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Statement of Faith
First Baptist Church of Santa Maria is an independent, Baptist church. Our
members and leaders are carefully instructed upon uniting with our church and are expected to support
this doctrinal statement. This statement emphasizes main doctrines, and the Scripture verses used are
representative and not to be considered exhaustive.
I. The Bible
We believe the Holy Scriptures, composed of the thirty-nine books of the Old
Testament and the twenty-seven books of the New Testament, are the
verbally inspired Word and Revelation of God. The Bible is inerrant, infallible, and
God-breathed. We believe in the miracle of divine preservation of
God's Word. In the English language, the Authorized
Version (King James Bible) is accurate and gives the Bible an
integrity so that we can unashamedly say, "Thus saith the Lord." Psalm
19:7-11; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Luke 24:13-28; John
16:12-16; Psalm 12:6-7; Isaiah 40:8; Psalm 138:2
II. The Trinity
We believe in the Triune God - God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit - coequal and coeternal. Each has His individual identity and
separate responsibilities for the purposes of redemption, yet are perfectly united as
three Persons in One. 1 John 5:1-8; John 16:7-18; Matthew 28:19; Genesis 1:26
III. The Deity and Virgin Birth of Christ
We believe in the Deity of Jesus Christ. He is the only begotten, virgin-born
Son of God, the second Person in the Blessed Trinity, God the Son,
God manifest in the flesh. 1 Timothy 3:16; John 1:1-14;
John 14:9; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25; John 10:36
IV. The Blood Atonement
We believe in the substitutionary atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He, by the grace of God, tasted death for every man, and all must be born
again or be forever lost. Hebrews 2:9; John 6:44-69; John 3:1-18;
Romans 3:25; Revelation 1:5; Hebrews 9:22; 1 Peter 1:18-19
The Lord's atonement was not limited with respect to whom God's salvation is
offered, i.e., His shed blood is sufficient for all sin and,
therefore, "whosoever will" may believe and be saved to the
uttermost. 1 John 2:2; Hebrews 7:22-25; Revelation 22:17
Also, the text "with His stripes we are healed" speaks of God's remedy for the
sin-sick soul through the suffering and substitutionary sacrifice of
the Lamb of God and is not referring to the healing of the body as
proposed by false charismatic teaching. Isaiah 53:4-6
V. The Resurrection
We believe in the physical
resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. He ascended bodily into the
heavens and is now at the right hand of God as our Mediator, Priest,
and Advocate. Acts 3:12-26; John 20; Hebrews 9:24;
1 Corinthians 15:12-28; 1 John 2:1
VI. The Rapture and the Second Coming
We believe in the Rapture - the personal, premillennial, pretribulational, and
imminent return of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ "in the air."
This has been the "Blessed Hope" of every born-again believer in the
Church Age. At that time, He will receive to Himself the resurrected bodies of
those who have "died in Christ" and also all those who are presently alive
and "in Christ." 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 5:6-10; 1 Corinthians 15:50-55;
Acts 1:11; Titus 2:13
He will then come "with His saints" seven years thereafter to execute judgment
upon the ungodly nations before the inauguration of His earthly
millennial reign at His second coming to the earth. Jude
14,15; Matthew 25:31-46
The Lord will cast the anti-christ and the false prophet into the lake of fire,
send Satan into the abyss, and establish His earthly kingdom. The
Lord Jesus Christ will reign one thousand years, thus, literally
fulfilling the covenant promises made to a believing remnant of
Israel through the Patriarchs of the Old Testament.
Isaiah 11:1-16; Revelation 19:19-20; 20:1-6
After the earthly reign of one thousand years, He will bring all the unsaved
dead to the judgment of the Great White Throne, and all who stand
before that Throne will be cast forever into the lake of fire where Satan has already been cast.
Revelation 20:10-15; Matthew 7:21-23
VII. The Personality of Satan
We believe in the personality of Satan, "that
old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole
world." He is actively opposing the cause of Christ on every hand and
is the arch enemy of
every true believer. His warfare incorporates the deception of
mixing error and truth as well as that which is flagrantly vile and
evil. 2 Corinthians 11:1-15; 2 Peter 5:8-9; Revelation 12:9-10; Matthew
4:2-11; Isaiah 14:12-17; John 8:24
His ministers can also serve to deceive the
unsuspecting by "transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ . . .
