What we Believe

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Resurrection Baptist Church is an independent, Bible-believing, Bible-preaching, Baptist church. The Bible itself is the sole and final source on all that we believe. Our statement of faith does not exhaust the extent of our faith, however, we do believe that it accurately represents the teaching of the Bible. 

We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the verbally (word for word) and plenary (completely) inspired Word of God. The Scriptures are inerrant (incapable of making or containing mistakes), infallible (cannot fail) and God-breathed, and therefore are the final authority for faith, life, and practice. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament are the complete and divine revelation of God to Man. The Scriptures shall be interpreted according to their normal grammatical-historical meaning. The Authorized King James Bible is God’s Word for English speaking people and shall be the official and only translation used by Resurrection Baptist Church (Psa. 12:6-7; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21).

We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit – each co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections (Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; John 14:10, 26; 1 John 5:7).

•  We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men (Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-2, 14; 2 Cor. 5:19-21; Gal. 4:4-5; Phil. 2:5-8)  
•  We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and, that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Acts 2:18-36; Rom. 3:24-25; 1 Pet. 2:24; Eph. 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:3-5).  
•  We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate (Acts 1:9-10; Heb. 9:24; 7:25; Rom. 8:34; I John 2:1-2). 

•  We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and, that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption (John 16:8-11; Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:12-14; 2 Cor. 3:6; Eph 1:13-14).  
•  We believe that He is the Divine Teacher who assists believers to understand and appropriate the Scriptures and that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 1:17-18; 5:18; 1 John 2:20, 27).  
•  We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowal of spiritual gifts to every believer. God uniquely uses evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip believers in the assembly in order that they can do the work of the ministry (Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Cor. 12:4-11, 28; Eph. 4:7-12).  
•  We believe that the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues and the gift of healing were temporary and were signs for the Jews while God was still dealing with Israel as a nation. We believe that speaking in tongues is not the common or necessary sign of the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit and that the ultimate deliverance of the body from sickness and death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection, though God frequently chooses to answer the prayers of believers for physical healing (1 Cor. 1:22; 13:8; 14:21-22). 

 We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin the human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and, that man is totally depraved, and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition (Gen. 1:26-27; Rom. 3:22-23; 5:12; 6:23; Eph. 2:1-3; 4:17-19).

We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins (John 1:12; Eph. 1:7, 2:8-10; 1 Pet. 1:18-19).

We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Rom. 8:1, 38-39; 1 Cor. 1:4-8; 1 Pet. 1: 4-5). 

We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh (Rom. 13:13-14; Gal. 5:13; Titus 2:11-15).

• We believe that the church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is solely made up of born-again persons (1Cor. 12:12-14; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 1:22-23; 5:25-27).
•  We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:27, 20:17, 28-32; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11).  
•  We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority or control (Acts 13:1-4; 15:19-31; 20:28; Rom. 16:1, 4; 1 Cor. 3:9, 16; 5:4-7, 13; I Pet. 5:14).  
•  We recognize water baptism and the Lord’s Supper as the Scriptural ordinances of obedience for the church in this age (Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; 18:18; 1 Cor. 11:23-26).  

We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon the Savior and Lord or the church; and, that separation from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices and associations is commanded of God. Any member of this church openly involved in reproachful sins is subject to church discipline according to Matthew 18:15-19 and 1 Corinthians 5:1-13 (Rom. 12:1-2; 14:13; 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; 1 John 2:15-17, 2 John 9-11).

We believe in that “blessed hope,” the personal, imminent return of Christ Who will rapture His Church prior to the seven-year tribulation period. At the end of the Tribulation, Christ will personally and visibly return with His saints, to establish His earthly Messianic Kingdom which was promised to the nation of Israel (Ps. 89:3-4; Dan. 2:31-45: Zech. 14:4-11; I Thess. 1:10; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; Rev. 19:11-16; 20:1-6).

