DOCTRINAL STATEMENT
J. Douglas Duty Jr.
THE BIBLE -
We believe the Bible is God's record to reveal Himself to man, that He used men to write it but He remained the full author of it's content. In using these men He did not manipulate them as robots but allowed their literary style in the writing but He fully oversaw the message and content. We believe the Bible is a treasure chest of divine instruction for every aspect of life - for salvation, sanctification and daily living. Believe that the Bible provides instruction for every aspect of life and that it holds within it God's complete truth for us to apply in every situation. We believe the Bible is the standard by which we will be held at judgement for all that we do, by its very truths and principles. We believe that the Bible is absolute truth and contains no errors in its message and content, that the Bible is truth whether man chooses to believe it or not and that any discrepancy between men should be held under the scrutiny of Biblical principle. We believe that the only way to truly understand and interpret the Bible is through the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Saviour and the teaching and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
..and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that every man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work?. 2 Timothy 3:15-17
SALVATION -
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered as a free gift 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.
...In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches if His Grace. Ephesians 1:7
For by Grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8
...And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2
A) 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 the heart, the soul and the mind brought on by the Holy Spirit as He convicts a person of their sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and puts his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace. Repentance is a complete and genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is accepting of the sacrifice and price paid by Jesus Christ and a commitment of the entire personality to Him as both Lord and Saviour. Justification is God's gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness for all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. Justification brings the believer into a relationship of grace and peace with God.
B) 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 throughout the regenerate person's life. That this perfection is to be reached in glorification.
C) Glorification is the culmination of Salvation and Sanctification and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed.
God -
There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal God. He is the Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. We owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience to Him. The eternal God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.
A. God the Father
God as our Father rules with constant and loving care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of human history according to His purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become His children through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men. We also believe that our term (father) cannot fully describe His fatherly aspects. The term ABBA or (daddy) describes somewhat better the full scope of love and care that He gives to His children.
...one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. Ephesians. 4:6
...And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" Galatians 4:6
B. God the Son -
Christ is the true and eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly showed to all and lived out the will of God, taking upon Himself the demands and necessities of human nature so that He could truly identify Himself completely with man yet He was without sin. He was both fully man and yet fully divine.
He honored God's law by His own personal obedience, and in His death on the cross He made the way for men to be redeemed from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion.
He ascended into heaven and now sits exalted at the right hand of God where He acts as man's mediator partaking of the nature of God and of man, and in Him we are reconciled to God. We believe that He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission and usher in God's kingdom, as it should be. We believe He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord.
...And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 (John 1:1-18)
C. God the Holy Spirit -
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. He was responsible for inspiring men to write God's Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth and that truth cannot be fully understood apart from Him. He exalts Christ. He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. He convicts men's hearts to bring them to the Saviour. He guides us in Christian character, He is our comforter, and bestows the spiritual gifts that we are to use in serving God and His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. It is the Holy Spirit that opens our eyes to scriptural truth and prepares each Christian for worship, evangelism, and service.
...For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him. Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 1 Corinthians 2:10-14
Baptism and the Lord's Supper -
I believe that Christian baptism is to be by the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We believe that full immersion is the biblical form to which baptism is to be performed, following the example of Jesus. It is an act of obedience that symbolizes 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 a new life given by Christ. It is a public testimony of their faith in Christ and in the hope and faith of His final return. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience where members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize publicly the death of the Jesus and to anticipate His Second Coming.
..And Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch; and he baptized him. Acts 8:37-38
...Now it came about when all the people were baptized, that Jesus also was baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, "Thou art My beloved Son, in Thee I am well-pleased." Luke 3:21-22
The Church -
The New Testament speaks that the church is the body of Christ, which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages, with Christ as the head. That this is manifested in a local body of baptized believers who are associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel. That this local body observe the two ordinances of Christ (baptism and Lord's supper), be committed to His teachings and that they utilize the gifts given by the Holy Spirit and allow Him to work individually and corporately. That as a church body they must strive to extend the gospel to the community they find themselves in and to support missions to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth. This church is an autonomous body, operating under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, which each member is equally responsible for the functioning of the congregation. We also believe that this autonomous body should seek to work with other sister churches in order to provide a stronger unity of the body as a whole and to extend the reach further in spreading the gospel than could be done singularly. We believe that God has given as its Scriptural officers, pastors and deacons, to serve and to lead.
...And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. Ephesians 1:22-23
...So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. Ephesians 2:19-22
Man -
Man was created by the special act of God, in His own image, that while all other creation acts He spoke into existence man was formed by God's own hands and as such is the grand-finale of all His creation. From the beginning man was created in God?s image and as such was innocent of any sin. God gave man the freedom of choice, we believe in order that the worship and love due Him would be returned without coercion. But that in this freedom man chose to sin against God and thereby bringing sin upon all humanity.
It was through Satan's tempting of Adam and Eve, that man made the choice to disregarded God's command and in doing so he lost his sinless nature and by this, the very nature of man became sinful and that this nature is still the case today. It is only through the grace of God that man can enter into a relationship and fellowship with a Holy God in order to fulfill God's purpose. It is because we are God's creation and that He desires this worship and fellowship with us that he sent His only son to die for us. As His creation each and every human is valuable and needs the compassion and love of Christ in his life.
...Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. Genesis 2:7
... among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. Ephesians 2:3
Education -
While the BF&M (Baptist Faith & Message) emphasizes the need for Organizational educational in the Post Secondary system we believe that the primary education emphasis should be at the local church level. We believe that great strides in discipleship and faith growth can be made if the local church has an effective Sunday School or Bible study program. Outside of the home itself, this should be the organism in which faith growth is fostered. We believe that those who do teach these classes should receive periodic training in order to make Sunday school a more effective and profitable place for our church family. We, as a church, should strive to involve all of our church members in a Bible study program. In this we can see effective growth both in faith and in fellowship of the body.
...and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that every man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:15-17
Stewardship -
I believe that God is the very source of every blessing, earthly and spiritual; all that we have or will ever have and we owe all to Him. Christians have both the command and debt to be the stewards of the Gospel and all that we have. We believe that as Christians we have an obligation (as we should also have the heart desire) to serve the Lord with our time, our talents and material possessions. In this we acknowledge that all that God has given us is to be used for His purposes, that all we have (to include our children) are given as a gift to us and with that we are also given a responsibility with these gifts. We believe we should not give grudgingly but should truly want to give and to do so on a cheerful, consistent basis, both as we have received and liberally as we can, to God's purpose on earth.
...You shall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field every year. Deuteronomy 14:22
...For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Luke 12:34
... Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:6-7
*Note - even as a pastor, my family and I tithe to the congregation, which we serve.
Last Things -
I believe that the world will come to its final end when God, in His time, chooses. That no one knows the time or the date that this will happen, and to attempt to define this point goes against scriptural teaching. We believe that Jesus will return personally and visibly in glory and will be seen by every person on earth. At that time, the dead will be raised and men will be judged by Christ based on the Bibles teaching. That those who rejected Him will be eternally bound to hell, eternally separated from God and that those righteous (having accepted Christ) will be resurrected and in glorified bodies will receive their reward and will remain in Heaven to worship the Lord forever.
...Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52
