edemption Baptist Church
What we believe
The Holy Scriptures
WE BELIEVE the Bible, the Scriptures of the Old Testament and the New Testament, preserved for us in the Masoretic text (Old Testament) Textus Receptus (New Testament) are verbally and plenarily(completely) inspired of God. It is the inspired, inerrant, infallible, and altogether authentic, accurate and authoritative Word of God, therefore the supreme and final authority in all things (II Tim. 3:16-17; II Peter 1:21; Rev. 22:18-19). At RBC we only preach and teach from the King James Bible.
The Trinity
WE BELIEVE in one God (monotheism), eternally existing in three Persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit—the Trinity. They are co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and have the same attributes and perfections (I John 5:7; Matt. 28:19; Deut. 6:4; II Cor. 13:14; John 14:10, 26).
Jesus Christ
WE BELIEVE in the deity of Jesus Christ, that He was supernaturally begotten by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, and is truly, totally God and truly, totally man (Matt. 1:20-21; Luke 1:35-36; 2:10-11). He is the only begotten Son of God (John 1:14; 3:16, 18; I John 4:9) and at the same time God the Son; therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ, sinless, omnipotent, omniscient, Saviour of sinners, King of kings, and Lord of lords.
WE BELIEVE in the literal, physical, bodily resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord, in His literal, physical, bodily ascension into Heaven and in His present work there as High Priest, Mediator, and Advocate for us (Heb. 9:24; 10:20-21; I Tim. 2:5-6; I John 2:1, 2).
Man
WE BELIEVE man was created in the image of God, that he sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death but also that spiritual death which is the eternal separation from God and an everlasting abode in Hell, that all human beings are henceforth born with a sinful nature and, in the case of those who reach the age of moral responsibility, become sinners by choice and practice, in thought, word, and deed, and that sin creates a debt which no man can pay for himself (Rom. 3:23; 5:12; Gen. 1:26-27; I Cor. 11:7).
The Gospel
WE BELIEVE the Gospel is the good news that the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins; that He was buried that He arose alive and triumphant from the grave and in so doing He made the necessary sacrifice for atonement, became the Substitute for our redemption, which thereby paid our sin debt and purchased our salvation for us; and that all who place their faith in full trust in Him are saved by His shed blood (I Cor. 15:3-4; Col. 1:14; Eph. 1:7; Rom. 5:9; Acts 4:12).
Believer's Baptism
WE BELIEVE each person claiming Christ as Saviour should promptly make public his/her profession of Christ, that each new Christian should follow the Lord’s command for believer’s baptism, that such scriptural baptism is always by immersion, that baptism does not save but that it is the Lord’s prescribed way for us to identify ourselves with Him in open confession, that baptism is a symbolic representation, a picture of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 16:30-34).
The Holy Spirit
WE BELIEVE that at the precise time of the new birth the believer immediately receives the Holy Spirit and is by Him baptized (placed) into the body of Christ, is forever indwelt by the Holy Ghost as Comforter, Teacher and Guide, and if yielded to Him, is filled by the Spirit and is empowered for service (John 1:32-34; Acts 1:8; Acts 15:8; Eph. 5:18).
Eternal Security
WE BELIEVE each believer, at the time he puts his trust in Christ, is born into the family of God and does instantaneously become a son or daughter of the living God, thus is redeemed by the Lord’s purchase price paid for us, is henceforth preserved in Christ and, therefore, is forever secure in Christ, possesses everlasting, eternal life and is sealed by the Holy Spirit for eternity (John 10:28-29; Romans 8:38-39; John 5:24; Ephesians 1:13).
The Church
WE BELIEVE the Scriptures teach that a local church is a congregation of immersed believers, associated by a 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 them by His Word; that its only scriptural officers are bishops or pastors (pastor, bishop and elder are three terms for the same office) and deacons, whose qualifications, claims and duties are clearly defined in the New Testament. I Tim. 3, Titus 1).
