Beliefs
The short answer to what we believe is that we believe the Bible. Cover to cover, the Bible is the very Word of God. We submit ourselves to what the Bible says as the truth. However, realizing that the Bible is a big book and lots of people say they believe it yet somehow believe different things. Here's a short summary of some of the things that make our church and congregation distinctively Baptist. In addition, a longer list of beliefs called, "Baptist Faith and Message 2000" is available.
The acronym B.A.P.T.I.S.T. describes a simple set of shared believes from the Bible.
B. Bible. The Bible is the infallible and inerrant Word of God. It doesn’t just contain the truth; it is the truth. We believe it all as given by God and received by people. The Bible tells us what to believe about God and ourselves. It show us how to be saved and how to live. It gives us commands and principles for life. Without knowing and applying the Bible to our life, there is no way to be the kind of person God wants us to be.
A. Autonomy of the local church. Every church is able to make its own decisions. We have no human authority over the church. God has given us as a church all that we need to do all He wants. As such, we choose to cooperate with other like minded groups. Locally, we are a part of the Santa Rosa Baptist Association. This is a group of churches within our county. We are part of the Florida Baptist Convention, which helps churches to minister throughout our state. We are also part of the Southern Baptist Convention, which allows churches to work together in our continent and across the world.
P. Priesthood of the believer. God has allowed each person who is saved to serve God without going through another human being. We can pray to God. We can seek God’s will. We can worship and serve God. We don’t have to pray to someone else to get to God. We don’t have to go to someone else to confess our sins. We don’t just have the privilege to do these things, but the responsibility to serve and witness to others in doing them.
T. Tithing. The means for God financing His work through our church is each member seeking to give 10% of their income to God through this church. This is a voluntary choice between the individual member and God. Since this is God’s plan, we don’t solicit funds from others or from those who don’t know God to do His work. We believe God will enable us and equip us to serve and function.
I. Immersion for baptism. The word baptize in the original language means to immerse. That is the only biblical means for baptism, to fully immerse the believer in water. This means that we don’t practice infant baptism. Scriptural baptism is only for people who have chosen to surrender to Jesus as Savior and Lord. A baby isn’t capable of doing that. It also means that we only accept baptisms in like modes and meaning from others churches. Since baptism is something we do after salvation, it can’t be part of what saves us. It is an act of obedience of Jesus, not something we do to get saved.
S. Security of the Believer. We believe the Bible is clear that once we are saved, we are always saved. We are saved by grace and are kept saved by that same grace. God saves us and God keeps us saved. Our salvation is based on the finished work of Jesus on the Cross, not be how good a job I do at being a Christian. Good works don’t have anyone. Yet, some folks say they got saved and later refuse to have anything to do with God. That is why God gives us a competing truth, called the perseverance of the saint. This means that if you are saved, you will act saved. We are not the judge of another’s salvation. God will take care of that at the judgment. These truths just help us see how we need to respond to others based on what they do.
- P. Priesthood of the believer. God has allowed each person who is saved to serve God without going through another human being. We can pray to God. We can seek God’s will. We can worship and serve God. We don’t have to pray to someone else to get to God. We don’t have to go to someone else to confess our sins. We don’t just have the privilege to do these things, but the responsibility to serve and witness to others in doing them.
- T. Tithing. The means for God financing His work through our church is each member seeking to give 10% of their income to God through this church. This is a voluntary choice between the individual member and God. Since this is God’s plan, we don’t solicit funds from others or from those who don’t know God to do His work. We believe God will enable us and equip us to serve and function.
- I. Immersion for baptism. The word baptize in the original language means to immerse. That is the only biblical means for baptism, to fully immerse the believer in water. This means that we don’t practice infant baptism. Scriptural baptism is only for people who have chosen to surrender to Jesus as Savior and Lord. A baby isn’t capable of doing that. It also means that we only accept baptisms in like modes and meaning from others churches. Since baptism is something we do after salvation, it can’t be part of what saves us. It is an act of obedience of Jesus, not something we do to get saved.
- S. Security of the Believer. We believe the Bible is clear that once we are saved, we are always saved. We are saved by grace and are kept saved by that same grace. God saves us and God keeps us saved. Our salvation is based on the finished work of Jesus on the Cross, not be how good a job I do at being a Christian. Good works don’t have anyone. Yet, some folks say they got saved and later refuse to have anything to do with God. That is why God gives us a competing truth, called the perseverance of the saint. This means that if you are saved, you will act saved. We are not the judge of another’s salvation. God will take care of that at the judgment. These truths just help us see how we need to respond to others based on what they do.
- T. Testimony of the Christian. Every Christian has one. It is their story of how they gave their life to Jesus. Every story has three parts, their life before they met Jesus, how they met Jesus, and how God has changed their life since they met Jesus. The central figure is, of course, Jesus. God wants us to tell others this story. It is the only way anyone can know how to be saved, forgiven of their sin, overcome their brokenness, and live with God forever.
A longer and more in-depth understanding can be gained by studying the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. Each truth is described with passages from with the truth arises.