Trinity Baptist Church Doctrinal Statement

 

The Scriptures

We believe that all Scripture of the Old Testament and New Testament is verbally inspired by God, and inerrant in the original writings; and that it is of supreme and final authority in faith and life (II Tim. 3:16, 17; and II Pet. 1:20, 21). The Scripture is given to man that he might know God, and that he might know God’s will for man.

The Godhead

We believe in one Triune God eternally existing in three Persons—the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit—having precisely the same nature, attributes, and perfections, and worthy of the same confidence and obedience (Mt. 28:18, 19; II Cor. 13:14).

The Christ

We believe that Jesus Christ is God’s only begotten Son (Jn. 3:16). He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary (Lk. 1:30-35). He lived a sinless life (Heb. 4:15). He died on the cross as the substitute for man for the sin penalty (Rom. 5:8). He arose bodily from the dead (Jn. 20:20). He ascended into heaven (Acts 1:9). He is presently ministering for the believer as intercessor (Heb. 7:25). He will return personally and visibly, first to receive the believer to Himself (I Th. 4:16, 17), and then to establish His kingdom on earth (Mt. 25:31-34).

The Holy Spirit

We believe the Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity (Mt. 28:19). He is active in the regeneration of the believer (Titus 3:5). He indwells every believer (Rom. 8:9). He is the source of power whereby the believer may live a godly life (Gal. 5:16). He baptizes or places us into the Body of Christ (I Cor. 12:13). His present ministry is, in part, to convince the world of the reality of sin, of righteousness through Christ, and of the judgment to come (Jn. 16:7-11).

Creation and Fall of Man

We believe that man was originally created in the image and after the likeness of God (Gen. 1:26). Man fell because of sin, and as a result brought upon himself spiritual and physical death (Gen. 3).

Man, therefore, in his natural state, is condemned to an eternal death (Rom. 6:23; 5:12). We believe the Genesis account of creation as being neither allegory nor myth, but a literal historical account of the direct, immediate creative acts of God without any evolutionary process; that man (spirit, soul, and body) was created by a direct work of God and not from previously existing forms of life; and that all men are descended from the historical Adam and Eve, first parents of the entire human race (Gen. 1, 2; Col. 1:16, 17; Jn. 1:3).

Satan and Sin

We believe that Satan is a created being of God, and that he fell because of sin to his present state (Isa. 14:12-17). He is the author of sin (Gen. 3:1-19; Jn. 8:44). He has been judged through the death of Christ on the cross (Jn. 12:31-33). He will be eternally punished in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10). Sin is unrighteousness in the sight of God (I Jn. 5:17). All men are sinners by nature and choice (Rom. 3:23; Eph. 2:1-3). Being alienated from God, man is totally depraved and utterly unable to save himself (Rom. 3:10-12; Jer. 17:9).

Salvation

We believe that man may have salvation from the guilt and penalty of sin through personal trust in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ for man’s sin (I Pet. 2:21-24). Through faith in Jesus Christ, man is born again (Jn. 3:3), possesses a new nature (II Cor. 5:17), and has the promise of eternal life (Rom. 6:23). Salvation cannot come through works, but only through the grace of God (Eph. 2:8, 9; Titus 3:5).

Eternal Security and Assurance of the Believer

We believe that those who put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation have the promise of eternal life as a present possession (Jn. 5:24), and therefore they are guaranteed eternal life (Jn. 10:28, 29; Rom. 8:35-39). Being kept by the power of God, it is the privilege of the believer to have a present and continuing assurance that he possesses salvation (I Jn. 5:10-13; I Pet. 1:5).

The Church

We believe that all who are born again through faith in Christ are members of the Church which is the body and bride of Christ (I Cor. 12:12-27). The Church has been given the commission to reach the world for Christ (Mt. 28:18-20). We believe that this Church is manifested through the local church—which is an organized body of immersed believers in one locality (Acts 6:1-7; 9:31; 13:1-3). It is the duty of every believer to assemble regularly in a local church (Heb. 10:25), for worship, prayer, fellowship, preaching, teaching, (Acts 2:41-47), and to observe the two ordinances of the local church which are believer’s baptism by immersion (Mt. 28:19; Rom. 6:3-6) and the Lord’s Supper (Lk. 22:19-20).

