WEST SIDE BAPTIST CHURCH STATEMENT OF FA I TH

1/27/08 
 

1.  The HOLY SCRIPTURES

     

We believe and teach that the Bible in its entirety (all 66 Books) is God's written revelation to man. It is the result of dual authorship, written by men prepared and  superintended by the Holy Spirit, Who inspired (breathed out) the very words He intended without bypassing human style and personality. In doing so, God ensured His entire Word in the original autographs was without human error or corruption of any kind. (2 Timothy 3:16,17)

   

We believe and teach that, though the original autographs were lost, the original message of Scripture has been faithfully preserved by God through various manuscripts that have survived through the centuries. By means of sound textual criticism and translation, the original message is preserved in its entirety.

   

We believe and teach that the Bible has but one correct interpretation but many relevant applications, which believers are responsible to discover through diligent effort and study. Scripture is to be interpreted literally, using the grammatical-historical method of interpretation. (John 16:12-15; 1 Corinthians 2:7-15; 2 Peter 1:20,21)

   

We believe and teach that the Bible is sufficient for all matters of life and godliness, and stands as the only authority which governs the faith and practice of the Church. It is the responsibility of the Church to faithfully proclaim the whole counsel of God's Word until Jesus Christ returns. (2 Timothy 3:16,17; Matthew 28:20; Acts 20:27) 
 

2.  GOD

   

We believe and teach there is but one true, living, triune, infinite, personal God. He is utterly perfect in character and action; is all knowing, all powerful, and everywhere present. He is transcendent, totally exalted above and distinct from His creation, yet imminent, pervasive throughout and intimately involved with His creation. He exists eternally in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each worthy of worship and adoration. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5-7; John 4;24; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14) 
 

God the Father

   

We believe and teach that God the Father is the Sovereign omnipotent ruler of the universe and the First Person of the Trinity. He decreed all things that come to pass, created the universe in six literal 24-hour days, sustains or preserves all things by His power and directs all things according to His plan. According to His infinite mercy and grace, He saves from sin all who come to Him through faith in His Son. (Genesis 1:1-31; Psalm 103:19; Psalm 145:8,9; Romans 11:36; Ephesians 1:4-6) 
 

God the Son

   

We believe and teach that God the Son is eternally the Second Person of the Trinity, possessing all the attributes of God. He was born of a virgin and took upon Himself the full attributes of humanity bringing His two natures as God and man together into indissoluble union without confusion, change, division, or separation. Through His death and resurrection, He gives eternal life to everyone who repents of their sins and trusts in Him alone for salvation. (Colossians 1:15-18; Hebrews 1:1-3; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:20-23; Philippians 2:5-11; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 10:9-13)

God the Holy Spirit

   

We believe and teach that God the Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity, possessing all the attributes of God and personality (Genesis 1:2). His ministry to the world is to bring all people under conviction concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 15:8). In the present age, His ministry to the Church is to regenerate and indwell believers, baptize them into the Body of Christ (the Church), fill them with power to produce spiritual fruit, illumine their minds to understand God's Word, and endow them with spiritual gifts for the edification of the Church. (Titus 3:4,5; Romans 8:9-11; 1 Corinthians 12:13; John 14:26; Acts 1:8; Galatians 5:22,23; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11)

   

We believe and teach that certain spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as tongues, miracles, and healings served to authenticate the ministry of the apostles as they established the Church and composed Scripture and were never intended to be operative throughout the Church age.

   

We believe and teach that the Holy Spirit is the supernatural and sovereign agent in regeneration, bringing about conviction of sin, testifying to the truthfulness of the Gospel, and producing faith and repentance within the believer (Titus 3:5; Ephesians 2:8,9). 
 

3.  CREATION

   

We believe and teach that the biblical account of creation as recorded in Genesis 1 and 2 and consistently referred to in other passages is to be accepted literally rather than figuratively or allegorically; that God created all things out of nothing previously existing by the power of His Word. We believe and teach that God did this in six days of twenty-four hours, rather than by evolutionary changes or developments through interminable cons of time from lower to higher forms; that all plant and animal life was created directly and subsequently reproduced only after their kind. We believe in particular that God created one man and one woman in two separate and unique acts. (Genesis 1 and 2; Exodus 20:11; Colossians 1:16,17; Hebrews 4:3,4) 
 

4.  MAN

   

We believe and teach that man was created by God on the sixth day of creation, made in the image and likeness of God, endowed with self-awareness, rationality, intelligence, morality, and volition, all qualities that man shares with God, giving him dignity and value. Man was originally created by God to glorify Him, enjoy fellowship with Him forever, and live according to His revealed will. (Genesis 1:26,27; Isaiah 43:7; Colossians 1:16; Revelation 4:11)

   

We believe and teach that man is fallen and radically corrupted in his nature, and that sin was transmitted through the original sin of Adam, thus corrupting the nature of all his posterity, causing physical, spiritual, and eternal death and bringing all mankind under the wrath of God (Genesis 3:7-9; James 2:26; Revelation 20:6).