• We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (Matt. 25:46; John 5:28, 29; 11:25-26; Rev. 20:5-6, 12-13). 
•  We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord (Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil 1:23; 3:21; 1 Thess 4:16-17; Rev. 20:4-6).  
•  We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious punishment and torment until the second resurrection, when with soul and body reunited they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment and torment (Matt. 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; 2 Thess. 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Rev. 20:11-15). 

We believe that Satan is a person created as an archangel and was originally named Lucifer; he fell into the sin of pride and he became the author of sin and the cause of the Fall of Man. He is the open and declared enemy of God and man and he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire forever (Job 1:6-7; Isa. 14:13-17; Matt. 4:2-11; 25:41; Rev. 20:10).

We believe that God created the universe in six literal, 24-hour periods. We reject evolution, the Gap Theory, the Day-Age Theory, and Theistic Evolution as unscriptural theories of origin (Genesis 1-2; Ex. 20:11).

We believe that God has given the church a great commission to proclaim the Gospel to all nations so that there might be a great multitude from every nation, tribe, ethnic group, and language group who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As ambassadors of Christ we must use all available and Scriptural means to go to the foreign nations and not wait for them to come to us (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; 2 Cor. 5:20).

We believe that God has ordained and created all authority consisting of three basic institutions: 1) the home; 2) the church; and 3) the state. Every person is subject to these authorities, but all (including the authorities themselves) are answerable to God and are to be governed by His Word. God has given each institution specific Biblical responsibilities and balanced those responsibilities with the understanding that no institution has the right to infringe upon the other. The home, the church, and the state are equal and sovereign in their respective Biblically assigned spheres of responsibility under God (Rom 13:1-7; Eph 5:22-24; Heb. 13:17; 1 Pet. 2:13-14.).

We believe that Christians are prohibited from bringing civil lawsuits against other Christians or the church to resolve personal disputes. We believe the church possesses all the resources necessary to resolve personal disputes between members. We do believe, however, that a Christian may seek compensation for injuries from another Christian’s insurance company as long as the claim is pursued without malice or slander (1 Cor. 6:1-8; Eph. 4:31-32).

• We believe that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman. (Gen. 2:24; Rom. 7:2; 1 Cor. 7:10; Eph. 5:22-23).  
•  We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of fornication, adultery, homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. Any employee of the church becoming pregnant or causing pregnancy as a result of consensual intercourse, outside of the marriage relationship, shall be terminated from employment. Anyone who is known to be living in fornication, adultery, homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, or pornography will not be allowed to be a member of Resurrection Baptist Church. Any member of this church openly involved in such sins is subject to church discipline according to Matthew 18:15-19 and 1 Corinthians 5:1-13 (Gen. 2:24; Gen. 19:5; Gen. 26:8-9; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom. 1:26-29; 1 Cor. 5:1; 6:9; 1 Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4).  
•  We believe that although we must stand firmly and uncompromisingly on God’s Word in regards to sexual sins that pervade our society and have every right Biblically and constitutionally to preach against such sins, we do not, nor ever shall, advocate violence toward anyone engaged in such lifestyles. God has “called us to peace” and “if it be possible” to “live peaceably with all men.” (1 Cor. 7:15; Rom. 12:18) 
•  We believe that men and women are spiritually equal in position before God but that God has ordained distinct and separate spiritual functions for men and women in the home and the church. The husband is to be the leader of the home and men are to be the leaders (pastors and deacons) of the church. Accordingly, only men are eligible for licensure and ordination by the church. (Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:18; 1 Tim. 2:8-15; 3:4-5, 12).  

We believe that God hates divorce and intends marriage to last until one of the spouses dies. However, divorced or remarried persons that give evidence of a right relationship with God may be greatly used of God for Christian service. A person is no longer bound to a spouse who has passed away and is free to marry another saved person. (Mal. 2:14-17; Matt. 19:3-12; I Cor. 7:10-28).

We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused taking of an unborn human life. Abortion is murder. We reject any teaching that abortions of pregnancies due to rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, birth or population control, or the mental well-being of the mother are acceptable (Job 3:16; Psalms 51:6; 134:14-16; Isa. 44:24; 49:1; 5; Jer. 1:5; 20:15-18; Luke 1:44).