THE SCRIPTURES
We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction; that it has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture of error, for its matter; that it reveals the principles by which God will judge 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 conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried.
THE GODHEAD
There is one and only one living and true God, an intelligent, spiritual and personal Being, the Creator, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe, infinite in holiness and all other perfection, whom we owe the highest love, reverence and obedience. He is revealed to us as a Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.
GOD THE SON
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was begotten of the Holy Spirit without a human father, born of a virgin, and is truly God and truly man, that His deity is absolute, wholly unique, and singular.
GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe in the personality and deity of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the trinity, who is the divine interpreter of the infallible word, who convicts the world, regenerates and indwells every true believer, testifies of Christ, energizes, enlightens, and constrains in the way of holiness.
THE FALL OF MAN
We believe, according to the teachings of Scripture, that man was created a moral being in the image of God after his likeness, but man by voluntary transgression fell from his original sinless state. In consequence, the whole human race was involved in guilt, making all mankind now sinners, depraved in nature, spiritually dead, subject to the powers of evil, void of holiness, positively inclined to evil, and hopeless apart from divine grace.
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST
We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of Christ, that this body, which was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures, was a literal body consisting of flesh and bone and that He ascendedinto Heaven and “sitteth on the right hand of God” as the believer’s High Priest and Advocate.
THE WAY OF SALVATION
We believe that salvation, according to the Scriptures, is wholly by grace through faith plus nothing. This salvation of the ill-deserving sinner is based upon the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, who became the sinner’s substitute before God and died a provisionary sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. Since the natural man is dead in trespasses and sins, at enmity against God, and blinded by sin and Satan to his own condition, it is only through the operation of the Holy Spirit using the Word that man is brought to repentance and faith. No degree of reformation, however great; no attainment in morality, however refined; no culture, however attractive; no ordinance or ceremony, however ancient and sacred; no feeling, however satisfying; no sincerity, however approved; no church membership, however authenticated, can in the least degree add to the value of the precious blood or to the merits of that finished work wrought for us by the Lord Jesus Christ.
JUSTIFICATION
Justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal, upon principles of righteousness, of all sinners who believe in Christ. This blessing is bestowed, not in consideration of any work of righteousness which we have done, but as a state of most blessed peace and favor with God, and secures every other needed blessing.
THE FREENESS OF SALVATION
The blessings of salvation are made free to all by the gospel. It is the duty of all to accept them by penitent and obedient faith. Nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner except his own voluntary refusal to accept Jesus Christ as Teacher, Savior, and Lord.
THE SECURITY OF THE BELIEVER
We believe that all born-again persons are eternally secure in Christ, since the Scriptures teach that our justification before God rests upon the finished work of Christ alone and forever remains the unchanging grounds of the believer’s faith. This security is further guaranteed by the continuous High Priestly work of Christ in Heaven itself and by the work of the Holy Spirit who wrought in the believer regeneration and performs an unceasing ministry within his soul.
THE CHURCH
We believe that the church, the body of Christ, is composed of all those who have true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We further believe that the visible church or assembly is a congregation of baptized believers associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ, the true head of the church; looking to the Holy Spirit, the administrator, for guidance in exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in the believer by His Work.
THE OBLIGATION OF HOLINESS
We believe that all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are called into a life of separation from the world to which they have been crucified by the death of Christ, and should abstain from worldly lust and such practices and habits as will retard spiritual growth or cause others to stumble and thus bring reproach upon the cross of Christ. The believer is called upon to walk worthily, keeping himself unspotted from the world, and to be zealous of good works.
THE EVANGELIZATION OF THE WORLD
We believe in the evangelization of the world, placing emphasis upon the task of reaching the individual with the gospel and its implications, and that no humanitarian and philanthropic schemes may be substituted for the preaching of the Cross.
BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION
We believe in accepting the literal teaching of the Word. “When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense.” Therefore, every declaration is to be taken in its primary, ordinary, literal, and its most obvious meaning unless the facts of the context and the well-defined laws of language clearly indicate the terms either to be symbolic or figurative and not literal. Whatever is not literal must be explained in the light of other passages which are literal.
CREATION
We believe in the Genesis account of creation, which teaches that all things found their origin in God Who created by His own fiat, instantaneously, every living thing after its kind.
SATAN
We believe in the reality of the person of Satan, “that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world.”
*a complete version of our Statement with scripture citations is available at the First Step Class.*
Our Points of Conviction
Our Statement of Faith does not exhaust the extent of our faith. The Bible itself is the sole and final source of all that we believe. Our position on all issues that arise will be determined by the authority of Scripture. We do believe, however, that the Statement of Faith accurately represents the teaching of the Bible and, therefore, is binding upon all members and activities of the church. All literature used as authoritative in the ministry shall be in complete agreement with the Statement of Faith and with the following Points of Conviction.
A. Civil Government: We believe that God has ordained and created all authority consisting of three basic institutions: 1) the home, 2) the church, and 3) the state. Every person is subject to these authorities, but all (including the authorities themselves) are answerable to God and governed by His Word. God has given each institution specific Biblical responsibilities and balanced those responsibilities with the understanding that no institution has the right to infringe upon the other. The home, the church, and the state are equal and sovereign in their respective Biblically assigned spheres of responsibility under God. Rom. 13:1-7; Eph. 5:22-24; Heb. 13:17; I Pet. 2:13-14.
