BEREA
BAPTIST CHURCH
Purpose and
Doctrinal Statement
The purpose of this church is to glorify God through the salvation of
the lost, the edification of the believers and the spread of the Gospel
as commanded by our Lord. The purpose shall be accomplished by:
1. The promotion of spiritual worship. (Gal. 1:8-9; II Timothy 4:1-5)
2. The preaching of the Gospel and the teaching of the Word of God to
all the world. (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:46-48; Acts 1:8;
Gal. l:8-9; II Tim. 4:1-5)
3. The administration of the ordinances of the church. (Matt. 28:19;
I Cor. 11:23-26)
4. The defense of the faith once for all delivered unto the saints.
(Jude 3; Heb. 10:23; Rev. 3:8)
5. The mutual love, care, and concern for others, especially those of
the household of faith. (James 2:14-16; Gal. 6:10; Rom.12:13; I John
3:17)
THE
ARTICLES OF FAITH
OF BEREA BAPTIST CHURCH
THE SCRIPTURES
We believe in the authority and sufficiency of the Holy Bible,
consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, as
originally written; that it was verbally and plenarily inspired and is
the product of Holy Spirit-controlled men, and therefore as truth
without any admixture of error for its matter and is infallible and
inerrant in all matters of which it speaks. We believe the Bible to be
the true center of Christian unity and the supreme standard by which all
human conduct, creed, and opinions shall be tried. (II Tim. 3:16,17; II
Pet. 1:19-21)
THE TRUE GOD
We believe there is one, and only one, living and true God, infinite,
intelligent Spirit, the Maker and Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth;
inexpressibly glorious in holiness, and worthy of all possible honor,
confidence and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three
persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit equal in every divine
perfection, and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great
work of redemption. (Exod. 20:2-3; I Cor. 8:6; Rev. 4:11; I John 5:7;
John
10:30; II Cor. 13:14)
ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person; equal with God the
Father and God the Son and of the same nature; that He was active in
creation; that in His relation to the unbelieving world He restrains the
evil one until God's purpose is fulfilled; that He convicts of sin, of
righteousness, and of judgment; that He bears witness to the truth of
the Gospel in preaching and testimony, that He is the agent of the New
Birth; that He seals, baptizes, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses,
sanctifies and helps the believer. (John 14:16-17; Matt. 28:19; Heb.
9:14; John 14:26; Luke 1:35; Gen. 1:1-3; II Thess. 2:7; John 16:8-11;
John 15:26-27; Acts
5:30;11:16; Luke 24:49; John 16:13; John 14:26; Rom. 8:14; II Thess
2:13; I
Pet. 1:2; Rom. 8:26-27; Rom. 8:16)
THE DEVIL, OR SATAN
We believe in the reality and personality of Satan, the Devil; and that
he was created by God as an angel but through pride and rebellion became
the enemy of his Creator; that he became the unholy god of this age and
the ruler of all the powers of darkness and is destined to the judgment
of an eternal justice in the lake of fire. (Matt.4:1-11; II Cor. 4:4;
Rev. 20:10)
CREATION
We believe the Biblical account of the creation of the physical
universe, angels, and man; that this account is neither allegory nor
myth, but a literal, historical account of the direct creative acts of
God without any evolutionary process; that man was created by a direct
work of God and not from previously existing forms of life; and that all
men are descended from the historical Adam and Eve, first parents of the
entire human race.(Gen.1,2; Col. 1:16; John 1:3)
THE FALL OF MAN
We believe that man was created in innocence (in the image and likeness
of God) under the law of his Maker, but by voluntary transgression, Adam
fell from his sinless and happy state, and all men sinned in him, in
consequence of which all men are totally depraved, are partakers of
Adam's fallen nature, and are sinners by nature and by conduct and
therefore are under just condemnation without defense or excuse. (Gen.
1:26-27; Gen. 3:1-6; Rom. 3:10-19; 5:12,19; 1:18,32)
THE VIRGIN BIRTH
We believe that Jesus Christ 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. (Gen.3:15; Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:18-25; Luke 1:35; John 1:14)
SALVATION
We believe that the salvation of sinners is divinely initiated and
wholly of grace through the mediatorial offices of Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, who, by the appointment of the Father, voluntarily took upon
Himself our nature, yet without sin, and honored the divine law by His
personal obedience, thus, qualifying Himself to be our Savior; that by
the shedding of His blood in His death, He fully satisfied the just
demands of a holy and righteous God regarding sin; that His sacrifice
consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was
a voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinners' place, the Just
dying for the unjust, Christ the Lord bearing our sins in His own body
on the tree; that having risen from the dead He is now enthroned in
Heaven and uniting in His wonderful person the tenderest sympathies with
divine perfection, being in every way qualified to be a
suitable, a compassionate and all-sufficient Savior. We believe that
personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of
salvation; repentance is a change of mind and purpose toward God
prompted by the Holy Spirit and is an integral part of saving faith.