[and] ministers of righteousness" (2 Cor. 11:13, 15).
Therefore, every experience and teaching must be
examined in light of the Word of God to determine its true source.
Isaiah 8:20; 1 John 4:1
VIII. Heaven and Hell
We believe that Heaven is a real place of eternal blessedness prepared by God
for those whose garments have been "made white" through faith in the
shed "blood of the Lamb." Hell is a real place of eternal suffering
for those whose names are not written in the "book of life." There
is no intermediate state in which the unsaved can atone for his own
sins. John 14:1-6; Revelation 7:13-17; 20:11-15; 21:22-27; 2 Corinthians
5:1-10; Luke 16:19-31
IX. Creation and Man's Fall
We believe God created all things in a time frame of six literal,
twenty-four hour days. We believe in the universality and exceeding sinfulness
of sin. In Adam all have sinned and, therefore, are guilty before God by
nature as well as by deed. Man was created by a direct act of
God and subsequently fell into sin in the Garden of Eden.
Romans 5:12-21 Ezekiel 18:4; Romans 3:10-26; 6:23; Psalm 51:5 Genesis 1-3
X. Justification by Faith
We believe that man is justified on the single ground of faith in the shed
blood and bodily resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:1 Ephesians 2:8-9
The all-sufficient and completed work of Redemption accomplished through
His death and resurrection is fully appropriated to whosoever will
at the moment in time by those who
receive by faith the free gift of salvation offered in the one true
Gospel. The adding of works, baptism, sacraments, or any other
condition placed upon man in order to obtain God's gift of salvation
by faith alone in the finished work of Christ results in "another
gospel" that is under God's curse. Galatians 1:6-10;
Romans 1:16 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; John 5:24; Ephesians 5:8
XI. Eternal Security
We believe in the eternal
security of all believers in our Lord Jesus Christ. Once a lost
sinner has be come a 'new creature in Christ,' he can never lose
that new relationship in the family of God which is based upon
Christ's imputed righteousness and not his own. The life that God
imparts to the believing sinner is not "eternal life" if it can be
terminated. 2 Corinthians 5:14-21; John 10:25-29
Sin in the life of the believer affects his fellowship with the Father, not his
sonship. All who are truly born of the Spirit and who continue
in sin will be dealt with by the chastening hand of God. 1 John 1:5-10;
Hebrews 12:6-13 1 Corinthians 3:11-15
All who are in Christ are sealed unto the day of redemption and will be
glorified. We are to "work out" our salvation not "work for"
our salvation (Philippians 2:12). Texts used to supposedly teach one
can lose his salvation are speaking of loss of reward, not the loss
of salvation or the right to be called a child of God. 1
Corinthians 3:8-15; 2 John 8; Revelation 3:11; Romans 8:29-30; 1
Timothy 1:12; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30
XII. The Holy Spirit and Body of Christ
We believe all regenerated people are baptized into the Body of Christ by the
Holy Spirit the moment they receive Christ as their Savior. 1
Corinthians 12:13; 10:32; Ephesians 2:13-18
The Holy Spirit indwells all who have been born again from above. Also, the
baptism of the Spirit is not a separate event apart from the
reception of the gift of the Holy Spirit upon believing on Christ
unto salvation. Acts 15:6-11; Galatians 3:2,14; Romans 10:1317; Romans 8:9
The Church which is Christ's Body consists of all those who, in the present
dispensation, truly believe and accept Jesus Christ as Savior and
Lord. Romans 8:14-27; James 1:18; John 1:12; 1 Corinthians 1:2;
Matthew 16:16
XIII. Separation
We believe that all Christians are first to be separated wholly
unto the Lord, and as a necessary result, they must be:
1) Separated from worldly and sinful practices. They are to be
holy, even as He is holy, and this desired behavior will always be
diametrically opposed to the course of this present age. 1 Peter
1: 13-16; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 12:1-2; 1 John 2:15-17.
