Doctrinal Statement Of Trinity Baptist Church
Our Theological Roots
We adhere to the doctrinal distinctives of reformed, historic, and orthodox Christianity.
We are in agreement with the essential theological tenets of the London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689.
God
We believe that there is one and only one living and true God.
We believe that the Living God of Scripture is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being. {Jeremiah 10:10; Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 Corinthians 8:4-6; John 4:24}
We believe that the Living God is the Creator, the Preserver, the Redeemer, and the Ruler of the universe. {Genesis 1:1f; Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 1:16-17; Isaiah 44:6f; Matthew 28:19; Revelation 1:5; 1 Timothy 6:15-16; Ephesians 1:11; Romans 8:28; Psalm 145:17}
We believe that the Living God is infinite, eternal (from everlasting to everlasting, the First and the Last, the Alpha and Omega), and holy in all of His glorious and perfect attributes. He is unchangeable, all-knowing, everywhere present, and all-powerful. He is all-wise, He is truth, He is good, He is love, He is grace, He is mercy, and He is just. {1 Kings 8:27; Jeremiah 23:23-24; Deuteronomy 33:27; Genesis 21:33; Psalm 41:13; Psalm 90:1-2; Psalm 93:2; Isaiah 41:4; Isaiah 43:10; Isaiah 44:6; Revelation 1:8, 17; Revelation 22:13; Psalm 89:35; Psalm 22:3; Isaiah 6:1-4; Revelation 4:8; Numbers 23:19;
Malachi 3:6; James 1:17; 1 Samuel 2:3; Psalm 147:5; Psalm 139:7-8; Revelation 19:6; Psalm 62:11; Genesis 18:14; Jeremiah 32:27; Zechariah 8:6; Matthew 3:9; Matthew 19:26; Matthew 26:53; 1 Timothy 1:17; Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 34:8; Psalm 86:5; Psalm 145:6, 7; Exodus 34:5-7; Deuteronomy 7:7; 1 John 4:7-10; Romans 3:24; Titus 3:7; Ephesians 1:7; Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 2:11f; Deuteronomy 7:9-12; 2 Chronicles 6:14; Lamentations 3:22, 23; Luke 1:54, 72, 78; Ephesians 2:4; Nahum 1:2-8; Revelation 15:3- 4; Revelation 19:3-4}
We believe that the Living God reveals Himself to us in three persons as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit without division of nature, essence, or being. {Genesis 1:26; Genesis 3:22; Genesis 11:7; Isaiah 6:8; Psalm 45:6-7; Psalm 110:1; Matthew 28:19; John 1:1- 18; John 14-16; Romans 8:9; Romans 9:5; Ephesians 1; 1 Corinthians 2:11; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 2 Corinthians 3:17; 2 Thessalonians 2:13- 14; Titus 2:13; Titus 3:4-6; 1 Peter 1:2; Jude 20-21}
We believe that the Living God is all-sufficient. He does not stand in need of any of the creatures He has made nor does He derive any part of His glory from them. On the contrary, He manifests His own glory in and by them. {John 5:26; Acts 17:25; Revelation 4:11; Colossians 1:16-17}
We believe that the Living God is the foundation of all existence, the basis of all knowledge, the absolute standard of right and wrong, and the origin, channel, and end of all things. {Acts 17:28; Revelation 4:11; Psalm 36:9; Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs 9:10; Colossians 2:1-3; Leviticus 20:7; 1 Peter 1:16; Romans 11:33-36}
We believe that the Living God of Scripture is worthy of our highest worship, love, reverence, and obedience. {1 Chronicles 29:10-15; Revelation 5:8-14}
The Bible
We believe that the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are the written and inspired word of God, infallible and inerrant in all they affirm.
We believe that the whole of Scripture is for the whole man and for the whole of life.
We believe that the Word has divine authority in everything it addresses and it addresses everything either explicitly or in principle (both in things pertaining to eternal salvation and to things pertaining to the needs of life on earth).
We believe that the Word of God is the final arbiter in all disputes.
We believe that the authority of the word of God is derived from its Author and not from the opinions of men.
