OUR STATEMENT OF FAITH
We believe and teach these basic principles:
The Bible is the Word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and our rule of faith and life.
There is one living and true God, eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, died for our sins, rose bodily from the grave, ascended to heaven, and will be personally and visibly returning to this earth at the end of this age.
All men are sinful by nature and practice. Thus they must receive Jesus Christ by faith to be delivered from sin and its penalty, to have eternal life, and to become a child of God.
Every child of God should be growing in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, living a life of righteous works, and being a witness of His saving grace to others.
Everything was created by God, through direct creation in six solar days, without the process of evolution, and the early chapters of Genesis are to be taken as literal and accurate history.
The Holy Spirit convicts, regenerates, baptizes, indwells, seals, and fills the believer at the point of his/her salvation. The filling of the Spirit is manifested by the fruit of the Spirit rather than by any specific spiritual gift.
As a vital ministry of Fourth Baptist Church (FBC), FBCS functions as an arm of the church. FBC is a non-ecumenical non-charismatic ministry that seeks to honor all Truth God has revealed for this age. Our convictions are enumerated in greater detail on our doctrinal statement, found in the back of this handbook.
- Our Position on Human Sexuality
We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, transvestism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex.1 We believe that God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one’s gender.2 We believe that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman.3
1 Gen 2:24; 19:5, 13; 26:8-9; Lev 18:1-30; Rom 1:26-29; 1Cor 5:1; 6:9; 1Thes 4:1-8; Heb 13:4
2 Gen 1:26-28; Deut 22:5
3 Gen 2:24; Mt 19:4-6; Rom 7:2; 1Cor 7:10; Eph 5:22-23
Lifestyle choices of our students and students’ parents must be consistent with the above position communicated in our faith statement.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
The Bible
We believe that the sixty-six books of the Bible are the inspired Word of God in the original autographs1,that it was written by men controlled by the Holy Spirit2,and is therefore without error. It is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
1 2Tim 3:16-17
2 2Pet 1:20-21
The Trinity
We believe in the Trinity of the Godhead; there is one God1 eternally existing in three equal but distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit2.
1 Deut 6:4
2 Mt 28:18-19; 2Cor 13:14
God the Father
We believe in God, the Father, and rejoice that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men1, that He hears and answers prayer2, and that He saves from sin and eternal damnation all who come to Him through Jesus Christ3. We believe He has a paternal relationship to believers only4.
1 Dan 2:21; 4:17 3 Jn 6:44; 3:16, 18
2 Jn 15:16; 4 Rom 8:15; Jn 8:41-44
God the Son
We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son1, born of a virgin2, sinless in His life3, Who atoned for the sins of the world by His death, burial, and bodily resurrection4. We believe in His ascension into Heaven5, His perpetual intercession for His people6, His personal coming in the air for His church prior to the seven year tribulation7, and His return to earth at the close of the tribulation to establish His millennial Kingdom8.
1 Jn 3:16 3 1Pet 2:21-22 5 Acts 1:9 7 1Thes 4:13-18
2 Mt 1:23 4 1Cor 15:3-4 6 Heb 7:25 8 Rev 19:11-16; 3:10; 20:1-6
God the Holy Spirit
We believe in the personality and deity of the Holy Spirit1 Who convicts2, regenerates3, baptizes4, indwells5, seals6, and fills7. We believe Spirit baptism takes place at the time of regeneration8 and that the filling of the Spirit is manifested by the fruits of the Spirit rather than by any specific spiritual gift9.
1 Acts 5:3-4 3 Tit 3:5 5 1Cor 6:19-20 7 Acts 4:31; Eph 5 9 Gal 5:16, 22-23; 2 Jn 16:8-11; 14:26 4 1Cor 12:12-13 6 Eph 1:13 8 cf. Acts 10:44-47; 11:16 Acts 4:31;
1 Cor 13:8
Creation
We believe in the direct creation by God in six solar days, of the physical universe, all spirit beings, man, and lower forms of life, without the process of evolution; and also that the early chapters of Genesis are literal and accurate history. God sustains all creation but exists in no necessary relationship to it1.
1 Gen 1, 2; Col 1:15-17; Jn 1:3
Spirit Beings
We believe that God created an innumerable company of sinless spirit beings1. One of these, though created holy by God, sinned through pride, thereby becoming Satan, the Devil, the enemy of his Creator, leading a host of angels in rebellion against God2. He became the god of this age and the ruler of all the powers of darkness and is destined to the judgment of an eternal punishment in the lake of fire3.
