Grace Baptist Church is a Southern Baptist Church and we cooperate with churches in the Southern Baptist Convention. Southern Baptists have prepared a statement of generally held convictions called The Baptist Faith and Message which serves as a guide to understanding who they are. The topics here provide only a brief, partial summary. The full text on the issue discussed is also available.
The Bible
We believe the Holy Bible is God’s Word to us and both the Old and New Testament is verbally and plenary inspired and all scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It was written by human authors, under the supernatural inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit and is inerrant, infallible, and God breathed. It is God’s true revelation of Himself to man, and therefore the final authority in faith and life. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction and the supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs and living and is the standard by which all human conduct and creeds should be tried. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its subject. It is to be understood by all through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, and its meaning determined by the historical, grammatical, and literary use of the author’s language, comparing scripture with scripture. (Psalm 12:6; Psalm 119:105, 160; Proverbs 30:5; John 16:13; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 2 Timothy 1:13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Revelation 22:18-19)
Historical Accuracy
We believe the historical accuracy of the first eleven chapters of Genesis, including God’s creation of Adam and Eve as the literal male and female ancestors of all people; the global flood; and the origin of nations and languages at the Tower of Babel. (Genesis 1-11)
The Godhead
We believe there is one and only one living and true God. The eternal God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being. God is the Creator, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe and all things, eternally existing in three Persons; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These three are one in essence but distinct in person and function; co-equal in being, co-identical and eternal in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections. (Genesis 1:1-2, 26-27; Genesis 6:3; Deuteronomy 6:4; Psalm 90:2; Psalm 102:25-27; Matthew 28:19; John 1:1-2; John 4:24; John 10:30; John 14:9; Acts 5:3-4; 2 Corinthians 3:17)
God the Father
We believe that God the Father is the first person of the Trinity, and the source of all that God is and does. He reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of human history according to the purposes of His grace. From Him the Son is eternally generated, and from Them the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds. He is the designer of creation, the speaker of revelation, the author or redemption, and the sovereign of history. (Psalm 33:9; Psalm 135:6; Matthew 10:29-30; John 1:1-2, 14, 18, 26; John 6:37; John 14:16, 26; John 15:26; John 16:7; Romans 8:29)
Jesus Christ
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God and the second person of the Trinity. He is the only begotten Son of God, and therefore truly God and truly man. In His incarnation, He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary through a miracle of the Holy Spirit. He lived a sinless human life in personal obedience to the divine law and offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people by dying on a cross. He accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious sacrifice; and our justification is made certain by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended to Heaven’s glory and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Mediator, Intercessor, and Advocate. He will return again someday to earth to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He lives forever as perfect God and perfect man; two distinct natures inseparably united in one person. (Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6; Isaiah 53:5; Matthew 1:18-25; Matthew 20:28; Luke 24:26; John 1:1-2, 14; John 10:15; Acts 1:9-11; Acts 2:23; Acts 17:3; Romans 3:24-25; Romans 5:8-9; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Philippians 2:5-9; Ephesians 5:2; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 2:16-17; 1 John 2:1; Revelation 1:8)
The Holy Spirit
believe that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, proceeding from the Father and the Son. He is the Spirit of God and is co-equal in deity with the Father and the Son of God. He is present to convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, and to regenerate the unbelieving; to sanctify and baptize all believers into the body of Christ; and to indwell, comfort, and seal believers unto the day of redemption. He lives in every Christian from the moment of salvation and He provides the Christian with power for living, understanding of spiritual truth, and guidance in doing what is right. He is the divine teacher and helper given to guide believers into all truth. He gives every believer a spiritual gift when they are saved. He exalts Christ, while enlightening and empowering the believer and the Church in worship, evangelism, and service. (Genesis 1:26-27; Matthew 28:19; John 3:5-6; John 14:16, 26; John 16:7-13; Acts 1:8; Acts 5:3-4; Romans 8:9; Romans 15:16; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; 2 Corinthians 3:17; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Galatians 5:22-23; Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 5:18; 1 John 5:4)
