation period the Spirit will be involved in salvation and filling.29 In the coming kingdom of Jesus Christ, the Spirit will be in God's people and the Spirit will be upon the King.30

21 Romans 8:9; Jude 1:19 22 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30 23 Ephesians 4:30 24 Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4 25 1 Corinthians 12:7, Ephesians 4:7-13, :10-11 26 1 Corinthians 13:8–10; 14:20–22 27 1 Corinthians 1:22-23; 13:8–10 28 2 Thessalonians 2:7 29 Zechariah 12:10; Joel 2:28–32 30 Jeremiah 31:33; Isaiah 11: 2–3

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Article 6 – Creation

We believe God created the Heavens and the Earth in six days.

6.1 We believe that God created the universe,1 and everything in it,2 out of nothing,3 by the Word of His power. Having no deficiency in Himself, nor moved by any incompleteness in His joyful self- sufficiency,4 God was pleased in creation to display His glory5 for the everlasting joy6 of the redeemed, from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.7

6.2 We believe that God formed the whole of creation in six consecutive twenty-four-hour days.8

6.3 We believe that God directly created Adam from the dust of the ground and Eve from his side. We believe that Adam and Eve were the historical parents of the entire human race;9 that they were created male and female equally in the image of God,10 without sin;11 that they were created to glorify12 their Maker, Ruler, Provider, and Friend by trusting His all-sufficient goodness, admiring His infinite beauty, enjoying His personal fellowship, and obeying His all-wise counsel; and that, in God’s love and wisdom, they were appointed differing and complementary roles in marriage as a type of Christ and the church.13

6.4 We believe that angels are created beings and are therefore not to be worshiped. Although they are a higher order of creation than man, they are created to serve God and to worship Him.14

6.5 We believe that Satan is a created angel and the author of sin. He incurred the judgment of God by rebelling against his Creator,15 by taking numerous angels with him in his fall,16 and by introducing sin into the human race by his temptation of Eve.17

6.6 We believe that Satan is the open and declared enemy of God and man,18 the prince of this world who has been defeated through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ19 and that he shall be eternally punished in the lake of fire.20

1 Genesis 1:1 2 Psalm 24:1-2 3 Hebrews 11:3, Hebrews 1:2, John 1:1-3 4 Exodus 3:13-14, Psalm 50:9-15, Acts 17:25 5 Isaiah 43:7 6 Isaiah 35:10, Matthew 25:23 7 Revelation 5:9, Revelation 7:9-10 8 Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31; Genesis 2:1-2 9 Genesis 2:7, Genesis 1:27, Genesis 2:21-22, 1 Corinthians 15:22, 1 Corinthians 15:45, Romans 5:14 10 Genesis 1:27, Genesis 9:6, James 3:9 11 Genesis 1:31 12 Revelation 5:9, Revelation 7:9-10 13 Ephesians 5:22-33, Genesis 2:18 14 Luke 2:9-14, Hebrews 1:6-7, 14 Hebrews 2:6-7, Revelation 5:11-14 15 Isaiah 14:12–17; Ezekiel 28:11–19 16 Matthew 25:41; Revelation 12:1–14 17 Genesis 3:1-15 18 Isaiah 14:13-14; Matthew 4:1–11; Revelation 12:9-10 19 Romans 16:20 20 Isaiah 14:12–17; Ezekiel 28:11–19; Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10

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Article 7 – Mankind

We believe all people are made in the image of God but have fallen into sin.

7.1 We believe that God created every person equally in his own image. As divine image-bearers, all people have inestimable value and dignity before God and deserve honor, respect, and protection. Everyone has been created by God and for God. No person’s age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, religion, sex or physical condition, family position, or any other property of a person either negates or contributes to that individual’s worth as an image-bearer of God.1

7.2 We believe that God has endowed human will with natural liberty and power to act on choices so that it is neither forced nor inherently bound by nature to do good or evil.2

7.3 We believe that, although God created man morally upright, Adam was led astray from God’s Word and wisdom by the subtlety of Satan’s deceit,3 and chose to take what was forbidden,4 and thus declare his independence from, distrust for, and disobedience toward his all-good and gracious Creator. Thus, our first parents, by this sin, fell from their original innocence and communion with God.5

7.4 We believe that all people are connected to Adam, as the head of the human race, both naturally and federally. Therefore, Adam’s fall became the fall of all his posterity and because of original sin everyone is born under the curse of God’s law and all break His commandments through sin. All persons are thus corrupt by nature,6 enslaved to sin,7 and morally unable8 to delight in God and overcome their own proud preference for the fleeting pleasures of self-rule. There is no difference in the condition of sinners due to age, ethnicity, or sex. All are depraved in all their faculties and all stand condemned before God’s law9 in such a way that corruption, guilt, death, and condemnation belong properly to every person.10 All human relationships, systems, and institutions have been affected by sin.11

7.5 We believe that, other than the previously stated connection to Adam, no person is morally culpable for another person’s sin. Although families, groups, and nations can sin collectively, and cultures can be predisposed to particular sins12, subsequent generations share the collective guilt of their ancestors only if they approve and embrace (or attempt to justify) those sins.13 Before God each person must repent and confess his or her own sins in order to receive forgiveness.14

1 Genesis 1:26-30, Genesis 2:18-22, Genesis 9:6, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Colossians 1:21-22 2 Matthew 17:12, James 1:14, Deuteronomy 30:19 3 Ecclesiastes 7:29, Genesis 3:1, Genesis 3.13, 2 Corinthians 11:3 4 Genesis 2:17, Genesis 3:6 5 Genesis 3:7-8, Romans 5:12, 1 Corinthians 15:21 6 Ephesians 2:2-3 7 Romans 6:16, 20 8 1 Corinthians 2:14, Romans 8:7-8, Deuteronomy 29:4 9 Ecclesiastes 7:20, Romans 1:16-17, Romans 3:9, 19 Romans 3:23, 1 John 1:8-10 10 Romans 5:12-19 11 Galatians 3:22 12 Titus 1:12-13 13 Matthew 23:29-36, Ezekiel 18:1-9 14 1 John 1:9

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7.6 We believe God has subjected the creation to futility,15 and the entire human family is made justly liable to untold miseries of sickness,16 decay,17 calamity,18 and loss.19 Thus all the adversity and suffering in the world is an echo and a witness of the exceedingly great evil of moral depravity in the heart of mankind; and every new day of life is a God-given, merciful reprieve from imminent judgment, pointing to repentance.20

7.7 We believe that God has given all mankind common grace as He is the creator and sustainer of all.21 God’s gracious provision is seen in His restraint of evil,22 His care for all of creation,23 His divine control over human governments,24 and His blessings to all mankind human by way of human intellect and technological advancements that lead to human flourishing. This common grace, giving to all, does not lift the curse of sin on mankind25 but should stir the hearts of man to thanksgiving towards God and individuals to saving faith.26

15 Romans 8:20 16 Romans 8:23 17 2 Corinthians 4:16 18 Romans 8:35-36 19 1 Thessalonians 4:13 20 Romans 2:4 21 Psalm 145:9, 15-6, Matthew 5:45, Mark 10:21, Luke 6:35 22 Genesis 20:6, 1 Samuel 25:26 23 Hebrews 1:2-3, John 1:1-4 24 Romans 13:1,6 25 Colossians 1:21, Matthew 12:30, Philippians 3:18-19 26 Ezekiel 33:11, 1 Timothy 2:4

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Article 8 – Salvation

We believe that sinners are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.