1 Col 1:16; Heb 12:22
2 Ezek 28:12-17; Rev 12:7-9
3 2Cor 4:3-4; Eph 2:1-2; Rev 20:10; Mt 25:41
Mankind
We believe that all men are sinners by nature1 and under the condemnation of God2. The only remedy for this condition is Holy Spirit regeneration through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ as payment for one’s sins3. We believe regeneration is the irrevocable act of God, thus securing the believer for all eternity4. We believe the Bible does not teach that God created any person for the purpose of condemnation5.
1 Eph 2:3; Rom 3:9-20; 5:12 3 1Pet 1:18-22; Jn 3:8, 14, 18a; Heb 9:22 5 Jn 3:16; 2Pet 3:9
2 Jn 3:18, 36 4 Rom 8:35-39; Jn 10:28-29
Human Sexuality
We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, transvestism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex1. We believe that God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one’s gender2. We believe that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman3.
1 Gen 2:24; 19:5, 13; 26:8-9; Lev 18:1-30; Rom 1:26-29; 1Cor 5:1; 6:9; 1Thes 4:1-8; Heb 13:4
2 Gen 1:26-28; Deut 22:5
3 Gen 2:24; Mt 19:4-6; Rom 7:2; 1Cor 7:10; Eph 5:22-23
Final Destinies
We believe that the souls of believers in Christ do at death immediately pass into His presence1 and there remain until the resurrection of the body at the rapture when soul and body reunited shall stand before Christ to be judged of their Christian works for the giving of rewards; and they shall then be associated with Christ forever in glory2. The souls of unbelievers remain after death in conscious misery until the final resurrection at the end of the millennium for judgment; the result of this judgment will be that all will be cast into the lake of fire, not to be annihilated, but to be punished with everlasting separation from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power3.
1 2Cor 5:8; Phil 1:23
2 2Cor 5:10; 1Cor 3:11-15; 1Thes 4:13-18
3 Lk 16:19-26; 2Thes 1:6-9; Rev 20:11-15
The Church
We believe in the Church1, a living spiritual body of which Christ is the head2 and of which all regenerated people are members3. We believe that a local church is a company of believers in Jesus Christ4, baptized on an acceptable confession of faith5, associated for worship, work, and fellowship6, and having two offices: pastor and deacon7. We believe that to these visible churches were committed, for observance throughout the church age, the ordinances of baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper8, and that God has laid upon these churches the task of witnessing to a lost world to accept Jesus Christ as Savior9 and of building up the saints in the faith once for all delivered10. We believe that human betterment and social improvements are the inevitable by-products of the Gospel and edification11.
1 Mt 16:18 3 1Cor 12:12-13; Eph 5:30 5 Acts 10:47-48 7 Phil 1:1 9 Acts 1:8; Mt 28:18-20 2 Eph 1:22; Col 1:16; 4 Acts 2:41-42 6 Acts 2:42; Heb 10:25 8 Mt 16:16-20; 10 Eph 4:7, 11-16; Jude 3
1Cor 11:23-26 11 Eph 2:10; Gal 5:22-23
Eph 4:15; 5:23
Separation
We believe that separation is a doctrine as well as a practice and that the separation principle runs through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. We believe that true spiritual fellowship is the result of a common faith and practice. We believe there are four aspects of Biblical separation.
Political separation – the separation of the church from the state (Lk 20:25).
Personal separation – the separation of the believer from the world and sin in order to serve God. This involves a separation from acts of sin, the world system, the unbeliever, heretics, and false teachers (Josh 24:15; Eph 5:15-18; 1Jn 2:15-17; 2Cor 6:14-7:1; 1Jn 4:1; 2Jn 10-11).
Ecclesiastical separation – the separation of the church from apostasy. Each local church is independent and autonomous and must be free from interference by any other ecclesiastical authority. We believe we are to reprove apostates rather than recognize them, to rebuke rather than to reason with them, to reject rather than to receive or unite with them. We believe that loyalty to Christ also demands separation from any group content to walk with or tolerate religious unbelief (2Cor 6:14-17; 2Jn 10-11; 2Tim 4:2-4).
Practical separation – the separation of the believer from an erring brother. We believe that we must separate from those who continue in disobedience to the Word of God. This includes the trouble maker, the disorderly, and the immoral brother (2Thess 3:6, 14-15; Rom 16:17; 1Cor 5:11; Tit 3:10).
We Believe in God and Country
I pledge allegiance to the Bible, God’s Holy Word. I will make it a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. I will hide its words in my heart that I might not sin against God.
I pledge allegiance to the Christian Flag and to the Savior for whose kingdom it stands, one Savior, crucified, risen, and coming again, with life and liberty for all who believe.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
We Believe in Our Constitution
“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
We Believe in Our Declaration of Independence
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their powers from the consent of the governed . . .”