The Doctrine of The Church

The Local Church
I believe that local churches are visible expressions of the universal church. The local church is an organized assembly of true believers that have been baptized by immersion, who regularly come together for corporate worship, and have been divinely tasked with carrying out the great commission. The chief aim of the church is the glory of God.

  1. There is only one true church (Eph 2:14; 4:4; Ro 12:5) and the head of the church is Christ (Eph 1:22-23; Col 1:18).
  2. Christ is building His church (Mt 16:18) and is doing so through the agency of the Holy Spirit (1 Co 12:13).
  3. The Church began on the day of Pentecost (Mt 3:11; Mt 16:18; Acts 1:5-8; 2:33, 38) and is made up of all Spirit baptized believers (1 Co 12:13; Acts 11:16).
  4. The church is unique to the current dispensation (Eph 3:8-10) and is distinct from Israel (Acts 3:12; 4:10; 1 Co 10:32).

The Universal Church
I believe that there is only one true church, whose head is Christ. I believe that Christ is building His church through the agency of the Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches that the Church originated on the day of Pentecost and consists of all Spirit baptized believers regardless of their location. Hence, the church is unique to this dispensation.

  1. Local churches are visible expressions of the universal church (Acts 13:1; Ro 16:1; 1 Co 1:2; Rev 2:1,12,18).
  2. The New Testament epistles establish a general organizational structure for local assemblies. There are leaders [Pastors (Acts 20:28; 1 Ti 3:1; Tit 1:5) and Deacons (Acts 6:1-6; 1 Ti 3:8; Phil 1:1)], government (Acts 6:2,5 cf. 1 Co 5:4,5,13; 6:1-5), a governing constitution (2 Tim 3:16-17; Jude 3), and purpose [evangelizing the lost (Mt 28:19-20; Acts 8:4), organizing them into an assembly (Tit 1:5; 1 Pet 5:2; 1 Tim 3:15; 1 Co 14:40) and equipping them for service (Eph 4:11-16)].
  3. To be a member of a local church, regeneration and baptism are required (Acts 2:41,47) as well as an orderly walk (1 Co 5:9-13).
  4. I believe that the Bible teaches that local churches are to regularly come together for corporate worship (Acts 2:1 20:7; 1 Co 11:18; Heb 10:25). I believe that corporate worship includes: preaching (Acts 6:4; 1 Tim 4:2), teaching, fellowship, and prayer (Acts 2:42), observing the two ordinances Baptism and the Lord’s supper (Acts 2:42; 20:7,11; 1 Co 11:18-33), and giving (1 Co 16:2; Acts 4:32-35; 2 Co 8:1-5).
  5. I believe that in everything the church does the sole aim must be the glory of God (Eph 3:21).

I am a fundamentalist (committed to the affirmation and defense of Biblical doctrine, practicing personal and ecclesiastical separation, opposed to liberalism and all evangelical concessions i.e. movements that compromise such as New Evangelicalism, Progressive Dispensationalists, CCM, et al). I am a Baptist by conviction holding to the following distinctives:

Distinctives Scriptural Support
B The Bible is our only rule of faith and practice. The Bible is composed of sixty-six books make up the Sacred Writings, 39 in the OT and 27 in the NT. God gave the Scriptures via inspiration as such the original autographs, in every part of their whole, were inerrant, infallible and by derived authority so are our translations. Our centrally located pulpit denotes the primacy of the word for the NT church. 2 Tim 3:6-17; 2 Pet 1:3, 19-21
A Autonomy of the local church. This means that NT churches are self-governing using Scripture as a guide for choosing its practices. NT churches are independent. There is no authority above each local congregation. They hold to a congregational style of government. Note some responsibilities of the local church: Acts 6:3; Acts 2:41-45; 15:22-23; 1 Cor 6:1-5; 11:23-26; 16:1-3; 1 Pet 5:2 Cf. Heb 13:7; Tit 1:5; 1 Thes 1:1
P Priesthood of the believer. Baptists’ believe in individual priesthood i.e. every believer has direct access to God through prayer; and there is no need for anyone to interpret the Bible for us. Heb 10:19; 1 Tim 2:5; Rev 1:6
T Two officers and Two church ordinances. We believe that the Bible teaches that there are two officers found within the local church: (1) Pastor, and (2) Deacon. There are several terms used synonymously to denote the one office of Pastor such as Elder and Bishop. Christ commanded the practice of only two ordinances. An ordinance is a symbol representing a spiritual truth, commanded by the Lord to be practiced in the local church. 1 Tim 3:1-2,8. There are only two ordinances to be practiced in the NT local church: Mat 28:19-20; 1 Cor 11:23-26
I Immersion and Regeneration are required for church membership. There are three essentials for one to become a member of a NT local church. First, one must be born from above i.e. they must be regenerated; Second, one must be baptized by immersion. Third, one must have an orderly walk. The mode of immersion is important because of what the symbol of baptism represents. Acts 2:38,41,47; Acts 8:25-39; Rom 6:1-11; 1 Co 5:9-13
S Soul Liberty. Soul liberty means that one can hold, profess and worship according to the dictates of their own heart. Baptists believe that men have the right to believe in what they wish. It is not our duty to impose our beliefs upon another. We proclaim Biblical truth, denounce that which does not line up with the Scripture, and stand firm upon our convictions. We believe that every man will give an account to God and therefore no matter how wrong he is, we allow that one to believe what he wills. Rom 14:10,12; 2 Cor 5:11; Ga 2:3-5: 5:1
T Two branches of separation. The two branches are: (1) Church and State, and (2) Personal and Ecclesiastical separation. Regarding the separation of church and state, we believe that they are two distinct institutions established by God to fulfill their own individual purpose. Baptists also believe in Personal and Ecclesiastical separation i.e. we are to separate from worldly and sinful practices as well as institutions that are apostate or those that are involved in that which does not honor the Lord. Church and State: In Principle. Mat 22:21; Acts 5:29; Rom 13:1-7

Personal and Ecclesiastical: Rom 16:17-18; 1 Cor 5:9-13; 2 Cor 6:14-7:1; 2 Th 3:6,14; 1 Pet 1:14-16; 1 John 2:15-17; 2 John 9-11