8.1 We believe that salvation is wholly of God by grace on the basis of the redemption of Jesus Christ, the merit of his shed blood, and not on the basis of human merit or effort.1

Election

8.2 We believe that election is the gracious purpose of God before creation in which He chooses some people to be saved, delivered from bondage to sin2 and brought to repentance3 and saving faith4 in His Son, Christ Jesus. God does this, not on account of any foreseen merit in the elect, but only because of His sovereign good pleasure.5 This is a comfort to God’s people,6 a reason to praise God,7 and is an encouragement to evangelize the lost.8 Those chosen by God are known as the elect.9

Atonement

8.3 We believe that God’s just wrath against sin must be satisfied and His love for sinners must be expressed. Therefore Jesus Christ propitiated10 the wrath of God that is rightly due to sinners, by bearing in His body the sins of the elect11 in His life12 and especially in His death upon the cross.13 The cross is the perfect joining of the just wrath of God against sin and the perfect love of God for the sinner.14 The atonement is the work Christ did in His life and death to earn the believer’s salvation.15

The Gospel Call

8.4 We believe that in God’s appointed and acceptable time, He is pleased to call effectually,16 by His Word and Spirit the elect, those He has predestined to life. He calls them out of their natural state of sin and death to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ.17 This effectual call flows from God’s free and special

1 John 1:12, Ephesians 1:4-7, Ephesians 2:8-10, 1 Peter 1:18-19 2 Romans 6:17, Romans 8:2 3 2 Timothy 2:24-25, :18 4 John 6:44, John 6:65, Philippians 1:29, Ephesians 2:8-9, Matthew 11:27, Matthew 16:17, :14 5 Jeremiah 1:5, Romans 8:28-30, Romans 9:11-13, Romans 11:5-7, Ephesians 1:4-6, 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 2 Timothy 2:9, 1 Peter 1:1, 1 Peter 2:9, Revelation 13:7-8, Revelation 17:8 6 Romans 8:28-30 7 Ephesians 1:5-6, 12, 1 Thessalonians 1:2-4, 2 Thessalonians 2:13 8 2 Timothy 2:10 9 1 Peter 1:1-2, Matthew 24:22, Romans 11:7, 2 Timothy 2:10, Titus 1:1, 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5, 1 Peter 2:9, Colossians 3:12, Romans 16:13 10 Romans 3:25-26 Hebrews 2:17, 1 John 2:2 11 John 10:11,15, :28, Romans 8:32-35, Romans 5:8, 2 Corinthians 5:21, John 6:37-39, John 17:9 12 Hebrews 5:8, Isaiah 53:3, 13 Mark 15:24, John 19:31-33, Isaiah 53:6,12, John 1:29, Hebrews 9:28, Galatians 3:13, 14 1 John 4:10, Mark 10:45 15 Romans 5:19, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 1:18-19 16 Romans 8:30, Romans 11:7, Ephesians 1:10, 11, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14 17 Ephesians 2:1–6

Page 20 of 45 grace alone, yet He does all this in such a way that they come completely freely, since they are made willing by His grace.18

8.5 We believe that the gospel call to sinners includes at least the fact that all people have sinned,19 the penalty for sin is death20 and Jesus Christ died to atone for sin.21 The gospel call also includes an invitation for the sinner to respond to Christ personally in repentance and faith.22

8.6 We believe that the gospel call, that salvation is to be found in Jesus Christ alone, is good news for the world and that we are obligated under Christ, by command23 and compulsion,24 to share the gospel of Christ with our kindred, acquaintances, and with all people to the ends of the Earth.25 It must be shared with zeal and urgency by the church’s corporate efforts26 and by personal testimony.27

Regeneration

8.7 We believe that regeneration is the act of God in which He imparts new spiritual life to the elect. This is sometimes called being born again.28 Regeneration is totally a work of the Triune God29. He enlightens their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God.30 He takes away their heart of stone and gives them a heart of flesh.31 He makes them a new creation.32 He raises them to new life.33 He renews their wills and by His almighty power turns them to good and effectually draws them to Jesus Christ.34 Therefore, regeneration is an instantaneous event. It happens only once. At one moment the believer is spiritually dead and the next moment the believer has new spiritual life from God. Genuine regeneration will result in a changed life that is evident over time.35

Conversion

8.8 We believe that all those whom God regenerates are converted. Conversion is the willing response to the gospel call in which the elect sincerely repents of sins and places their trust in Christ for salvation. Knowledge and approval of God and His saving work are not enough for saving faith.36 Placing our trust in Christ alone for salvation is saving faith. Saving faith is trust in Jesus Christ as a living person for

18 Psalm 110:3, Song of Solomon 1:4 19 Romans 3:23 20 Romans 6:23 21 Romans 5:8 22 Matthew 11:28, John 1:11-12, Revelation 3:20, Revelation 22:17 23 Isaiah 6:8-9, Jonah1:1-2, 2 Timothy 4:5 24 1 Corinthians 9:16-17, Acts 4:20, Romans 9:1-3 25 Acts 1:8, Matthew 28:16-20 26 :2-3, Romans 10:14-15 27 1 John 1:1-3, Mark 5:19, John 4:39 28 John 3:3-8, 1 Peter 1:23, Colossians 2:13 29 1 Peter 1:3, Ephesians 2:5, John 3:8 30 Acts 26:18; Ephesians 1:17-18 31 Ezekiel 36:26 32 2 Corinthians 5:17 33 Romans 8:10, Ephesians 2:1 34 Deuteronomy 30:6; Ezekiel 36:27; Ephesians 1:19 35 Matthew 7:15-20, 1 John 5:1, 1 John 3:9, Galatians 5:22-23 36 Romans 1:32, James 1:32, Acts 26:27-28

Page 21 of 45 forgiveness of sins and for eternal life with God.37 Always accompanying saving faith is repentance.38 Repentance is a heartfelt sorrow for sin, a renouncing of it, and a sincere commitment to forsake it and walk in obedience to Christ.

Justification

8.9 We believe that justification is an instantaneous legal act of God in which He; thinks of the sins of the elect as forgiven and Christ’s imputed righteousness as belonging to them, and declares the elect to be righteous in His sight. In response to faith, God fulfills His promise39 to deliver the elect from sin by legally declaring their sins forgiven and that we are no longer liable to punishment for them.40 Justification comes after faith in and through Jesus Christ.41 No person is able to attain justification by their own works, merit, position, good intentions, knowledge, or obedience to the law, or by any other action and belief of man, but it is a free gift and pardon from God as He extended grace, that is unmerited favor, and imputed (credited) righteousness of Christ to the elect.42

8.10 We believe justification is sufficient for salvation without the need for the once for all time work of Christ to be aided or supplemented by meritorious works by man.43 Justification is full and complete therefore the elect will suffer no punishment or period of purification after the death of the body.44 We deny the existence of purgatory, limbo, the treasury of merit, prayers for the dead, prayers to any person or created thing, and the differentiation between mortal and venial sins.

Adoption

8.11 We believe adoption is the act of God whereby He makes the elect members of His family. Believers become the children of God.45 Those who do not believe in Christ are not children of God nor adopted into His family but are children of wrath and of their father, the Devil.46 Adoption follows conversion and is an outcome of saving faith.47 Children of God relate to God as a good and loving father.48 They are given a great inheritance in heaven because they have become joint heirs with Christ.49 All the children of God are members of one family.50

Sanctification

8.12 We believe that sanctification is a progressive work of God and man that makes the believer more and more free from sin and like Christ in our actual lives. Sanctification differs from justification in that

37 John 3:16, Romans 10:9 38 Acts 20:21, 2 Corinthians 7:9-10 39 Romans 8:30, 40 Romans 5:1, Romans 8:1 41 Romans 3:25-26, Romans 5:17-19, Genesis 15:6 42 Romans 3:20, Romans 3:23-24, Galatians 2:16 Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:7, Luke 16:15 43 John 19:30, John 17:4, Hebrews 10:14 44 Romans 8:1, 1 John 3:2, 2 Corinthians 5:8 45 John 1:12, Romans 8:14-17, 1 John 3:1, Galatians 4:6 46 Ephesians 2:3, John 8:42-44 47 Galatians 3:23-26, 1 John 3:2 48 Matthew 6:9, Galatians 4:7, Romans 8:15-16, Matthew 6:32, 49 1 Peter 1:4Galatians 4:7, Romans 8:17 50 Matthew 12:50, 1 Corinthians 1:10, James 2:15, 1 Timothy 5:1-2

Page 22 of 45 sanctification is an internal condition, continuous throughout life.51 The believer cooperates with God in the work of sanctification, and that while some believers attain greater sanctification than others, no one is fully perfected in this life.52 Sanctification is primarily a work of God,53 whereby the Father disciplines His children54 and gives us both the will and power to be sanctified.55 The Son is our example of the perfect life.56 The Holy Spirit works within the believer to change us and give us greater holiness of life.57

8.13 We believe that the believer plays a role in their sanctification. The believer yields to the will of God by trusting and depending on God to sanctify.58 The believer’s active role in sanctification is by seeking to end sin’s influence in their lives,59 and to make every effort to grow in godliness.60 Although slavery to sin is broken,61 and sinful desires are progressively62 weakened by the power of a superior satisfaction in the glory of Christ, yet there remain remnants of corruption in every heart that give rise to irreconcilable war,63 and call for vigilance in the lifelong fight of faith.64

8.14 We believe that God uses means to accomplish the believer’s sanctification. Faith is awakened and sustained by the Holy Spirit through His Word65 and prayer.66 The good fight of faith is fought mainly by meditating on the Scriptures67 and praying68 that God would apply them to the believer’s souls.

