Statement of Faith

GMBC-Statement-of-Faith Download

The doctrines (teachings) of this church shall be in conformity with those generally accepted by historic fundamental Baptist churches and summarized as follows:

Regarding Salvation:

We believe the five (5) Solas of the Reformation to be foundational to the doctrine of salvation.

Sola scriptura: Scripture alone
Sola fide: Faith alone
Sola gratia: Grace alone
Solus Christus: Christ alone
Soli Deo gloria: God’s glory alone

Woven throughout our statement of faith will be our beliefs springing from that foundation.

Section 1

We believe the Holy Scriptures to be the very Word of God, the product of the breath of God (2 Timothy 3:16) and thus verbally inspired in all parts.

Therefore, the Scriptures are wholly without error as originally given by God (2 Peter 1:21), altogether sufficient in themselves as the highest source of authority in the life of a Christian, the only infallible rule of faith and practice. The Scriptures are the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds and opinions should be tried. (2 Timothy 3:14-17; 2 Peter 1:16-21)

Section 2

We believe in the one Triune God (Mark 12:29);

who is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent; who is personal, spirit and sovereign; perfect, infinite and eternal in His being (Deuteronomy 33:27), holiness, love, wisdom and power; separated from and above the world as its Creator yet present everywhere in the world as sustainer (Psalm 104); self-existing (John 5:26) and self-revealing in three distinct persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, each of them being equal (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14). We believe that salvation is to the glory of God alone (I Corinthians 10:31; Romans 6:4; Philippians 2:9-11).

Section 3

We believe Christ alone stands at the center of the eternal purpose of God. Christ alone is the object of our saving faith; therefore, Christ alone must stand at the very center of our theology (Titus 3:5).

We believe there is ‘one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus’ (I Timothy 2:5), the second person of the Triune God (John 1:1); that, without any essential change in His divine person (Colossians 1:18), He became man by the miracle of the virgin birth (Matthew 1:23), thus to continue forever as both true God and man (Colossians 2:9); that as man, He was tested as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15); that as the perfect Lamb of God He gave Himself in death upon the cross, bearing there the sin of the world, and suffering its full penalty of divine wrath in our stead (Galatians 3:13); that He rose again from the dead and was glorified in the same body in which He suffered and died (John 20:25-28); that as our High Priest He ascended into Heaven there to appear before the presence of God as our advocate and intercessor (I John 2:1).

Section 4

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Triune God. We believe that He is a Divine Person; that He convicts the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment (John 16:8);

that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration by whom all believers are baptized into the body of Christ (Matthew 28:19); that He indwells and seals them unto the day of redemption (Hebrews 9:14); that in His relation to the unbelieving world, He restrains the evil one until the purpose of God is fulfilled (II Thessalonians 2:7). We believe that He is the Divine Teacher and Helper who guides believers into all truth and that it is the privilege of all believers to be filled with the Spirit and our duty to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16). We believe that God, through the Holy Spirit, is sovereign and the bestower of all His gifts and that the gifts of evangelists, pastors and teachers are God’s provision for the edification of the saints today. We believe that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is that sovereign act of the Holy Spirit, which takes place at salvation by which the believer is vitally joined unto Christ and into His body (I Corinthians 12:13). We do not believe that this baptism is necessarily accompanied by speaking in tongues, spectacular demonstration (Hebrews 2:4), nor eradication of the sin nature, nor sinless perfection, nor is it to be confused with the infilling which may occur many times and is essentially a matter of being yielded, the fruit of which is listed in Galatians 5:22‑23.

Section 5

We believe in the Genesis account of the Creation (Genesis 1:26-28) and Fall of Man (Genesis 3);

that man was the direct creation of God, not in any sense the product of evolution or animal ancestry, but made in the Divine image; that by personal disobedience to the revealed will of God (Romans 1:18-23), man sinned and thus brought physical and spiritual death to the entire race (Romans 5:12), who are universally sinful in both nature and practice, alienated from the life and family of God and having no possible means of recovery or salvation within themselves (Eph. 4:18).

Section 6

We believe in the sanctity of life and that each human being has a soul and spirit that will live beyond the human experience.

