Calvary Baptist Church

We believe the holy Scriptures, consisting of the Old and New Testaments only, to be the plenary¹, verbally² inspired Word of God, inerrant³ in the original manuscripts, authoritative, infallible⁴, and God-breathed; and that they are the authority for faith and practice.

¹Plenary (adj.) - "full, complete," as in plenary authority

²Verbal (adj.) - "word for word" as a translation

³Inerrant (adj.) - "without error"

⁴Infallible (adj.) - "incapable of failing; not capable of making a mistake"

*Note: We use the King James Version in our personal study, public worship, and any biblical instruction setting.

II Timothy 3:16-17

II Peter 1:20-21

Matthew 5:19

I Corinthians 2:10-13

_______________________________________

___________

Doctrine of

God

We believe in one triune God existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; eternal in being, identical in essence*, equal in power and glory and having the same divine attributes and perfections, yet exercising them in varied offices.

*Essence (noun) - "that which is the real character of a thing

Deuteronomy 6:4

Matthew 28:19

John 14:7-12,16:7

II Corinthians 13:14

_______________________________________

___________

Doctrine of

the Son,

Jesus Christ

We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, whose humiliation in the days of His flesh did not include laying aside His deity. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, died for our sins according to the Scriptures as a substitutionary sacrifice, and that all who receive Him are justified on the grounds of His shed blood. We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His bodily ascension into heaven, and in His present life there for us as High Priest and Intercessor. We believe in “that blessed hope” - the personal, visible, pretribulational, pre-millennial, imminent return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Matthew 1:18-20 John 1:1-2

I Corinthians 15:3-4

II Corinthians 5:21 Romans 3:21-26

Matthew 28:5-6 Acts1:9

Hebrews 7:25-26

I John 3:2-3

I Thess. 4:14-17

I Cor.15:51-53

Titus 2:13

_______________________________________

___________

Doctrine

of the

Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is eternally one of the Godhead, equal with God the Father and God the Son, and having the same nature; that he was active in creation; that in His relation to the unbelieving world, He restrains the evil one until God’s purpose is fulfilled; that He convicts of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment to come; that He bears witness of the truth of the Gospel in preaching and testimony; that He indwells the believer; that He baptizes into the body of Christ; that He seals the believer “until the redemption of the purchased possession”; that He confers gifts and graces upon the body of Christ; that He empowers for service; that He bears witness to the believer’s sonship; and that He sanctifies and helps the believer. We believe that some gifts of the Holy Spirit were temporary. We believe that speaking in tongues was never the common or necessary sign of the fulfilling or baptism of the spirit. We believe that God, in accord with His own will, does hear and answer prayer for the sick and the afflicted.

Psalm 104:30

II Thessalonians 2:7

John 16:8-11

Acts 5:30-32

I Corinthians 6:19

I Corinthians 12:13

Ephesians 1:13-14

I Cor. 12:7-11

Acts 1:8

Romans 8:16

Romans 8:26-27

I Corinthians 12:1

II Cor. 12:11,30

James 5:14-16

_______________________________________

___________

Doctrine of

Man

We believe that man was created by an immediate act of God in His own image as given in the Genesis account, and not by process of evolution; that through disobedience to God man lost his first estate and thereby became a sinner in need of a Savior; and that since that time all men were born sinners, spiritually dead, alienated from God, and stand in need of personal redemption that is in the Lord Jesus Christ alone.

Genesis 1:26-27 Genesis 3:1-24

Romans 5:12

Romans 3:23-24

Psalm 51:5

Ephesians 2:1 Colossians 2:13 Ephesians 4:18 Colossians 1:21 Hebrews 9:11 Colossians 1:14

_______________________________________

___________

Doctrine of

Salvation

We believe that in order to be saved, all men, being sinners, must be born again. We believe that all who receive, by faith, the Lord Jesus Christ are born again by the Holy Spirit. We believe that this new birth is instantaneous, not a process; and that it is brought about in a manner above our comprehension, solely by the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. We believe that in the new birth God justifies the believer and writes his name in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and that the Holy Spirit indwells the believer with power for holy service. We further believe that every believer stands as a priest before God.

Romans 3:10,23

John 1:12-13

Revelation 3:20

I Corinthians 5:17

Acts 16:30-34

John 16:7-8

I Peter 2:5

Revelation 1:6

_______________________________________

___________

Doctrine of

Salvation:

Eternal Security

We believe that the salvation of every believer is secure for all eternity from the moment of regeneration. This security is guaranteed to each believer by the fact that the life received is eternal life, by the keeping power of God, and by the sealing ministry of Christ.

John 5:24

John 10:27-30

Romans 8:1,29,30

Romans 8:38,49

Ephesians 4:30

Hebrews 7:25

_______________________________________

___________

Doctrine of

Salvation:

Justification

We believe that justification is a judicial* act of God by which He imparts to the born again believer complete pardon of sins and the gift of eternal life, and imputes to the believer His own righteousness. We believe that justification is bestowed not in consideration of any works of righteousness which the believer has done, but solely because of his faith in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

*Judicial (adj.) - "fair, unbiased"

Romans 5:6-8

Acts 13:38-39

John 5:24; 6:49

Romans 3:25;5:9

_______________________________________

___________

Doctrine of

Salvation:

Sanctification

We believe that immediate, positional sanctification is that act of God whereby believers are, at the time of regeneration, eternally set apart as belonging to Him by redemption, thereby being placed in the family of God as children, joint heirs with Jesus Christ. We believe that progressive sanctification is the process by which, according to God’s will, we are made partakers of His holiness; that it is progressive; that it is begun in regeneration; that it progresses if the believer is yielded to the Holy Spirit’s control; that it is carried on in the hearts of believers by watchfulness and prayer. We believe that ultimate sanctification will be the portion of every believer when finally in the presence of the Lord, complete and entire, with soul and spirit united in the resurrection body free from every trace or effect of sin and rebellion.