8.15 We believe that the promises of God recorded in the Scriptures are suited to save us from the deception of sin by displaying for us, and holding out to us, superior pleasures in the protection, provision, and presence of God.69 Therefore, reading,70 understanding,71 pondering,72 memorizing,73 and savoring74 the promises of all that God will be for us in Jesus are primary means of the Holy Spirit to

51 Romans 6:11-14, Acts 20:32, 1 Corinthians 6:11 52 Romans 6:17-18, Philippians 3:9-14, Hebrews 12:1, Hebrews 12:14, James 1:22, 1 Peter 1:15 53 1 Thessalonians 5:23 54 Hebrews 12:5-11, 55 Philippians 2:13, Hebrews 13:20-21 56 Hebrews 12:2, 1 Peter 2:21, 1 John 2:6 57 2 Thessalonians 2:13, Galatians 5:22-23, Romans 8:14, Galatians 5:16-18 58 Romans 6:13, Romans 12:1, Romans 8:13, Philippians 2:13 59 Romans 8:13, Philippians 2:12-13, Hebrews 12:14, 1 Thessalonians 4:3, 1 John 3:3, 1 Corinthians 6:18, 60 2 Peter 1:5, Ephesians 4:17-24, Philippians 4:4-9 61 Romans 6:14,17 62 2 Corinthians 3:18, 1 Corinthians 1:18, Hebrews 10:14, 2 Peter 3:18 63 Galatians 5:16-18, 1 Peter 2:11 64 Hebrews 3:12-13, 1 Timothy 6:12, 2 Timothy 4:7-8 65 Romans 10:17 66 Mark 9:24, Luke 22:31-32, Ephesians 1:18-19, 2 Thessalonians 3:1, 2 Thessalonians 1:11 67 Ephesians 6:17-18, Hebrews 4:12, Psalm 1:1-3 68 Psalm 119:36, Psalm 119:18, Psalm 86:11 69 2 Peter 1:3-4, Hebrews 10:34, Hebrews 11:24-26, Hebrews 13:13-14 70 Ephesians 3:4 71 Ephesians 5:17 72 2 Timothy 2:7 73 Psalm 119:11 74 Psalm 37:4, Psalm 34:8

Page 23 of 45 break the power of sin’s deceitful promises in our lives. Therefore, it is needful that we give ourselves to such meditation day and night.75

8.16 We believe that God has ordained to bless76 and use77 His people for His glory through the means of prayer, offered in Jesus’78 name by faith.79 All prayer should seek ultimately that God’s name be hallowed, and that His kingdom come, and that His will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.80 God’s sovereignty over all things is not a hindrance to prayer, but a reason for hope that our prayers will succeed.81

Perseverance

8.17 We believe that all those who are truly born again will be kept by God’s power and will persevere as Christians until the end of their lives,82 and that only those who persevere until the end have been truly born again83 and have eternal security. Those who fall away from belief in Christ show that they did not have saving faith from the beginning.84

8.18 We believe external signs of conversion and sanctification, while always present in those with saving faith, are not themselves signs of the presence of true saving faith.85 Among the signs of true saving faith are continued faith,86 a present trust in Christ for salvation,87 evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in the individual,88 love for fellow believers and the church,89 repentance of sin,90 love for God,91 hunger for God’s Word,92 separation from the world,93 and a pattern of spiritual growth.94

Death

8.19 We believe, should the Lord tarry in His return, all persons will experience physical death. Death is not a punishment for Christians95 but is the final outcome of living in a fallen world.96 God uses the

75 Psalm 1:2 76 Philippians 4:6-7, Matthew 7:7-11 77 Romans 15:30-31, Ephesians 6:19, Matthew 9:38 78 John 14:13 79 James 1:5-8 80 Matthew 6:9-10 81 Ezekiel 36:37-38 82 John 6:38-40, John 10:27-29, John 3:16-17,36, 1 Peter 1:5 83 John 8:31-32, Matthew 10:22, Colossians 1:22-23, Hebrews 3:14 84 1 John 2:19 85 Matthew 7:21-23, Galatians 2:4, 2 Corinthians 11:15, Mark 4:5-6, 16-17; John 15:1-2,6 86 Colossians 1:23 87 Hebrews 3:14, Hebrews 6:12, John 3:16, 1 John 2:23-24 88 1 John 4:13, Romans 8:14, Galatians 5:22-23, James 2:17-18, 89 1 John 2:10, 1 John 3:14, 1 John 3:17, Matthew 25:31-46 90 1 John 1:8-10, Romans 7:14-20 91 Psalm 42:1-11, Psalm 73:25, Luke 10:27, Romans 8:7 92 1 Peter 2:1-3 93 1 Corinthians 2:12, James 4:4-10, 1 John 2:15-17, 1 John 5:5 94 Luke 8:15, John 15:1-6, Ephesians 4:12-16, 2 Peter 1:10 95 Romans 8:1 96 1 Corinthians 15:26

Page 24 of 45 experience of death to complete our sanctification,97 and complete our union with Christ.98 The obedience of the believer to God is more important than preserving his or her own life.99 The time of death is a part of God’s sovereign will,100 therefore the believer does not view his or her own death with fear but with joy at the prospect of going to be with Christ101 who has conquered death by His resurrection.102

Glorification

8.20 We believe that glorification is the final step in the application of redemption.103 It will happen when Christ returns and raises from the dead the bodies of all believers for all time who have died, and reunites them with their souls, and changes the bodies of all believers who remain alive, thereby giving all believers at that time perfect resurrection bodies like His own.104 Eternal life with the Lord is the blessed hope of the believer.105

97 Romans 8:28, Hebrews 5:8, Hebrews 2:10, Philippians 3:10, Revelation 2:10, Philippians 2:10, Romans 14:8 98 Romans 8:17, 1 Peter 4:13, Hebrews 12:2, 1 Peter 2:21, Philippians 3:10 99 :13, Acts 20:24, Revelation 12:11, 2 Timothy 4:6-7, Romans 14:8 100 Job 14:5, Luke 12:20, Revelation 1:18 101 2 Corinthians 5:8, Philippians 1:21-23, Romans 8:38-39 102 1 Corinthians 15:54-55 103 Romans 8:30, Romans 8:23-24 104 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 49 105 Titus 2:13, Titus 1:2, 1 Corinthians 15:19, 1 Peter 1:3

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Article 9 – The Church

We believe that meaningful and enduring fellowship in a local congregation is absolutely essential to the Christian’s life and ministry.

9.1 We believe that all who place their faith in Jesus Christ are immediately placed by the Holy Spirit into one united spiritual body,1 the church,2 the bride of Christ,3 of which Christ is the head.4 We believe that the formation of the church, the body of Christ, began on the day of Pentecost5 and will be completed at the coming of Christ for His own at the Rapture.6 We believe that the church is thus a unique spiritual organism designed by Christ, made up of all born-again believers in this present age.7 The church is distinct from Israel,8 a mystery not revealed until this age.9

9.2 We teach that the purpose of the church is to glorify God10 by building itself up in the faith,11 by instruction of the Word12 by fellowship,13 by keeping the ordinances,14 and by advancing and communicating the gospel to the entire world.15

9.3 We believe that the establishment and continuity of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures16 and that the members of the one spiritual body are directed to associate themselves together in local assemblies.17

9.4 We believe that the New Testament church is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers. Church government or leadership is congregational in context.18 Therefore, the final word in matters pertaining to the congregation must come from the congregation itself. The congregation must be committed to the Lordship of Christ under the full authority of Scripture.19

9.5 We believe that the one supreme authority for the church is Christ20 and that church leadership, gifts, order, discipline, and worship are all appointed through His sovereignty as found in the Scriptures. Christ leads His church by the teachings of Holy Scripture as the church’s final authority.

