COMMUNITY BAPTIST CHURCH OF IDAHO CITY

STATEMENT OF FAITH

PREAMBLE:

By faith, trusting wholly in the Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation, believing in the teachings and practices of the Bible, and in the distinctive principles for which Baptists have ever stood, we, therefore, band ourselves together as a body of baptized believers in the Lord Jesus Christ for communion and fellowship in worship, for cooperation in service, for comfort and edification of one another, and for the fulfillment of the Great Commission; we adopt for our statement of faith the following articles:

 

1. THE SCRIPTURES:
   
   We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the verbally and plenary inspired Word of God. The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible and God-breathed, and therefore are the final authority for the faith and life. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament are the complete and divine revelation of God to man. The Scriptures shall be interpreted according to their normal grammatical-historical meaning. The King James Version (1611) of the Bible shall be the official and only translation used by the Church. (2 Tim. 3:16-17; John 10:35; Psa. 89:34; Heb. 6:18; 2 Pet. 1:20, 3:16)

 

2. THE GODHEAD:
   
   We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - each coeternal in being, co-identical in nature, coequal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections. (Deut. 6:4; Mat. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; John 14:10, 26)

 

3. THE FATHER:
   
   We believe that God the Father sent the Son and accepted that sacrifice in forgiveness for our sins and that eternal life is His gift to mankind. He is invisible, incorruptible, unchangeable, and He cannot lie. He is a consuming fire and love. He desires all men to be saved and those that trust Him are in his hand from which no man can pluck them out. (Mat. 18:14; John 10:29; Romans 1:23, 6:23; Hebrews 9:12, 12:29; 1 John 4:8, 14)

 

4. JESUS CHRIST:
   
   We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ; the incarnation and in the virgin birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ; His identification as the Son of God; His sinless life; His vicarious atonement for the sins of mankind (all men of all time) by the shedding of His blood on the cross, His burial and personal, physical resurrection on the third day; His ascension back to Heaven now sitting at the right hand of the Father interceding for us; His personal, pre-millennial, pre-tribulational, and imminent coming in the air for all who have received Him as their Saviour; and His existence as fully God and fully man. (John 1:14; Mat. 1:18-23; 1 Thes. 4:13-18; Acts 2:31-33; Heb. 7:25)

 

5. HOLY SPIRIT:
   
   We believe that the Holy Spirit is a Person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption. (John 16:8-11; Rom. 8:9; 1Cor. 12:12-14; 2Cor. 3:6; Eph. 1:13-14)
   
   We believe that He is the Divine Teacher who assists believers to understand and appropriate the Scriptures and that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit. (Eph. 1:17-18; 1 John 2:20, 27)
   
   We believe that the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues and the gift of healing, were temporary. We believe that tongues is an actual known language. That speaking in tongues was never the common or necessary sign of the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit and that ultimate deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection, though God frequently chooses to answer the prayer of believers for physical healing. (1Cor. 1:22, 13:8, 14:21-22)

 

6. CREATION:
   
   We believe that God created the universe in six literal, 24-hour periods. We reject evolution, the Gap Theory, the Day-Age Theory, and Theistic Evolution as unscriptural theories of origin.(Gen. 1:1-31; Gen. 2:1-25; Ex. 20:11)

 

7. SATAN:
   
   We believe in the personality of Satan, that he is not merely an abstract power or influence, but a living, personal being; that he is the god of this world and the prince of the power of the air; that he is constantly going up and down in the earth seeking whom he may devour. He does not possess the attributes of God. (John 8:44; 2Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2; 1 Pet. 5:8)
   
   Satan is the author of sin, and he and his angels shall be eternally punished. (Eze. 28:13-17; Isa. 14:12-15; Rev. 20:10; Mat. 25:41)

 

8. MANKIND:
   
   We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam's sin the human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and that man is totally depraved, and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition. (Gen. 1:26-27; Rom. 3:22-23; 5:12; 6:23; Eph. 2:1-3; 4:17-19)

 

9. SALVATION:
   
   We believe that man is saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2: 8, 9) and that man must receive the gift of salvation in order to be saved (Rom. 6:23b). Man’s efforts regardless of how good or well-intentioned before or after salvation have nothing to do with salvation. Salvation of man has always been the same: accepting the finished work of Christ, adding nothing to it (Tit. 3:5). Salvation is by grace through faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and his sin-cleansing blood. (John 3:16; Rom. 3:23-24; Col. 1:22)
   