Creation
We believe that all things were created by God. Angels were created as ministering agents, though some, under the leadership of Satan, fell from their sinless state to become agents of evil. The universe was created in six actual days and is continuously sustained by God; thus, it both reflects His glory and reveals His truth. Human beings were directly created, not evolved, in the very image of God, and as reasoning moral agents, they are responsible under God for understanding and governing themselves and the world. (Genesis 1:1-31; Exodus 20:11; Proverbs 16:4; Matthew 13:41; Matthew 24:30; Luke 10:18; John 1:3; Romans 1:20; Colossians 1:16)
Human Beings
We believe that man and woman were created by the special act of God, in His own image, to be like Him in character, and are the crowning work and supreme object of His creation. Man and woman were created, not evolved, in holiness, and in the very image and likeness of God, but Adam, the first man, willfully disobeyed God, bringing sin and death into the world. Although every person has tremendous potential for good, all of us are marred by an attitude of disobedience toward God called sin. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. As a result of Adam's sin, all persons are sinners, having inherited a sinful nature, and are totally depraved, alienated from God, and of themselves utterly unable to remedy their lost condition. The sacredness of human life is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore, every person possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love. (Genesis 1:26-27; Genesis 3:6-7; Psalm 8:3-6; Isaiah 53:6; Isaiah 59:1-2; John 3:18; Romans 3:22-23; Romans 5:12, 18; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:1-3, 12)
Salvation
We believe that the blessings of salvation are made free to all by the gospel and that nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner but his own depravity and rejection of the gospel. (Isaiah 55:1; John 3:16). We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be regenerated or born again through the work of the Holy Spirit. (John 3:3; 2nd Corinthians 5:17). We believe each person can be saved only through the work of Jesus Christ; through repentance of sin and by faith alone in Him as Savior and that our justification is made sure by the shed blood and literal physical resurrection from the dead of Jesus Christ and that salvation is by grace through faith, and not of works lest any man should boast. (Matthew 1:21; John 3:3-5; John 3:16; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Acts 16:31; Romans 3:24-25; Romans 5:8-9; Romans 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-9; 1 Peter 1:3-5; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 5:13)
Repentance and Faith
We believe that repentance and faith are inseparable graces, wrought in our souls by the regenerating Spirit of God, and are essential steps in salvation. (Matthew 4:17; Mark 1:15; Luke 13:1-5; Romans 10:9)
Justification
We believe that through justification the perfect righteousness of God is imputed to the believers in Christ Jesus. (Acts 13:39; Romans 5:1-2; Romans 8:1)
Regeneration
We believe that regeneration is a divine and instantaneous work of the Holy Spirit, whereby God imparts a divine nature to one dead in trespasses and sins. (John 3:5; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:10; 2 Peter 1:4; 1 John 5:11-12)
Election
We believe that election is the eternal purpose of God, whereby He graciously regenerates, saves, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners; and it is consistent with the free agency of man. It is a glorious display of God’s sovereign goodness and excludes boasting and promotes humility. (Romans 8:28-31; 2 Peter 1:10-11)
Sanctification
We believe that believers have been sanctified positionally through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all and that sanctification is a progressive process by which the believer is made partaker of God’s holiness, and that this process begins in regeneration; and that it is carried on in the hearts of believers by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. (Philippians 2:12-13; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)
Eternal Security
We believe that God gives believers eternal life through Jesus Christ and the true believer is secure in that salvation for eternity. If a person has been genuinely saved, they cannot “lose” their salvation. We believe that all true believers endure to the end and that they are kept by the power of God through faith in Jesus Christ and are secure in Christ forever. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Holy Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end. Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Holy Spirit, impair their testimony, bring reproach on the cause of Jesus Christ, and temporal judgments on themselves, yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. Salvation is a gift from God and is maintained by the grace and power of God, not by the self-effort of the Christian. It is the grace and keeping power of God that gives us this security. (John 10:28-29; Romans 8:1, 38-39; 1 Corinthians 1:4-8; Ephesians 1:12-14; 2 Timothy 1:12; Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 10:10, 14; 1 Peter 1:3-5)
The Lord’s Day
We believe that the first day of the week is the Lord’s Day. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should be employed in exercises of worship and spiritual devotion. (Exodus 20:8-11; Matthew 12:1-12; Mark 2:27-28; Mark 16:1-7; Luke 24:1-3; John 4:21-24; John 20:1, 19-28; Acts 20:7; Romans 14:5-10; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2; Colossians 2:16; Colossians 3:16; Revelation 1:10)