1 1 Corinthians 12:12 2 1 Corinthians 12:12-14 3 2 Corinthians 11:2, Ephesians 5:23–32, Revelation 19:7-8 4 Ephesians 1:22; 4:15; Colossians 1:18 5 Acts 2:1–21, 38–47 6 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 7 Ephesians 2:11–3:6 8 1Corinthians 10:32 9 Ephesians 3:1–6, 5:32 10 Ephesians 3:21 11 Ephesians 4:13-16 12 2 Timothy 2:2, 15; 3:16-17 13 Acts 2:47, 1 John 1:3 14 Luke 22:19, Acts 2:38-42 15 Matthew 28:19, Acts 1:8 16 :23, 27; 20:17, 28; Galatians 1:2; Philippians 1:1; 1Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:1 17 1 Corinthians 11:18–20, Hebrews 10:25 18 Matthew 18:15-17, :2-5, 1 Corinthians 5:4-5, 2 Corinthians 2:6, 19 2 Timothy 3:16 20 Ephesians 1:22, Colossians 1:18

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9.6 We believe that each local church is led by a plurality of godly, qualified men called elders. Elders (males, who are also called overseers, shepherds, bishops, pastors, and pastor-teachers21) feed God’s sheep God’s word,22 guide the sheep,23 protect the sheep,24 and oversee the work of the church.25 Elders exercise authority over the church only to the degree that they teach and lead according to the Scriptures.26 Elders primary task is to prayer and the ministry of the Word.27

9.7 We believe that elders are prepared, gifted, and call by the Holy Spirit to the office of elder and confirmed by the local assembly in accordance with the Scriptural qualifications of an elder.28 He is set apart by fasting and prayer and the laying on of hands.29

9.8 We believe that the local church is served by deacons. The task of a deacon is primarily that of meeting the physical and material needs of individual believers and the congregation as a whole.30 Deacons are prepared, gifted, and called by the Holy Spirit to the office of deacon and confirmed by the local assembly in accordance with the Scriptural qualifications of an deacon.31 He is set apart by and prayer and the laying on of hands.32 If the deacon serves faithfully, he obtains for himself a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.33

9.9 We believe that every Christian in the local congregation without exception has been given spiritual gifts,34 material possessions,35 talents, skills, and wisdom which they are commanded to employ for the edification of the entire congregation and the furtherance of the Kingdom.36 The administration of such gifts by every member is necessary for the proper growth and ministry of the church.37

9.10 We believe in the autonomy of the local church, free from any external authority or control, with the right of self-government and freedom from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations.38 We teach that it is scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other for the presentation and propagation of the faith. Local churches, however, through their elders and their interpretation and application of Scripture, should be the sole judges of the measure and method of their cooperation.39

21 Acts 20:17,28, Ephesians 4:11 22 :15-17 23 1 Timothy 4:16, 1 Peter 5:3, Hebrews 13:7 24 Acts 20:27-29, 2 Timothy 4:3-4, Titus 1:9 25 Acts 20:28, 1 Timothy 3:1, Titus 1:7, Hebrews 13:17 26 Hebrews 13:17 27 Acts 6:4, 2 Timothy 4:2, 1 Timothy 5:17 28 1 Timothy 3:1–7, Titus 1:5–9, 1 Peter 5:1–5 29 Acts 14:23, 1 Timothy 4:14, 1 Timothy 5:22 30 Acts 6:1-6 31 1 Timothy 3:8-13, Acts 6:3,5 32 Acts 6:6 33 1 Timothy 3:13 34 Ephesians 4:7 35 2 Corinthians 8:19, 9:5-9 36 1 Peter 4:10-11, Acts 4:32-35, 2 Corinthians 8:1-5 37 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 38 Titus 1:5 39 Acts 15:19–31; 20:28; 1 Corinthians 5:4–7, 13; 1 Peter 5:1–4

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9.11 We believe in the importance of discipleship,40 mutual accountability of all believers to each other,41 as well as the need for discipline for sinning members of the congregation in accord with the standards of Scripture.42

40 Matthew 28:19-20, 2 Timothy 2:2 41 Matthew 18:15-17 42 Matthew 18:15-22, Acts 5:1-11, 1 Corinthians 5:1-13, 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15, 1 Timothy 1:19-20, Titus 1:10-16

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Article 10 – Baptism and the Lord’s Supper

We believe in the two ordinances of the church: Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper.

10.1 We believe that baptism is an ordinance of the Lord by which those who have repented and come to faith1 express their union with Christ2 in His death and resurrection,3 by being immersed in water4 in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.5 For those being baptized it is a sign of their being grafted into Him,6 of remission of sins,7 and an emblem of burial8 and cleansing,9 signifying death to the old life of unbelief, and purification from the pollution of sin, and of submitting themselves to God though Jesus Christ to live and walk in the newness of life.10

10.2 We believe that those who personally profess repentance toward God with faith in and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ are the only proper subjects of the ordinance of baptism.11 The outward element to be used in this ordinance is water, in which the individual is to be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.12 Immersion, or dipping of the person in water, is necessary for this ordinance to be administered properly.13 Infants and small children without clear understanding of his or her own faith in Christ and repentance of sins, are never suitable candidates for baptism.

10.3 We believe that the Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of the Lord14 in which gathered believers15 eat bread, signifying Christ’s body given for His people, and drink the cup of the Lord, signifying the New Covenant in Christ’s blood.16 We do this in remembrance of the Lord, and thus proclaim His death until He comes. Those who eat and drink in a worthy manner partake of Christ’s body and blood, not physically, but spiritually, in that, by faith, they are nourished with the benefits He obtained through His death, and thus grow in grace.17

1 Colossians 2:12, 1 Peter 3:21, Galatians 3:26-27, Acts 2:38, :8 2 1 Corinthians 12:13 3 Romans 6:3-4 4 Acts 8:36-39, John 3:23, Romans 6:4 5 Matthew 28:19 6 Romans 6:3-5, Colossians 2:12, Galatians 3:27 7 Mark 1:4, :16 8 Romans 6:3-4 9 Hebrews 10:22 10 Romans 6:4 11 Mark 16:16, Acts 8:36-37, Acts 2:41, Acts 8:12, Acts 18:8. 12 Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 8:38 13 Matthew 3:16, John 3:23 14 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 15 1 Corinthians 11:17-20,22 16 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 17 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, John 6:53-57, 63

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Article 11 – Worship and the Lord’s Day

We believe that the church assembles each Sunday, the Lord’s Day, to worship the Lord in Spirit and in Truth.

11.1 We believe the light of nature demonstrates that there is a God who has lordship and sovereignty over all. He is just and good and does good to everyone. Therefore, He should be feared, loved, praised, called on, trusted in, and served—with all the heart and all the soul and all the strength1 of all people. But the acceptable way to worship the true God is instituted by Him,2 and it is delimited by His own revealed will. Thus, He may not be worshipped according to human imagination or inventions or the suggestions of Satan, nor through any visible representations, nor in any other way that is not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures.3

11.2 We believe that religious worship is to be given to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to the triune God alone4—not to angels, saints, or any other creatures.5 Since the fall, worship is not to be given without a mediator6 nor through any mediation other than of Christ alone.7

11.3 We believe that the elements of religious worship of God include reading the Scriptures,8 preaching and hearing the Word of God,9 teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in our hearts to the Lord,10 as well as the administration of baptism11 and the Lord’s supper.12 They must be performed out of obedience to Him, with understanding, faith, reverence, and godly fear.

