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The
Baptist Faith and Message |
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Section V. God's Purpose of Grace
Section VII. Baptism and the Lord's Supper
Section XI. Evangelism and Missions
Section XV. The Christian and the Social Order
Section XVII. Religious Liberty
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The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.
Exodus
24:4; Deuteronomy 4:1-2; 17:19; Joshua 8:34; Psalms 19:7-10; 119:11,89,105,140;
Isaiah 34:16; 40:8; Jeremiah 15:16; 36:1-32; Matthew 5:17-18; 22:29; Luke
21:33; 24:44-46; John 5:39; 16:13-15; 17:17; Acts 2:16ff.; 17:11;
There
is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal
Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is
infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all
knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and
future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the
highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself
to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but
without division of nature, essence, or being.
Man
is the special creation of God, made in His own image. He created them male and
female as the crowning work of His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of
the goodness of God's creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and
was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice man
sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation
of Satan man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original
innocence whereby his posterity inherit a nature and an environment inclined
toward sin. Therefore, as soon as they are capable of moral action, they become
transgressors and are under condemnation. Only the grace of God can bring man
into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God.
The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His
own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore, every person of every
race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.
Genesis
1:26-30; 2:5,7,18-22; 3; 9:6; Psalms 1; 8:3-6; 32:1-5; 51:5; Isaiah 6:5;
Jeremiah 17:5; Matthew 16:26; Acts 17:26-31; Romans 1:19-32; 3:10-18,23;
5:6,12,19; 6:6; 7:14-25; 8:14-18,29; 1 Corinthians 1:21-31; 15:19,21-22;
Ephesians 2:1-22; Colossians 1:21-22; 3:9-11.
Salvation
involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who
accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who by His own blood obtained eternal
redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes
regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no
salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.
Election
is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies,
sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of
man, and comprehends all the means in connection with the end. It is the
glorious display of God's sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise, holy, and
unchangeable. It excludes boasting and promotes humility.
All
true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and
sanctified by His 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 Spirit, impair their graces and comforts,
and bring reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on themselves;
yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.
Genesis
12:1-3; Exodus 19:5-8; 1 Samuel 8:4-7,19-22; Isaiah 5:1-7; Jeremiah 31:31ff.;
Matthew 16:18-19; 21:28-45; 24:22,31; 25:34; Luke 1:68-79; 2:29-32; 19:41-44;
24:44-48; John 1:12-14; 3:16; 5:24; 6:44-45,65; 10:27-29; 15:16; 17:6,12,17-18;
Acts 20:32; Romans 5:9-10; 8:28-39; 10:12-15; 11:5-7,26-36; 1 Corinthians
1:1-2; 15:24-28; Ephesians 1:4-23; 2:1-10; 3:1-11; Colossians 1:12-14; 2
Thessalonians 2:13-14; 2 Timothy 1:12; 2:10,19; Hebrews 11:39–12:2; James 1:12;
1 Peter 1:2-5,13; 2:4-10;
A
New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local
congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and
fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by
His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His
Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each
congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic
processes. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to
Christ as Lord. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men
and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited
to men as qualified by Scripture. The New Testament speaks also of the church
as the Body of Christ, which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages,
believers from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation.
Matthew
16:15-19; 18:15-20; Acts 2:41-42,47; 5:11-14; 6:3-6; 13:1-3; 14:23,27; 15:1-30;
16:5; 20:28; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 3:16; 5:4-5; 7:17; 9:13-14; 12;
Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:19-22; 3:8-11,21; 5:22-32; Philippians 1:1; Colossians
1:18;
VII. Baptism and the Lord's Supper
Christian
baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's
faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer's death to sin,
the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in
Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the
dead. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church
membership and to the Lord's Supper. The
Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church,
through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death
of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.
Matthew
3:13-17; 26:26-30; 28:19-20; Mark 1:9-11; 14:22-26; Luke 3:21-22; 22:19-20;
John 3:23; Acts 2:41-42; 8:35-39; 16:30-33; 20:7; Romans 6:3-5;
The
first day of the week is the Lord's Day. It is a Christian institution for regular
observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should
include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private.