The Church
We believe that the New Testament Church is a local assembly of baptized believers, under the discipline of the Word of God and the Lordship of Jesus Christ, organized to carry out the commission to evangelize, to teach, and to administer the ordinances of believer’s baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The Church is an autonomous self-governing body associated together for fellowship, worship, and service and it offices are Pastors and Deacons. Every person is directly responsible to God alone in all matters of faith and that each Church is independent and autonomous and, therefore, must be free from interference by any ecclesiastical or political authority. It functions through the ministry of gifts given by the Holy Spirit to each believer. (Matthew 16:18; Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; Romans 6:3-4; 1 Corinthians 11:2, 24, 26; 1 Corinthians 12:12-31; Ephesians 3:21; Ephesians 4:11-16; Ephesians 5:25-30; 1 Timothy 3:8-13, 15)
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
Water baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the two scriptural ordinances of obedience for the Church. We believe that baptism is the immersion of a believer in the water in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit as the outward expression of salvation and union with Christ, setting forth in symbol the essential facts of redemption of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. It is the act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior; the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. We believe that the Lord’s Supper is a commemoration of the Lord's death until he comes, wherein the elements are the bread and the cup, which is the fruit of the vine. It memorializes the death of the Redeemer and anticipates His second coming. Self-examination should always precede partaking of the Lord’s Supper. (Matthew 3:13-17; Matthew 26:26-29’ Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:19-20; John 3:23; Acts 2:41-42; Acts 8:35-39; Romans 6:1-5;1 Corinthians 11:23-29; Colossians 2:12; 1 Peter 3:21)
Holy Living
We believe that it is required of every believer to live a holy life, separated from the world as disclosed in the Bible. (Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 6:14-17; 1 Peter 1:13-16; 1 John 2:15-17)
Evangelism and Missions
We believe that the grand and glorious mission of the Church is the evangelization of the world, beginning at home and that this mission merits the complete consecration of the time, talent and treasure of the Christian. It is the duty and privi8lege of every follower of Christ and every Church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations and to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by personal witnessing. (Matthew 9:37-38; Matthew 10:5-15; Matthew 13:18-30; Matthew 16:19; Matthew 22:9-10; Matthew 28:19-20; Luke 10:1-18; Luke 24:46-48; John 14:11-12; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; Acts 8:26-40; Acts 10:42-48; Acts 13:2-3; Romans 10:13-15; Ephesians 3:1-11; Hebrews 2:1-3; 1 Peter 2:4-10; Revelation 22:17)
Stewardship
We believe that God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him. Christians have a spiritual debt to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel, and a binding stewardship in their possessions. They are therefore under compulsion to serve Him with their time, talents, and treasures. (Genesis 14:20; Leviticus 27:30-32; Deuteronomy 8:18; Malachi 3:8-12; Matthew 6:1-4, 19-21; Matthew 19:21; Matthew 23:23; Matthew 25:14-29; Luke 12:16-21; Matthew 16:1-13; Acts 2:4-47; Acts 5:1-11; Acts 17:24-25; Romans 6:6-22; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 4:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 1 Corinthians 16:1-4; 2 Corinthians 8-9; Philippians 4:10-19; 1 Peter 1:18-19)
Satan
We believe that Satan is a real personality working in the world among men, that he is the author of all sin, evil, and unrighteousness and that he is the enemy of all righteousness and that he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire. (Genesis 3:1-15; Job 1:6-12; Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 10:18-19; John 8:44; John 13:2, 27; 1 Peter 5:8; Revelation 12; Revelation 20:1-3, 7-10)
The Second Advent of Christ
We believe in that "Blessed Hope" of the personal, bodily, imminent, pre-tribulation, and pre-millennial return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ to rapture His church and to establish His millennial kingdom. (Zechariah 14:4-11; Matthew 25:34; Luke 19:12; Acts 1:6-11; 1 Corinthians 6:2-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Titus 2:11-13; Revelation 20:6)
Heaven
We believe in a literal place called Heaven where God’s immediate presence is manifested, where angels dwell and where the redeemed shall ultimately dwell, from whence Christ descended and to which He ascended again, where He makes intercession for the saints, and from where He shall come to receive the saints and to judge the living and the dead. (Psalm 102:19; Ecclesiastes 5:2; Isaiah 66:1; Matthew 22:30; John 14:1-3; John 16:28; Acts 1:11; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; 2 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 7:25; 1 John 2:1)
Hell
