Beliefs

  • The Apostle’s Creed nicely condenses the beliefs of the Christian:

    I believe in God the Father almighty,
    Creator of heaven and earth,
    and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
    who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
    born of the Virgin Mary,
    suffered under Pontius Pilate,
    was crucified, died and was buried;
    he descended into hell;
    on the third day he rose again from the dead;
    he ascended into heaven,
    and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
    from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

    I believe in the Holy Spirit,
    the holy universal Church,
    the communion of saints,
    the forgiveness of sins,
    the resurrection of the body,
    and life everlasting. Amen.

    We identify with historic and ancient Christianity as revealed in Holy Scripture and expressed in the ecumenical creeds of the early church:  The Apostles' Creed, The Nicene Creed, The Athanasian Creed, and The Definition of Chalcedon

  • Additionally, we affirm the body of doctrine contained in the Confessions of Faith and Catechisms of the Protestant Reformation which can be summarized by the so called “5 Solas” which are:

    Sola Scriputra - That Scripture alone is the only infallible and inerrant rule of faith and practice for Christians.

    Sola Gratia - That the whole experience of our salvation from sin and death is by God’s grace alone.

    Sola Fide -That the way we are saved is by faith alone, and no works of ours whatsoever.

    Solus Christus - That the faith by which we are saved is in the finished work of Christ alone - in His perfectly obedient life unto God in thought, word, and deed, and in His substitutionary death on the cross as the payment for our sins.

    Soli Deo Gloria - That the glory of our salvation belongs wholly and solely God alone.

    Specifically, we embrace the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1677/1689 as an adequate and accurate summary of the teaching contained in Holy Scripture.

  • As Baptists we believe the Bible teaches that local churches are elder-led, congregational-affirming. We also believe that the sacrament (or ordinance) of baptism is administered to professing believers in Jesus - church membership and the Lord’s Supper being reserved for such baptized believers.

What is a Reformed Baptist?

“Reformed Baptist” is a term that has been associated in the passed century with those Baptists who hold to the Second London Baptist Confession of 1677/1689.

Reformed Baptists are firstly Christians, who believe the Bible to be the revealed Word of God; who also believe in the sufficiency of the finished work of Christ to save sinners by grace alone through faith alone; and who additionally affirm the free offer of the gospel to all people.

Historically:

Reformed Baptists identify with the tradition that emerged from the Protestant Reformation. In the 16th and 17th centuries there was a growing group within the Church of England who desired to see further reformation of the church. This group would become know as the Puritans. Three distinct branches of the Puritan movement emerged: the Presbyrterians, Independents, and Particular Baptists (who today are widely known as so called “Reformed Baptists”). Desiring to demonstrate their unity with historic and reformational Christianity, the Particular Baptists revised their first confession of faith (The First London Baptist Confession of 1644), updating the structure and language to mirror that of the Westminster Confession (Presbyterian), and the Savoy Declaration (Independent), while still maintaining their own theological distinctives. This Second London Baptist Confession of faith was circulated underground in the year 1677, but after the Act of Toleration passed in 1688, which allowed for dissenting groups from the Church of England to practice religious freedom, representatives from more than 100 Particular Baptist churches were gathered at the general assembly in London in 1689 where they formally published and subscribed to the Confession of Faith - which is why the term “1689” is used for short. This confession is the most important and influential confessional document to have ever been produced in Baptist history. Not only is it still embraced today by Reformed Baptists across the globe, but has been the foundation of almost every Baptist confession of faith since.

Theologically:

Covenantal

We hold to Covenant Theology, which affirms the biblical teaching that the way God interacts, deals with, and specifically, saves human beings is by way of Covenant.

Calvinistic – or the “Doctrines of Grace”

Total Depravity - Which affirms the biblical teaching that because of the fall of man into sin (Genesis 3), all people now are born with a sinful nature, dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1-3), and are therefore in need of being “born again” in order to be saved (John 8:34-36).