Activities on the Lord's Day should be commensurate with the Christian's
conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Exodus
20:8-11; Matthew 12:1-12; 28:1ff.; Mark 2:27-28; 16:1-7; Luke 24:1-3,33-36;
John 4:21-24; 20:1,19-28; Acts 20:7; Romans 14:5-10; I Corinthians 16:1-2;
The
Kingdom of God includes both His general sovereignty over the universe and His
particular kingship over men who willfully acknowledge Him as King.
Particularly the Kingdom is the realm of salvation into which men enter by
trustful, childlike commitment to Jesus Christ. Christians ought to pray and to
labor that the Kingdom may come and God's will be done on earth. The full
consummation of the Kingdom awaits the return of Jesus Christ and the end of
this age.
Genesis
1:1; Isaiah 9:6-7; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Matthew 3:2; 4:8-10,23; 12:25-28; 13:1-52;
25:31-46; 26:29; Mark 1:14-15; 9:1; Luke 4:43; 8:1; 9:2; 12:31-32; 17:20-21;
23:42; John 3:3; 18:36; Acts 1:6-7; 17:22-31; Romans 5:17; 8:19; 1 Corinthians
15:24-28; Colossians 1:13; Hebrews 11:10,16; 12:28; 1 Peter 2:4-10; 4:13;
Revelation 1:6,9; 5:10; 11:15; 21-22.
God, in His own time and in His own way, will
bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ
will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be
raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be
consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in their
resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell
forever in Heaven with the Lord.
Isaiah
2:4; 11:9; Matthew 16:27; 18:8-9; 19:28; 24:27,30,36,44; 25:31-46; 26:64;
It
is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of
the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations. The new
birth of man's spirit by God's Holy Spirit means the birth of love for others.
Missionary effort on the part of all rests thus upon a spiritual necessity of
the regenerate life, and is expressly and repeatedly commanded in the teachings
of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ has commanded the preaching of the gospel to
all nations. It is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the
lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle, and by
other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ.
Genesis
12:1-3; Exodus 19:5-6; Isaiah 6:1-8; Matthew 9:37-38; 10:5-15; 13:18-30, 37-43;
16:19; 22:9-10; 24:14; 28:18-20; Luke 10:1-18; 24:46-53; John 14:11-12;
Christianity
is the faith of enlightenment and intelligence. In Jesus Christ abide all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge. All sound learning is, therefore, a part of
our Christian heritage. The new birth opens all human faculties and creates a
thirst for knowledge. Moreover, the cause of education in the Kingdom of Christ
is co-ordinate with the causes of missions and general benevolence, and should
receive along with these the liberal support of the churches. An adequate
system of Christian education is necessary to a complete spiritual program for
Christ's people. In Christian education
there should be a proper balance between academic freedom and academic
responsibility. Freedom in any orderly relationship of human life is always
limited and never absolute. The freedom of a teacher in a Christian school,
college, or seminary is limited by the pre-eminence of Jesus Christ, by the
authoritative nature of the Scriptures, and by the distinct purpose for which
the school exists.
Deuteronomy
4:1,5,9,14; 6:1-10; 31:12-13; Nehemiah 8:1-8; Job 28:28; Psalms 19:7ff.;
119:11; Proverbs 3:13ff.; 4:1-10; 8:1-7,11; 15:14; Ecclesiastes 7:19; Matthew
5:2; 7:24ff.; 28:19-20; Luke 2:40; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; Ephesians 4:11-16;
Philippians 4:8; Colossians 2:3,8-9; 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 2 Timothy 2:15; 3:14-17;
Hebrews 5:12-6:3;
God
is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and
are we owe to Him. Christians have a spiritual debtorship to the whole world, a
holy trusteeship in the gospel, and a binding stewardship in their possessions.
They are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and
material possessions; and should recognize all these as entrusted to them to
use for the glory of God and for helping others. According to the Scriptures,
Christians should contribute of their means cheerfully, regularly,
systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancement of the
Redeemer's cause on earth.
Genesis
14:20; Leviticus 27:30-32; Deuteronomy 8:18; Malachi 3:8-12; Matthew
6:1-4,19-21; 19:21; 23:23; 25:14-29; Luke 12:16-21,42; 16:1-13; Acts 2:44-47;
5:1-11; 17:24-25; 20:35; Romans 6:6-22; 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 4:1-2; 6:19-20;
12; 16:1-4;
Christ's
people should, as occasion requires, organize such associations and conventions
as may best secure cooperation for the great objects of the Kingdom of God.