I John 3:1

Romans 8:14-17

I Corinthians 1:2

Hebrews 10:10-14

I Thess. 4:3; 5:23

Proverbs 4:18

I John 2:29

Philippians 2:12-13

Ephesians 6:18

John 17:17

I John 3:2

I Cor. 15:52-54

Ephesians 4:30; 5:27

Philippians 4:20-21

_______________________________________

___________

Doctrine of

Salvation:

The Eternal State

We believe that the souls of those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation do at death immediately pass into His presence and there remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the body at His coming when soul and body reunited shall be associated with Him forever in glory; but, that the souls of unbelievers remain after death in conscious torments (Luke16:23) unto the final judgment of the Great White Throne at the close of the millennium, when soul and body reunited shall be cast into the lake of fire from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.

Luke 16:23, 26

Luke 23:43

II Corinthians 5:8

Philippians 1:23

II Thess. 1:7-9

Revelation 20:11-15

Revelation 14:9-14

I Thess. 4:13-18

_______________________________________

___________

Doctrine

of the

Local Church

We believe that a local church is a congregation of immersed believers who are associated by a covenant of faith and fellowship in the Gospel, and that to the church has been committed two ordinances: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We believe that the true mission of the church is twofold: to be a faithful witness of Christ to all men as we have opportunity, and to edify the body of believers; that the local church has the absolute right of self-government, free from all the mandates of any hierarchy, individuals, or organizations; that it is scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and the furtherance of the Gospel; that each church is the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation; that in all matters of membership, of polity, of government, of discipline, and of benevolence, the will of the local church is final. We believe that the local church is the center of God’s program for this age, and that every Christian is bound by Scripture to give his unhindered cooperation to the program of his local church. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has commissioned the church to take the Gospel to the world, and that evangelism at home and abroad should be primary in the program of the local church.

Acts 2:41-42

Matthew 28:19

I Cor. 11:2, 23-26

Acts1:8

Ephesians 4:11-12

Acts 20:28-32

I Corinthians 5:1-5

Matthew18:17

Acts 2:41-47; 20:17

I Timothy 3:1-16

Titus 1:5-11

I Corinthians 3:10-17

I Corinthians 5:1-5

I Corinthians 11:2

Matthew 28:19-20

Acts1:8

_______________________________________

___________

Ordinances

the Church:

BAPTISM

We believe that there are two church ordinances: baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

BAPTISM is the immersion of a believer in water, which is the only mode of baptism revealed and commanded in the Scriptures, and is properly called “believer’s baptism.” This baptism sets forth in a beautiful and solemn way our faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior. The believer’s immersion in water symbolizes death, burial, and resurrection to a new life in Christ, and is the visible credential for membership in the local church which corresponds to Holy Spirit baptism, the credential to membership in Christ’s body. Believer’s baptism is a scriptural prerequisite to church membership.

II Corinthians 5:17

Acts 2:38-41

_______________________________________

___________

Ordinances

the Church:

THE LORD'S

SUPPER

THE LORD’S SUPPER is the church ordinance in commemoration of the Lord’s death until He comes, and signifies the continual fellowship of baptized believers with Him and each other in Him. Each believer should exercise careful self-examination before participation in this ordinance. We believe that the obligation for proper and scriptural administration of the ordinances is the responsibility of the church, and that authority and prerogative of administration does not rest in the minister as an expiatory* priest.

*Expiate (verb) - "to make amends or reparation for"

Acts 8:36-39

Romans 6:3-5

I Cor. 11:23-32

_______________________________________

___________

Attitudes

toward

Civil

Government

We believe that civil government is ordained of God for the punishment of evildoers and for the protection of the good. We therefore consider it our duty to pray for rulers and magistrates except in things opposed to the will of God. We believe in the separation of church and state.

Romans 13:1-7

Titus 3:1

I Peter 2:13-14

Acts 4:19

Acts 5:29

Matthew 23:10

Matthew 22:21

_______________________________________

___________

Doctrine of

Creation

We believe in the Genesis account of creation, and that it is to be accepted literally and not figuratively; that the six days of creation in Genesis chapter one are solar, that is, twenty-four hour days; that all animal and vegetable life was made directly, and that God’s established law is that they bring forth only “after their kind”; that man was created directly in God’s own image and after His own likeness and did not evolve from any lower form of life; and that all men are descended from the historical Adam and Eve, first parents of the entire human race.

Genesis 1:1-2, 25

Hebrews 11:3

Colossians 1:16-17

Psalm 33:6-9

Nehemiah 9:6

Hebrews 4:11

Exodus20:11; 31:17

Genesis1:11-12

Genesis 1:21; 24-26

_______________________________________

___________

Doctrine of

Last Things

We believe in the imminent return of Christ to raise the bodies of departed saints and to translate His church, followed by a seven year period of tribulation upon all the earth, after which He shall again return with His saints to establish the promised Davidic Kingdom (Millennium). He shall reign for a thousand years, peace and righteousness shall cover the earth, Satan shall be bound, and Israel shall be established in her own land, following which Satan shall be loosed to again deceive the nations against Christ, only to be forever banished* to the lake of fire. The wicked dead shall be raised for the Great White Throne judgment and condemned to everlasting conscious punishment in hell. The righteous shall enjoy conscious blessedness with the Lord.

*Banish (verb) - "to drive out, condemn, exile, expel"

John 14:3

Matthew 24:21

Revelation 19:11-16

Revelation 20:1-15

Ezekiel 39:25-29

I Thessalonians 4:15

Revelation 20:10