We believe that in no way should the Scriptures be brought to the judgment seat of human reason. Rather, we believe that we must rationally and submissively study the Word granted to us in full dependence upon the illuminatory ministry of the Holy Spirit. {Deuteronomy 29:29; Romans 15:4; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Psalm 119; 2 Peter 1:19-21; Psalm 19:7-11; John 17:17; Isaiah 8:20; Isaiah 45:23; 2 Peter 3:16}
Creation and the Fall
We believe that God, by the word of His power, freely created the universe out of nothing in six normal (that is, 24 hour) days (denoted as evenings and mornings) and continues to sustain and rule over it. We believe that the nature and time of this event must be determined solely through careful study of God's word. {Genesis 1; Exodus 20:8-11; Isaiah 45:12; Jeremiah 10:12-13; John 1:1-3; Hebrews 11:3; Romans. 4:17; Psalm 119:90-91; Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 1:15-17}
We believe that God made our first father Adam in His own image (sinless and upright), the pinnacle of His creation. We believe that God appointed Adam to rule over the created realm and that He appointed him the covenant head (representative) of the whole human race. By this appointment, God thereby made all Adam's offspring liable to the effects of Adam's obedience or disobedience to His commandment.
Salvation through the Gospel
We believe that, before the foundation of the world, God the Father, according to the kind and gracious intention of His sovereign and free will and for His own glory, did elect in Christ an incalculable multitude of people out of fallen humanity to eternal life.
We believe that this gracious and super abounding election was in no way dependent upon His foresight of the faith, decision, works, or merit of this multitude. {Ephesians 1:3-14; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; Revelation 5:9; 2 Timothy 1:9; Acts 13:48; John 1:13; Romans 9; John 6:37-39; John 10:26-27; John 15:16; John 17:2, 6; Romans 11:5-7; 1 Thessalonians 1:4; Titus 1:1; John 17:3; Revelation 7:9; Luke 13:18-30; Matthew 8:11}
We believe that God the Father sent God the Son into this world to efficaciously save and keep this multitude.
We believe that Christ was conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit and was born of her, yet without sin.
oWe believe that Christ lived a sinless life perfectly fulfilling the law of God.
We believe that Christ was and is both fully man and fully God in two distinct natures and in one Person forever.
We believe, as man and as the covenant head of a new race, that Christ is our Elder Brother and High Priest before God, representing us to God the Father.
We believe, as God, that Christ is the visible image of the invisible Father, representing God to us. {John 17:18; Luke 1:35; Matthew 1:16; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; Hebrews 7:24-26; Philippians 2:6-8; John 17:4; Hebrews 10:5-9; Romans 1:3; Hebrews 2:14, 17; John 1:1-14; John 20:28; Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 13:8; Hebrews 2:11-18; 1 Peter 3:22; John 1:18; Colossians 1:15; John 14:9 ]
We believe that as Prophet and Teacher, Christ reveals to God's elect, by His Word and Spirit, the will of God for their salvation; and that when His sheep hear His voice, they follow Him. {Acts 3:22; John 3:34; Matthew 11:27; John 10:26-30; John 14:26; John 16:12-14}
We believe that as High Priest, Christ willingly offered Himself up to God once for all on the cross shedding His blood as a substitutionary sacrifice for the redemption of those elected by the Father thereby propitiating God's wrath which was upon them, procuring their reconciliation with God, and saving them from the curse of the Law.
We believe that Christ continually intercedes for His people in the presence of His Father in Heaven, thereby assuring their perseverance in holiness unto the end. {Hebrews 7:25-27; Hebrews 10:12; Isaiah 53:5; Philippians 2:5-11; Ephesians 5:25; Acts 20:28; John 6:37-39; Revelation 5:9; John 10:11; Isaiah 53:10-12; Mark 10:45; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Matthew 1:21; Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:17; Romans 5:10; Ephesians 2:16; Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 2:14; Romans 8:34; 1 Corinthians 1:8; Jude 24-25}
We believe that as King, Christ was declared the Son of God with power by His bodily resurrection from the dead on the third day and thereby fulfilling the words of the prophets of old.
We believe that, having in this way definitively conquered His enemies, He ascended to the right hand of the Father and was enthroned in glory, thus inaugurating His Kingdom. As proof of His inauguration as King of kings and Lord of lords, He poured out His Spirit on the day of Pentecost to carry forward His work on earth.
We believe that Christ rules in the hearts of His people, subduing their sin and enabling them to love and obey Him and that He rules over all creation, visible and invisible, and all nations for the sake of the church and the furtherance of His invincible kingdom. {Romans 1:1-4; Luke 24:25-49; Acts 3:17-26; 1 Peter 1:10-12; Hebrews 1:1-3; Colossians 2:15; Luke 11:20-22; Matthew 12:28-30; John 12:31; Hebrews 2:14-15; Ephesians 4:8-11; Revelation 12:1-12; Acts 2:30-35; Revelation 1:4-8; Romans 8:34; Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8; Genesis 49:10; Jeremiah 31:33; Titus 2:11-14; Philippians 4:13; Colossians 1:11-17; Romans 8:28; Ephesians 1:22}
We believe that God the Son has sent forth the Holy Spirit to efficaciously apply the work of redemption to God's people.