Such organizations have no authority over one another or over the churches.
They are voluntary and advisory bodies designed to elicit, combine, and direct
the energies of our people in the most effective manner. Members of New
Testament churches should cooperate with one another in carrying forward the
missionary, educational, and benevolent ministries for the extension of
Christ's Kingdom. Christian unity in the New Testament sense is spiritual
harmony and voluntary cooperation for common ends by various groups of Christ's
people. Cooperation is desirable between the various Christian denominations,
when the end to be attained is itself justified, and when such cooperation
involves no violation of conscience or compromise of loyalty to Christ and His
Word as revealed in the New Testament.
Exodus
17:12; 18:17ff.; Judges 7:21; Ezra 1:3-4; 2:68-69; 5:14-15; Nehemiah 4; 8:1-5;
Matthew 10:5-15; 20:1-16; 22:1-10; 28:19-20; Mark 2:3; Luke 10:1ff.; Acts
1:13-14; 2:1ff.; 4:31-37; 13:2-3; 15:1-35; 1 Corinthians 1:10-17; 3:5-15; 12; 2
Corinthians 8-9; Galatians 1:6-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Philippians 1:15-18.
XV. The Christian and the Social Order
All
Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in
our own lives and in human society. Means and methods used for the improvement
of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can be truly and permanently
helpful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the
saving grace of God in Jesus Christ. In the spirit of Christ, Christians should
oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of
sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. We
should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the
helpless, and the sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for
the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. Every
Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole
under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love.
In order to promote these ends Christians should be ready to work with all men
of good will in any good cause, always being careful to act in the spirit of
love without compromising their loyalty to Christ and His truth.
Exodus
20:3-17; Leviticus 6:2-5; Deuteronomy 10:12; 27:17; Psalm 101:5; Micah 6:8;
Zechariah 8:16; Matthew 5:13-16,43-48; 22:36-40; 25:35; Mark 1:29-34; 2:3ff.;
10:21; Luke 4:18-21; 10:27-37; 20:25; John 15:12; 17:15; Romans 12–14;
1Corinthians 5:9-10; 6:1-7; 7:20-24; 10:23-11:1; Galatians 3:26-28; Ephesians
6:5-9; Colossians 3:12-17;
It
is the duty of Christians to seek peace with all men on principles of
righteousness. In accordance with the spirit and teachings of Christ they
should do all in their power to put an end to war. The true remedy for the war spirit is the gospel of our Lord. The
supreme need of the world is the acceptance of His teachings in all the affairs
of men and nations, and the practical application of His law of love. Christian
people throughout the world should pray for the reign of the Prince of Peace.
Isaiah
2:4; Matthew 5:9,38-48; 6:33; 26:52; Luke 22:36,38; Romans 12:18-19; 13:1-7;
14:19; Hebrews 12:14; James 4:1-2.
God
alone is Lord of the conscience, and He has left it free from the doctrines and
commandments of men which are contrary to His Word or not contained in it.
Church and state should be separate. The state owes to every church protection
and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends. In providing for such
freedom no ecclesiastical group or denomination should be favored by the state
more than others. Civil government being ordained of God, it is the duty of
Christians to render loyal obedience thereto in all things not contrary to the
revealed will of God. The church should not resort to the civil power to carry
on its work. The gospel of Christ contemplates spiritual means alone for the
pursuit of its ends. The state has no right to impose penalties for religious
opinions of any kind. The state has no right to impose taxes for the support of
any form of religion. A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal, and
this implies the right of free and unhindered access to God on the part of all
men, and the right to form and propagate opinions in the sphere of religion
without interference by the civil power.
Genesis
1:27; 2:7; Matthew 6:6-7,24; 16:26; 22:21; John 8:36; Acts 4:19-20;
God
has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is
composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or
adoption. Marriage is the uniting of
one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique
gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the
man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the
channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for
procreation of the human race. 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. A
husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given
responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to
submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the
church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of
God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility
to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and
nurturing the next generation.
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.
Genesis 1:26-28; 2:15-25; 3:1-20; Exodus 20:12;
Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Joshua 24:15;
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