2) Separated from apostasy and unbelief. A believer must not be
"unequally yoked together with unbelievers," thereby, being
identified with unbelief by association, whether in ministry, worship,
or by joint religious activities. 2 Corinthians
6:14-18; 1 Timothy 6:3-5; 2 Timothy 2:19-22; 3:1-5; Amos 3:3
3) Separated from disobedient brethren and doctrinal compromise
with respect to all ministry and service. A believer is identified
with the doctrinal positions and practices of those he is in
fellowship with, both before God and man. Separation from those who
are not walking according to truth deters the leavening effect of
compromise and gives a faithful warning to the erring brother.
Romans 16: 17; 2 Thessalonians 3:6,14-15; 2 John 10-11; Galatians
2:9-11; 1 Corinthians 15:33
XIV. The Local Church and Its Mission
We believe God has ordained the ministry of local, independent, indigenous
assemblies of believers to accomplish His work. The church's
membership is to be composed of regenerated, baptized believers. The
two ordinances of the local church are believer's baptism by
immersion and the memorial of the Lord's supper until He returns.
The church is to be missionary-minded and evangelistic in spreading
the Gospel into all the world. It is not the mission of the church
to "bring in the Kingdom," work for political or economic justice,
major on social improvement, or "Christianize" society. It is
to strive together for the faith of the Gospel, proclaim and
maintain purity of doctrine and practice, and worship and serve the
Lord in "spirit and truth." Acts
2:41-47; 20:17-32; Matthew 28:16-20; Ephesians 4:11-16; 1
Corinthians 11:23-34
XV. Human Sexuality
We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged
in outside of a marriage between one man and one woman. We
believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality,
bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are
sinful perversions of God's gift of sex. We believe that God
disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one's gender by
surgery or appearance. Genesis 2:24; 19:5; 26:8-9; Leviticus 18:1-30; Romans 1:26-29; 1
Corinthians 5:1; 6:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4
We believe that the only Scriptural marriage is the joining of one man and one
woman. Genesis 2:24; Romans 7:2; 1 Corinthians 7:10; Ephesians 5:22-23
XVI. Good Works
We believe that all followers of the Lord Jesus Christ should maintain good
works, a "good work" being that which is done in obedience to the
will of God as revealed in the Word of God. Works will determine the
reward or loss of reward at the Judgment Seat of Christ before which
every Christian will stand. Every believer must realize his
responsibility before God to "maintain good works," i.e., walk in
the light of the Word of God. The Bible is the believer's absolute
Standard of faith and practice, his perfect Counsel. The Word
provides him with "all things that pertain unto life and godliness"
(2 Peter 1:3-4). The Bible, not any form of psychological counseling
or therapy, is the answer. Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 2:11-14; 3:1-11; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; 1
Corinthians 1:18-29; 3:8-15; 2 Corinthians 5:9-11
Having been led, as we believe, by the Spirit of God, to receive the Lord Jesus
Christ as our Savior, and on profession of our faith, having been
baptized in the name of our Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit, we do now, in the presence of God, angels, and this
assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one
another, as one body in Christ. Romans
12:5; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14
We 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 sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline, and
doctrines; to give it a sacred preeminence over all institutions of
human origin; and to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the
support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of
the poor, and the spread of the Gospel through all nations.
1 Corinthians 12:12-14
We also engage to maintain family and private devotions; to religiously
educate our children; to seek the salvation of our kindred,
acquaintances, and all others; to walk circumspectly in the world;
to be just in our dealings, faithful to our engagements, and
exemplary in our deportment. "For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men,
teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should
live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world."
"Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse
ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting
holiness in the fear of God." We will be zealous in our efforts
to advance the Kingdom of our Savior. 2 Corinthians 7:1; Titus 2:11-14
We further engage to watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember each
other in prayer; to discern our spiritual gifts and employ them in
this local church; to aid each other in sickness and distress; to
cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and courtesy of speech; to
be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation, and
mindful of the teachings of our Savior, and to secure reconciliation
without delay. Philippians 2:1-5
We moreover engage that when we remove from this place, we will as soon as
possible unite with some other church where we can carry out the
spirit of this covenant and the principles of God's Word. Hebrews 10:25
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