11.4 We believe that under the gospel, neither prayer nor any other part of religious worship is now restricted to or made more acceptable by the place where it is done or toward which it is directed. Instead, God is to be worshipped everywhere in spirit and in truth13—daily14 in each family15 and privately by each individual.16 Also, more formal worship is to be performed in public assemblies, and these must not be carelessly or deliberately neglected or forsaken, when God by His word or providence calls us to them.17

1 Jeremiah 10:7, Mark 12:33 2 Deuteronomy 12:32 3 Exodus 20:4-6 4 Matthew 4:9, 10; John 5:23; Matthew 28:19 5 Romans 1:25; Colossians 2:18; Revelation 19:10 6 John 14:6. 7 1 Timothy 2:5 8 1 Timothy 4:13 9 2 Timothy 4:2, Luke 8:18 10 Colossians 3:16 Ephesians 5:19 11 Matthew 28:19-20 12 1 Corinthians 11:26 13 John 4:21, Malachi 1:11, 1 Timothy 2:8 14 Matthew 6:11, Psalms 55:17 15 Acts 10:2 16 Matthew 6:6 17 Hebrews 10:25, Acts 2:42

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11.5 We believe the first day of the week is the Lord’s Day.18 It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private. Activities on the Lord’s Day should be commensurate with the Christian’s conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.19

18 Matthew 28:1ff, Mark 16:1-7, Luke 24:1-3, 33-36, John 20:1, 19-28, Acts 20:7, Revelations 1:10, 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 19 Romans 14:5-10, Mark 2:27-28, Matthew 12:1-12, Colossians 2:16

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Article 12 – Civil Government and Religious Liberty

We believe that all civil authorities are established by God for the protection of the free worship of God and for human flourishing.

12.1 We believe that God, the supreme Lord and King of the whole world, has ordained civil authorities to be under Him and over the people, for His own glory and the public good. For this purpose, He has armed them with the power of the sword, to defend and encourage those who do good and to punish evildoers.1

12.2 We believe that Christians may lawfully accept and carry out the duties of public office when called to do so. In performing his or her office they must especially maintain justice and peace,2 according to the wholesome laws of each state or other political entity. To carry out these duties they are authorized now under the New Testament to wage war in just and necessary situations.3

12.3 We believe that because civil authorities are established by God for the purposes stated, we should submit in the Lord to them in everything lawful that they require and not contrary to the revealed will of God.4 We should submit not only for fear of punishment but also for the sake of conscience.5 We ought to make requests and prayers for kings and everyone in authority, so that under their rule we may live a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and honesty.6

12.4 We believe that God alone is Lord of the conscience,7 and He has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are contrary to His Word or not contained in it.8 Church and state should be separate.9 The state owes to every church protection and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends. In providing for such freedom no ecclesiastical group or denomination should be favored by the state more than others. The church should not resort to the civil power to carry on its work. The gospel of Christ contemplates spiritual means alone for the pursuit of its ends. The state has no right to impose penalties for religious opinions of any kind. The state has no right to impose taxes for the support of any form of religion, nor shall the state disadvantage any form of religion by denial of access to the public sphere. A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal, and this implies the right of free and unhindered access to God on the part of all people, and the right to form and propagate opinions in the public sphere without interference by the civil authorities.10

1 Romans 13:1-4, 1 Peter 2:13-14 2 2 Samuel 23:3, Psalms 82:3-4 3 Romans 12:18, Luke 3:14, Joshua 8:1 4 1 Peter 2:12-14 5 Romans 13:5-7, 1 Peter 2:17 6 1 Timothy 2:1-2 7 Genesis 1:27 8 Romans 6:1-2, Philippians 3:20 9 Romans 13:1-7 10 Galatians 5:1,13,

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Article 13 – Marriage and the Family

We believe that marriage is the union between one man and one woman, and children are a blessing from the Lord.

13.1 We believe God has ordained the family1 as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption. Marriage is a common grace given by God to all people. Marriage has no meaning other than as God has provided in Scripture.

13.2 We believe marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime.2 It is God’s unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship,3 the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards,4 and the means for procreation of the human race.5 We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other. We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman.6

13.3 We believe that the term marriage has only one meaning and that is marriage sanctioned by God which joins one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture.7 Marriage is always a public, formal, and officially recognized covenant between a man and a woman. We believe that without such a covenant, which may include a “common law marriage,” where valid in specific cases under pertinent law, prolonged conjugal cohabitation does not establish, and is not equivalent to, marriage.8 We believe that where no such covenant exists, or can be discerned, between a cohabiting couple prior to coming to faith in Christ, family units should be preserved to the extent possible and, if otherwise appropriate, solemnization encouraged. We teach that where a valid marriage has been established prior to coming to faith in Christ, the couple should remain married.9

13.4 We believe the husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God’s image.10 The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church.11 He has the God-given responsibility to provide for,12 to protect,13 and to lead his family.14 A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ.15 She, being in the image of God, as is her

1 Genesis 2:22-24, Genesis 2:18 2 Genesis 2:20-24, Ecclesiastes 9:9, Malachi 2:14-16, Matthew 5:31-32, 19:3-9, Mark 10:6-12, 1 Corinthians 7:10-16 3 Proverbs 24:3, Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 4 Proverbs 5:15-20, 1 Corinthians 7:1-8, Hebrews 13:4 5 Genesis 1:28, Genesis 4:1 6 Hebrews 13:4 7 Genesis 2:23-24 8 John 4:18 9 1 Corinthians 7:24 10 Genesis 1:26-27 11 Ephesians 5:25-33, Colossians 3:19 12 1 Timothy 5:8, Matthew 7:9-11 13 1 Peter 3:7 14 Proverbs 18:22, Acts 16:33-34 15 Genesis 3:16, Ephesians 5:21-24, Colossians 3:18, 1 Peter 3:1-6

Page 33 of 45 husband and thus equal to him,16 has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.17

13.5 We believe children, from the moment of conception,18 are a blessing and heritage from the Lord.19 Parents are to demonstrate to their children God’s pattern for marriage. Parents are to pray for their children,20 teach their children spiritual and moral values21 and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline,22 to make choices based on biblical truth.23 Children are to honor and obey their parents.24

13.6 We believe the church should support parents in the training, care, and discipline of children.25 The church must be safe for the spiritual and physical wellbeing of children. Christ welcomed children to Himself and warned against those who would cause a child to stumble.26 Christ healed children27 and accepted the offering from children.28 All Christians are taught to come to Christ in childlike faith.29

16 1 Peter 3:7 17 Proverbs 12:4, 14:1, 31:10-31, 1 Timothy 5:14, Titus 2:3-5 18 Psalm 139:13-16, Psalm 51:5 19 Genesis 33:5, Psalm 127:3, Proverbs 17:6, Matthew 18:2-5 20 1 Samuel 1:26-28 21 Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 4:9, Joshua 24:15, Psalm 78:1-8, Joel 1:3, 2 Timothy 1:3-5 22 Proverbs 13:24, 22:15, 23:13-14, 29:15, Ephesians 6:4, Colossians 3:21, Hebrews 12:7-11 23 Psalm 78:72, Proverbs 22:6 24 Exodus 20:12, Proverbs 1:8, 6:20-22, Ephesians 6:1-3, Colossians 3:20 25 Proverbs 22:6, Ephesians 6:4, Deuteronomy 31:12-13 26 Matthew 19:13-14, Matthew 18:6, Luke 18:15,17, Matthew 7:9-11 27 Matthew 9:23-25, Matthew 17:14-18, John 4:46,52 28 John 6:9 29 Matthew 18:2-5, Matthew 10:40-42

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Article 14 – Life, Justice, and Social Order

We believe all Christians are obligated to seek peace, order, and the protection of the vulnerable in society.

14.1 We believe it is the Christian’s duty to speak the truth in love at all times, including when we speak to or about one another’s sins, as revealed by Scripture.1 We are under obligation to speak in such ways that does not dishonor God’s design of people as image bearers.2 We acknowledge that we ourselves are sinners and must seek God’s mercy.3

14.2 We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity. Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture or the doctrines of the church. We believe that the faithful proclamation of the Scripture, including the call to repentance, does not constitute hate speech, or hateful and harassing behavior,4 but is instead a fundamental part of the church’s loving mission to the world.5

Life

14.3 We believe that God the creator is sovereign over all human life and mankind is responsible under God to preserve and protect it and that the sanctity of human life is based on the creation of mankind in the image and likeness of God.6 We believe that the life of a human being begins at conception (fertilization) and continues until biological death;7 thus, abortion, infanticide, suicide, and euthanasia8 are forms of murder.9 We believe that the sanctity of human life has priority over the quality of human life.

