Table of Contents
Personal Statement of Beliefs
1. God
There is only one true and living God1Deuteronomy 4:35; 6:4; Malachi 2:10; I Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 4:6; I Timothy 2:5; James 2:19—Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.2Exodus 2:24; 3:6, 15-16; Matthew 22:32; Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37; Acts 3:13 No other gods exist outside of the human imagination.3Judges 10:14; Psalm 135:15-18; Isaiah 44:9-20; Jeremiah 11:12; Galatians 4:8 No other being can rival His greatness, and He alone is worthy of our worship.4Exodus 9:14; 20:3-5; Deuteronomy 10:21; 33:26; II Samuel 7:22; I Chronicles 16:25; Psalm 96:4-5; Isaiah 46:5, 9; Jeremiah 10:6; John 4:24; Hebrews 12:28-29 God is a perfect,5Matthew 5:48 eternal,6Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalm 90:2; Revelation 4:8-10 self-existing,7Exodus 3:14; Isaiah 41:4 and self-sufficient8Acts 17:25; Romans 11:36 Spirit.9John 4:24; II Corinthians 3:17 He created matter, space, and time,10Genesis 1:1; John 1:3; Colossians 1:16 and He exists independently of them.11John 17:5, 24; I Timothy 6:16 He is unchanging in His perfections.12Psalm 102:26-27; James 1:17 He is infinitely good,13Psalms 25:8; 119:68 gracious,14Exodus 34:6; Psalm 116:5 faithful,15I Corinthians 10:13; I Peter 4:19 holy,16Psalm 99:9; Isaiah 5:16 just,17Deuteronomy 32:4; Isaiah 45:21 loving,18I John 4:8, 16 merciful,19Exodus 34:6-7; Psalm 86:5 righteous,20Ezra 9:15; Psalm 145:17 true,21Jeremiah 10:10; John 17:3 and wise.22Romans 16:27; I Timothy 1:17 He is omnipotent, not being limited by anything outside of Himself.23Psalm 115:3; Isaiah 14:24-27; Romans 1:20 He is also omniscient, having exhaustive knowledge and a complete understanding of reality.24Psalm 139:1-6; Proverbs 5:21; I Corinthians 3:19-20 His greatness is not fully comprehensible to humanity’s limited understanding.25Psalm 145:3; I Corinthians 2:11 However, He has revealed Himself to us, enabling us to know Him sufficiently to worship and obey Him.26John 17:3; Romans 1:19-20 He has revealed Himself most fully in the Person of Jesus Christ, as recorded for us in the Scriptures, and in the words of Scripture themselves.27Colossians 1:15; 2:9; II Timothy 3:14-17; Hebrews 1:1-4
A. The Trinity
God exists as a Trinity, that is, one God28Deuteronomy 4:35; 6:4; Malachi 2:10; I Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 4:6; I Timothy 2:5; James 2:19 in three eternally distinct but co-equal Persons:29Matthew 3:16-17; Matthew 28:19; II Corinthians 13:14 God the Father,30John 6:27; Romans 1:7 God the Son,31John 1:1, 14; Romans 9:5; Colossians 2:9 and God the Holy Spirit.32Acts 5:3-4; I Corinthians 3:16 The Trinity does not consist of three gods,33Deuteronomy 4:35; 6:4; Malachi 2:10; I Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 4:6; I Timothy 2:5; James 2:19 nor does it describe one person manifesting himself in three forms or modes.34Matthew 3:16-17; Matthew 28:19; II Corinthians 13:14
B. God the Father
God the Father is the sovereign Ruler of the universe35Psalm 103:19; Matthew 6:9-10; John 10:29; Ephesians 4:6 Who cares for His creations,36Exodus 16:1–17:7; Matthew 6:25-34; Acts 14:16-17 intervenes in human history according to His own gracious purposes,37Proverbs 8:15; Daniel 2:21; Acts 17:26-27 and relates as a loving Father toward all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.38Romans 8:15; II Corinthians 6:15-18; Galatians 4:4-7
C. God the Son
God the Son, Jesus Christ, is the uncreated, eternal Son of the Father,39John 1:1; 17:5; Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 13:8 Who came to earth to fulfill the Father’s promises as Israel’s Messiah and humanity’s Savior.40Matthew 11:3-6; 26:63-64; Luke 24:25-27; John 4:25-26; 13:19; Romans 1:1-3; I Corinthians 15:3-4 He took on a sinless human nature, becoming fully man without ceasing to be fully God.41John 1:14; Romans 1:1-3; 8:3-4; Galatians 4:4-5; Philippians 2:5-11 He was born to a virgin through the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit.42Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:27, 34 As God in human flesh, He was the ultimate revelation of God’s nature to humanity and claimed to be God during His earthly ministry.43Mark 14:61-62; John 1:14; 5:18; 8:58; 10:30; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:1-4 He was wholly without sin, so He could present Himself as the one and only perfect sacrifice for man’s sin—a Lamb without blemish, offered in our place.44I