Statement of Faith

 

Our Statement of Faith: Those Things Most Surely Believed Among Us

Preamble
We, a church of baptized believers called Old Prospect, holding the entire Bible from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, for the edification of our church “that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed” and for information to other churches, Christians and the world at large, do set forth this brief declaration of some of those things most surely believed among us.

Foundational truths
All church doctrines grow from two foundational truths: We believe that God is and that he has revealed himself in the sixty-six books we call the Holy Bible.
1. God is eternally self-existent. Genesis 1:1; Exodus 3:14; Hebrews 11:6.
2. The Bible is inspired by God. Psalm 119:160; Proverbs 30:5; 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

Fundamental doctrines
1. All things were created by and exist by God, who has revealed himself as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (and these three are one). Genesis 1:1; Deuteronomy 6:4; John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16-17; 1 John 5:7; Revelation 4:11.
2. Man was created in the image of God but fell by transgression of God’s law. Therefore, death passed upon all men, for all have sinned. Genesis 1:26; 3:6-24; Romans 3:23; 5:12-19.
3. Jesus Christ is eternally God. He was born into this world of a virgin, lived without sin in the flesh, died on the cross, and rose from the grave. The work of God in the world through Jesus Christ is the central truth of the Bible. Salvation is a need of man and a work of God. Jonah 2:9; Matthew 1:18-20;  John 1:1-14; 10:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22.
4. The gospel proclaims how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. The gospel is to be preached throughout the world to all men without distinction. I Corinthians 15:1-4; Matthew 28:18-20.
5. By grace are we saved through faith. It is a gift of God. The saved are kept by the power of God unto salvation. John 10:27-29; Ephesians 2:8; 1 Peter 1:5.
6. Jesus Christ will return again to receive his people unto himself, as he promised. The living saints will be changed and the dead will be raised. Matthew 25:46; John 14:1-6; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9.

Church order
1. Jesus Christ established his church during his ministry and promised that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. A church is a congregation of baptized believers gathered together in the name of Christ. Each church is independent of other churches, under the headship of Christ. Jesus Christ gave the Great Commission to his churches as their continuing purpose in this age. Matthew 16:18; 18:15-17; 28:18-20; Mark 1:14-20; Acts 2:41; Ephesians. 3:21.
2. Baptism is the immersion of repentant believers in water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Baptism is prerequisite to the Lord’s Table, which is a memorial of Christ by the members of the church observing the ordinance till He returns again. Matthew 3:6; 26:26-30; 28:18-20; Acts 8:12, 37-38; Romans 6:4-5; 1 Corinthians 11:1-2, 17-26.
3. There are two continuing offices in a church, pastors and deacons, to be filled only by men meeting the qualifications set forth in writings to Timothy and Titus. Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9.

The greatest gift
1. Love for one another is the great manifestation and true test of discipleship. It is the great commandment of the Lord Jesus Christ upon which all others are dependent. By this shall all men know we are his disciples, and without it we are nothing. Matthew 22:35-40; John 13:34-35; 15:12; 1 Corinthians 13; 1 John 4:7-21; 5:1-3.

 

First Statement of Faith

The church statement of faith is above. Though not officially adopted by the church, the implicit statements of the church when constituted in 1974 were those of the American Baptist Association — the New Hampshire Confession of Faith (1833) and the 12 item clarification adopted by the ABA in 1924.

1. We believe in the infallible verbal inspiration of the whole Bible. 2nd Tim. 3:16.

2. The Triune God. Matt. 28:19.

3. The Genesis Account of Creation.

4. The virgin birth of Jesus Christ. Matt. 1:20.

5. The deity of Jesus Christ.

6. His crucifixion and suffering as vicarious and substitutionary.

7. The bodily resurrection and ascension of Christ and the bodily resurrection of His saints. 1st Cor. 15th chapter.

8. The second coming of Christ, personal and bodily, as the crowning event of this Gentile age. Acts 1:11.

9. The Bible doctrine of the eternal punishment of the finally impenitent. Matt. 25:46.

10. We also hold in common what real Baptists have ever held: That the great commission was given to the churches only. That in kingdom activities the church is the unit and the only unit that the churches have, and should exercise equal authority, and responsibility should be met by them according to their several abilities.

11. That all co-operative bodies such as Associations, Conventions and their Boards or Committees, etc., are and properly should be the servants of the churches.

12. We believe that the great commission teaches that there has been a succession of missionary Baptist churches from the days of Christ down to this day.

Position statements

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