WE BELIEVE the true mission of the church is the faithful witnessing of Christ to all men as we have the opportunity, 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 any hierarchy of individuals or organizations and that the one and only Head is Christ through the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:41, 42; 8:1; I Cor. 4:17; Acts 2:47; I Cor. 11:2; Matt. 28:20; John 14:15; 15:10; Acts 14:23; 15:22; II Thess. 3:7; Rom. 16:17-20; I Cor. 11:23; Matt. 18:15-20; I Tim. 3; Titus 1).
World Evangelism
WE BELIEVE the Lord’s Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20) is His command to us to get the Gospel to the world; therefore, we carry forth an extensive program of soul-winning evangelism in the homeland and a worldwide missionary program abroad, with the goal of winning people to Christ, baptizing them, and teaching them everything the Lord has commanded us (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:8).
Heaven and Hell
WE BELIEVE Heaven is a real place that is the eternal home of all who by faith claim the salvation of Christ.
WE BELIEVE Hell is a real place that is the eternal home of all who die without Christ as their Saviour.
WE BELIEVE in the literal, physical, bodily resurrection of both the saved and the lost (I Thess. 4:13-18; Rev. 20:5-6), the everlasting blessedness of the saved (Heaven) (John 14:1-3; Rev. 21-22), and the everlasting conscious punishment of the lost (Hell) (Luke 16:19-31; Rev. 20:11-15).
Satan
WE BELIEVE Satan is a real being, a personal devil, that he is the enemy of God, the ‘father of lies,’ the great deceiver of mankind, the instigator of all false systems of religion, and that both he and all his followers will ultimately be cast into the lake of fire (II Cor. 11:13-16; Ephesians 2:2; II Cor. 4:3-4; Rev. 20:2).
Stewardship
WE BELIEVE the Scriptures teach us to give tithes and offerings from our income and resources into the Lord’s treasury in the local church and that all of us have a responsibility before God to be faithful in our stewardship (Mal. 3:8-10; Matt. 23:23; I Cor. 16:1, 2).
Personal Separation
WE BELIEVE that Christians should be separated unto God and separated from the world and that all believers are called into a life of personal separation from all worldly and sinful practices (James 4:4; Rom. 12:1-2; II Cor. 6:14-18).
WE BELIEVE a Christian should seek to live a life that is clean, holy and above reproach. He should exhibit both attitude and actions so as to be of good report. Practices which are questionable or which may cause another person to stumble or which may mar the testimony of Christ should be avoided altogether. Therefore personal standards of demeanor and deportment are expected (Eph. 2:10; 4:1; 5:1-4; Phil. 1:27; 3:14-21; 4:8-9).
The Lord’s Day
WE BELIEVE that Sunday, the first day of the week, is the Lord’s Day. It is therefore a sacred and special day. It should be a day of worship of the Lord. (John 20:1, 19, 26; I Cor. 16:2; Heb. 10:25).
Creation
WE BELIEVE that God created the universe in six literal, twenty-four-hour periods. We reject evolution, the Gap Theory, the Day-Age Theory, and Theistic Evolution as unscriptural theories of origin (Gen. 1-2; Exo. 20:11).
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 (Rom.13:1-7; Eph.5:22-24; Heb. 13:17; I Pet. 2:13-14).
Marriage
WE BELIEVE that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman (Gen. 2:24; Rom. 7:2; I 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 (Gen. 3:16; Col. 3:18; I Tim. 2:8-15; 3:4-5,12).
WE BELIEVE that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage. (Ex. 20:14, Heb. 13:4, I Cor. 7:1-5, Mt. 19:4-6).
WE BELIEVE that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex (Gen. 2:24; 19:5, 13; 26:8-9; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom. 1:26-29; I Cor. 5:1; 6:9; I Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4).
Abortion
WE BELIEVE that human life begins at conception and the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused taking of unborn human life. Abortion is murder. We reject any teaching that abortions of pregnancies due to rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, birth or population control or the mental well-being of the mother are acceptable (Job 3:16; Ps. 51:5; 139:14-16; Isa. 44:24; 49:1, 5; Jer. 1:5; 20:15-18; Luke 1:44).