We believe that the Holy Spirit does this redeeming work by convicting and convincing men of their sin and misery, enlightening their minds in the knowledge of Christ, renewing their wills, thus enabling them to repent of sin and embrace the Lord Jesus Christ by faith alone. This work of the Spirit is called regeneration or the new birth. {Titus 3:4-7; John 16:7-14; Acts 16:14; 1 Corinthians 2:10; Ezekiel 36:26; Philippians 2:13; Psalm 110:3; 2 Corinthians 5:17; John 3:3; 1 Peter 1:3; Ephesians 1:13; John 6:44-45}
We believe that God's people, having been brought to faith in Christ by the ministry of the Holy Spirit, are justified (that is, pardoned of all their sins and declared righteous in the sight of God) on the sole basis of Christ's righteousness imputed to them.
We believe, although sin may interrupt the joy of fellowship with God and bring upon God's people the loving discipline of their Heavenly Father, that they are never more nor less justified than when they first believed. {Romans 3:24; Ephesians 1:7; Romans 4:5; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 5:18-19; Psalm 51:12; Hebrews 12:7-10; Romans 8:1; Genesis 15:6}
We believe that those who are thus justified are also adopted as God's own children and made joint heirs with Christ.
We believe that they are given the Holy Spirit as the guarantee of their redemption through whom they cry out, "Abba! Father!" and that they shall, therefore, bear the fruit of the Spirit and persevere by God's grace throughout the remainder of their lives. {Galatians 4:4-6; Romans 8:17; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:15; Galatians 5:22-23; Ephesians 2:8-10; 1 Peter 1:3-5}
We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells all true believers and works in them (by means of the Scriptures, His enabling power, and the exhortation of fellow-believers) that which is pleasing in God's sight.
We believe, having freed God's people from the power of sin, that the Holy Spirit conforms them into the image of Christ and enables them more and more to die to sin and live unto the righteousness requirements of God. Nevertheless, we believe, due to their remaining corruption, that this process is never perfected in this life.
We believe that this remaining corruption gives rise to a continual war (the flesh striving against the Spirit and the Spirit striving against the flesh) that shall continue until Christ takes the believer home in glory and frees the believer from the very presence of sin. {Acts 20:32; Romans 8:1-14; Revelation 19:8; James 2:14-26; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:7-12; 1 Peter 1:23; Romans 7:4-6; Romans 6:11-23; Romans 8:29; Romans 8:13; Galatians 5:16-17; 1 Peter 2:9-12; Romans 8:23}
We believe that those who profess faith yet exhibit a pattern of life governed by sin are self deceived and are still in a lost condition.
{Matthew 7:21; James 2:19-20; 1 John 2:9, 19; Galatians 5:19-21; 1 John 2:4-6; 2 Peter 2:22}
We believe that God has gifted every believer with a different and unique manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
We believe that the purpose of these grace gifts is to glorify God through their use in edifying and building up the body of Christ for the work of service in the kingdom of God. {1 Corinthians 12; Romans 12:3-8; 1 Peter 4:10-11; Ephesians 4:1-16}
The Church
We believe that the universal Church consists only of those who have been justified by faith alone in Christ alone and that it includes all of the redeemed of all the ages. The Scriptures designate this company of people as the body of Christ, a chosen race, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, and a people for God's own possession.
We believe that the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ shall flourish despite persecution and strife unto the end of the age. {Matthew 16:18; 1 Peter 2:9-10; Hebrews 12:28; John 16:33; Acts 14:22; Philippians 1:29; 2 Timothy 2:11-13; 2 Timothy 3:12; Matthew 19:28-30; Mark 10:29-31; Revelation 1:9; Isaiah 11:9; Habakkuk 2:14; Psalm 72:6-19}
We believe that a local church is a body of baptized believers (those who have made a credible profession of faith in Christ) who are joined together in the fellowship of the Gospel and for the furtherance of Christ's kingdom under the one authority of Christ Jesus the Lord.
We believe that the purpose of the local church is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever through the faithful preaching and instruction of the Word, prayer, fellowship, the proper administration of the Gospel ordinances, and the gracious exercise of church discipline. {1 Corinthians 1:2-9; Ephesians 3:20-21; 2 Timothy 4:1-5; Acts 2:41-47; Matthew 28:18-20; Matthew 18:15-20}
We believe that baptism (by immersion) and the Lord's Supper (or communion) are Gospel ordinances properly belonging to believers alone.
We believe that these ordinances are external signs of internal and spiritual realities.
We believe that baptism signifies the recipient's union with Christ as well as cleansing from sin but that it neither guarantees nor accomplishes such union and cleansing.
