Statement of Faith

The following are brief summary statements and a few selected scriptures from each of the BF&M main sections. 

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. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy.

Isaiah 40:8; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21

God

There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. 

• God the Father

           God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of humna history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all knowin, all loving, and all wise. 

           Genesis 1:1; Deuteronomy 6:4; Ephesians 4:6

• 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. Jesus perfectily revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. 

            John 1:1-18,29; 10:30,38; Philippians 2:5-11

• God the Holy Spirit

           The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Saviour, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ.

           Acts 1:8; 2:1-4,38; Romans 8:9-11; 1 Corinthians 12:3-11,13; Ephesians 1:13-14

Man

Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning wor of His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God's creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race.

Genesis 1:26-30; Romans 1:19-32; 3:10-18,23

Salvation

Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

John 1:11-14, 29; 3:3-21,36; Acts 4:12; 2 Corinthians 5:17-20; 1 John 1:6-2:11

God's Purpose of Grace

Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent wiht free agency of man, and comprehends all the means in connection with the end. All true believers endure to the end. 

Genesis 12:1-3; John 1:12-14; Romans 5:9-10; 8:28-39; 1 John 1:7-9

The Church

A New Testament church of teh Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. 

Matthew 16:15-19; Acts 2:41-42, 47; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:18

Baptism and the Lord's Supper

Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. 

The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming. 

Matthew 3:13-17; Luke 22:19-20; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 10:16, 21; 11:23-29

The Lord's Day

The first day of the week is the Lord's Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private. 

John 4:21-24; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2

The Kingdom

The Kingdom of God includes both His general sovereignty over the universe and His particular kingship over men who willfully acknowledge Him as King. Particularly the Kingdom is the realm of salvation into which men enter by trustful, childlike commitment to Jesu Christ.

John 3:3; Colossians 1:13; Revelation 1:6,9; 5:10

Last Things

God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; adn Christ will judge all men in righteousness.

Matthew 16:27; 25:31-46; Romans 14:10; 2 Corinthians 5:10

Evangelism and Missions

It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations. The new birth of man's spirit by God's Holy Spirit means the birth of love for others. 

Genesis 12:1-3; Acts 1:8; Tomasn 10:13-15; 2 Timothy 4:5

Education

Christianity is the faith of enlightenment and intelligence. In Jesus Christ abide all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. All sound learning is, therefore, a part of our Christian heritage. The new birth opens all human faculties and creates a thirst for knowledge.

Deuteronomy 6:1-10; Psalms 119:44; Phillipians 4:8; 2 Timothy 2:15; 3:14-17

Stewardship

God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him. Christians have a spiritual debtorship to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel, and a binding stewardship in their possessions. They are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions; and should recognize all these as entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for helping others. 

Levicticus 27:30-32; Malaci 3:8-12; Matthew 23:23; Acts 2:44-47; 2 Corinthians 8-9

Cooperation

Christ's people should, as occasion requires, organize such associations and conventions as may best secure cooperation for the great objects of the Kingdom of God.

Nehemiah 4; Acts 4:31-37

The Christian and the Social Order

All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society. Means and methods used for the improvement of society and the establisment of righteousness among men can be truly and permanently helpful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ. In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, everyform of greed, selfishness, and vice, adn all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexualtity, and pornography. We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. We should speak on behlaf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death.

Exodus 20:3-17; Micah 6:8; Matthew 5:13-16,43-48; Galatians 3:26-28

Peace and War

It is the duty of Christians to seek peace with all men on principles of righteousness. In accordance with the spirit and teachings of Christ they should do all in their power to put an end to war.

Isaiah 2:4; Hebrews 12:14; James 4:1-2

Religious Liberty

God alone is Lord of the conscience, and He has left it free from the doctines and commandments of men which are contrary to His Word or not contained in it. Church and state should be separate. The state owes to every church protection and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends. 

Matthew 22:21; John 8:36; 1 Timothy 2:1-2

The Family

God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption. Marriage is the uniting of one man adn one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church. The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God's image. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to children God's pattern for marriage.

Genesis 1:26-28; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Malachi 2:14-16; Matthew 5:31-32; Ephesians 5:21-33