THE SCRIPTURES

We believe the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, being verbally and plenary inspired by God in all it’s parts.  Accordingly, we believe the Bible is the supreme and final authority for all human conduct, creeds, and opinions.  Independent Baptist Church exclusively uses the King James Version as God’s Preserved Word for the English-speaking people.  (II Timothy 3:16-17, II Peter 1:19-21, Hebrews 1:1, Psalm 119:89)

THE TRIUNE GOD

We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  (Genesis 1:1, Isaiah 6:1-9, Ephesians 2:18, II Corinthians 13:14, Matthew 28:19)

We believe in the absolute deity of Jesus Christ who is co-equal and co-existent with the Father and the Spirit in eternality, deity, and attributes.  Through the incarnation, we believe Jesus Christ was miraculously begotten of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, taking upon Him the form and nature of humanity.  He is very God of very God and very man of very man.  He was crucified for our sins, raised for our justification, and is coming again to receive us unto Himself.  (John 1:1-3, I John 5:20, Luke 1:26-39, Matthew 1:20)

We believe in the personality of the Holy Spirit who indwells all true believers in this age of grace the moment they receive Jesus Christ as their Savior.  We believe the Holy Spirit then seals true believers until the day of redemption.  (Acts 5:3-4, Romans 10:13, I Corinthians 1:1-2, I Corinthians 6:19-20, Ephesians 1:13-14, Ephesians 4:32, John 7:37-39)

CREATION

We believe God created the heavens and the earth, including all life.  He gave life the power to reproduce after its own kind, and this by direct creation and not the process of evolution.  (Genesis 1:1-2, Genesis 2:25, Colossians 1:16-17, John 1:1-3, Ephesians 3:9)

SATAN

We believe Satan is a distinct personality who was perfect in his ways from the day God created him until sin was found in his heart, and he tried to exalt himself above God.  He is the “unholy God of this age, the accuser of the brethren, the deceiver of the nations, the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience, that old Serpent, the Devil, who is destined to eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire.”  (Matthew 4:1-11, II Corinthians 4:4, Revelation 20:10, Isaiah 14:9-17, Ezekiel 28:11-19)

THE FALL OF MAN

We believe man was created in the image of God; he sinned and thereby incurred both physical and spiritual death (eternal separation from God).  Human beings are now born with a sinful nature, and in the case of those who reach moral responsibility, are sinners in thought, word, and deed.  (Genesis 1:26, Romans 3:23, Ephesians 2:1-3, Ecclesiastes 7:20)

THE ATONEMENT FOR SIN

We believe the Lord Jesus died for our sins as a substitutionary sacrifice, and all who believe in Him are justified on the basis of His shed blood.  (John 3:16, Romans 5:6-8, Romans 3:23-26, I Corinthians 15:3-4, II Corinthians 5:21, Ephesians 5:2)

SONSHIP

We believe all those who receive the Lord Jesus Christ by faith are born of the Holy Spirit and thereby become the children of God.  (John 1:12-13, John 3:3, John 3:36, Galatians 3:26, Romans 8:14-17)

SECURITY OF THE BELIEVER

We believe all true believers in Jesus Christ have received eternal life and shall never come into condemnation.  Rather, they are passed from death unto life.  We are kept by the power of God for Christ; therefore, after we have accepted salvation through Christ, we cannot lose or forfeit it.  (Romans 8:38-39, John 10:27-30, Ephesians 1:13-14, I Peter 1:3-5, Phil. 1:6, Jude 24)

RESURRECTION OF CHRIST

We believe Christ was bodily resurrected from the dead.  Then, in His body, He ascended into Heaven to represent us as High Priest and Advocate.  (I Peter 1:3-5, I John 2:1-2, Hebrews 9:24-25, Hebrews 7:24-25)

RESURRECTION OF MAN

We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust.  We believe the righteous dead shall rise first to everlasting blessedness, and the wicked dead shall rise unto everlasting conscious punishment a thousand years later.  (Job 19:25-27, John 5:28-29, Daniel 12:2, Revelation 20:12)

THE RETURN OF CHRIST

We believe in the bodily, personal, imminent return of Jesus Christ.  Prior to the Tribulation, He will come in the air for His bride, the saved (saints).  He will then return with His own after the Tribulation to judge the living nations and to set up His Millennial Kingdom.  (I Corinthians 15:51-53, I Thessalonians 4:13-18, John 14:1-6, Matthew 24:27-31, Matthew 25:31-46)

SEPARATION

We believe every believer is a citizen of Heaven and a stranger, pilgrim, and ambassador of God on earth.  As such, believers should not love the things of the world nor be conformed to the world.  Rather, they should be separated unto God as a living sacrifice.  (Romans 12:1-2, I John 2:15-17, II Corinthians 6:14-18)

We believe Christians should withdraw themselves from other brothers who walk disorderly.  (II Thessalonians 3:14-15, I Corinthians 5:11)

We believe true believers should contend for the faith by rejecting false teaching.  Accordingly, we believe this church should neither aid nor abet apostasy or modernism.  (II Corinthians 6:11-7:1, I Timothy 6:3-5, Titus 3:10)

THE CHURCH

Jesus Christ is the foundation and protector of the church.  (Matthew 16:18, Ephesians 5:24-25, Colossians 1:18)

The church is made up of a saved and scripturally baptized (immersed) members.  (Acts 2:41, 47, Matthew 28:18-20)

The purpose of the church is to preach the Gospel, baptize believers, disciple believers, and administer the ordinances of Christ.  (Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15, I Corinthians 11:2)

The church is the institution God has established for saved, baptized believers to practice their spiritual gifts and to edify one another.  (I Corinthians 12:1-10, Romans 12:5-8, Ephesians 4:10-13)

The officers of the church are pastor (bishop) and deacons.  (I Timothy 3:1-9, Acts 6:1-7, I Timothy 3:8-13)

The Word of God is the sole authority for faith and practice of the church.  (II Timothy 3:16-17, I Timothy 4:15-16)

The church has the absolute right of self-government, free from any interference of a hierarchy of individuals or organizations.  Therefore, in all matters of membership, policy, government, ownership of property, discipline, and benevolence, the will of the local church is final.  (Matthew 18:15-18, I Timothy 4:15-16)

THE ORDINANCES

We believe the ordinances of a New Testament church are baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Baptism: We believe Christian baptism is the immersion of the believer (one who is personally trusting Christ for salvation) in water thereby showing the believer’s faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior.  Baptism signifies death to sin and resurrection to a new life.  Baptism is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and should precede the partaking of the Lord’s supper.  (Matthew 3:16, John 3:23, Acts 8:36-39, Romans 6:3-6, Colossians 2:12)

The Lord’s Supper: We believe the Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of His death “until He come,” and should be preceded by solemn self-examination. (I Corinthians 11:23-28)

MISSIONS

We believe God has given the church a great commission to proclaim the Gospel to all nations so there might be a great multitude from every nation, tribe, ethnic group, and language group who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.  Accordingly, as ambassadors of Christ, we must use all available means to go to foreign nations to spread the Gospel.  (Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:46-48, John 20:21, Acts 1:8, II Corinthians 5:20)