14.4 We believe that unborn children are created in the image of God; we affirm that elective abortion is in violation of the sixth commandment.10 Even in extreme cases where the physical life of the mother and child are in imminent danger, everything possible should be done to save the lives of both the mother and the child.

14.5 We believe that God brings to an end natural human life after the counsel of His will.11 Withholding food or water in order to cause or hasten death is a violation of the sanctity of life. Because advancing medical technology has obscured the distinction between life and death, it is essential to evaluate each terminal case with the greatest care so as to preserve the sanctity of human life.

1 Jeremiah 7:28, Zechariah 8:16 2 Zechariah 7:9, Psalm 12:22 3 Matthew 7:1-5 4 2 Corinthians 5:11-20, 1 Timothy 1:5, 5 Matthew 28:16-20, 2 Timothy 4:1-2 6 Genesis 2:7, Acts 17:25 7 Jeremiah 1:5, Joh 31:15, Psalm 22:9, Psalms 139:13-16, Job 10:8-12, Exodus 21:22-25 8 Proverbs 23:22, Psalm 71:18, 1 Timothy 5:4 9 Psalm 106:38, 10 Exodus 20:13 11 Ecclesiastes 12:7, Psalm 39:5, Hebrews 9:27, Job 1:21, 14:5, Luke 12:20, Deuteronomy 32:39, Revelation 1:18

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14.6 We believe that killing in self-defense, in state-administered capital punishment, or in wars justly fought, is not necessarily a violation of the sanctity of human life.12

Education and Labor

14.7 We believe in the imparting of spiritual, intellectual, moral and social instruction, the basis for which is the fear of the Lord.13 People continue learning throughout the whole of life. The education of children in the Old Testament was centered on the home and synagogue and was largely of a religious and ethical nature.14 In the New Testament, children were included in the community of the church, but the home was still the main sphere of their education.15 Teachers are those who have responsibility for instructing others, especially in relation to matters of faith and life.16 At a less formal level Christians should seek to teach one another.17 God is the supreme teacher of his people.18

14.8 We believe that the acquisition of a trade, craft, special ability, or expertise in the fields of industry, commerce, the arts, and sciences is a part of God’s common grace to all mankind for the advancement of human flourishing. These are a gift from God and should be used for the betterment of humanity. Christians have an obligation to use skills acquired by training for the advancement of the church and kingdom.19

14.9 We believe that God created humankind in His image and graciously fitted them for both work and leisure20 and that in all honorable work, however menial, God works with and through the worker.21 Work is the divinely ordained means whereby we glorify God22 and supply both our own needs and the needs of others.23 Christians should work to the best of their ability to please God24 and that people should both humbly submit to and righteously exercise whatever authority operates in their sphere of work.25 All who labor should be compensated fairly in return for the fair days’ work done26 without discrimination.27

14.10 We believe that in their work people should seek first God's kingdom and righteousness, depending on Him to supply their material needs28 and labor and its product will have not only temporal

12 Exodus 22:2-3, Exodus 21:12-17, Luke 23:32, Romans 6:23, Romans 13:3-4 13 Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 1:7, 2:1-8, 9:10, 15:33 14 Deuteronomy 4:1,9-10, 6:20-25, 11:18-21, Joshua 8:34-35, Psalms 78:4-6, Proverbs 22:6 15 Ephesians 6:4, 2 Timothy 3:5, 14-15, 16 2 Timothy 3:14-15 17 Romans 15:15 18 Hebrews 8:10-11, John 14:26, 1 Thessalonians 4:9, Titus 2:11-12 19 Exodus 35:10, 1 Chronicles 22:15-16, Ephesians 4:11-12 20 Genesis 1:27-28, Exodus 20:9, Psalm 104:23 21 Colossians 3:17, Ecclesiastes 9:10 22 1 Corinthians 10:31, Ephesians 6:5-8 23 Genesis 3:19, Psalm 128:2, 1 Thessalonians 4:12, 2 Thessalonians 3:10-11 24 Colossians 3:17 25 1 Peter 2:18, Ephesians 6:5-9 26 Matthew 20:2-4, 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12, 27 Malachi 3:5, James 5:4, Jerimiah 22:13, Colossians 4:1 28 Matthew 6:25-33

Page 36 of 45 but also eternal value when done and used for God's glory. No one should pursue their work to fulfill and gratify themselves rather than to serve and please God.29

Race and Ethnicity

14.11 We believe God made all people from one man.30 Though people often can be distinguished by different ethnicities and nationalities, they are ontological equals before God in both creation and redemption.31 “Race” is not a biblical category, but rather a social construct that often has been used to classify groups of people in terms of inferiority and superiority. All that is good, honest, just, and beautiful in various ethnic backgrounds and experiences can be celebrated as the fruit of God’s grace.32 All sinful actions and their results (including evils perpetrated between and upon ethnic groups by others) are to be confessed as sinful, repented of, and repudiated.33

14.12 We believe that Christians should not segregate themselves into racial groups.34 No Christian should regard racial identity above, or even equal to, their identity in Christ.35 Divisions between people groups (from an unstated attitude of superiority to an overt spirit of resentment) do not have any legitimate place in the fellowship of the redeemed.36 We reject any teaching that encourages racial groups to view themselves as privileged oppressors or entitled victims of oppression. While we are to weep with those who weep, we deny that a person’s feelings of offense or oppression necessarily prove that someone else is guilty of sinful behaviors, oppression, or prejudice.

14.13 We believe that racism is a sin rooted in pride and malice which must be condemned and renounced by all who would honor the image of God in all people. Such racial sin can subtly or overtly manifest itself as racial animosity or racial vainglory.37 Such sinful prejudice or partiality falls short of God’s revealed will and violates the royal law of love.38 We affirm that virtually all cultures, including our own, at times contain laws and systems that foster racist attitudes and policies.39 We deny that the Bible can be legitimately used to foster or justify partiality, prejudice, or contempt toward other ethnicities. We deny that only those in positions of power are capable of racism, or that individuals of any particular ethnic groups are incapable of racism.40

Sex and Gender

14.14 We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other.41 We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be

29 Exodus 31:1-6, Colossians 3:23-24 30 Genesis 1:26-28, Acts 10:24-26 31 Romans 2:11, Acts 10:34 32 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 33 Esther 3:5-6, 34 Galatians 3:26-28, Romans 10:12-13 35 Mark 8:34, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15, Galatians 2:20 36 Acts 10:34-35, Revelation 5:9, 14:9, Matthew 8:11 37 Galatians 6:14 38 Psalm 101:5, Romans 12:3, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 39 Zechariah 7:10, Psalm 94:1-6, 146:9, 40 Romans 3:23 41 Genesis 1:28, 2:23-24, Proverbs 5:18-20, Matthew 19:4-6, 1 Corinthians 7:2-4, Ephesians 5:31-33

Page 37 of 45 engaged in outside of a marriage union between a man and a woman.42 We deny that any affections, desires, or commitments ever justify sexual intercourse before or outside marriage; nor do they justify any form of sexual immorality.

14.15 We believe that human sexuality and gender are not social constructs, but are designed and regulated by God.43 Any form of sexual immorality, such as adultery,44 fornication,45 homosexuality and bisexual conduct,46 polygamy and polyamory,47 bestiality,48 incest,49 pedophilia,50 pornography,51 rape,52 prostitution,53 any attempt to change one’s sex or disagreement with one’s biological sex,54 or other forms of hedonism, is sinful and offensive to God. Heredity, childhood conditioning, physical and emotional desire, or other environmental influences can never excuse deviant sexual behavior or any other sinful act.

14.16 We believe that homosexuality, in particular, is subject to God’s wrath of abandonment, is a matter of choice and not inherited status, and epitomizes man’s ungrateful rebellion against God.55 Homosexual practice can never please God and “gay Christian” is not a legitimate biblical category.56 So called homosexual or gay marriage is outside the biblical, historic, and natural categories of marriage and does not exist. Homosexual practice is a choice of the human heart and cannot be viewed as a legitimate identity or cultural classification. Those who lack the desire or opportunity for marriage are called to serve God in singleness and chastity.57 People who experience sexual attraction for the same sex may live a rich and fruitful life pleasing to God through faith in Jesus Christ, as they, like all Christians, walk in purity of life.

