BEREAN
BAPTIST
CHURCH
The Scriptures
We believe that the Bible is the literal Word of God; equally inspired by the Holy Spirit in all its parts as well as in its revelation; and without error or omission in its original form. We use the New King James Version for public ministry.
(2 Peter 1:19-21; 2 Timothy 3:16; 1 John 5:9; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; John 16:13; 10:34-36; Hebrews 1:1,2; 2:3,4)
God
We believe that there is one and only one living, true and sovereign God, infinite and eternal, maker of Heaven and Earth who is holy, loving, immutable, just and righteous. We believe that in the unity of the Godhead, there are three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, equal in divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices. We believe God to be omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. (Exodus 20:2-5; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 1 John 5:7; Revelation 4:11)
Jesus Christ
We believe Jesus Christ is God the Father’s uniquely begotten Son, born of the Virgin Mary and that He lived, suffered and died and was bodily raised from the grave by the power of God the Father. We also believe He will return literally, bodily and visibly to rapture His Church and will subsequently, following the Great Tribulation, personally appear to judge the nations and to establish His Millennial Kingdom upon the Earth. We believe that He will live and reign in the glory of the New Jerusalem. (Matthew 1:18-25; John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 15:3,4; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Corinthians 5:9-11; Revelation 19:11-22:5)
The Holy Spirit
We believe that the third person of the Trinity is God the Holy Spirit. We hold that the manward ministry of the Holy Spirit includes the making known of God and His plan through revelation, inspiration and illumination. 2 Peter 1:21; 2 Timothy 3:16; Titus 3:5; 2 Samuel 23:2; Acts 1:16; 4:25
We believe His responsibility to the unsaved is that of convicting of sin, righteousness and judgment. We also believe that upon a person’s exercising faith in Christ as Savior and Lord, the Holy Spirit immediately acts to regenerate, indwell and baptize, simultaneously, placing the Believer in the Body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:11-13, 24; John 16:8-15
We believe that upon conversion of a soul, the Believer is immediately sealed and by the Spirit’s enablement, through grace, is given gift(s) with which to serve God. We believe that the gift of tongues had meaning in the Apostolic ministry but that there is now no valid or profitable place in a New Testament Church for claim to such a gift. Acts 2; 1 Corinthians 12:14; Ephesians 4:30; 4:10-16
We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells the Believer eternally and without exception. We further believe that the Holy Spirit works in the yielded Believer as the controlling agent to produce a Christ-like character, serving as Teacher, Guide, Bestower of Assurance and as a vital agent in the Believer’s prayer life. 1 Corinthians 6:19,20; John 14:16; Galatians 5:22,23; Romans 8:14-16, 26
We also believe that the Holy Spirit affords and maintains the unity of the fellowship of Saints and as the Administrator of the Church, fosters decency and order. Ephesians 4:3,4; 10-16; 1 Corinthians 14:33,40
Man
We believe that man was directly created by God in His own spiritual and moral image and by misuse of his own volitional powers, fell from his innocent and happy state. Genesis 3
The consequence of man’s fall is found in that all men are sinners and therefore, in need of the Savior whom God the Father sent to be the propitiation for the sins of the entire world. We believe that as in Adam, all men die, even so, in Christ, provision is made for all to be made alive. Romans 1:18-32; 3:23; 5:12-19; 6:23
We believe that refusal to receive Christ as one’s Savior constitutes gross sin and invokes the wrath and judgment of God, followed by eternal death and conscious punishment. Revelation 20:15
Redemption
We believe that God has provided, in Christ, salvation from sin, guilt and eternal death, providing for man’s redemption, justification and sanctification, with forgiveness of sin and the gift of eternal life, through the personal finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe salvation to be a matter entirely of grace, experienced through repentance and faith by those who receive Christ as their personal Savior. We believe rejection of saving grace in Christ causes one to be forever lost and that he will be so judged at the Great White Throne Judgment. John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-14; 1 John 4:10,11; Revelation 20:11-15
Eternal Security
We believe in the eternal security of the Believer. We hold that nothing can separate from God, those who are positioned in and identified with Christ; such are “kept by the power of God through faith, unto salvation” conclusive evidence of this being in their patient continuance and progress in righteousness and true holiness. Romans 8:35-39; 1 Peter 1:5; John 10:27-29; 2 Timothy 1:9; Ephesians 1:6
The Church
We believe that all who are born-again during the Church Age constitute the universal, invisible, eternal, mystical Body of Christ, frequently referred to in the Scriptures as the Bride of Christ. Whereas the mystical Church of Christ is spiritually organic, the local church or assembly is physical and organizational, being constituted of professed believers for purpose of worship, fellowship and the propagation of the faith. The local assembly must be autonomous, self-governing, self-propagating, self-supporting and separate from civil authority; the Bible must ever be its authority in all matters of faith, order and conduct. Ephesians 5:22-33; Revelation 19:7, 22:17; Acts 1:12-26, 20:17-35; Titus 1
Ordinances
We believe that the Bible teaches that two ordinances, and only two are to be practiced in each New Testament assembly. These are:
Baptism
We believe in baptism by immersion in water. We believe this to be the believer’s mode of public confession of his attainment by grace, of a position in Christ through the baptism of the Holy Spirit through whom he is able to reckon himself dead to sin but alive unto God. Baptism is both a matter of obedience and privilege. Matthew 3:6, 16, 17, 28:19-20; Mark 16:16; Acts 8:36-38
The Lord’s Supper
We believe that the Lord’s table is made possible through the provision of bread and juice of the fruit of the vine, symbols of Christ’s body and blood, partaken of frequently by the saved in commemoration of the suffering and death of their Lord; showing their participation by faith in the merits of His sacrifice and in the hope of eternal life through His resurrection. We do not believe that this observance is to be sectarian or legislated by man. Its observance is to be preceded by prayerful self-examination. Matthew 26:26-30; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32; Acts 2:46