Statement of Faith
Holy Scriptures The Holy Bible, being written by holy men of God who spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, is inspired of God. The inspiration of the Holy Bible is plenary, extending from Genesis to Revelation including both historical and doctrinal details, and verbal, extending to the order of sentences, words, and the letter of the words. There is no part of scripture that is less inspired or more inspired than any other. The inspiration of scripture renders every verse without error and all historical details infallible. Further, being that God has sworn that the gospel and its promises are available to each generation, God by His Providence, has preserved the Bible throughout its history so that we may have this day all of the words which God wrote through His prophets and apostles, being contained in the Holy Bible alone. In the Bible alone is revealed the will of God for mankind, His judgment upon sin, and the redemption in Christ Jesus. The Bible alone is the sold standard for conduct, creeds, and religious opinion. The sole interpreter of the Bible is the Lord Jesus Christ, as He is revealed in the Holy Bible alone.
The Godhead There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. 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.
God the Father God, as Father, reigns with providential care of His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purpose 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. He is fatherly in His attitude towards all men.
God the Son Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God and being God manifest in the flesh. He was conceived of the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary. By His incarnation, He made Himself of no reputation, taking on the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh by His perfect obedience to the will of God, which He revealed to man during His earthly ministry. By His perfect obedience to the law of God and His death and burial, 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. Moreover, after appearing to many witnesses, He ascended into heaven. Because He had by Himself purged our sins, He is now seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high where He makes intercession for the saints. Being our sole Mediator before God, He is both fully man and fully God with no commingling of His two natures, and by His Person has effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world by His Gospel and to consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as their living and ever-present Lord exercising His total authority over their lives.
God the Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit is the Sprit of God. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination, He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgement. He calls men to the Savior, and effects regeneration. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the assurance of God to bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.
The Total Depravity of Man Man was created by the special act of God, in His own image, and is the crowning work of His creation. In the beginning, man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. 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 inherits a nature and an environment inclined toward sin, and as soon as they are capable of moral action, become transgressors and are under condemnation. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God. 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 possess 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 Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense, salvation included regeneration, sanctification, and glorification, which is wrought by the Spirit of God.
1. Regeneration 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 Savior. Justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ.
2. Sanctification Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God’s purpose, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual perfection through the presence and power of the indwelling Holy Spirit working by the Word of God. Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate person’s life.
3. Glorification Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed.
Election Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of man, and comprehends all the means in connection with this end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall preserve to the end. Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, bring reproach on the cause of Christ, and temporal judgements on themselves, yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.
New Testament 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, which are the Lord’s Supper and Baptism. We are committed to His teachings, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in the ordinances by His word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth by the preaching of the Word of God. This church is an autonomous body, operating through democratic process under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In such a congregation, members are equally responsible. Its Scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. The New Testament speaks also of the church as the body of Christ, which includes all of the redeemed of all ages.
Baptism Christian baptism is a sacrament to be administered only to members of the New Covenant by 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 Savior, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in the newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is a prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper.
Lord’s Super The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the body of Christ, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His Second Coming.
The Lord’s Day The first day of the week is the Lord’s Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should be employed in exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private, and by refraining from worldly amusements, and resting from secular employment, work of necessity and mercy only being excepted.
Sovereignty of God The Kingdom of God includes both His general sovereignty over the universe and His particular kingship over men who willfully acknowledge Him as King. Particularly, the Kingdom is the realm of salvation into which men enter by trustful, childlike commitment to Jesus Christ. Christians ought to pray and to labor that the Kingdom may come and God’s will be done on earth. The full consummation of the Kingdom awaits the return of Jesus Christ and the end of this age. God, in His own time and 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.
The Great Commission It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ, to endeavor to make disciples of all nations. The new birth of man’s spirit by God, the Holy Spirit, means the birth of love for others. Missionary effort on the part of all rests thus upon a spiritual necessity of the regenerate life, and is expressly and repeatedly commanded in the teachings of Christ. It is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by personal effort and by all other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ.
Providence of God God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him. Christians have a spiritual debtorship to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel, and a binding stewardship in their possessions. They are, therefore, under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions; and should recognize all these as entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for helping others. According to the Scriptures, Christians should contribute of their means cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancement of the Redeemer’s cause on earth.
Relationship Between Church and State God alone is Lord of the conscience, and He has left it free from the doctrines, amendments, laws, and traditions of men, which are contrary to His Word or not contained therein. Therefore, the sole authority of Shannon Park Baptist Church is the Lord Jesus Christ, as He is revealed in the Bible alone. This Church has complete autonomy to conform the content of preaching, prayer, and the discipleship of its members to the Bible without any interference from the State. Furthermore, the State has no right to interfere with the Evangelism efforts of this Church, nor to make any laws, which limit the location or content of evangelism. The State, having no authority in itself, receives its authority solely from God as He has delineated in the Bible alone. Therefore, it is the duty of Christians to render loyal obedience unto the State in all things not contrary to the revealed will of God, which is found in the Word of God alone. The positive duties of the State are to provide freedom for the exercise of religion without any fear of punishment. The State has no right to make any laws, which interfere with this or any other Church’s obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, if the State refuses its God given duties either through explicit means or through lack of enforcement, it will be the right of this Church to inform the State of its error. If the State does not conform to God’s standard, then this Church will use those weapons of Christian Warfare; prayer, gospel preaching, evangelism, and discipleship to bring the State back under its rightful authority, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Human Sexuality As to human sexuality, we believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. Any employee or volunteer in the Church engaged in any of the aforementioned activities shall be terminated from his or her position.
Marriage We believe that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman.
Role of Men and Women 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. The husband is to be the leader of the home and men are to be leaders (pastors and deacons) of the church. Accordingly, only men are eligible for licensure and ordination by the church.
Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever. We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s word which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh.
Giving We believe that every Christian, as a steward of that portion of God’s wealth entrusted to them, is obligated to support their local church financially. We believe that God has established the tithe as the basis for giving, but every Christian should also give other offerings sacrificial and cheerfully to the support of the church, the relief of those in need, and the spread of the Gospel.
The 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. We do believe, however, that the foregoing statement of faith represents the teaching of the Bible, and, therefore, is binding upon all members. All literature used in the church shall be in complete agreement with the Statement of Faith.
