Statement of Faith

Tabernacle Baptist Church

A Church with a Heart for People!

Section 1: THE SCRIPTURES

We believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration; the inerrancy; and the authority of the Scriptures, consisting of   the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments. We believe that the Traditional Masoretic Hebrew Text for the  Old Testament and the Textus Receptus for the New Testament are the closest to the original manuscripts. We believe that the Bible reveals God, the fall of man, the way of salvation, and God's plan and purpose in the ages.  We believe that the Bible is the only rule of faith and practice for the New Testament Church. (II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:19-21)

 

Section 2: THE GODHEAD

We believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit as the Trinity and as one God.  We believe God to be eternally self-existent; absolutely holy; omniscient; omnipotent; and omnipresent.  We believe that each Person of the Godhead has precisely the same nature, attributes and perfection as the others. (Acts 17:29, Romans 1:20, Colossians 2:9)

 

Section 3: THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

We believe in the deity; virgin birth; sinless life; substitutionary death; and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We believe in His present ministry of intercession in Heaven and His imminent return to this earth. (John 20:28-29, Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:18-25, 2 Corinthians 5:21, John 10:10,28, Acts 2:32, 1 Corinthians 15, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

 

Section 4: THE HOLY SPIRIT

We believe in the Holy Spirit as the third Person of the Godhead, co-equal with the Father and the Son. We believe His present ministry in the world is to convict men of sin, righteousness, and judgment; to regenerate, indwell, and sanctify the believer in Jesus Christ; and to keep, empower, teach guide and comfort the believer in his daily life. (Acts 5:3,4, John 16:8-11, John 14:16-26)

 

Section 5: MAN

We believe that man was created innocent and pure and as a free moral agent. We believe that the entire race springs from one man, Adam. We further believe that Adam deliberately, of a free choice, disobeyed God and thereby brought the entire race under the condemnation of sin and death. We believe that because of Adam's sin all men are born sinners and are in need of redemption. (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7-3:24; Psalm 51:5; Galatians 5:17; Revelation 20:14-15)

 

 Section 6: SALVATION

 We believe that Jesus Christ provided complete and free salvation from the eternal punishment of sin for all men by shedding His blood in death on the cross, by His burial; and by His bodily resurrection from the grave.  We believe that salvation is by grace, plus nothing and minus nothing.  We believe that in order for a man to be saved he must repent of sin and by an act of his own will place his trust in Jesus Christ as the only Savior. We believe that men are justified by faith alone and are accounted righteous before God only through the merit of our Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that salvation is eternal once it is received as a free gift and that all who trust Christ are eternally secure in Him and cannot loose their salvation. (Ephesians 2:8-9; John 3:33; Romans 5:1,8-9, I John 3:7-10; 1 John 3:2)

 

Section 7: THE CHURCH

1. Organization

We believe that Jesus Christ organized, commissioned, and empowered a local, visible assembly called the church for the purpose of spreading His message of salvation to the entire world. We believe that the local church is composed of regenerated, baptized believers, voluntarily united together for worship, edification, fellowship and evangelization. (I Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:20- 23; Colossians1:18)

 

 2. Government

We further believe that the local church has the absolute right of self-government which makes it free from interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations on the outside.  We further believe that on all matters of membership, policy, government, or benevolence the will of the local church is final.  We believe that Jesus Christ is the Head of each local assembly and that through the Holy Spirit He seeks to administrate all the affairs of that assembly.  We believe that Jesus Christ appoints an under- shepherd for each assembly called a pastor, and raises up men for the office of deacon to care for the temporal matters of the church. (Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 14:27; Galatians 1:2)

 

 3. Ordinances

We further believe that Jesus Christ left two and only two ordinances for His church to observe. Those two ordinances are Baptism by immersion in water and the Lord's Supper.  We believe that both ordinances are to be administered only under the authority of a local New Testament Church. We believe that baptism is only for those who have already trusted Jesus Christ as Savior and is a public testimony to that fact and is not a part of salvation. We believe that the Lord's Supper is only for those who are saved and have obeyed the Lord in baptism, and who are currently in obedience to His divine will. (Matthew 28:18-20; Romans 6:4; Matthew 26:26-30; I Corinthians 10:16-21, 11:17-34)

 

Section 8: SEPARATION

We believe that it is the duty and responsibility of each believer in Jesus Christ to separate himself from the sinful practices of this world. We believe that this is necessary in order to present a testimony to unbelievers of the power of Jesus Christ in our lives so that they may also want to trust Him as Savior (Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 2:8-10; I John 2:15,16; II Timothy 3:1-5)

 

Section 9: SATAN

We believe that Satan, who was once a holy angel named Lucifer, by his own  will became the archenemy of God and all of God's children. We believe that Satan is a spirit being more intelligent and more powerful than man, and that he is intent on leading men into sin and away from God. We believe that the  Holy Spirit in us is of far greater power than Satan. We believe that Satan has been defeated by Jesus Christ and will one day be cast into the lake of fire along with all who follow him.  (Job 1:6,7; Isaiah 14:12-17; Matthew 4:1-11; Revelation 12:9,10; Revelation 20:1,2,7-10)

 

Section 10: THE FUTURE

We believe in the visible, personal, and premillennial return of Jesus Christ.  We believe in the pre-tribulational rapture of all believers in Jesus Christ. We believe that He will come for His saints in the rapture and that He will come back to the earth with His saints after the tribulation period to set up His kingdom. We believe that He will then rule the earth for one thousand years.  We believe in the everlasting conscious blessedness of the saved in Heaven and the everlasting conscious punishment of the lost in Hell. (I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 4:21; I Corinthians 15:51-57)

 

Section 11: MISSIONS

 We believe that all men are lost and bound for eternal punishment in a literal lake of fire, and that God has commanded us to proclaim the gospel at home and abroad. To fulfill His command we must be witnesses by life and word, and must further support by prayer and financial aid those we send forth under Biblically sound mission agencies to represent us in other parts of the world.  We believe that the primary thrust of New Testament missions is sending out men to preach God's Word and establish local, indigenous, self-supporting churches to the glory of God.  (Romans 1:18-20; Romans 10:14,17, Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:18-20)

 

Section 12: PRIESTHOOD OF THE BELIEVER

We believe that every person who has received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is a priest of God; that through Christ's blood we are able to enter into the Holy of Holies, God's presence, and present our praise and petitions in His name; that Jesus Christ is the Great High Priest of our faith, and that every believer has the spiritual capability and responsibility to discern the wisdom, knowledge, and will of God. (2 Peter 2:5,9; Hebrew 10:10-20)