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Phone: 609-561-4208 |
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14. THE CHURCH
We believe that a Baptist Church is a congregation of baptized believers, associated by a covenant of faith and fellowship of the Gospel, said church being understood to be the citadel and propagator of the divine and eternal grace; observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws; exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His word; that its officers of ordination are pastors or elders whose qualifications, claims, and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures; we believe the true mission of the church is found in the Great Commission: first, to make individual disciples; second, to baptize those disciples and bring them into the church; and third, to teach and instruct as He has commanded. We do not believe in the reversal of this order. We hold that the local church has the absolute right of self-government, free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations; and that the one and only superintendent is Christ through the Holy Spirit; that it is scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the Gospel; that every church is the sole and the only judge of the measure and method of its cooperation. We further believe that on all matters of membership, of policy, of government, of discipline, and of benevolence, the will of the local church is final.
Lev. 27:32; Mal. 3:10; Matt. 28:19-20; Acts. 2:41-42; 6:5-6; 14:23; 15:22-23; 20:17-28; I Cor. 5:11-13; 6:1-3; 11:2; 12:4,8-11; 16:1-2; II Cor. 8:23-24; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:11-16; 5:23-24; Col. 1:18; I Tim. 3:1-13; I Pet. 5:1-4; Jude 3-4.
15. BAPTISM AND THE LORD'S SUPPER
We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion in water of a believer; in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, with the authority of the local church, to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, with its effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life; that it is pre-requisite to the privileges of a church relation and to the Lord's Supper; in which the members of the church, by the sacred use of unleavened bread and fruit of the vine are to commemorate together the dying love of Christ; preceded always by solemn self-examination.
Matt. 3:6,16; 26:20-30; 28:19-20; Mark 14:17-26; Luke 22:14-20; John 3:23; Acts 2:41-42; 8:12,36-39; 16:14-15,33; I Cor. 11:23-28; Col. 2:12.
16. ETERNAL SECURITY AND CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITY
We believe when a sinner, convicted by the Holy Spirit, repents and believes in Jesus Christ for salvation, he is regenerated by the Spirit of God and is thereafter kept by the power of God through faith unto eternal salvation so that he can neither totally nor finally fall away and be lost; that the true believer is responsible to live a godly, consistent Christian life; and that the evidence of saving faith is manifested in a true desire to live in a manner that is pleasing to God.
Gen. 7:16; Psa. 37:28; John 1:11-13; 3:3,15-18,36; 4:13-14; 5:24; 6:35,37,47,51,58; 8:31-32; 10:27-29; Rom. 8:5-8,38-39; II Cor. 5:17; Gal. 5:16-25; Eph. 1:13; 2:8-10; 4:30; Phil. 1:6; II Tim. 1:12; 4:18; Titus 2:11-15; 3:5-8; I Pet. 1:3-5; II Pet. 1:4; I John 2:19; 3:1-3; 5:4-5,11-13; Jude 24-25; Rev. 3:5; 12:11.
17. THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED
We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that such only as through faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and sanctified by the Spirit of our God, are truly righteous in His esteem; while all such as continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked, and under the curse, and this distinction holds among men both in and after death, in the everlasting felicity of the saved and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost.
Gen. 18:23; Psa. 9:17; Prov. 11:31; 14:32; Mal. 3:18; Matt. 7:13-14; 13:41-43,49-50; 25:34,41; Luke 9:26; 16:19-31; John 8:21; 12:25; Acts 10:34-35; Rom. 1:17; 6:16-18,23; 7:6; I Cor. 15:22; Gal. 3:10; I Pet. 4:18; I John 2:29; 3:7; 5:19; Rev. 20:15; 21:8.
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