BETHEL BAPTIST CHURCH - For the salvation of the lost, the edification of the saints,
The Gospel
The word gospel simply means “good news.” The central message of the Bible is the gospel, or good news, about the person and work of Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15:1–4, Paul provides the most succinct summary of the gospel: the man Jesus is also God, or Christ, and died on a cross in our place, paying the penalty for our sins; three days later He rose to conquer sin and death and give the gift of salvation to all who believe in Him alone for eternal life.
 
Articles of Faith
 
The following comprise the Scriptural beliefs of this church and its members.
 
(A)       The Bible
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the fully and verbally inspired Word of God. The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible and God-breathed and, therefore, are the final authority for faith and life. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament are the complete and divine revelation of God to Man. The Scriptures shall be interpreted according to their normal grammatical-historical meaning. We believe the King James Version is the preserved Word of God for English-speaking people and shall be the translation used by this church for preaching and teaching. (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21)
 
(B)       God
We believe in one God; Who is eternal, self-existent, infinite, and immutable. We believe He has one nature, one essence, and one substance; yet manifests Himself to man in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Deut. 6:4; 1 Tim. 1:17; James 1:17; 1 John 4:4)
 
(C)       God the Father
We believe God the Father to be eternally God and to possess all the attributes of Deity. We believe in God the Father as the initiator of the Gospel as the giver of His Son Jesus Christ for the redemption of man. It was the Father that was declared unto man in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. He possesses all the attributes of God, including righteousness and mercy, and is the forgiver of sins. It was the Father’s will that Jesus Christ fulfilled, in the name of the Father, and He alone knows the return of Jesus Christ. We believe that God the Father currently reigns over all in His sovereignty and providence with Christ at His right hand. (Matt. 24:36; Mark 11:26; Luke 6:36; John 1:18, 3:16, 5:43, 8:19; Acts 2:33, Heb. 12:2; Rev. 3:21)
 
(D)      Jesus Christ
We believe Jesus Christ to be the one and only Savior of mankind. We believe Jesus Christ to be eternally God and to possess all the attributes of Deity. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was virgin-born, that He was God incarnate, and that the purposes of the incarnation were to reveal God, to redeem man, and to rule over God’s kingdom. We believe Jesus Christ never relinquished any attributes of His deity, but merely veiled them. We believe He lived a perfect, sinless life, at the end of which He was offered for all mankind as a substitutionary sacrifice for man’s sin. This sacrifice was a just payment to God for the forgiveness of sin. It was activated by His death through the shedding of His blood on the cross and was accepted by God upon His resurrection. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate. (Acts 1:9-10; Rom. 8:34; Heb. 9:24; 7:25; 1 John 2:1-2)
 
(E)       The Holy Spirit
We believe the Holy Spirit of God is eternally God and possesses all the personality and attributes of deity. We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and, that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption.  We believe that He is the divine Teacher who assists believers to understand and appropriate the Scriptures and that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit. We believe the Holy Spirit has always been involved in the affairs of mankind. This ministry includes reproving the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. The Holy Spirit was also sent to regenerate, sanctify, seal, and fill all who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. (Gen. 1:2; John 3:5-6, 14:16, 16:8-11; Acts 1:5, 11:15; Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor.3:16, 6:19-20, 12:12-14; 2 Cor. 3:6; Eph. 1:13-18, 5:18; 1 John 2:20, 27)
 
1.       We believe that the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues and the gift of healing were temporary. Speaking in tongues was never the common or necessary sign of the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit. Ultimate deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection, though God frequently chooses to answer the prayers of believers for physical healing. (1 Cor. 1:22, 13:8, 14:21-22)
 
(F)      The Total Depravity of Man
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God; but that in Adam’s sin the human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God. Man is totally depraved and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition. (Gen. 1:26-27; Rom. 3:22-23; 5:12; 6:23; Eph. 2:1-3; 4:17-19)
 
(G)      Salvation
We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace, and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins. We believe that salvation must be preceded by man’s repentance from sins and that all sins are forgivable. (John 1:12; Eph. 1:7; 2:8-10; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; 1 John 1:9)
 
(H)      The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers
1.        We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever. (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Rom. 8:1; 38-39; 1 Cor. 1:4-8; 1 Pet. 1:4-5)
 
2.        We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh. (Rom. 13:13-14; Gal. 5:13; Titus 2:11-15)
 
(I)        The Church
1.        We believe that the church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is solely made up of saved persons. (1 Cor. 12:12-14; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:25-27; Col. 1:18,24)
 
2.        We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures. (Acts 14:27; 20:17, 28-32; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11)
 
3.        We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority or control. (Acts 13:1-4; 15:19-31; 20:28; Rom. 16:1, 4; 1 Cor. 3:9, 16; 5:4-7, 13; 1 Pet. 5:1-4)
 
4.        We recognize water baptism and the Lord’s Supper as the Scriptural ordinances of obedience for the church in this age. (Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; 8:36-38; 1 Cor. 11:23-26)
 
(J)        Separation
We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord. God commands His people to separate from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices, and associations, and to refrain from all immodest and immoderate appearances. (Rom. 12:1-2; 14:13; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; 2 Cor. 6:14, 7:1; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; 1 John 2:15-17; 2 John 9-11)
 
(K)       The Last Days
We believe in the literal interpretation of the Scriptures in their grammatical and historical context. We believe in the pre-tribulation rapture of the church saints, followed by the seven-year tribulation. We believe in the pre-millennial return of Christ to the earth and His literal rule of one thousand years. Following this one-thousand-year reign is the Great White Throne judgment and then the new heaven and the new earth. (1 Cor. 15:51-58; 1 Thess. 4:13-18, 5:1-9; Rev. 19-22)
 
(L)       The Eternal State
1.        We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life with Christ, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment. (Matt. 25:46; John 5:28, 29; 11:25-26; Rev. 20:5-6, 12-13)
 
2.        We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where they consciously await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord. (Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; 3:21; 1 Thess. 4:16-17; Rev. 20:4-6)
 
3.        We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious punishment and torment until the second resurrection, when with soul and body reunited, they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment and torment. (Matt. 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; 2 Thess. 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Rev. 20:11-15)
 
(M)      The Personality of Satan
We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the instigator of the Fall of Man; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and that he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire. (Job 1:6-7; Isa. 14:12-17; Matt. 4:2-11; 25:41; Rev. 20:10)

This Statement of Faith does not exhaust the extent of our faith. The Bible itself is the sole and final source of all that we believe.