   

We believe and teach that sin renders man unable to choose God, seek God, love God, or please God in any way. Man is also unable in any respect to repair the damage caused by sin, thus making his reconciliation with God impossible apart from and wholly dependent on the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. (Romans 3:10;23; Ephesians 2:9,10; Titus 3:5) 
 
 
 

5.  SALVATION

   

We believe and teach that salvation is by God's grace alone through faith alone in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone as recorded in Scripture and announced in the Gospel. Saving faith is apart from any good works or the keeping of laws by sinful men. (John 1:12,13; Ephesians 2:8,9; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 10:9,10,13,17; Galatians 2:16) 
 

Election

   

We believe and teach that God elected from before time began all sinners who would ever repent and believe in Jesus Christ for salvation. This election by God was free and unconditional, motivated only by God's love and kindness, and in no way conditioned upon man's will or actions known in advance by God (Ephesians 1:4-6, 1112; Romans 8:29). Sovereign election in no way absolves man of his personal responsibility to repent and believe the Gospel (Romans 10:9). 
 

Human Responsibility

   

We believe and teach that although salvation is ultimately predicated on God's electing grace, all must respond to the gospel call appropriately through repentance from sin and faith in Jesus Christ alone (Acts 20:21). Repentance necessarily entails sorrow and hatred for personal sin, willingness and commitment to forsake sin, and willingness to follow Jesus Christ no matter the cost, even if doing so should result in suffering and death (Luke 9:23; 2 Corinthians 7:10-11). Faith necessarily entails placing one's complete trust for salvation in the person and work of Jesus Christ, embracing Him as Savior and Lord, and placing one's life fully under His dominion (Hebrews 11:6). Both repentance and faith are a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8; 2 Timothy 2:25), occur instantaneously in the heart of a regenerated sinner, and always result in a changed life evidenced by good works (Matthew 3: 8; James 2:17-20). 
 

Regeneration

   

We believe and teach that regeneration (the new birth) is the sovereign, supernatural work of the Holy Spirit whereby He awakens sinners to an acute awareness of their own sin and guilt and causes them to repent and believe in Christ (John 1:12; 3:3-8). Regeneration inevitably brings about the fruits of a changed life, manifesting itself in the presence of love and obedience to God, sacrificial love for others, and a desire to make Christ known to others (John 14:15; Galatians 5:22-23; 1 John 4:7-8; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21). 
 

Justification

   

We believe and teach that justification is the act of God in which He declares a sinner to be righteous and faultless before Him, purely on the basis of the atoning work of Jesus Christ and His vicarious and substitutionary death for sinners. Justification involves the legal transfer of Christ's righteousness to the believer and the legal transfer of sin and guilt to Christ as the perfect Substitute (2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:9). God justifies the sinner by faith alone, as the sinner abandons any hope of pleasing God by his own good works or acts of faithfulness (Romans 3:28). 
 
 
 
 

Sanctification

   

We believe and teach that sanctification is the ongoing process that occurs in the life of a justified believer, wherein by means of the indwelling ministry of the Holy Spirit and the spiritual disciplines of prayer, study of God's Word, and active participation with a fellowship of believers, the Lord gradually causes the believer to mature in faith and obedience, becoming more and more like Jesus Christ. Sanctification inevitably follows justification, but is clearly distinct from it. (John 17:17; Romans 8:26-28; 1 Corinthians 6:11; Philippians 3:20,21) 
 

Security

   

We believe and teach that God guarantees the ultimate salvation of every person who repents and believes in Jesus Christ alone. God, by His power, keeps all sinners in His fold and grants them the grace of perseverance so that they all continue in the faith (Galatians 2;20; 1 Peter 1:5; Matthew 24:13).

   

We believe and teach that it is impossible for a saved believer to ultimately turn away from the faith and lose his salvation (John 10:27-29). However, it is possible for one professing faith and actively involved in the Church to abandon the faith, proving they were never saved in the first place (1 John 2:19). 
 

Separation

  

We believe and teach that it is the responsibility of every believer out of love for God and hatred for sin to separate himself from ungodly behavior and practices. (Ephesians 4:20-5:5; Colossians 3:1-10; 1 John 2:15-17; 1 Peter 1:13-17)

   

We believe and teach that true believers in Jesus Christ should have no fellowship with those who reject the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:6-9; 1 John 4:1-3; 2 John 9-11). Local assemblies may enjoy fellowship and cooperative ministry with other churches that affirm the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

   

We believe and teach that Christians advance the Kingdom of Jesus Christ on earth through the furtherance of the Gospel, not through political means or government policy. (Matthew 28:18-20) 
 

6.  The CHURCH 
 

The Universal Church

   