We believe in a literal place called Hell, the lake of fire and brimstone, which shall be the place of eternal punishment of Satan, fallen angels, demons, and the unbelieving. (Matthew 26:24; Mark 9:48; Luke 16:26; Revelation 19:20; Revelation 20:10; Revelation 20:15; Revelation 21:8)
The Eternal State
We believe the return of Christ for all believers is imminent. It will be followed by seven years of great tribulation, and then the coming of Christ to establish His earthly kingdom for a thousand years. We believe in the bodily resurrection of all persons, the saved to conscious eternal life and the unsaved to judgment and conscious everlasting punishment. The unsaved will be raised and judged according to their works at the Great White Throne judgment and because of their unbelief will be separated forever from God in Hell. Believers will stand before God at the judgment seat where their works will be judged. Since people were created to exist forever, we will either exist eternally separate from God by sin, or eternally with God through forgiveness and salvation. To be eternally separate from God is Hell. To be eternally in union with Him is Heaven, also called eternal life. Heaven and Hell are real places of eternal existence. (Matthew 13:49; Matthew 25:31-46; Luke 16:19-31; Luke 23:40-43; John 3:6; John 5:28-29; John 14:2-3, 13; John 14:17; Acts 1:11; Acts 24:15; Romans 6:23; Romans 8:17-18; 1 Corinthians 2:7-9; 1 Corinthians 3:12-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; Titus 2:13; 1 John 3:2; Revelation 3:10; Revelation 7:14; Revelation 20:4-6; Revelation 20:11-15; Revelation 21:1-8)
The Christian and the Social Order
We believe that God has ordained and created all authority consisting of three basic institutions; the home, the Church, and the state. Every person is subject to these authorities, and these authorities are answerable to God and governed by His Word. God has given each institution specific Biblical responsibilities and balances 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. Every Christian is under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in their life and in human society. The Christian should oppose in the spirit of Christ every form of greed, selfishness, and vice. (Exodus 20:3-17; Leviticus 6:2-5; Matthew 5:13-16, 43-48; Matthew 22:36-40; Luke 4:18-21; Romans 12-14; 1 Corinthians 5:9-10, 6:1-7; Galatians 3:26-28; Ephesians 5:22-24; 6:5-9; Colossians 3:12-17; James 1:27, 2:8; 1 Peter 2:13-14)
Religious Liberty
We believe that the Church and state should be separate. The state owes to every Church protection and full freedom in the pursuit of worship and of its spiritual ends. A Church free from state involvement in a free state is the Christian ideal. (Genesis 1:27; 2:7; Matthew 6:6-7, 27; Matthew 16:26; Matthew 22:21; John 8:36; Acts 4:19-20; Romans 6:1-2; Romans 13:1-7; 1 Timothy 2:1-2; James 4:12; 1 Peter 2;12-17; 1 Peter 3:11-17; 1 Peter 4:12-19)
Family, Marriage, and Human Sexuality
Family
We believe that God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. Marriage is the unity of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God's image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people and was instituted for companionship and reproduction. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. (Genesis 1:26-28; Genesis 2:15-25; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Joshua 24:15; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 7:1-6; Ephesians 5:21-33; 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 3:1-7)
Marriage
Grace Baptist Church operates on a strongly-held belief that the marriage relationship has been established by God as a solemn union between a man and a woman (Genesis 2:24; Ephesians 5:31). We further hold that, in accordance with Scripture, sexual intimacy and sexual activity is appropriate only within the marriage relationship between the husband (man) and wife (woman) (1 Corinthians 7:2; Hebrews 13:4). Accordingly, the following are viewed by Grace Baptist Church as inappropriate and contrary to Scripture:
Any marriage or civil union that is not between a man and a woman.
Any sexual intimacy or sexual act between individuals who are not married to one another.
Any other activity, teaching, or behavior that is contrary to a Biblical view of marriage, and appropriate behavior as outlined above.
individuals involved in Grace Baptist Church operations, activities, and events are expected to uphold the ministry’s perspective on marriage, sexual intimacy, and appropriate behavior as set forth in this provision.
Children
Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God's pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example, and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents. (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; 1st Samuel 1:26-28; Psalm 78:1-8; Psalm 127:3-5; Psalm 139:13-16; Proverbs 1:8; Proverbs 5:15-20; Proverbs 6:20-22; Proverbs 13:24; Proverbs 17:6; Proverbs 22:6, 15; Proverbs 23:13-14; Proverbs 29:15, 17; Ephesians 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21)
Human Sexuality
We believe that God has commanded that intimate sexual activity be engaged in within the confines of marriage between a man and a woman. Any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God's gift of sex. (Genesis 2:24; Genesis 19:5; Genesis 26:8-9; Leviticus 18:1-30; Romans 1:26-29; 1 Corinthians 5:1, 6-9; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4)
Abortion
We believe that God's Word teaches that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused taking of a human life. (Job 3:16; Psalm 51:5; 139:14-16; Isaiah 44:24; 49:1-5; Jeremiah 1:5; Jeremiah 20:15-18; Luke 1:44)
