We hold to the faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3), affirmed by the Church throughout the ages and in such historical statements of faith as the Apostles Creed, Nicene Creed, and Athanasian Creed. We believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, and we look to Scripture alone as our ultimate authority. We are sinners saved by the grace of God alone through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, only hope of deliverance from God's judgment by His substitutionary death and resurrection.
As Reformed Baptists, we believe that the truths of Scripture are accurately summarized and explained in the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith. Click here to read the full confession. The following is a short version of 15 key doctrines we believe, with answers taken from the confession or from the Baptist Catechism.
Of the Scriptures
The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, being given by divine inspiration, are the Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice. (Isaiah 8:20; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:16-21)
Of God and the Holy Trinity
There are three persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one God, the same in essence, uncreated and uncaused, equal in power and glory. (Matthew 3:16-17, 28:18-20; John 14:26, 15:26; 1 Peter 1:2)
Of Creation
The work of creation is God's making all things of nothing, by the Word of His power, in the space of six days, and all very good. God made man in His image, male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:1, 27, 31; Exodus 20:11; Hebrews 11:3)
Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment Thereof
Our first parents, Adam and Eve, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God in eating the forbidden fruit. All mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him in his first transgression, and by their fall lost communion with God, are under His wrath and curse, and made liable to all the miseries of this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever. (Genesis 3:1-21; Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22)
Of God's Covenant
God, out of His mere good pleasure, from all eternity, having chosen a people to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation, by a Redeemer. (Jeremiah 31:33; Romans 5:21; Ephesians 1:3-4)
Of Christ the Mediator
The only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was and continues to be God and man, in two distinct natures and one person, forever. (John 1:1, 14; Galatians 3:13, 4:4; 1 Timothy 2:5)
Of Justification
Justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein He pardons all our sins, and accepts us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone. (Romans 3:24, 5:1, 19; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 2:16)
Of the Law of God
The duty which God requires of man is obedience to His revealed will. The rule which God at first revealed to man for his obedience was the moral law, summarily comprehended in the Ten Commandments, the sum of which is to love the Lord our God and love our neighbor as ourselves (Deuteronomy 10:4; Matthew 19:17, 22:36-40; Luke 10:26-28)
Of the Gospel and the Extent of Grace Thereof
God was pleased to give the promise of Christ as the means of calling the elect, and begetting in them faith and repentance; in this promise the gospel, as to the substance of it, was revealed, and is therein effectual for the conversion and salvation of sinners. (Genesis 3:15; Romans 1:16; 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5)
Of Marriage
Marriage is to be between one man and one woman. (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4-6; Ephesians 5:31)
Of the Church
The church is the organized society of professing believers, in all ages and places, wherein the Gospel is truly preached and the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper rightly administered. It is the duty of those who are rightly baptized to join themselves to some visible and orderly church of Jesus Christ, that they may walk in all the commandments and ordinance of the Lord blameless. (Acts 2:46-47; Ephesians 4:4-6, 11-16; Hebrews 10:24-25)
Of Baptism
Baptism is a holy ordinance, wherein the washing with water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, signifies our ingrafting into Christ and partaking of the benefits of the covenant of grace. Baptism by immersion is to be administered to all those who profess repentance towards God, faith in, and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ, and to none other. (Matthew 3:6; Acts 2:38, 8:12, 36, 10:47-48; Galatians 3:7)
Of the Lord's Supper
The Lord's Supper is a holy ordinance, wherein, by giving and receiving bread and the cup, according to Christ's appointment, His death is showed forth, and the worthy receivers are by faith made partakers of His body and blood, with all His benefits, to their spiritual nourishment, and growth in grace. We partake in the Lord's table weekly. (Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
Of the State of Man After Death and of the Resurrection of the Dead
The bodies of men after death return to dust and see corruption; but their souls, which neither die nor sleep, immediately return to God who gave them. At the last day, such of the saints as are found alive shall not sleep but be changed; and all the dead shall be raised up with the selfsame bodies, and none other; although with different qualities, which shall be united again to their souls forever. (Ecclesiastes 12:7; 1 Corinthians 15:50-53; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)
Of the Last Judgment
God has appointed a day wherein He will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ. All persons that have lived upon the earth shall appear before Him, to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds, and receive according to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil. (Matthew 25:31-32; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Peter 4:5)
As Reformed Baptists, we believe that the truths of Scripture are accurately summarized and explained in the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith. Click here to read the full confession. The following is a short version of 15 key doctrines we believe, with answers taken from the confession or from the Baptist Catechism.
