Grace Baptist Church

OUR COVENANT OF FELLOWSHIP

Having been led, as we believe, by the Spirit of God, to receive Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord, and on the profession of our faith, having been baptized by immersion in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we do now in the presence of God and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another as one body in Christ.

We purposefully engage therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, to walk together in Christian love, to strive for the advancement of this church, in knowledge, holiness and comfort; to promote its prosperity and spirituality; to give it sacred priority over all other institutions of human origin; to attend its services; to sustain its worship, ordiances, discipline and doctrines; to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the gospel ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor and the spread of the gospel of Christ through all nations; and to be zealous in our efforts to advance the kingdom of our Saviour.

We also purposefully engage to maintain family and private devotions; to train our children according to God's Holy Word;  to seek the salvation of our kindred and acquaintances; to walk circumspectly in the world, to be just in all our dealings, faithful in our engagements and exemplary in our deportment; to avoid all tattling, backbiting, gossip and unrighteous anger; to abstain from any vice or habit that would be detrimental to the testimony of Jesus Christ and the work of building His church; to abstain from gambling, illicit narcotics and the use of intoxicating drinks as a beverage. We engage to stand together against abortion, homosexuality, transvestism, obfuscation of gender distinctives, obscenity, pornography and all other forms of immorality.

We further purpose to encourage one another in the blessed hope of our Lord's return; to watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember each other in prayer; to aid each other in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and courtesy in speech; to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation and mindful of the rules of our Lord to secure it without delay.

We moreover engage that, when we remove from this place we will, as soon as possible, unite with some other church of like faith and practice, or establish such a church,  where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God’s Word.

DOCTRINAL STATEMENT

We believe that the Bible is both the verbal and plenary word of God. We believe that God, who is Truth, communicated through Spirit controlled men so that the Scriptures, in the original sixty-six books, are without error and therefore authoritative in all they teach and in all matters they touch. The bible is the complete and final revelation of the will of God to man and constitutes the only infallible guide for faith and life (Psalm 119; Matthew 5:18; 15:4-6; Mark 12:36; John 10:34-35; Acts 1:16; Romans 3:1-4; Galatians 3:16; 2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 4:12; 1 Peter 1:23; 2 Peter 1:19-21; Revelation 22:18-19).

Grace Baptist Church uses the King James Version of the Bible in its preaching and teaching.

THE TRUE GOD

We believe there is one, and only one, true and living god; that there is invisible unity in the Godhead, yet existing in three persons: The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit; equal in divine perfection, of the same essence and executing distinct, but harmonious, offices in the great work of both creation and redemption (Genesis 1:26; Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 6:8; 48:16; Matthew 3:16-17; 28:19; John 1:1; 6:27; Acts 5:3-4; 1 Corinthians 1:9-14; Ephesians 4:6; Hebrews 1:8).

God the Father

We believe in God the Father, perfect in holiness, boundless in love, infinite in wisdom, measureless in power. He is unchangeable in all His being, justice, goodness, and truth. He is the Creator, Sustainer, and Ruler of the universe and Giver of all life; in sovereign authority over all His created beings, the Keeper over the nation Israel, and the Father and Disciplinarian of His chosen in Jesus Christ. We believe that He concerns Himself mercifully and judiciously in the affairs of men; that He hears and answers prayer according to His will; and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ His Son (Psalm 139:7-10; Isaiah 46:9; John 14:16- 17; Romans 11:33; 1 Timothy 3:16; Revelation 19:6).

God the Son - Jesus Christ

We believe in the essential deity of Jesus Christ, God the Son, preexistent with the Father, begotten by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary as no other man was ever born nor can be born of a woman. That He is very God of very God; who, being made manifest in the flesh, lived a life of absolute sinlessness; that His death made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins, dying not as a martyr, but as a voluntary substitute in the sinner’s place. He rose bodily from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven where He now sits at the right hand of the Father as our High Priest, interceding and preparing a place for us. We believe in His personal, pretribulational and premillennial return for His church, the body and bride of Christ (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25; 28:6; John 1:1-3; 14:3; 20:27; Acts 1:9-11; 15:16; 1 Corinthians 15:4; 1 Thessalonians 2:6-8; Hebrews 7:25; 8:6; 12:2; 1 Peter 2:22; 3:18; 1 Timothy 3:16; 1 John 2:1; Revelation 1:8; 3:21).

God the Holy Spirit

We believe the Holy Spirit is a divine Person, the third member of the Trinity, possessing all the attributes of deity and personality. He is coequal with the Father and the Son and of the same, unchangeable nature. His relation to the unbelieving world is that He convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment to come. He is the Agent of the new birth, and His work among believers includes sealing, indwelling, filling, guiding, and teaching them the ways of righteousness. He is the Comforter whose ministry it is to strengthen and empower all those who believe and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (John 7:39; 14:16,17; 16:7-13; Acts 1:5,8; 5:1-4; Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians12:8-13, 28-31; 13:8-12; Ephesians 1:13,14; 4:7-11; Hebrews 9:14; Revelation 22:18,19).

CREATION

We believe the Genesis account of creation as being neither allegory nor myth, but a literal, historical account of the direct, immediate creative acts of the Trinity without any evolutionary process whatsoever (Genesis 1 and 2; Psalm 33:9; John 1:3; Colossians 1:16-17; Hebrews 1:2).