Corinthians 5:7; II Corinthians 5:21; Colossians 1:22; Hebrews 4:15; I Peter 1:19; 2:22; I John3:5; Revelation 5:6 Fulfilling the Father’s plans, He shed His blood and died on the cross as the only acceptable substitute for sinners, paying for our sins in full.45Matthew 27:33-56; Mark 15:22-41; Luke 23:33-49; John 19:30; Romans 3:25-26; II Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 1:7; Hebrews 7:27; 9:26; I Peter 2:24; 3:18 He rose from the dead—literally and physically—three days later, fulfilling the Scriptures and leaving numerous eyewitnesses to His triumph over death.46Matthew 28:6-7; Mark 16:6-7; Luke 24:5-7; John 20:1-18; Acts 1:3; 2:32; 3:15; 4:33; 5:30-32; 10:40-41; 13:30-34; 17:2-3; 26:23; Romans 6:4-10; 8:11; I Corinthians 15:1-8; I Peter 3:18 His resurrection provided definitive evidence of His deity,47Matthew 12:38-41; 16:4; Luke 11:29-30; John 10:18 conclusive validation of His message,48Matthew 20:19; Mark 9:9; 14:28; John 2:19-22; Colossians 1:18 and the ultimate assurance of the believer’s unshakable hope in Him.49Acts 13:32-39; I Corinthians 15:18-19, 54-57; I Thessalonians 1:10; 4:14; I Peter 1:3; 3:18 He ascended to Heaven, where He sits in a place of honor at the Father’s right hand as the only Mediator between God and man.50Matthew 22:44; 26:64; Mark 12:36; 14:62; 16:19-20; Luke 20:42; 22:69; 24:48-53; John 20:17; Acts 1:1-12; 2:33-34; 5:31; 7:55-56; Romans 8:34; I Corinthians 15:24-28; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1; I Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 1:3, 13; 6:19-20; 8:1, 6; 9:15; 10:12-13; 12:2, 24; I Peter 3:22 He promises to return personally and visibly to earth one day.51Matthew 24:27, 37, 39: 25:31; John 14:3; I Corinthians 1:8; 15:23; I Thessalonians 2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 5:23; Titus 2:13; James 5:7-8; I Peter 1:7, 13; II Peter 1:16; 3:4-12; I John 2:28
D. God the Holy Spirit
God the Holy Spirit is an intelligent, personal Being and the manifest presence of God on earth today. He convicts men of sin, draws us to Jesus Christ, permanently indwells believers, sets us apart to God and seals us to Him, sanctifies us, and endows us with the spiritual gifts we need to serve and glorify Jesus Christ.
2. The Scriptures
The Bible was written by prophets, apostles, and other chosen men as the Holy Spirit of God inspired them. It is God’s perfect written revelation—complete in the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments.
A. Inspiration and Inerrancy
Having God as its Author, the Bible is wholly without error and is entirely true and trustworthy. The original manuscripts were inerrant, and the body of copies and translations available today has reliably transmitted the words and meanings of those inerrant texts.
B. Authority and Sufficiency
God has provided it as His unchanging authoritative standard on which Christians must base every area of our faith and practice. Within the Scriptures, we find all of the truth necessary to lead us to salvation or instruct us in godly living; other sources not rooted in the teachings of Scripture lack any authority to bind the believer’s conscience.
C. Interpretation
A historical-grammatical approach, seeking to discern the understanding of a text shared by the original writer and readers, is the soundest method of interpreting the Scriptures. Ultimately, the Scriptures can only be correctly interpreted by born-again believers, as we are dependent on the presence and guidance of God’s Holy Spirit to understand what He has revealed.
3. Creation
God created the universe and everything in it for His own pleasure and glory in six literal days—as described in the book of Genesis. All life on earth owes its existence to a direct creative act of God, and the diversity of that life has resulted from the genetic potential that God designed into each original kind of organism.
4. Humanity
On the sixth day, mankind was created in the image of God, a morally innocent creature designed for fellowship with its Creator. But man gave in to Satan’s temptations and freely chose to sin against God, breaking that fellowship. Adam’s sin distorted the image of God within man and marred the whole of creation, introducing death and suffering to the world. All members of the human race—except Jesus Christ—have inherited from Adam and Eve a sinful nature that inclines our hearts inexorably toward sin. As sinners by nature, all men sin freely and willfully as soon as they are morally capable of choosing to do so.