The Lord’s Supper
WE BELIEVE that the Lord’s Supper is the commemoration, by the use of unleavened bread and of the fruit of the vine, of the death of Christ until He comes again and that it is to be preceded always by solemn self-examination (I Cor. 11:23-28).
The Fall of Man
WE BELIEVE the Scriptures teach that man was created in innocence, under the law of his Maker, but by voluntary transgression he fell from that holy and happy state, in consequence of which all mankind are now sinners, not by constraint, but by choice, being by nature utterly void of that holiness required by the law of God, positively inclined to evil, and therefore under just condemnation to eternal ruin, without defense or excuse (Gen. 1:27; 1:31; Acts 17:26; Gen. 2:16,17; 3:6-24; Rom. 5:12,19; Isa. 53:6; Rom. 3:9-18; Eph. 2:3; Rom. 1:18, 32; 2:1-16; Gal. 3:10; Ezek. 18:19, 20; Rom. 1:20; Gal. 3:22).
The Virgin Birth of Christ
WE BELIEVE the Scriptures teach that Jesus was begotten of the Holy Spirit in a miraculous manner, born of Mary, a virgin, as no other man was ever born or can ever be born of woman, and that He is both the Son of God and God the Son.
The Way of Salvation
WE BELIEVE the Scriptures teach that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace, through the shed blood and mediatorial offices of the Son of God, Who, according to the will of the Father, assumed our nature, yet without sin, honored the Divine Law by His personal obedience, and by His death made a full atonement for our sins; that having risen from the dead, He is now enthroned in Heaven and uniting in His wonderful person the tenderest sympathies with divine perfection. He is every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate and an all-sufficient Saviour (Eph. 2:5; Matt. 18:11; I John 4:10; I Cor. 3:5-7; Acts 15:11; John 3:16; John 1:1-14; Heb. 4:14; 12:24; Phil. 2:6-7; Heb. 2:9, 14; II Cor. 5:21; Isa. 53:4,5; Heb. 7:25; Col. 2:9).
Soul Winning
WE BELIEVE that the command to get the Gospel to the world is a clear and unmistakable mandate, that this command is therefore, the commission of God to all of us who are saved. (Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; Rom. 10:13-15).
WE BELIEVE salvation is received when a person honestly sincerely, consciously and deliberately repents (changes their mind about God, Acts 20:21) and places their faith (trust) in the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour (Acts 20:21, Rom. 10:9-10, Eph. 2:8-9, John 1:12).
The Believer’s Two Natures
WE BELIEVE every truly regenerated, born again Christian is saved by the grace of God through faith placed in Jesus Christ and is thereby awarded a new and spiritual nature which he did not previously possess.
WE BELIEVE the old nature which we possess from birth is not eradicated but lingers yet within us.
WE BELIEVE it is for this reason that true Christians are not perfect people and they can still sin.
WE BELIEVE the new nature, if nourished properly, should begin to dominate the Christian’s life, and the old nature should be less and less prominent.
Ecclesiastical Separation
WE BELIEVE that Christian believers and local, New Testament churches should be guided and governed by the Bible, and consequently, we believe it is imperative that we identify false doctrine and those who perpetrate it, and subsequently, stand separate and apart from them.
We welcome all who come to our doors, but we give no place on our platform to honor or to hear the opinions and the views of those who do not hold to “sound doctrine.”
With this in view we oppose the widespread popular practice of ecumenism (getting theologically diverse groups together for the sake of fellowship, for the cause of evangelism, and for the exercise of their ministries together).
The Second Coming
WE BELIEVE in “that blessed hope,” the personal, literal and visible pretribulational, premillennial return of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ (I Thess. 4:13-18; II Thess. 2:1-3).
WE BELIEVE the second coming will be a two-phased event: first the rapture and then the revelation. The rapture will be followed by a seven-year period of great tribulation on earth (Rev. 4-18). At the end of the Tribulation period, Christ will return to rule and reign on the earth for one thousand grand and glorious years (Rev. 20:4-6).