We believe that man was created by a direct act of God; created in the image of God; and that all men descended from the historical Adam and Eve, first parents of the entire human race. By voluntary transgression man fell from his sinless state; in consequence of which all men are now sinners by nature and by choice, utterly devoid of the holiness required by God’s law, positively inclined to evil, and therefore under just condemnation to eternal judgment and everlasting existence separated from God without defense or excuse. Man therefore must be born again by the regenerating power of God (Genesis 1:26-27; Psalm 51:5; Isaiah 53:6; Jeremiah 17:9; John 3:3-6; Romans 3:23; 5:12-19).

We believe the Scriptures teach that salvation of sinners is divinely initiated, wholly of grace, and accomplished only through the redemptive and mediatorial work of the son of God. That it is wholly apart from works and is upon the sole condition of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and never without genuine repentance. That in order to be saved the sinner must be born again being regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith in God’s Word and becoming the recipient of a new nature; that the great gospel blessing which Christ secures to such as believe in Him is justification: that judicial act of God accompanied by the pardon of sin and the imputation of divine righteousness; through faith in the Redeemer’s blood. That the believer who has exercised personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is completely justified and in possession of a salvation that is eternally secure (John 1:12; 3:3-6, 16; 10:28-29; Acts 13:39; Romans 2:4; 4:2; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:18-23; 2 Peter 1:4).

We believe that the Scriptures teach that the church of Jesus Christ began at Pentecost and will be completed at the rapture. We believe in the visible, local church which is a company of believers, baptized upon a credible confession of faith and associated for the purposed of worship, witness, and fellowship; to observe the ordinances of our Lord and exercise the gifts and privileges given to us in His Word. We do not equate the church with the Kingdom or with Israel.

We believe that every believer should be separated unto God from the world and, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, should walk in Christian love and holiness, exhibiting qualities of honesty, integrity, forgiveness and kindness. We further believe that any achievement in these characteristics will be evidenced by sincere humility and genuine zeal for the advancement of the cause of Christ.

We also believe that the Scriptures admonish every believer not to love the world nor the things of the world, but rather to flee evil desires, avoid even the appearance of evil and abstain from questionable practices which destroy one’s testimony, offend one’s brother in Christ and fails to glorify God (Proverbs 15:33; Romans 14:19-21; 1 Corinthians 6:18-20; 8:9-13; 10:23, 33; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Galatians 5:22-25; Ephesians 4:32; 5:1, 2, 7-10, 15-20; Philippians 4:8; 1 Thessalonians 4:7; 1 Peter 5:5-6).

We believe that the Scriptures teach that the believer should be separated from apostasy as exemplified in ecclesiastical organizations which include radicals, liberals, modernists, humanists and those who sanction theological compromise. Such groups include but are not limited to the World and national Council of Churches. This doctrine is based upon God’s eternal principle of division between truth and error and His specific command to be separate from unbelievers and apostates. This truth should be practiced with an attitude of devotion to god, humility, compassion, and yet conviction void of compromise to create the proper condition and atmosphere for the main objective which is the salvation of the lost through the gospel of Jesus Christ. We further believe that ecumenical evangelism, which involves apostates, violates the principles taught in God’s Word (Matthew 10:34-49; 18:15; Romans 16:17; 1 Corinthians 5:7-13; 2 Corinthians 6:14; 11:14; Galatians 1:8-9; 1 Timothy 6:3-6; 2 Timothy 2:16-18; Titus 3:10-11; 2 John 9-11).

We believe that the first day of the week is to be set aside unto the Lord for worship, fellowship with others of like faith and practice, instruction in the Word of God and rest from the cares of the world as a testimony both public and private. It is a day of rejoicing in the resurrection of our Lord by giving of our time and resources to further our evangelistic outreach (Acts 2:42; 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2; Hebrews 10:24-25; Revelation 1:10).

LAST THINGS

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 God, are truly righteous in His esteem; while all such as continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked, and under the just plight of condemnation; and that this distinction holds men, both in and after death, in the everlasting conscious blessedness of the saved and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost (Genesis 18:23; Proverbs 14:21; Malachi 3:18; Matthew 25:34-41; John 8:21; Romans 6:17, 18, 23; 1 John 5:19; Revelation 20:15).

The Rapture Of The Church

We believe in the "blessed hope" which is the personal, imminent, pretribulational and premillennial return and appearance of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to rapture His church, the awaiting bride, to meet Him in the air (1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2; Titus 2:13; 1 John 3:2; Revelation 3:10).

The Judgment Seat Of Christ

We believe that every saved person of the church age will appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ to be judged and give an account of himself to the Lord in regard to his service and stewardship, and receive rewards according to his works (Matthew 6:2; Romans 14:10; 1 Corinthians 3:11-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10).

The Millennial Kingdom

We believe that Christ will personally return to the earth after the seven year tribulation, with His saints, to establish the millennial kingdom for a thousand years, which will literally be on earth and be ruled by Christ from the throne of David (Isaiah 9:6-7; 11:2-5; Luke 1:32; Acts 2:29-30; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-12; Revelation 20:1-6, 13-14; 19:16).