14.17 We believe that God created each person as either male or female.58 One’s self-conception of gender does not change the reality of God’s creation of each person as either biologically male or female. Gender is a fixed status and is not fluid. Any attempt to change one’s sex or disagreement with one’s biological sex, in word or action, is rebellion against God as creator. The differences between male and female reproductive structures are integral to God’s design for self-conception as male or female. Physical anomalies or psychological conditions do not nullify the God-appointed link between biological sex and self-conception as male or female. Those born with physical disorders of sex development are created in the image of God and have dignity and worth equal to all other image-bearers. They are

42 Exodus 20:14, Hebrews 13:4, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7 43 Genesis 2:24, 4:1, Song of Solomon 1:2-4, 4:3-16, 7:11-13, 8:10 44 Exodus 20:14 45 Deuteronomy 22:13-21 46 Leviticus 18:22, 20:13, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Romans 1:21-27, Genesis 19:4-8, Jude 7 47 Genesis 2:24, 1 Corinthians 7:2, 1 Timothy 3:2 48 Exodus 22:19, Leviticus 18:23, 20:15, Deuteronomy 27:21 49 Leviticus 18:6-18, 20:7-19, Deuteronomy 22:30, 27:20, 22-23, Ezekiel 22:11 50 Matthew 18:6 51 Psalm 101:3, Job 31:1, Matthew 5:28 52 Deuteronomy 22:25-29, 53 Leviticus 19:29, 1 Corinthians 6:15-16 54 Genesis 1:27, 2:20-24, 5:2, Matthew 19:4, Mark 10:6 55 Romans 1:18-28 56 Jude 7, 1 Timothy 1:10, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 57 1 Corinthians 7:7-8 58 Genesis 1:26-27, 5:2, Matthew 19:4

Page 38 of 45 acknowledged by our Lord Jesus in His words about “eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb.”59 With all others they are welcome as faithful followers of Jesus Christ and should embrace their biological sex insofar as it may be known.

14.18 We believe that God offers redemption and forgiveness to all who confess and forsake their sin, including sexual sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. We believe that His forgiveness is total and complete60 and that God imputes the full righteousness of Christ61 to the believing sinner. We believe that the forgiven sinner has been cleansed from the guilt of sin, set apart unto God, or made holy, and justified before Him.62 We believe that any man or woman who has received that forgiveness is “in Christ” and is a “new creation.”63

14.19 We believe that God created Adam and Eve, the first human beings, in His own image, equal before God as persons, and distinct as male and female and that divinely ordained differences between male and female reflect God’s original creation design and are meant for human good and human flourishing.64

Law & Justice

14.20 We believe that the Scriptures are the only infallible record of unchanging moral principles basic to a sound jurisprudence and an adequate philosophy of human rights.65 Since He is holy, righteous, and just, God requires those who bear His image to live justly in the world.66 This includes showing appropriate respect to every person and giving to each one what he or she is due. God has impressed His image on the hearts of all people so that they are morally accountable to Him for their actions as individuals and as members of society.67

14.21 We believe that God's revealed law in Scripture, the moral nature of mankind, and human legislation serves to restrain the fallen political order from chaos and anarchy and to point humankind to the need for redemption in Jesus Christ.68 The Gospel cannot be legislated, and the law cannot save sinners.69

14.22 We believe that true justice cannot be culturally defined or that standards of justice that are merely socially constructed can be imposed with the same authority as those that are derived from Scripture.70 Mankind cannot live justly in the world under any principles other than the biblical standard of righteousness. Relativism, socially-constructed standards of truth or morality, legal positivism,

59 Matthew 19:12 60 Psalms 103:11–12, 130:3–4, Isaiah 43:25, 44:22, John 5:24, Colossians 2:13–14 61 2 Corinthians 5:21 62 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 63 2 Corinthians 5:17 64 Genesis 1:27, Genesis 2:18-24 Genesis 5:2, Galatians 3:26-28, 1 Corinthians 11:3, 7-12 65 Psalm 19:7-9, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Matthew 5:17-19, Romans 3:13 66 Genesis 18:19, Isaiah 61:8 67 Micah 6:8 68 Psalm 19:11 69 Romans 3:20-21, Isaiah 64:6, Galatians 2:15-16 70 Numbers 23:19

Page 39 of 45 humanistic philosophy of law, and notions of virtue and vice that are constantly in flux cannot satisfy the need for absolute standards of law and justice nor result in authentic justice.71

14.23 We believe that no political, economic, or social order is free from the deadly consequences of original sin or capable of offering a Utopian solution or substitute for the perfect society which Christ alone will establish at His Second Coming.72

14.24 We believe that God’s law, as summarized in the ten commandments,73 more succinctly summarized in the two great commandments,74 and manifested in Jesus Christ,75 is the only standard of unchanging righteousness. Violation of that law is what constitutes sin. Any obligation that does not arise from God’s commandments cannot be legitimately imposed on Christians as a prescription for righteous living. We deny the legitimacy of any charge of sin or call to repentance that does not arise from a violation of God’s commandments.76

Wealth & Poverty

14.25 We believe that valid economic principles can be found in Scripture and should form an integral part of a Christian worldview. All riches belong to God the Creator77 and are given by God.78 God gives the ability to produce wealth.79 Material resources are a blessing from God, to be enjoyed with thanksgiving,80 and are to be earned, managed, and shared as a stewardship under God. Riches are uncertain and fleeting, are for this life only, and can never satisfy mankind’s desires.81 The Christian’s proper focus is to be on Christ as our hope and not material prosperity. We believe that the Bible affirms the right of private ownership as a stewardship under God.82

14.26 Wealth provides great opportunity for doing good.83 Christians should give sacrificially of their resources to support the work of God's church, and that the use of personal and material resources for the support of the proclamation of the gospel is necessary for the salvation of lost mankind.84

14.27 We believe that active compassion for the poor and oppressed is an obligation that God places upon all human beings, especially on those with resources.85 We believe that the love of money is a source of great evil and that human depravity, greed, and the desire for power will foster economic injustice and subvert concern for the poor. The poor will always be with us.86 We deny that salvation from sin necessarily involves economic or political liberation. We deny that we may rightly call ourselves

71 Psalm 119:89, Matthew 5:18, Hebrews 6:17, Isaiah 40:8, Proverbs 19:21 72 Proverbs 14:34, Isaiah 1:4,9, Romans 1:21,32, Revelation 21:4 73 Deuteronomy 10:4, Romans 10:5 74 Matthew 22:35-39, Deuteronomy 30:16, Leviticus 19:18 75 Matthew 5:17 76 Romans 6:14 77 Psalms 24:1-2, Job 41:11, Psalm 50:12, Haggai 2:8 78 1 Samuel 2:7, Ecclesiastes 5:19, 1 Chronicles 29:12, 2 Chronicles 1:12 79 Deuteronomy 8:17-17, Genesis 26:12-13 80 1 Timothy 4:4-5, Matthew 14:19, Colossians 3:17 81 1 Timothy 6:17, Proverbs 23:5, Matthew 6:19, Ecclesiastes 5:10, Luke 12:18, 1 John 2:17 82 Acts 5:4 83 Exodus 35:29, 1 Chronicles 29:6-7, Luke 12:33, 19:8, Acts 4:34-35 84 Romans 10:15 85 Ezekiel 18:12-13, Amos 4:1-2 86 Matthew 26:11, Deuteronomy 15:11

Page 40 of 45 disciples of Christ if we lack active concern for the poor, oppressed, and suffering, especially those of the household of faith.87

Environment

14.28 We believe that God created the physical environment for His own glory and for the good of His human creatures.88 We believe that God deputized humanity to govern the creation.89 We believe that mankind has more value than the rest of creation,90 and that mankind's dominion over the earth imposes a responsibility to protect and tend its life and resources. We believe that stewardship of the Lord's earth includes the productive use of its resources.91 The biblical view does not authorize or encourage wasteful exploitation of nature.

War & Peace

14.29 We believe it is the duty of Christians to seek peace with all men on principles of righteousness.92 In accordance with the spirit and teachings of Christ they should do all in their power to put an end to war. The Scriptures show that God sometimes forbids war,93 sometimes commands war,94 and sometimes uses war as a means of judgment.95 Lawful states have the right and duty to defend their territories and citizens against aggression and oppression by other powers, including the provision for an adequate civil defense of the population, and that in rightful defense of their territories and citizens governments should only use just means of warfare. Christians may take up arms in defense of lawful states96 and should seek to strive by every means possible to minimize the casualties of noncombatants.