5. Sin
Sin is any action, word, thought, or attitude that falls short of the holiness of God. The principles of God’s Moral Law, which flow from His own nature, are a yardstick that reveals our deficiency in contrast to His absolute holiness. Each sin is an offense against God because it is ultimately a rejection of Him and His holiness. The introduction of sin into the world brought with it physical consequences, including sickness, suffering, and death. The spiritual consequences of sin include separation from God and condemnation. In our natural, unconverted state, we are unable to reconcile ourselves to God, and our sinful nature makes us disinterested in seeking this reconciliation until the Holy Spirit draws us through the proclamation of the Gospel.
6. Salvation
Salvation is the gracious work of God, in which He delivers sinners from the eternal condemnation we have earned by sin. Salvation is a gift from God, which He offers by His own grace alone rather than because of any merit we might possess. God extends His gracious offer of salvation to man based solely on Jesus’ substitutionary, sacrificial death on the cross. Because Jesus Christ died as the only all-sufficient sacrifice to pay for the sins of the whole world, atonement is made through His blood for anyone who exercises repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We receive salvation through faith in Jesus Christ alone rather than through any good works we might commit. It is impossible to be saved without being born again through personal faith in Jesus Christ. When we are born again, we become new creatures in Jesus Christ, having our hearts transformed by the power of God. The results of salvation are that our sins are forgiven, we are declared righteous in Christ, we are spared from the eternal condemnation of sin, we are reconciled to God as our Father, God adopts us into His family as sons and daughters, and we are assured of eternal life in God’s presence in Heaven.
7. Repentance
Repentance is a change of mind toward God and our sin that compels once-rebellious sinners to throw themselves on God’s mercy and freely receive by faith the salvation He offers in Jesus Christ. Repentance does not mean that we become immune to sin but that we will turn to hate our sin as God does and resist it. This repentance will result in godly sorrow over our sin and—by the power of the Holy Spirit—a changed life.
8. The Availability of Salvation
Jesus Christ tasted death for every man, making atonement available for all mankind. Consequently, God’s mercy is available to all who hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and respond in faith. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe, and through its proclamation, God gives the opportunity for all who hear it to trust Christ and be saved.
9. Security in Christ
All born-again believers are eternally secure in Jesus Christ so that our salvation can never be lost. Even when believers may fall into sin through neglect or temptation, the blood of Jesus Christ remains sufficient to cover all sins—past, present, and future. Our eternal security in Christ is not a license to continue in a lifestyle of habitual, unrepentant sin, which is the fruit of an unconverted life. Instead, true believers, when we sin, will continue to return to our great Advocate, Jesus Christ. True believers will endure to the end, exhibiting evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, while God’s grace remains sufficient when we inevitably fall short.
10. Sanctification
Sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit of God to bring about holiness within the believer. It is an instantaneous distinction that occurs at the moment of conversion when we are declared holy and set apart unto the Lord. It is also an ongoing process from the time of conversion to the time of death, in which the believer is increasingly conformed to the example of Jesus Christ. Sanctification is the will of God for every believer, and God’s plan from eternity past has been to redeem a people for Himself and make them more like Jesus Christ.
11. The Church
A New Testament church is an autonomous, local assembly of baptized believers in Jesus Christ who are called out from the world to work and worship together in obedience to God’s Word. Each church is subject to the Lordship of Jesus Christ alone and must remain free from outside control, including that of other religious bodies and governmental authorities. The church’s mission is to propagate the Gospel, make and strengthen disciples, observe the ordinances given by Jesus Christ, and glorify Him in all things. While not a requirement for salvation, active participation in a church body is part of our Lord’s plan for believers to grow in Him and a necessary part of our obedient service to Him. A healthy church equips and empowers its members to discern and exercise their individual ministry callings within the body and in the community.
A. Church Leadership
While pastors bear a distinct leadership and teaching role in the church, all believers have the same rights and responsibilities to study and rightly divide the Scriptures, fellowship with God, and serve God in advancing His Kingdom. Pastors are called to shepherd and teach the churches under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and deacons are called to serve the church’s needs, particularly in benevolent ministries. Though all believers are called to ministry and are equally valuable in the sight of God, the Scriptures restrict service in the office of pastor to men—specifically those men called by God to serve and recognized by the church as Scripturally qualified on the basis of their godly reputation, faithful conduct, self-control, and doctrinal soundness.
