STATEMENT OF FAITH
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in order to view FBC Greenacres Statement of Faith.
We believe
and teach that the Bible is the inerrant, verbally-inspired Word
of God, infallible as originally given by God, and that the
Bible's absolute truth and trustworthiness extend equally and
fully to all parts of the writings - historical, poetical,
doctrinal, and prophetical - thus constituting our only standard
of faith and practice.
We believe and
teach that there is one true and living God, the Creator and
Sustainer of all things. He is infinite, eternal, unchangeable,
and is revealed to us as the Godhead existent in three persons -
the Father, the Son, and the Spirit - and that these three are
all one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes, and
perfections, thus being worthy of the same exact homage,
confidence, and obedience.
GOD THE FATHER - The is the first person of the Trinity. He orders and disposes all things according to His own purpose
and grace, and who continually upholds, directs, and governs all
creatures and events for His own Glory. Fatherhood denotes
spiritual relationship, first within the Trinity, second within
mankind, creatively in relation to all men, but spiritually only
in relation to those who have been saved by His grace from their
sin and come to Him through Jesus Christ.
GOD THE SON - Jesus Christ is the second person of the Trinity
and possesses all of the divine excellencies and is co-equal,
co-eternal, and co-substantial with the Father. The Son is
the promised Messiah of the Old Testament, Jesus Christ, who was
born of a virgin in the fullness of time, dies on the cross to
redeem man from sin, rose from the dead to provide justification
for every believer, ascended to the right hand of God where He
presently intercedes for all believers, and will again, in the
fullness of the Father's time, return in visible, triumphant,
personal form to overthrow sin, judge the world, and establish
His kingdom in its millennial manifestation.
GOD THE SPIRIT - The Holy Spirit of God is the third person of
the Trinity, possessing all of the divine excellencies, thus
co-equal, co-eternal, and co-substantial with the Father and
Son. He is sent from God to convict the world of sin,
righteousness, and judgment, and to regenerate, cleanse, and
secure from sin. He is the indwelling guide, teacher, and
strengthener of the believer.
We believe
and teach that man was created in innocence directly and
immediately by God for the purpose of fellowship with God and
glory for God. Man was tempted by Satan and sinned, and because
of this all men have been born in sin since that time and are by
nature children of wrath. We believe that Satan is a personal
devil who, with his angels, carries on the work of iniquity in
the world. Sin is basically rebellion against God and the end of
sin is eternal separation from God.
We believe
and teach that Jesus Christ is the only Savior from sin. He
provided forgiveness and atonement for our sins on the cross,
and rose again to provide life and justification. Apart from
Christ, there is no salvation. All men are under condemnation
through personal sin, and deliverance from condemnation comes
only by the righteousness of Christ and not human merit. This
righteousness is bestowed upon or credited to the believer by
grace through faith. The Spirit regenerates or gives new life to
the one who makes this life commitment to Jesus, and he is kept
by God's power forever, never to be lost. This salvation is
complete in Heaven where the believer, in a resurrected,
glorified body, will spend eternity reigning with and rejoicing
in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit is the active agent in our sanctification and
seeks to produce His fruit in us as our minds are renewed and we
are conformed to the image of Christ. Though indwelling sin
remains a reality, as we are led by the Spirit, we grow in the
knowledge of the Lord, freely keeping His commandments and
endeavoring to so live in the world that all people may see our
good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven. All
believers are exhorted to persevere in the faith knowing they
will have to give an account to God for their every thought,
word and deed. The spiritual disciplines, especially Bible
study, prayer, worship and confession, are a vital means of
grace in this regard. Nevertheless, the believer's ultimate
confidence to persevere is based in the sure promise of God to
preserve His people until the end, which is most certain.
We believe
that a New Testament church is a voluntary association of
baptized believers in a church who have covenanted together to
follow the teachings of the New Testament in doctrine, worship,
and practice. We believe the only two church ordinances are
baptism and the Lord's Supper. We likewise believe that only
those who are committed to Jesus Christ as Lord are Scriptural
subjects for baptism, and that immersion is the only proper mode
of baptism. We believe that the Lord's Supper is a memorial to
the Lord's death; the bread symbolizes His body which was given
for us, and the fruit of the vine symbolizes His blood which was
shed for us. We believe that a church is a self-governed
organization served by two types of officers - pastors and
deacons.
We believe
and teach the imminent bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ to
translate His church from this earth and to reward them
according to their works. We also believe that immediately
following this event, the righteous judgment of God will be
poured out in a time of great tribulation, and that this period
will climax with the return of Christ in all splendor and glory
for His thousand-year, or millennial, reign in the Messianic
Kingdom. We believe that this period will end with the final
judgment of unbelievers, who will be cast into eternal
punishment and outer darkness prepared for the devil and his
angels who preceded them, and that the saved will enter into the
eternal state of glory with God and will in their resurrected
and glorified bodies spend eternity in ceaseless praise,
worship, and adoration, magnifying the glories of the Triune God
- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - forever and ever.
We believe
and teach that death involves no loss of consciousness but that
the soul of the redeemed passes immediately into the presence of
Christ and that there is separation of soul and body until the
first resurrection when the spirit, soul, and resurrected body
will be reunited in glorified form in heaven forever. Thus, we
believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to
everlasting life but the lost who are not in Christ Jesus unto
eternal condemnation.
We are
Baptists because we believe that Baptists stand for distinctive
truths to which other denominations do not adhere. Because of
this, we voluntarily cooperate with Southern Baptists worldwide
for the purpose of maximum mobilization and effectiveness in
evangelistic, educational, missionary, and benevolent
ministries. We also seek to lovingly and supportively cooperate
with all others who are committed to Jesus Christ as Lord.
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