What We Believe
Southern Baptists have prepared a statement of generally held convictions called The Baptist Faith and Message. It serves as a guide to understanding who they are. Copies are available at Southern Baptist churches. The topics here provide only a brief, partial summary. The full text on the issue discussed is also available.
The Scriptures
The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man.
It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter.
Man
Man is a special creation of God. He made man different from the rest of creation in that He created man in His own image. He created male and female, thus gender is a gift from God. In the beginning man was innocent of sin, but man made a choice to sin against God. Now all of creation is cursed because of the original sin. We believe because God made man in His image that all human beings possess full dignity and are worthy of respect.
God
There is one and only one living and true God. “The eternal God” reveals Himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of mature, essence, or being.
God the Father
God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. “God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.”
God the Son
Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ, He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. “He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His death on the cross, He made provision for the redemption of men from sin.”
God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. “He exalts Christ.” He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. “He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.”
Salvation
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, sanctification, and glorification.
God’s Purpose of Grace
Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. “All true believers endure to the end.” Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end.
The Church
A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a local body of baptized believers who are associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. This church is an autonomous body. The New Testament speaks also of the church as the body of Christ, which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages.
Baptism
Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus.
The Lord’s Supper
The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience that commemorates Jesus’ sacrificial death. The Lord’s Supper also represents the New Covenant where believers commune with each other and with God. To partake in the Eucharist is to deepen one’s relationship with God and fellow believers.
The Lord’s Day
The first day of the week is the Lord’s Day. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should be employed in exercises of worship and spiritual devotion.
Last Things
God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. “Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly.” The dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell. “The righteous” will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.
Stewardship
God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are, we owe to Him. Christians are to manage everything Gods brings in to a believers lives in way that Honors God. We are under obligation to serve Him with our time, talents, and material possessions.
Family
God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. Marriage is the unity of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God’s image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord.