B. Church Ordinances
The ordinances of the church are baptism and the Lord’s Supper, two acts of obedience that commemorate the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ but do not contribute to one’s salvation. Baptism is the total immersion of a believer in water—in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—as a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ. Baptism is appropriately administered only to one who has freely and consciously received Jesus Christ as Savior. The Lord’s Supper is the sharing of the bread and the cup by the assembled church in remembrance of the crucified body and shed blood of Jesus Christ.
12. Eternity
Our risen Lord will personally return, in bodily form, to receive His redeemed unto Himself. His return could come at any time. After Jesus returns, all of the dead will be raised in bodily form: the righteous dead in the resurrection of life and the wicked dead in the resurrection of damnation. At the end of time, God will judge everyone, conferring rewards or consigning them to punishment according to their response to the Gospel. Heaven is the eternal home of those who believe the Gospel and accept God’s forgiveness; they will live forever in the presence of God, in their glorified bodies, experiencing ultimate blessing. Hell is the place of eternal punishment and suffering for Satan, his angels, and those who persist in unbelief, rejecting God’s offer of forgiveness through Christ.
13. Evangelism, Missions, and Apologetics
The calling to propagate the Gospel and make disciples is not only the corporate mission of the local church but also the individual responsibility of every born-again believer. The belief that one’s faith is a private matter best kept to oneself is incompatible with Christianity. The local church must deliberate about training its members to share the Gospel, disciple others, and defend the Christian faith.
14. Religious Liberty
God created man in His own image, granting us freedom and moral responsibility and endowing us with a conscience accountable to Him. True Christianity cannot be coerced, and it eschews any attempt to pressure or prevent religious belief or expression contrary to one’s conscience. Remembering the brutal persecution of true believers by secular governments and established religions throughout history, Christians should be tireless defenders of religious liberty for all. While Christians have a responsibility to be law-abiding citizens, we have an equal duty to disobey any earthly law that conflicts with God’s commands.
15. Christianity and the Culture
Christians must represent Jesus Christ to the culture, both in the principles we embrace and the spirit with which we engage others. Violence, racism, greed, sexual immorality, and all other social ills are ultimately rooted in man’s sinful nature, and the only effective remedy for the ailments common to man is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore, as believers have done since the earliest days of Christianity, we must stand boldly and without compromise against the spirit of the age, proclaiming the message of the Gospel with clarity and conviction, calling our neighbors to repentance, ministering to the needs of those broken by the consequences of sin, and compelling our earthly authorities to obey God and exercise their divine commission to defend the most vulnerable among us by punishing evil and promoting righteousness.
A. Gender
God designed humans as male or female—two biological sexes corresponding to two distinct genders as part of the goodness of His creation. Men and women have equal value before the Lord but hold distinct and complementary roles within the church and the family.
B. Marriage
God designed marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and any effort to redefine marriage is a counterfeit of His design. Marriage is a lifelong commitment, and Scripture sanctions—but does not mandate—divorce as an option only in cases of sexual immorality or abandonment by an unbelieving spouse.
C. Sexuality
God’s will for mankind is purity outside of marriage and faithfulness within marriage—the marriage of one man and one woman. All sexual activity outside of these boundaries, including adultery, fornication, homosexuality, pornography, and polyamory, are sinful distortions of God’s design for us. We cannot persist in or promote these activities and still claim faithfulness or obedience to Him.
D. Life
Humanity was created in the image of God, and human life is sacred and worthy of protection from conception to natural death. Tolerance for the destruction of any innocent human life through practices like abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, and embryonic stem cell research diminishes the value that society places on all human life and denies the reality of the image of God within us.
E. Reconciliation
As agents of reconciliation in society, proclaiming a message of reconciliation between God and man—and among men—through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we must reject any system of thought that stokes anger or resentment and segregates people along the lines of race, ethnicity, gender, class, nationality, politics, or any other human concern as being antithetical to the Gospel, which calls us to unity in Jesus Christ.
Additional Statements
I affirm the following statements of belief in addition to what I have outlined above.
- Ancient Christian statements like the Apostles’, Nicene, Chalcedonian, and Athanasian Creeds
- The Baptist Faith and Message (2000), the official doctrinal statement of the Southern Baptist Convention
- The Chicago Statements on Biblical Inerrancy, Hermeneutics, and Application
- A Statement of the Traditional Southern Baptist Understanding of God’s Plan of Salvation
- The Nashville Statement, outlining traditional, Biblical views of gender, marriage, and sexual morality
- The Statement on Social Justice & the Gospel