Jonah 2:9; Eph. 2:8; Acts 15:11;Romans 3:24,25;John 3:16; Matt. 18:11;
Phil. 2:7,8; Heb. 2:14-17; Isa. 53:4-7; I John 4:10; I Cor. 15:3; II Cor.
5:21; I Peter 2:24)
THE RESURRECTION AND PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST
We believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ and in His ascension
into Heaven, where He now sits at the right hand of the Father as our
High Priest interceding for us. (Matt. 28:6-7; Luke 25:39; John 20:27; I
Cor. 15:4; Mark 16:6; Luke 25:2-6, 5l; Acts 1:9-11; Rev.3:21; Heb. 8:6;
12:2; 7:25; I Tim. 2:5; I John 2:1; Heb. 2:17; 5:9-10)
GRACE AND THE NEW BIRTH
We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be born again; that
the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus; that it is
instantaneous and not a process; that in the new birth the one dead in
trespasses and in sins is made a partaker of the divine nature and
receives eternal life, the free gift of God; that the new creation is
brought about by our sovereign God in a manner above our comprehension,
solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with divine truth,
so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the gospel; that its proper
evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance, faith and newness of
life. (John 3:3; II Cor. 5:17; I John 5:1; Acts 16:20-33; II Pet. 1:4;
Rom. 6:23; Eph. 2:1,5; Col. 2:13; John 3:8)
JUSTIFICATION
We believe that justification is that judicial act of God whereby He
declares the believer righteous upon the basis of the imputed
righteousness of Christ; that it is bestowed, not in consideration of
any works of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith
in the Redeemer's shed blood. (Rom. 2:24; 4:5; 5:1,9; Gal. 2:16; Phil.
3:9)
SANCTIFICATION
We believe that sanctification is the divine setting apart of the
believer unto God accomplished in a threefold manner; first, an eternal
act of God, based upon redemption in Christ, establishing the believer
in a position of holiness at the moment he trusts the Savior; second, a
continuing process in the saint as the Holy Spirit applies the Word of
God to the life; third, the final accomplishment of the process at the
Lord's return. (Heb. 10:10-14; 3:1; John 17:17; II Cor. 1:30;Eph.
5:25-27; I Thess. 4:3,4; 5:23,24; I John 3:2; Jude 24,25;Rev. 22:11; II
Cor. 3:18)
THE LOCAL CHURCH
We believe that a local church is an organized congregation of immersed
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 them by His Word; that its
officers are Pastor and Deacons, whose qualifications, claims and duties
are clearly defined in the Scriptures. We believe that the true mission
of the church is the faithful witnessing of Christ to all men as we have
opportunity. 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 superintendent
is Christ through the Holy Spirit; that it is scriptural for true
churches to cooperate with each other in
contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the gospel; that
each local church is the sole judge of the measure and method of its
cooperation, that on all matters of membership, of polity, of
government, of discipline, of benevolence, the will of the local church
is final.(I Cor. 11:2; Acts 20:17-28; I Tim. 3:1-13; Acts 2:41-42)We
believe in the unity of all New Testament believers in the Church which
is the Body of Christ. (I Cor. 12:12,13;Eph. 1:22,23; 3:1-6; 4:11;
5:23; Col. 1:18; Acts 15:13-18)
BAPTISM AND THE LORD'S SUPPER
We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in
water to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem of our faith and
identification with the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, through
Whom we died to sin and rose to a new life; that baptism is to be
performed under the authority of the local church; and that it is
prerequisite to the privileges of church membership. Baptism is an act
of obedience by the believer to God's command, but is not necessary to
salvation. We believe that the Lord's Supper is the commemoration of
His death until He comes, and should be preceded always by solemn
self-examination. We believe that the Biblical order of the ordinances
is baptism first and then the Lord's Supper, and that participants in
the Lord's Supper should be immersed believers. (Acts 8:36,38,39; John
3:23; Rom. 6:3-5; Matt. 3:16; Col. 2:12; I Cor. ll:23-28;
Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 2:41,42)
SEPARATION
We believe in obedience to the Biblical command of separation. This
includes personal separation unto God from worldliness. It also
includes separation from ecclesiastical apostasy and the ecumenical
movement. (II Cor. 6:14-7:1; I Thess. 1:9,10; I Tim. 6:3-5; Rom. 16:17;
II John 9-11; Eph. 5:11; Psalm 1:1; Rom. 12:1,2; I John 2:15; Jude 4)
SECURITY OF THE SAINTS
We believe in the eternal security of the saints; that all who are truly
born again are kept by God the Father for Jesus Christ; that once saved
it is impossible for the believer to lose or relinquish his salvation.