Unconditional Election – Which affirms the biblical teaching that because humans are incapable of saving themselves, God, according to His gracious free will, has chosen to save sinners based purely upon His grace and choice, without foreseeing anything within them, be it their faith or any other good works (John 6:44; Ephesians 1:3-7; Romans 9:14-16).

Limited Atonement (or Particular Redemption, hence the name “Particular Baptist”) – Which affirms the biblical teaching that Christ’s atonement, although sufficient for all people without exception, is only effective for those who believe upon Christ (John 10:11; Matthew 26:28).

Irresistible Grace – Which affirms the biblical teaching that the same ones whom God has freely chosen unto eternal life, and the ones for whom Christ died, will definitely and effectively come to faith in Christ in time (John 6:37; John 8:36; Ephesians 2:4-5; Titus 3:3-7).

Perseverance of the Saints – Which affirms the biblical teaching that all those who are saved will be persevered through faith, by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit (John 6:39; John 6:44; Ephesians 1:11-14; 1 Peter 1:5).

Regulative Principle of Worship

We affirm the bible teaches that God Himself regulates our worship through the clear prescriptions of Holy Scripture. The three aspects of corporate worship are: Elements, forms, and circumstances. Elements of worship are those things that scripture positively calls us to do in worship: read the word, pray the word, preach the word, sing the word, and see the word (baptism and the Lord’s Supper). The forms of worship refer to the manner in which we go about practicing the elements of worship. Lastly, circumstances of worship are the practical aspects of how a church organizes its worship gathering – chairs or pews, time of day, etc.

Additional Theological Distinctives:

The Biblical and reformational distinction between Law and Gospel (Romans 3:19-22; Galatians 3:10-29; 2 Corinthians 3:5-11; Hebrews 12:18-24)

Simply defined, the law is the revelation of God’s standard for holiness and righteousness. In it, God communicates what he requires of human beings if we are going to be in right relationship with him and inherit eternal life. The law summons us to love and honor God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength—and to love our neighbor as ourselves. The law requires complete and perfect obedience if we are going to earn eternal life through it (Leviticus 18:5; Luke 10:28; Galatians 3:10)

The gospel, on the other hand, is the message about what Jesus has done for us, in our place, to accomplish our salvation, in perfectly fulfilling the law on our behalf (Matthew 5:17). It is the message of God’s salvation that he has worked through his Son and is grounded completely in his grace and is applied to sinners by faith apart from works (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:20-26). The gospel is the message of “good news” entirely about Jesus and what he did, not about what we must do. The gospel actually contains nothing in it whatsoever, for us to do. Where the law demands from us everything and gives nothing, the gospel demands nothing from us and gives everything.

An improper understanding of law and gospel results in our turning the gospel into a covenant of works, where the gospel becomes a covenant in which we earn righteousness before God through our obedience—not totally, of course, but somehow our works factor in. The gospel is made to sound hard. All of this results in God’s people being robbed of the peace and rest that is ours in Christ.

The Law of God

We affirm the Law of God as summarized in the 10 Commandments to be binding on all people at all times, and affirm the “Third Use of the Law.” That is, the law as a guide for Christian Living - not for blessing or eternal life, but as a grateful response to blessing and eternal life already having been freely received through the gospel.

Ordinary Means of Grace (Acts 2:42)

Our priorities are on the things that God, in the Bible, declares to be essential for His people's spiritual well-being, growth, and salvation; therefore, the Word of God, prayer, baptism, and the Lord's Supper are central to our public worship services.

Christian Liberty and Liberty of Conscience (Matthew 15:9; Romans 14; 1 Corinthians 7:23; Galatians 5:1; cf. 2nd London Baptist Confession of Faith 1677/1689 Chapter 21, especially paragraph 2)

We acknowledge the vast number of differences of opinion over many things in the Christian faith. We refuse to (1) impose individual views on secondary and tertiary doctrines/issues on the consciences of our brothers and sisters in Christ; we additionally refuse to (2) allow matters of a secondary or tracheary nature be a test of Christian fellowship. We further commit to walk in love, unity of the Spirit and the bonds of peace, extending much charity to others as we remember that God alone is Lord of the conscience.