   We also believe that every true child of God possesses eternal life being justified by faith, sanctified by God, sealed with the Holy Spirit, and eternally secure, not able to lose his salvation. (Rom. 6:23b; John 10:28, 29; Php. 1:6; 2 Tim. 2:19)

 

10. RESURRECTION:
    
    We believe in the resurrection of the bodies of born-again believers who sleep in Jesus will be raised at the coming of the Lord and will be caught up with the physically transformed living saints to meet the Lord in the air, and that the wicked dead will be raised at the close of Christ’s millennial reign to stand in their bodies at the Great White Throne Judgment to receive their final judgment (sentence). (John 5:20-30; 1 Thes. 4:16; Rev. 20:11-15)

 

11. THE WORLD TO COME:
    
    We believe that the end of this present world will come by fire, and the world to come will be eternal. We believe that in the world to come there will be two eternal places: a place of endless joy for all the people of God who have been saved by His grace, and a place of endless punishment for all who have never been reconciled to God by the blood of Christ. These two places are known as heaven and hell.
    
    A. HEAVEN:
    
    An eternal place of beauty and bliss wherein dwells righteousness, where God will dwell with His people forever. (II Cor. 12:2-4; 1 Pet. 1:3-5; Rev. 21:1-27; Rev 22:1-21)
    
    B. HELL
    
    A place of eternal torment, which is a place of fire and brimstone, a place where all who have rejected God’s gift of salvation will suffer forever. (Luke 16:19-31; Mat. 5:22, 29-30; Mat. 23:33; Rev. 21:8)

 

12. DISPENSATIONALISM:
    
    We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense reveal divinely determined dispensations or rules of life which define man's responsibility in successive ages. These dispensations are not ways of salvation, but rather are divinely ordered stewardships by which God directs man according to His purpose. Three of these dispensations or time periods - the law, the church, and the kingdom - are the subjects of detailed revelation in Scripture. (Gen. 1:28; 1 Cor. 9:17; 2 Cor. 3:9-18; Eph. 1:10; 3:2-10; Col. 1:24-25, 27; Rev. 20:2-6)

 

13. THE LOCAL CHURCH:
    
    We believe the Scriptures teach that a local church is a congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant of faith and fellowship of the Gospel, observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws, and exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in His Word; that it’s only scriptural officers are pastors and deacons; whose qualifications, claims, and duties are clearly defined in the Epistles of Timothy and Titus. We believe the true mission of the church is the faithful witnessing of Christ to all men and the building up and edifying of the saints. We hold that the local church has the absolute right of Self-Government, free from the interference of and hierarchy of individuals or organizations; and that the one and only head is Christ through the Holy Spirit. We believe in the absolute separation of church and state. We recognize water baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper as the Scriptural ordinances given to the church. (Acts 2:41-42, 47, 8:1, 14:23, 15:22, 18:18; 1 Cor. 4:17, 11:2, 23; Mat. 18:15-20, 28:19-20; John 14:15, 15:10; 2 Thes. 3:7; Rom. 16:17-20; 1 Tim. 3; Tit. 1)

 

14. SOULWINNING:
    
    We believe that the command to give the Gospel to the world is clear and unmistakable, and that the Great Commission is the personal responsibility of all believers. (Mat. 28: 18-20; Mark 16:15; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; Rom. 10:13-15)

 

15. MISSIONS:
    
    We believe that God has given the church a great commission to proclaim the Gospel to all nations so that there might be a great multitude from every nation, tribe, ethnic group, and language group who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As ambassadors of Christ we must use all available means to go to the foreign nations and not wait for them to come to us. (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; 2 Cor. 5:20)

 

16. GIVING:
    
    We believe that every Christian, as a steward of that portion of God's wealth entrusted to him, is obligated to support his local church financially. We believe that God has established the tithe as a basis for giving, but that every Christian should also give other offerings sacrificially and cheerfully to the support of the church, the relief of those in need, and the spread of the Gospel. We believe that a Christian relinquishes all rights to direct the use of the tithe or offering once the gift has been made. (Gen. 14:20; Pro. 3:9-10; Acts 4:34-37; 1 Cor. 16:2; 2 Cor. 9:6-7; Gal. 6:6; Eph. 4:28; 1Tim. 5:17-18; 1 John 3:17)
    
    
     
17. BAPTISM:
    
    We believe that the ordinance of scriptural baptism is the first act of obedience of a born again believer by immersion in water one time backwards in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost (Mat. 28:19-20) to publicly show forth, in a solemn and beautiful emblem, our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Saviour. (Rom. 6:1-4)
    
    
     