We believe and teach that the Church is a unique spiritual entity -- an organism composed of all born-again believers of this present age that began on the Day of Pentecost as described in Acts 2; that the Church is the spiritual Body of Christ and He is its Head; that the Church will continue on earth until the return of Jesus Christ for His own at the Rapture; that all who place personal faith in Him are immediately placed by the Holy Spirit into the Church; that the Church is distinct from Israel. (1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:22,23; Ephesians 4:36; Matthew 16:18; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Ephesians 3:1-6) 
 
 
 
 

The Local Church

   

We believe and teach that the appropriate manifestation of the universal Body of Christ is through the establishment and function of local churches, and that individual believers are intended to associate themselves together in particular local assemblies. (Acts 2:41,47; Hebrews 10:24,25)

   

We believe and teach the purpose of the local church is to glorify God by building itself up in the faith, by instruction in the written Word of God, by fellowship, by observing the Christ-given ordinances, and by obeying the Great Commission by communicating the Gospel at home and abroad. We believe and teach the autonomy of the local church; that each is self-governing and free from external authority. 
 

The Ordinances

   

We believe and teach the Lord Jesus committed two ordinances to the local church; one being believers baptism by immersion once, the other being regular observance of the Lord's Supper. (Matthew 28:18-20; 1 Corinthians 11: 23-34) 
 

The Commission

   

We believe and teach that since Christ has commissioned His people, the Church, to go into all the world to disciple, to baptize, and to teach everyone everywhere to obey His Word, we desire, by His grace, to do our part in reaching the world with the Gospel of Christ and also to faithfully endeavor to present the glorious truths of the Scriptures. (Matthew 28:18-20) 
 

7.  ANGELS

   

We believe and teach the existence and activity of angels, immortal spiritual beings, holy and unholy; that all angels were created at the beginning by God to serve and glorify Him, but some rebelled and are designated in Scripture as demons, implacable enemies of God; that the Bible teaches without detail ranks and orders of both holy and unholy angels; that the holy angels are servants of God; ministering spirits not to be worshipped. (Colossians 1:16; Psalm 148:2-5; Romans 8:38; Ephesians 1:21; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6; Hebrews 1:14)

   

We believe and teach that angels are a different order than men, so that believers do not become holy angels at death.

   

We believe and teach the personality of Satan, also called the Devil, who is the diabolically cunning enemy of God, deceiver of mankind, and chief of the fallen angels. The eternal destiny of Satan and all the wicked angels is declared in Scripture to be the Lake of Fire. Job 1:6,7; 2:1,2; John 8:44; Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10) 
 

8.  LAST THINGS 
 

DEATH and RESURRECTION

   

We believe and teach that physical death, the separation of soul and body, involves no loss of immaterial consciousness; that the soul of the redeemed believer passes immediately into the presence of the Lord; that for the believer such separation will continue until the Rapture as part of the first resurrection when soul and body are reunited in glorified form to be forever with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:1-8; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

   

We believe and teach the bodily resurrection of all men, the redeemed to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (John 5:24-29; 1 Corinthians 15:12-23; Revelation 20:4-6). The souls of the unsaved are kept under conscious punishment until the second resurrection when their bodies will be resurrected and they shall appear at the Great White Throne judgment described in Revelation 20. The wicked dead shall then be cast into the Lake of Fire with the Devil and his angels, cut off from the life and fellowship of God forever. (Revelation 20:11-15) 
 

RETURN of JESUS CHRIST

   

We believe and teach the literal, personal, bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ before the seven-year tribulation to translate His Church from the earth; that at the end of that seven-year period of tribulation when the righteous judgment of God will be visited upon the unbelieving world of men He will return in glory to the earth to establish His Messianic Kingdom for a thousand years (Revelation 19:11-20:4). That kingdom will be preceded by the over-throw of the Antichrist and the False Prophet, and by the removal of Satan from the world as described in Revelation 19 and 20. The duration of the Millennial Kingdom of Jesus Christ will be characterized by peace, harmony, justice, righteousness, and long life, and will be brought to an end with the release of Satan, who will instigate one final attempt at rebellion, which will utterly fail. (Isaiah 65:18-25; Daniel 9:23; Revelation 20:7-10) 
 

9.  The ETERNAL STATE

   

We teach and believe that after the Millennial Kingdom and final judgment, all the saved will enter the eternal state of glory with God when the elements of creation are dissolved and replaced with a new heaven and earth wherein dwells only righteousness. The saints will enjoy forever fellowship with God and one another, and the triune God will reign forever and ever. (Revelation 21,22) 
 

10.  CIVIL GOVERNMENT

   

We believe and teach that civil government is by divine appointment for the interests and good order of human society; that civil authorities are to be recognized, prayed for, consciously honored, obeyed except in things contrary to the Word and will of Jesus Christ, the only Lord of the conscience; that the Church and state are and ought to be separate with neither over the other, but each operating within its Scriptural parameters in cooperation. (Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-17)