Our Beliefs
The Bible lists four things in 2 Timothy 3:16 for which the scriptures are profitable, and the first item on the list is DOCTRINE. Freedom Baptist Church holds to these doctrinal beliefs so far as they are set forth in the word of God.
1. THE SCRIPTURES
We believe that the Holy Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, was written by men divinely led by the Holy Spirit and is the perfect treasure of heavenly wisdom and instruction; that it has God for its Author, the salvation of man and the ultimate glory of Jesus Christ for its end, and truth without any mixture of error for its matter; that it reveals the principles by which God will judge us, and therefore is, and shall remain, the true center of Christian union and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions shall be tried. We believe God's perfect words are preserved for us without error in the King James Authorized Version of 1611 A.D. See Psalm 12:6,7: 119:89; Isaiah 8:20; I Thessalonians 2:13; 5:2 1; II Timothy 3:15,16.
2. THE TRUE GOD
We believe that there is one, and only one, living and true God --- an eternal, intelligent Spirit Whose name is JEHOVAH, the Creator and Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth; that He is inexpressibly glorious in holiness and worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three Persons - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit - equal in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption. See Exodus 15: 11; Psalm 83:18; Matthew 28:19; Mark 12:30; John 1:1-3; John 4:24; John 10: 30; Ephesians 2:18; I John 5:7.
3. THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
We believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, the manifestation of God in the flesh; conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of the virgin Mary, having both human and divine natures, true God and true man. See Matthew 1:18-21; John 8:58; John 10:30; I Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 1:8.
4. THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe in the Holy Spirit of God; co-equal with God. He is a person, the third member of the Godhead. His present ministries include magnifying the Lord Jesus Christ; reproving the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment; comforting and guiding believers into all truth, and edifying the Body of Christ. The present-day charismatic movement is a satanic counterfeit of the real ministries of the Holy Spirit, and we of the Freedom Baptist Church are totally opposed to it. John 16:7-14; Acts 5:1-4.
5. MAN
We believe that man was originally created in the image of God, that he sinned and lost that image, thereby incurring spiritual and physical death. We believe that without exception all men are sinners and have need of a new birth through the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the image of God. See Genesis 1:26; Genesis 2:7; Romans 5:12-18; I Corinthians.
6. SALVATION
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. He was and is our substitutionary and vicarious atonement for sin. We believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ; that He ascended bodily into heaven, is seated on the right hand of the Father, and ever liveth to make intercession for all born-again believers, thus making them eternally secure. Isaiah 53; Acts 4:12; Romans 5,15-21; Romans 8:33-39; II Corinthians 1:21,22; Ephesians 1:13; I Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 7:25.
7. THE FREENESS OF SALVATION
We believe that the blessings of salvation are made free to all by the Gospel; that it is the immediate duty of all to accept them by a cordial, penitent, and obedient faith; and that nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth but his own voluntary rejection of the Gospel, which rejection involves him in an aggravated condemnation. John 3:19; John 5:40; Romans 10:13; Romans 16:25,26.
8. JUSTIFICATION
We believe that the great Gospel blessing, which Christ secures to such as believe in Him, is justification; that justification includes the pardon of sin and the promise of eternal life in principles of righteousness; that it is bestowed not in consideration of any work of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in the Redeemer's blood, by virtue of which His perfect righteousness is freely imputed to us of God; that justification brings us into a state of most blessed peace and favor with God. See John 1:16; Acts 13:39; Romans 4:4,5: Romans 5:1,2,9.
9. SANCTIFICATION
We believe that sanctification is the process by which, according to the will of God, we are made partakers of His holiness; that it is a progressive work; that it is begun in regeneration; and that it is carried on in the hearts and lives of believers by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, the Sealer and Comforter, in the continual use of the appointed means - especially the word of God, self-examination, self-denial, watchfulness, and prayer. Sanctification will be complete only when the body of sin shall be destroyed and a new body in the likeness of Jesus Christ is awarded to the born-again believer. See I Thessalonians 4:3; I John 2:29.
10. SEPARATION - PERSONAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
We believe the believer should be separated from the world while being present in the world; that he should abstain from all appearances of evil as a testimony to the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; that the local church should maintain a position of separation from all forms of apostasy, modernism, ecumenism and any other departure from the written principles of the word of God. We believe that II Corinthians 6:14-18 and II John verse 10 prohibits the joining together of believers with unbelievers in the Lord's work, such as in ecumenical organizations or in cooperative evangelistic efforts. It shall continue to be free from any government outside of itself whatsoever, except legal requirements necessary to lawful operation. See I Corinthians 10:20; I Thessalonians 5:22; II Timothy 2:15-18; II Timothy 4:1-3; Titus 1:9-11; Titus 2:10-15. (See R. Civil Government below.)
11. THE RETURN OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
We believe in Christ's personal, imminent, pre-tribulation return for the church. This rapture removes the body of Christ before God's wrath is poured out on the earth during the great tribulation. We also believe in the pre-millennial return of Jesus Christ after the great tribulation to set up His literal 1000-year reign on this earth. See John 14:1-3; Philippians 3:20; I Thessalonians 4:13-18.
12. DISPENSATIONS
We believe in the moderate dispensational division of the Scriptures as a basis for study. II Timothy 2:15.
13. THE LOCAL CHURCH
We believe that a visible New Testament church is a gathering of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and the fellowship of the Gospel, observing the ordinances of Jesus Christ, governed by His laws, and exercising the gifts, rights and privileges invested in them by His word; that its only Scriptural officers are pastors and deacons, whose qualifications, claims, and duties are defined in the epistles to Timothy and to Titus. This church is an independent local autonomy, governed internally and responsible only to the Lord Jesus Christ. Its ministries include glorifying the Saviour, edifying the saints, and evangelizing the world for Christ. Matthew 16:18; Matthew 28:19,20; Acts 2:47; Acts 14:23; Acts 20:28: Romans 16:5; Ephesians 1:22; Ephesians 5:23; I Timothy 3.
14. BAPTISM AND THE LORD'S SUPPER
We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion in water of a believer, in the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Saviour with its effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life. We believe that the Lord's Supper, in which the members of the church by the use of bread and new wine are to commemorate together the dying love of Christ, is to be preceded always with solemn self-examination. Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:41,42; Acts 8:36-39; Romans 6:4,5; I Corinthians 11:26-28.
15. SUNDAY SERVICES
We believe that the first day of the week should be reserved for the Lord, and is to be set aside for Biblical practices by (if at all possible) abstaining from secular labor, except works of mercy and necessity, and is a day of spiritual activity to set the pace for the rest of the week. Psalm 118:24; Acts 20:7; Hebrews 10:24,25.
16. CIVIL GOVERNMENT
We believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the interests and good order of human society, and that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed, except only in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, as set forth in His word, who is the only Lord of the kings of the earth. Matthew 22:21; Matthew 23:9,10; Acts 5:28,29; Romans 13:1-7.
17. THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED
We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that such only as through faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and sanctified by the Spirit of our God are truly righteous in His esteem; that all such as continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked and under the curse; and that this distinction holds among men both in and after death and throughout all eternity. Malachi 3:18; Luke 16; 19-31; John 3:14-21,36; Romans 1: 17,18;
I John 5:19.
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This brief overview is not the extent of our faith or our beliefs, but is an accurate description of some of the basic Bible doctrines to which we ascribe.