18. XVIII. LORD’S SUPPER:
    
    We believe the ordinance of The Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of His death until He comes, and should be preceded by solemn self-examination by the believer. No person is qualified to have a part in this ordinance unless he has been born again of God and is a member of Community Baptist Church of Idaho City. We believe this to be a “closed” observation of the Lord’s Supper (Mat. 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42, 18:18; 1 Cor. 11:1, 23-30)
    
    NOTE: We believe two ordinances were instituted by Christ as described in the bible. The two ordinances are: Baptism, and the Lord Supper. We believe these ordinances were given to, and to be observed by the New Testament Church

 

19. SEPARATION FROM ALL FORMS OF APOSTASY AND FALSE GOSPELS:
    
    We believe that modernism, liberalism, Liberation Theology, Hyper Calvinism, Reformed Theology, “social gospel,” and any other gospel other than the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, are not of God but are of anti-Christ; and that we as believers should have no fellowship with such unfruitful works of darkness: and that we are called upon to separate from all alliances, churches, groups, organizations, and individuals that sanction such doctrines. (2 Cor. 6:14-18; 2Pet. 2:1, 2; 1John 2:22; Jude 4; 2 Thes. 3:6; 2John 7-11; Eph. 5:11; 1Tim. 6:3-6; Rev. 18:4,5; Acts 19:8-10; Rom. 16:17,18; Gal. 1:8-10; Php. 3:17-19; Mat. 7:15-20)

 

20. SEPARATION FROM WORLDLINESS:
    
    We believe that all believers should walk in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon the Lord Jesus Christ and upon Community Baptist Church of Idaho City, and that separation from worldly pleasures and practices is commanded of God. (Rom. 12:1-2, 14:13; 2 Cor. 6:14-17; 1John 2:15-17)

 

21. CIVIL GOVERNMENT:
    
    We believe that God has ordained and created all authority consisting of three basic institutions: 1) the home; 2) the church; and 3) the state. Every person is subject to these authorities, but all (including the authorities themselves) are answerable to God and governed by His Word. God has given each institution specific Biblical responsibilities and balanced those responsibilities with the understanding that no institution has the right to infringe upon the other. The home, the church, and the state are equal and sovereign in their respective Biblically assigned spheres of responsibility under God. (Acts 5:29; Rom. 13:1-7; Eph. 5:22-24; Heb. 13:17; 1Pet. 2:13-14)
    
     
22. HUMAN SEXUALITY:
    
    We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a 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. Any employee of the Church practicing any of the above perversions of human sexuality or becoming pregnant or causing pregnancy as a result of consensual intercourse, outside of the marriage relationship, shall be terminated from employment. (Gen. 2:24, 19:5, 13, 26:8-9; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom. 1:26-29; 1 Cor. 5:1; 6:9; 1Thes. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4). Furthermore, it is expected that persons of leadership of Community Baptist Church of Idaho City shall be adhere to the same level of compliance.
    
    We believe that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman. (Gen. 2:24; Rom. 7:2; 1 Cor. 7:10; Eph. 5:22-23) We believe that men and women are spiritually equal in position before God but that God has ordained distinct and separate spiritual functions for men and women in the home and the church. The husband is to be the leader of the home and men are to be the leaders (pastors and deacons) of the Church. Accordingly, only men are eligible for license and ordination by the Church. (Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:18; 1Tim. 2:8-15, 3:4-5, 12)
    
    
     
23. DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE:
    
    We believe that God hates divorce and intends marriage to last until one of the spouses' dies. Divorce and remarriage is regarded as adultery except on the grounds of fornication. Although divorced and remarried persons or divorced persons may hold positions of service in the Church and be greatly used of God for Christian service, they may not be considered for the offices of pastor or deacon. (Mal. 2:14-17; Matt. 19:3-12; Rom. 7:1-3; 1 Tim. 3:2,12; Titus 1:6)
    
    
     
24. ABORTION:
    
    We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the taking of unborn human life and is murder. We reject any reason for abortion including pregnancies due to rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, birth or population control, or the mental well-being of the mother. (Job 3:16; Psalm 51:5; 139:14-16; Isa. 44:24; 49:1,5; Jer. 1:5; 20:15-18; Luke 1:44)
    
    
     
25. LAWSUITS BETWEEN BELIEVERS:
    
    We believe that Christians are prohibited from bringing civil lawsuits against other Christians or the church to resolve personal disputes. We believe the Church possesses all the resources necessary to resolve personal disputes between members. We do believe, however, that a Christian may seek compensation for injuries from another Christian's insurance company as long as the claim is pursued without malice or slander. (Mat 18:15-20; 1 Cor. 6:1-8; Eph. 4:31-32)