We believe that every human life was created by God (Genesis 1:26-27) at conception and is intended to flourish and give glory to Him regardless of gender, circumstances surrounding conception, or any mental or physical prognosis or condition. Life is a gift from God and must be cherished, defended, and protected from conception until natural death. Since all people are created in the image of God, we believe that caring for human life includes caring for the pre-born, the aged, the poor, the handicapped, the homeless, the orphan and the widow without partiality (Psalm 139:13-16).

Section 7

We believe God is the author and creator of marriage and sexuality; that His plan for human sexuality is to be expressed only within the context of marriage;

that God created man and woman as unique biological persons made to complete each other (Genesis 2:24). God instituted monogamous marriage between male and female as the foundation of the family and the basic structure of human society (Matthew 19:5-6; Mark 10:6-9). For this reason, we believe that marriage is exclusively the union of one genetic male and one genetic female (Romans 1:26-27).

Section 8

We believe in salvation by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:1-10); that grace is that aspect of divine action by which God blesses his rebellious creatures, whether through preservation (common grace) or salvation (special grace).

We believe that salvation is the free gift of God (Romans 3:24), neither merited nor secured in part or in whole by any virtue or work of man, but received only by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Galatians 2:16), in whom all believers have as a present possession the gift of eternal life, a perfect righteousness, sonship in the family of God, deliverance and security from all condemnation, every spiritual resource needed for life and godliness, and the divine guarantee that they shall never perish (Titus 2:11-14; 1 John 5:13).

Section 9

We believe in the existence of Satan; who originally was created a perfect and holy being, but through pride and unlawful ambition rebelled against God,

thus becoming completely corrupt in character, the adversary of God and His people, leader of all evil angels and spirits, the deceiver and god of this present world (Ezekiel 28:13-17; John 8:44); that his powers are supernaturally great, but limited by the purposes of God who overrules; that he was defeated at the cross, making certain his final doom.

Section 10

We believe in the one true Church (Ephesians 4:4); the body and bride of the Lord Jesus Christ, which He began to build on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), and will be complete at His return;

into which all true believers of the present age are baptized by the Holy Spirit; that the members of this spiritual body (I Corinthians 12:12-13) should assemble themselves together in local churches (Hebrews 10:25), which consist of believers associated by a covenant of faith for worship, prayer, fellowship, teaching, united testimony and the observance of the two New Testament ordinances, namely baptism by immersion as a public testimony of faith (Matthew 28:19), and the Lord’s Supper as a commemoration of the death of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:23‑28).

Section 11

We believe in the return of Christ; that His return will be personal, visible, and glorious ‑ a blessed hope, the time being unrevealed, yet always imminent (Titus 2:11‑13; 1 Thessalonians 4:16‑18; Revelation 20:11‑15).

Section 12

We believe in future life, bodily resurrection and eternal judgment (I Corinthians 15);

that the spirit of believers at death goes to be with Christ in Heaven where they abide in joyful fellowship with Him until their bodies are raised from the grave, changed into the likeness of His glorious body, at which time their works shall be brought before the Judgment Seat of Christ for determination of reward; that the spirits of the unrighteous at death go into Hades where they are kept under punishment until the final day of judgment (II Peter 2:9), at which time their bodies shall be resurrected and they shall be judged and condemned, and they shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, a place of final and everlasting punishment (Revelation 20:11‑15).

Section 13

We believe in righteous living and good works (Titus 2:11-15); not as procuring salvation in any sense, but as its proper evidence or fruit;

and therefore, as Christians we should obey the Word of God (John 14:15), seek the things which are above (Colossians 3:1-2), walk as He walked (I John 2:6), be careful to maintain good works (James 3), and take the Gospel to a lost world (Acts 1:8); that a Christian should live for the glory of God and the well-being of his fellow men; that his conduct should be blameless before the world (I Thessalonians 5:22); that he should be a faithful steward of his possessions; and that he should seek to realize for himself and others the full stature of maturity in Christ (Ephesians 4:13-16).

This statement of faith does not exhaust the content of our creed which is the whole Word of God. It is not intended as a limit to the Word of God. We believe that this statement of faith is a true presentation of sound doctrine as taught in the Scriptures and therefore binding upon us as Christian believers.

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