Our Beliefs
We affirm the Baptist Faith & Message (2000).
A condensed and self-described version of what we affirm and teach:
God
• God is the Creator of all things. Without him nothing was made that has been made.
• God is triune: one God, three Persons- God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Jesus
• Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, and lived a sinless life.
• Jesus Christ rose bodily from the dead, ascended to Heaven, and is currently seated at the right hand of God the Father, and shall return in person to this Earth as Judge of the living and the dead.
Holy Spirit
• The Holy Spirit enables man to repent and believe in Jesus Christ.
• The Holy Spirit resides and works in each believer to produce the fruits of righteousness.
Scripture
• The 66 books of the Bible are the written Word of God.
• The Bible is given by the inspiration of God to be the supreme authority in all that it teaches concerning life and godliness.
• The creation account of Genesis is a literal account of the origins of life on Earth.
Man
• The special creation of Adam (the first man) and Eve (the first woman), and their subsequent choice to sin, is the basis for the necessity of man's salvation.
• All mankind are sinners, inherently (from Adam) and individually (by choice) and are therefore subject to God's judgment.
• The sanctity of human life: life begins at conception.
Sin
• Sin is anything that "misses the mark" of God's intended way of living for humanity.
• Sin separates us from God.
• Death (both physical and spiritual) entered into this world as a direct consequence of man's sin.
Salvation
• Salvation is a gift received by faith alone in Christ alone and expressed by an individual's repentance, recognition of the death of Christ as full payment for sin, and acceptance of the risen Christ as Savior, Lord and God.
Heaven & Hell
• Those who do not believe in Christ are subject to everlasting, conscious punishment in a place called hell, but those who place their faith in Jesus Christ enjoy eternal life with God.
Our Enemy
• Satan is the personal spiritual adversary of both God and man.
The Church
• All churches should be under the headship of Christ and consist of baptized believers who lovingly join together for worship, discipleship, and the declaration of God's Word
• The church's senior leadership must be scripturally qualified male elders
The Family
• As the foundational unit of human society, families are vital to the health of the church and the culture and therefore must be cultivated through discipleship and obedience to Christ
• Marriage is the foundational unit of a family and is the joining of one man and one woman by lifetime covenant commitment
Additional Statements…
These statements are different from LCCA's Statement of Faith. We happily recognize our theological roots in ancient creeds and the Protestant Reformation. We also acknowledge the importance of the Chicago, Danvers, and Nashville Statements in addressing current issues.
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I believe in God,
the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ,
His only begotten Son,
our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into the grave.
On the third day he rose from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from there he shall come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
AMEN.
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I believe in one God,
the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth
and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the onlyͲbegotten Son of God,
begotten of His Father before all worlds,
God of God, Light of Light,
very God of very God,
begotten, not made,
being of one substance with the Father,
by whom all things were made;
who for us men and for our salvation
came down from heaven
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary
and was made man;
and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.
He suffered and was buried.
And the third day He rose again
according to the Scriptures
and ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of the Father.
And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead,
whose kingdom will have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified,
who spoke by the prophets.
And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church
I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins,
and I look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
Us men: means all people.
Christian: the ancient text reads “catholic,” meaning the whole
Church as it confesses the wholeness of Christian doctrine.
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