The Blessed Hope and the Second Coming of Christ

We believe that Christ has gone to prepare a place for the believers, and that He will come again to receive them (Jn. 14:2-3). The Blessed Hope of the believer is the Rapture, when Christ returns to call from the grave and from this life those who have put their faith in Him (I Th. 4:13-18). The Rapture will be followed by seven Tribulation years (Mt. 24:21-27; Rev. 6:1-19, 21; I Th. 5). At the close of the Tribulation period, Christ will return to this earth in His physical body to set up His kingdom (Acts 1:11; Mk. 13:24-27; Rev. 19:11-21). He shall judge the nations (Mt. 25:31-46). He shall reign upon the earth for one thousand years (Rev. 20:1-7). He shall finally judge at the Great White Throne all those who have rejected God’s salvation through faith (Rev. 20:11-15).

The Eternal State

We believe that at death the souls of those who have trusted in Christ for salvation pass immediately into the presence of Christ (Phil. 1:23; II Cor. 5:6-8; Lk. 23:43). Those who have died will rise again from the graves, and those who are living at the time of the Rapture will then be translated into an immortal state (I Cor. 15:51-53), and they shall be forever with Christ in heaven (I Th. 4:13-18). We believe that the souls of the unsaved remain, after death, in conscious misery 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 (Lk. 16:19-26; Dan. 12:2; Rev. 20:11-15; 21:8; II Th. 1:7-9).

The Christian Life

We believe that the Christian is challenged in the Word of God to live a life separated from the sin of the world (Rom. 6:1-2; I Cor. 6:18-20; II Cor. 6:14-7:1), which can only be accomplished by his living in dependence upon the Holy Spirit so as to reveal the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:16-23; Eph. 5:18). The life of the believer should be fruitful in spiritual service and lived for the glory of God (Jn. 15:1-8).

We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord (Col. 3:17, 23) or to cause another to stumble (Rom 14:13). We are commanded of God to separate from all worldly and sinful practices, pleasures, and associations (Rom. 12:1-2; I Jn. 2:15-17; II Tim. 3:1-5), and from all religious apostasy and its organizations (II Cor. 6:14; II Jn. 1:9-11). Believers should not belong to any organizations that are bound by unchristian oaths or are on record as being opposed to making Christ pre-eminent in their rituals, prayers, and affairs (Mt. 5:33-37; Col. 1:18).

The Ministry of Spiritual Gifts

We believe that God gives various spiritual gifts to every believer (I Cor. 12:4-11; Eph. 4:7-12; Rom. 12:6-8) but that speaking in tongues, healings and miracles were circumscribed by the following New Testament (N.T.) strictures:

  1. a) That tongues were languages (Glossa=languages) and there is no such N.T. designation as “unknown” tongues.
  2. b) That the baptism of the Spirit is a once for all experience that happens at salvation (I Cor. 12:12-13) and is different from the filling of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18).
  3. c) That tongues are not a sign of the Holy Spirit’s baptism or of salvation because Paul indicates that not all speak in tongues but that all believers have been baptized by the Holy Spirit (I Cor. 12:4-13, 28-31).
  4. d) That the usage of tongues in N.T. times is restricted to a few cases and that in most of the N.T. Scriptures it is not mentioned. (Mentioned only in Mk. 16:17; Acts 2, 10, 19 and I Cor. 12:14).
  5. e) That the gift of tongues is associated with other miraculous gifts that were true of the Apostles but that few would advocate today (Mk. 16:17 ff; II Cor. 12:12).
  6. f) That tongues even in N.T. days were not for everyone, that no believer received all the gifts and that tongues and the other sign gifts were sovereignly bestowed by God upon whom He so desired (I Cor. 12:8-11, 28-30).
  7. g) That the exercise of tongues was strictly circumscribed by many rules: I Cor. 14:5, 9, 13, 15, 19, 22, 23-25, 26-40.
  8. h) That there are many portions of Scripture which tell us how to walk closely with the Lord where tongues are not mentioned (Gal. 5:16-26; Eph. 6:10-18; Phil. 1:4; Col. 3).
  9. i) That Paul placed no special priority on the gift of tongues but said that undue preoccupation on the gift of tongues was an indication of spiritual childishness (I Cor. 14:19-20).
  10. j) That the evidence of salvation in Scripture is not tongues but fruit (Jn. 15:8) and that the fruit of the Spirit does not include tongues (Gal. 5:22-23).
  11. k) That the sign gifts were given for the expressed purpose of confirming the truth of God’s message as from Him (Heb. 2:3-4).

We do believe God does hear and answer the prayer of faith, in accord with His own will, for the sick and afflicted (Jas. 5:13-16; I Jn. 5:14-15).

Church and State

We believe in the sovereignty and independence of the local church and that it is free to govern itself without outside interference whether from other churches, denominations, or the State. We believe in obeying the powers that be of government except where they violate the clear commands of God’s Word (Rom. 13:1-7; Mt. 22:21; Acts 5:28-29). We believe in separation of Church and State.