Of the Scriptures
The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, being given by divine inspiration, are the Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice. (Isaiah 8:20; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:16-21)
Of God and the Holy Trinity
There are three persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one God, the same in essence, uncreated and uncaused, equal in power and glory. (Matthew 3:16-17, 28:18-20; John 14:26, 15:26; 1 Peter 1:2)
Of Creation
The work of creation is God's making all things of nothing, by the Word of His power, in the space of six days, and all very good. God made man in His image, male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:1, 27, 31; Exodus 20:11; Hebrews 11:3)
Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment Thereof
Our first parents, Adam and Eve, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God in eating the forbidden fruit. All mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him in his first transgression, and by their fall lost communion with God, are under His wrath and curse, and made liable to all the miseries of this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever. (Genesis 3:1-21; Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22)
Of God's Covenant
God, out of His mere good pleasure, from all eternity, having chosen a people to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation, by a Redeemer. (Jeremiah 31:33; Romans 5:21; Ephesians 1:3-4)
Of Christ the Mediator
The only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was and continues to be God and man, in two distinct natures and one person, forever. (John 1:1, 14; Galatians 3:13, 4:4; 1 Timothy 2:5)
Of Justification
Justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein He pardons all our sins, and accepts us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone. (Romans 3:24, 5:1, 19; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 2:16)
Of the Law of God
The duty which God requires of man is obedience to His revealed will. The rule which God at first revealed to man for his obedience was the moral law, summarily comprehended in the Ten Commandments, the sum of which is to love the Lord our God and love our neighbor as ourselves (Deuteronomy 10:4; Matthew 19:17, 22:36-40; Luke 10:26-28)
Of the Gospel and the Extent of Grace Thereof
God was pleased to give the promise of Christ as the means of calling the elect, and begetting in them faith and repentance; in this promise the gospel, as to the substance of it, was revealed, and is therein effectual for the conversion and salvation of sinners. (Genesis 3:15; Romans 1:16; 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5)
Of Marriage
Marriage is to be between one man and one woman. (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4-6; Ephesians 5:31)
Of the Church
The church is the organized society of professing believers, in all ages and places, wherein the Gospel is truly preached and the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper rightly administered. It is the duty of those who are rightly baptized to join themselves to some visible and orderly church of Jesus Christ, that they may walk in all the commandments and ordinance of the Lord blameless. (Acts 2:46-47; Ephesians 4:4-6, 11-16; Hebrews 10:24-25)
Of Baptism
Baptism is a holy ordinance, wherein the washing with water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, signifies our ingrafting into Christ and partaking of the benefits of the covenant of grace. Baptism by immersion is to be administered to all those who profess repentance towards God, faith in, and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ, and to none other. (Matthew 3:6; Acts 2:38, 8:12, 36, 10:47-48; Galatians 3:7)
Of the Lord's Supper
The Lord's Supper is a holy ordinance, wherein, by giving and receiving bread and the cup, according to Christ's appointment, His death is showed forth, and the worthy receivers are by faith made partakers of His body and blood, with all His benefits, to their spiritual nourishment, and growth in grace. We partake in the Lord's table weekly. (Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
Of the State of Man After Death and of the Resurrection of the Dead
The bodies of men after death return to dust and see corruption; but their souls, which neither die nor sleep, immediately return to God who gave them. At the last day, such of the saints as are found alive shall not sleep but be changed; and all the dead shall be raised up with the selfsame bodies, and none other; although with different qualities, which shall be united again to their souls forever. (Ecclesiastes 12:7; 1 Corinthians 15:50-53; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)
Of the Last Judgment
God has appointed a day wherein He will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ. All persons that have lived upon the earth shall appear before Him, to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds, and receive according to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil. (Matthew 25:31-32; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Peter 4:5)