Doctrine - First Baptist Church of Bunnell

Doctrine

First Baptist Church of Bunnell

Southern Baptist Doctrine Statement:

Scripture: Baptists view the Bible as the ultimate authority in shaping a person's life.
Baptism: As indicated by their name a primary Baptist distinction is their practice of believer's baptism and their rejection of infant baptism. Baptists consider Christian baptism to be an ordinance for believers only, by immersion only, and as a symbolic act, not having any power in itself. The act of baptism pictures what Christ has done for the believer in His death, burial, and resurrection. It pictures what Christ has done for the believer through the new birth, enabling death to the old life and newness of life to walk in. Baptism gives testimony to a salvation already received; it is not a requisite for salvation. It is an act of obedience to Jesus Christ.
The Bible: Southern Baptists regard the Bible with great seriousness.
Church Authority: Local churches themselves select their pastors and staff. They own their own building; the denomination cannot take it away.
Communion: The Lord's Supper memorializes the death of Christ.
Equality: God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption.
Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.

The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God's image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.

Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God's pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.
Evangelical: Southern Baptists are Evangelical meaning they adhere to the belief that while humanity is fallen, the good news is that Christ came to pay the price of our sins on the cross. That price, now paid in full, means that God offers forgiveness and new life as a free gift. All who will receive Christ as Lord may have it.
Evangelism: Evangelism and missions have their supreme place in Baptist life.
Heaven and Hell: Southern Baptists believe in a heaven and hell. People who fail to recognize God as the one and only are sentenced to eternity in hell.
The Believers: All Christians have equal access to God's revelation of truth through the careful study of the Bible. This is a position shared by all post-reformational Christian groups.
Born Again: When one receives Jesus Christ as Lord, the Holy Spirit does an internal work within the person to redirect his life, making him to be born again.
Salvation: The only way to get into heaven is salvation through Jesus Christ. To achieve salvation one must confess faith in God who sent his Son Jesus to die on the cross for the sins of mankind.
Salvation by Faith: It is only by faith and belief that Jesus died for mankind and that He is the one and only God that people gain entrance into heaven.
The Second Coming: Baptists generally believe in the literal Second Coming of Christ when God will judge and divide between the saved and the lost and Christ will judge believers, rewarding them for acts done while living on earth.
Trinity: They believe in only one God who reveals Himself as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
The True Church: The doctrine of a believers church is a key belief in Baptist life. Members come into the church personally, individually, and freely. No one is "born into the church." Only those who have personal faith in Christ comprise the true church in the eyes of God - and only those should be counted as members of the church.

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