B. Sexuality/Marriage: God’s gift of sexuality, by means of which man and woman give themselves to one another through the acts which are proper and exclusive to spouses, is not something simply biological, but determined by God at the level of both gender and sexuality. It is realized in a truly human way only if it is an integral part of the love by which a man and woman commit themselves totally to one another until death. The physical, emotional, and spiritual differences and complementarity between men and women are oriented toward the goods of marriage and the flourishing of family life. “Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh. Gen. 2:24. Thus, marriage has been defined by God as the union of one man and one woman for life. All human generations proceed from this union. The primary purpose of marriage is to demonstrate how much Christ loves the church. The secondary purposes of marriage are the procreation and education of children. The tertiary purposes of marriage are the mutual help of the spouses and as a guard against improper sexual desires. Triad Baptist Church will not perform marriage ceremonies for any couple of whom at least one is not a member of Triad Baptist Church.
C. Family Relationships: We believe that God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. We believe that men and women are spiritually equal in position before God, but that God has ordained distinct and separate spiritual functions for men and women in the home and the church. We believe that God immutably bestows gender upon each person as male or female to reflect His image. The husband is to be the leader of the home, and men are to be the pastors and deacons of the church. Accordingly, only men are eligible for ministerial licensure and ordination by the church. Gen. 1:26-28; Ex 20:12; Deut. 6:4-9; Ps. 127:3-5; Prov. 19:18; 22:15; 23:13-14; Mk. 10:6-12; I Cor. 7:1-16; Gal. 3:28; Eph. 5:21-33; 6:1-4; Col. 3:18-21; I Tim. 2:8-15; 3:4-5; 12; Heb. 13:4; I Pet. 3:1-7.
D. Lawsuits between Believers: We believe that Christians are prohibited from bringing civil lawsuits against other Christians or the church to resolve personal disputes. We believe the church possesses all the resources necessary to resolve personal disputes between members. We do believe, however, that a Christian may seek compensation for injuries from another Christian’s insurance company as long as the claim is pursued without malice or slander. I Cor. 6:1-8, Eph. 4:31-32.
E. Abortion: We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused taking of unborn human life. Job 3:16; Ps. 51:5; 139:14-16; Isa. 44:24; 49:1; 5; Jer. 1:5; 20:15-18; Luke 1:44.
F. Inspiration of Scripture: The Bible in its original manuscripts are inspired both verbally (each word), plenary (every word). The Bible is infallible and inerrant in its entire 66 books. It has been supernaturally and accurately preserved I Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:19-21; I Cor. 2:13; Gal. 3:16; John 10:34-35.
G. Adultery: Adultery refers to marital infidelity. When two partners, of whom at least one is married to another party, have sexual relations they commit adultery. Jesus condemns even adultery of mere desire. Matt. 5:27-28. The sixth commandment and the New Testament forbid adultery absolutely. Matt. 5:32; 19:6; Mark 10:11; I Cor. 6:9-10. The prophets denounce the gravity of adultery; they see it as an image of the sin of idolatry. Hosea 2:7; Jer. 5:7; 13:27.
H. Fornication: Fornication refers to a carnal union between an unmarried man and an unmarried woman. It is contrary to the natural order that God has ordained, and is explicitly condemned in Scripture. See, e.g., Gal 5:19-21.
I. Homosexuality: Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who have a sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. Scripture teaches that homosexual acts are acts of grave depravity. See Gen. 19:1-29; Rom. 1: 24-27; I Cor. 6:10; I Tim. 1:10. These acts are contrary to God’s law, they close the sexual act to the gift of life, and they do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Through God’s grace, prayer, and the support of Christian brothers and sisters, persons who struggle with the temptation of adultery, fornication, homosexuality, or other sexual sin, must resolutely overcome these temptations.
J. Sign Gifts: Speaking in tongues and other sign gifts are not for this present church age and ceased at the completion of the Word of God and at the end of the apostolic age. I Corinthians 14:20-22; II Cor. 12:12; Heb. 2:3-4; I Cor. 13:1-10.
K. Offices and Ordinances of the Church: The two offices of the local church are pastor and deacon, and the two ordinances are baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Phil. 1:1; I Tim. 3:1-13; Acts 20: 17, 28; Tit. 1:5,7: I Pet. 5:1-2; Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 8:36-39; Rom. 6:3-5; Col. 2:12; I Cor. 11:23-26.
L. Evolution: Evolution is contrary to the Word of God, and proper biblical belief leaves no place for theistic evolution. The earth was created in 6 literal days as the Bible itself reveals Eph. 3:9; Rom. 11:36; Col. 1:16-17; Gen. 1-2; Exod. 20:11.
M. The Rapture of the Church: The rapture of the Church is imminent and will precede the Tribulation. Phil. 3:20; Tit. 2:13; John 14:1-3; I Thess. 4: 13-18: 11; Rev. 3:10.