14.30 We believe the true remedy for the war spirit is the gospel of our Lord. The supreme need of the world is the acceptance of His teachings in all the affairs of men and nations, and the practical application of His law of love. Christian people throughout the world should pray for the reign of the Prince of Peace.97

87 Galatians 2:10, 1 Timothy 5:16, Romans 15:26 88 Genesis 1:1, John 1:3, Nehemiah 9:6 89 Genesis 126-28, Genesis 2:15, Genesis 9:1-3, Psalm 8:3-8, Hebrews 2:5-8, James 3:7 90 Genesis 5:1-2 91 Psalm 115:16, Job 28:1-11, Deuteronomy 8:7-9, 1 Kings 7:13-50 92 Matthew 5:9, Romans 12:181 14:19, Hebrews 12:14, James 3:17, Proverbs 12:20 93 Deuteronomy 1:41-42, 1 Kings 12:24 94 Joshua 8:1, Deuteronomy 20:1-4, Judges 6:16 95 Isaiah 10:12-19, 1 Samuel 15:2, 2 Kings 24:2-4 96 Psalm 18:34, 144:1 97 Isaiah 9:6, Micah 4:3, Psalm 46:9, Isaiah 2:4, Revelation 21:4

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Article 15 – Last Things

We believe in the sudden and soon physical return of Jesus Christ to judge the living and the dead.

15.1 We believe that physical death involves no loss of our immaterial consciousness,1 that there is a separation of soul and body,2 that the soul of the redeemed passes immediately into the presence of Christ,3 and that, for the redeemed, such separation will continue until the Rapture4 which initiates the first resurrection,5 when our soul and body will be reunited to be glorified forever with our Lord.6 Until that time, the souls of the redeemed in Christ remain in joyful fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ.7

15.2 We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life,8 and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment.9 We believe that the souls of the unsaved at death are kept under punishment until the final resurrection,10 when the soul and the resurrection body will be united.11 They shall then appear at the Great White Throne judgment12 and shall be cast into hell, the lake of fire,13 cut off from the life of God forever.14

15.3 We believe in the personal, bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ before the seven–year tribulation15 to translate (rapture) His church from this earth16 and, between this event and His glorious return with His saints, to reward believers according to their works.17

15.4 We believe that immediately following the removal of the church from the earth, the righteous judgments of God will be poured out upon an unbelieving world,18 and that these judgments will be climaxed by the return of Christ in glory to the earth.19 At that time the Old Testament and tribulation saints will be raised and the living will be judged.20 This period includes the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophecy. 21

1 Revelation 6:9-11 2 James 2:26 3 Luke 23:43, 2 Corinthians 5:8, Philippians 1:23 4 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 5 Revelation 20:4-6 6 1 Corinthians 15:35-44, 50-54, Philippians 3:21 7 2 Corinthians 5:8 8 John 6:39, Romans 8:10-11, 19-23, 2 Corinthians 4:14 9 Danial 12:2, John 5:29, Revelation 20:13-15 10 Luke 16:19-26, Revelations 20:13-15 11 John 5:28-29 12 Revelation 20:11-15 13 Matthew 25:41-46 14 Danial 12:2, Matthew 25:41-46, 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 15 1 Thessalonians 4:16, Titus 2:13 16 John 14:1-3, 1 Corinthians 15:51-53, 1 Thessalonians 4:15-5:11 17 1 Corinthians 3:11-15, 2 Corinthians 5:10 18 Jerimiah 30:7, Danial 9:27, 12:1, 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12, Revelation 16:1-21 19 Matthew 24:27-31, 25:31-46, 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12 20 Danial 12:2-3, Revelation 20:4-6 21 Danial 9:24-27, Matthew 24:15-31, 25:31-46

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15.5 We believe that after the tribulation period, Christ will come to earth to occupy the throne of David22 and establish His messianic kingdom for a thousand years on the earth.23 During this time the resurrected saints will reign with Him over Israel and all the nations of the earth.24 This reign will be preceded by the overthrow of the Antichrist and the False Prophet, and by the removal of Satan from the world.25

15.6 We believe that the millennial kingdom itself will be the fulfillment of God’s promise to Israel26 to restore them to the land which they forfeited through their disobedience.27 The result of their disobedience was that Israel was temporarily set aside28 but will again be awakened through repentance to enter into the land of blessing.29

15.7 We believe that this time of our Lord’s reign will be characterized by harmony, justice, peace, righteousness, and long life,30 and will be brought to an end with the release of Satan.31

15.8 We believe that following the release of Satan after the thousand year reign of Christ, Satan will deceive the nations of the earth and gather them to battle against the saints and the beloved city, at which time Satan and his army will be devoured by fire from heaven.32 Following this, Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone33 whereupon Christ, who is the judge of all men,34 will resurrect and judge the great and small at the Great White Throne judgment. We believe that this resurrection of the unsaved dead to judgment will be a physical resurrection, whereupon receiving their judgment,35 they will be committed to an eternal conscious punishment in the lake of fire.36

15.9 We teach that after the closing of the Millennium, the temporary release of Satan, and the judgment of unbelievers, the saved will enter the eternal state of glory with God, after which the elements of this earth are to be dissolved37 and replaced with a new earth wherein only righteousness dwells.38 Following this, the heavenly city will come down out of heaven39 and will be the dwelling place of the saints, where they will enjoy forever fellowship with God and one another.40 Our Lord Jesus

22 Matthew 25:31, Luke 1:32-33; Acts 1:10-11; 2:29-30 23 Revelation 20:1-7 24 Ezekiel 37:21–28; Danial 7:17–22; Revelation 19:11–16 25 Danial 7:17-27, Revelation 20:1-6 26 Isaiah 65:17-25, Ezekiel 37:21-28, Zechariah 8:1-17 27 Deuteronomy 28:15-68 28 Matthew 21:43, Romans 11:1-26 29 Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 36:22-32, Romans 11:25-29 30 Isaiah 11, 65-17-25, Ezekiel 36:33-38 31 Revelation 20:7 32 Revelation 20:9 33 Matthew 25:41, Revelation 20:10 34 John 5:22 35 John 5:28-29 36 Matthew 25:41, Revelation 20:11-15 37 2 Peter 3:10 38 Ephesians 5:5, Revelation 20:15, 21:22 39 Revelation 21:2 40 John 17:3, Revelation 21, 22

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Christ, having fulfilled His redemptive mission, will then deliver up the kingdom to God the Father41 that in all spheres the triune God may reign forever and ever.42

41 1 Corinthians 15:23-28 42 1 Corinthians 15:28

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Historical Documents

We at Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church recognize that we stand upon the work of our Christian and Baptist forerunners. The following is a partial list of prior doctrinal creeds that have informed our theological heritage and the production of the Statement of Faith.

The Apostles Creed - third or fourth century

The Nicene Creed - 325 A.D., revised in 381 A.D.

The Chalcedonian Creed - 451 A.D.

The Athanasian Creed - early fifth century

Disputation of the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences by Martin Luther - 1517. (Commonly known as the 95 Theses)

The Belgic Confession of Faith – 1561

The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion – 1571, The Church of England

A Declaration of the Faith of English People Remaining at Amsterdam in Holland - 1611

The Canons of the Synod of Dort – 1618-1619

The First London Baptist Confession – 1644, revised in 1646

The Westminster Confession of Faith – 1646

The Westminster Shorter Catechism & The Westminster Longer Catechism -1647

The Second London Baptist Confession of Faith – 1677 & 1689

The Philadelphia Confession - 1742

The New Hampshire Baptist Confession – 1833

The Abstract of Principles of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary - 1859

The Baptist Faith and Message – 1925, revised 1963 and 2000

The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy – 1978

The Chicago Statement on Biblical Hermeneutics – 1982

The Chicago Statement on Biblical Application – 1986

The Danvers Statement - 1987

Bethlehem Baptist Church Elder Affirmation of Faith - 2003

Doctrinal Statement of Grace Community Church

The Nashville Statement – 2017

The Statement on Social Justice & the Gospel – 2018

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