(Phil. 1:6; John 10:28,29; Rom. 8:35-39; Jude 1; Heb. 6:4-6; John
6:39,40)
THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED
We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the
righteous and the wicked; that only those who are justified by faith in
our Lord Jesus Christ and sanctified by the Spirit of our God are truly
righteous in His esteem; while all such as continue in impenitence and
unbelief are in His sight wicked and under the curse; and this
distinction holds among men both in and after death, in the everlasting
felicity of the saved and the everlasting conscious suffering of the
lost in the lake of fire. (Mal. 3:18; Gen. 18:23; Rom. 6:17,18; I John
5:19; Rom. 7:6; 6:23; Prov.14:32; Luke 16:25; Matt. 25:34-41; John 8:21;
Rev. 20:14,15)
CIVIL GOVERNMENT
We believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the
interests and good order of human society; that those in authority are
to be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed, except in those
things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only
Lord of the conscience and the coming King of kings. (Rev. 19:16; Rom.
13:1-7; II Sam. 23:3; Exod. 18:21,22; Acts 23:5; Matt. 22:21; Acts 5:29;
4:19,20; Dan. 3:17,18)
ISRAEL
We believe in the sovereign selection of Israel as God's eternal
covenant people, though now dispersed because of her disobedience and
rejection of Christ, she is being preserved to be regathered to her land
where believing Jews will recognize and embrace their Messiah. (Gen.
13:14-17; Rom. 9:10,11; Ezek. 37)
THE RAPTURE AND SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
We believe in the pre-tribulational and pre-millennial return of Christ,
an event which can occur at any moment, and that at that moment the dead
in Christ shall be raised in glorified bodies, and the living in Christ
shall be given glorified bodies without tasting death, and all shall be
caught up to meet the Lord in the air. (I Thess. 4:13-18; I Cor.
15:42-44, 51-54; Phil. 3:20,21; Rev. 3:10) We believe that the
Tribulation, which follows the rapture of the church, will be culminated
by the revelation of Christ in power and great glory to sit upon the
throne of David and to establish the millennial kingdom. (Dan. 9:25-27;
Matt. 24:29-31; Luke 1:30-33; Isa. 9:6,7; 11:1-9; Acts 2:29,30; Rev.
20:1-4,6)
MARRIAGE, THE FAMILY AND DIVORCE
1) On Marriage: We believe that marriage is ordained of God for
mankind's welfare and happiness (Gen. 1:28; 2:18; Prov.5:18,19) that the
institution of marriage was honored by the Lord Jesus Christ in word
(Matt. 19:6) and in deed (John 2:1-11), that the marriage bed is
honorable (Heb. 13:4) and that, for the believer, marriage is to be "in
the Lord" and only to another believer. (II Cor.6:14; I Cor. 7:39)
2) On the Family: We believe that the family is the most basic unit of
society and that in each individual case, it is initially formed only
within the bonds of marriage. Later, as God wills, children may be
added to the family (Ps. 127:3-5). God's order of authority in the
Christian family is Christ, the Head; followed by the husband or father,
then the wife or mother and finally, the children. It is only when
these are in proper scriptural balance that the family becomes all that
God intended it to be. (Eph. 5:21; 6:4; Col. 3:18-21; Exod. 20:12)
3) On Divorce: We believe that from the beginning, God never intended
for man and wife to either be separated or divorced. (Gen. 2:24; Matt.
19:6) This continues to be His perfect will and pattern, even to the
selection of marriage as being the only human example or type of the
eternal blessed and unbroken union of the believer with his Savior.
(Eph. 5:25-32) However, with the fall of man and the sure consequences
of man living from then on with a fallen or sinful nature, God
recognized what is and commanded Moses to authorize the "bill of
Divorcement" because of the hardness of the human heart. (Deut. 24:1-4;
Matt. 19:7-8) Speaking within the dispensation of law, Jesus enlarged
upon the Law of Moses by explaining that this authorization was under
the permissive will of God, and except for divorce on account of
fornication, did not condone the remarriage of either party, calling
such action the committing of adultery in violation of the
commandment "Thou shalt not commit adultery". (Matt. 19:9; Mk.
10:2-12) In
like manner, the Lord, speaking through Paul, instructed the wife not to
leave her husband and the husband not to put away his wife. (I
Cor.7:10-11) We believe then that divorce or divorce and remarriage is
contrary to God's perfect will and that divorce and remarriage
constitutes adultery. However, we believe that the attitude of the
local church should be that of ministering in a forgiving and
Christ-like spirit, and seeking to restore the believer to fellowship.
(Gal.6:1-3; Isa. 54:1-10; Jer. 3:1)