Credo
We believe and teach that there is but one living and true God, an infinite, all-knowing Spirit, perfect in all His attributes, one in essence, eternally existing in three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit [a]. The Father sent the Son [b], the Son came as the willing sacrifice for sins [c] and the Holy Spirit was the means through which the Son offered Himself. God is absolutely, perfectly holy and requires holiness of us as well [d].
We believe the person of Jesus Christ is both true God and true man [a]. His death on the cross was sacrificial and substitutionary [b]. His resurrection from among the dead was literal and historical [c]. He bodily ascended into heaven [d]. He is presently and continuously interceding for us at the right hand of the Father [e]. His coming is imminent [f]. He will return to the earth to set up His kingdom [g].
We believe in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, Who alone reveals Jesus Christ in harmony with and through the Word of God, convicting and converting sinners, comforting and instructing saints [a]. We teach that the Holy Spirit is the supernatural and sovereign Agent in regeneration. The Holy Spirit indwells, sanctifies, instructs, empowers believers for service, and seals them unto the day of redemption. [b].
We believe that all who receive, by faith, the Lord Jesus Christ are born again of the Holy Spirit, and thereby become the children of God [a]. This same group of people is called “the saved” [b]; this designation indicates their eternal preservation and everlasting blessedness. We further believe those who are not saved are lost and doomed to everlasting and conscious punishment [c].
We believe all born-again believers are placed by the Holy Spirit into one united spiritual Body around the person of Jesus Christ, observing His ordinances, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word through the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The local church’s officers are: pastors, elders, and deacons whose qualifications are defined in Scripture. We hold that the local church has absolute right to self-government, to property, in all matters pertaining to fellowship, membership, discipline, and missionary giving [a].
We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water to show forth, in a solemn and beautiful emblem, our faith in the crucified and risen Savior, with its effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life. The baptism has been mandated by our Lord Jesus Christ and is the individual's responsibility and privilege before God [a] and one the requirements for church membership.
All believers who have been obedient to the ordinance of baptism, love our Lord in sincerity and live in holiness, whether members of our church or not, shall have the privilege of sharing at the Lord's Table [a].
The Baptist Faith and Message SBC - EN