THE FOLLOWING COMES FROM THE BAPTIST FAITH AND MESSAGE (1963)

THE SCRIPTURES

“The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is the record of God’s revelation of Himself to man. . .  It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. . . The criterion by which the Bible is to be interpreted is Jesus Christ.”

GOD

“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 personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.”

1.  God the Father

“God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human History according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.”

2.  God the Son

“Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself the demands and necessities of human nature and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. . . .”

3.  God the Holy Spirit

“The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. . . He exalts Christ. He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. He calls men to the Saviour, and effects regeneration. . .  He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.”

MAN

“Man was created by the special act of God, in His own image, and is the crowning work of His creation. . .  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. . . 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 man possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.”

SALVATION

“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, sanctification, and
glorification.”

1. “Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God’s grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

“Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace. Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Saviour.”

2.  “Justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal upon Principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ.
Justification brings the believer into a relationship of peace and favor with God.”

3.  “Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God’s purposes, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual perfection through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. Growth in grace should continue hroughout the regenerate person’s life.”

4.  “Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed.”

GOD’S PURPOSE OF GRACE (ELECTION)

“Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, (justifies), sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. . . It is a 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.”

THE CHURCH

“A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a local body of baptized believers who are associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the two ordinances of Christ. . . and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth.”

“This church is an autonomous body. . . The New  Testament speaks also of the church as the body of Christ which includes all of  the redeemed of all the ages.”

 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.”

“The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church. . . memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.”

LAST THINGS (ESHCATOLOGY)

“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.”