We believe that the Lord's Supper is a celebration of remembrance wherein the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on behalf of His people is proclaimed visually as a comfort to the church until His return in glory. {Acts 2:38-39; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 16:14-15, 31-33; Acts 18:8; Acts 22:16; Romans 6:1-5; 1 Corinthians 1:17; Acts 2:42; 1 Corinthians 11:24-26}
We believe that the head of each local church is Christ and that He has authorized two servant/leadership offices in a local church: the office of elders/pastors and the office of deacons.
We believe that these offices work in concert with the local congregation in decision making. {Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; 1 Timothy 4:14; 1 Timothy 5:17-18; Titus 1:5-9; Acts 6:1-7; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13; Hebrews 13:17; 1 Peter 5:1-5; James 5:13-15}
Evangelism and Missions
We believe, on the basis of Christ's complete and efficacious blood atonement, by the testimony that the Father has sent Christ as Savior of the world, and in obedience to Christ's global commission, that it is the responsibility and privilege of every Christian and every local church to endeavor to make disciples of all nations. {Revelation 5:8-10; John 3:16-17; John 4:42; 1 John 4:14; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21; 1 John 2:1-2; Colossians 1:19-20; Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21}
We believe that we are to proclaim the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ to all men and that God, in His sovereignty, uses the means of evangelism to save His people. {Romans 10:14-15; Isaiah 52:7; 1 Peter 2:9-10; 2 Timothy 2:8-10; 1 Corinthians 3:5-7}
We believe that God's sovereignty in salvation does not negate our diligent and bold proclamation of the Gospel and we believe that all men are responsible to repent and believe the Gospel. {Romans 1:14-15; Acts 17:30-31}
We believe, in God's sovereign time, that all kings and nations, thus discipled, will bow the knee to the Lord Christ and that He will accomplish this progressively through the faithful proclamation and application (the word and the deeds) of the Gospel. {Psalm 2; Psalm 72; Psalm 110; Isaiah 42:1-4; Matthew 12:18-21; Isaiah 2:1-4; Isaiah 25:7; Isaiah 42:6-7; Isaiah 49:8-9; Isaiah 52:13-15; 2 Corinthians 6:2; Romans 1:5; Romans 15:16; Matthew 13:31-33; Revelation 2:26-27; Revelation 11:15; Revelation 22:24-27}
We believe in the enabling of the Holy Spirit to empower His people to be effective and viable witnesses of Christ, His finished work, and the Gospel of the kingdom. {Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8; Acts 4:31}
We believe that it is the responsibility of God's people to diligently prepare to make a relevant and rational defense against every form of opposition and contradiction of the hope (Christ, the Gospel, and the Christian faith) that resides within them. {1 Peter 3:15-16; Acts 17:16-34; Colossians 4:2-6; Titus 1:9; 2 Timothy 4:1-5; Psalm 110:1-2; Hebrews 1:13; Hebrews 10:12-13}
We believe that every thought that exalts itself against the knowledge of God is to be made captive to the obedience of the Lord Christ and that every tongue is to glorify God the Father. {2 Corinthians 10:1-6; Isaiah 45:22-25; Philippians 2:5-11}
Last Things
We believe that God, in His sovereign timing and purpose, will bring the world to its appropriate end with the summing up of all things in Christ Jesus.
We believe that, according to His sure and certain promise, Jesus Christ will return personally, physically, and visibly in glory to the earth on the last day of human history.
We believe that the living and dead, both righteous and unrighteous, shall be raised together on the last day.
We believe the righteous will be raised up and glorified to immortality in the likeness of Christ's glorified resurrection body and will dwell forever in His presence enjoying everlasting communion with their God, to the glory of His grace.
We believe the unrighteous will be raised to condemnation and suffer God's wrath in hell (eternal, conscious torment), separated from the Lord Jesus Christ and the beauty of His presence, to the glory of His justice.
We believe that the basis of the blessed hope and consolation of the Church is the knowledge that Christ will finally cast all His enemies into everlasting condemnation and that He shall take His bride to Himself to fully partake of His everlasting joy and glory forever. Amen. {Ephesians 1:10; Acts 1:9-11; Matthew 25:31-46; Mark 9:47-48; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; John 5:22; Acts 10:42; Acts 17:30; 2 Timothy 4:1; John 5:28-29; John 6:39-48; John 11:23-25; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 1 Corinthians 15:49-58; Philippians 3:20-21; Psalm 23:6; Revelation 21:3; 22:5; Romans 9:22-23; 2 Peter 3:3f; Revelation 20:9-10; Revelation 21:1-22:5; Titus 2:11-14}