STATEMENT OF FAITH
The following comprise the Scriptural beliefs of this church and its members.
(A) The Holy Scriptures. We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the
verbally and plenary 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. We believe that every word of the Holy Scriptures, both the
Old and New Testaments, is the inspired Word of God. We affirm that holy men of God were moved by the
Spirit of God to choose and record the exact words in the original writings commonly referred to by the
early churches as the Textus Receptus (TR) or the Received Text, and that God through His omnipotent care
has preserved His Word to all generations forever (Psalm 12:6-7).
In that God has promised to preserve His Word to all generations forever; and in that the King James
Version of the Bible is the only English translation from the preserved Textus Receptus, in the public
ministry and services of this local church we are committed to the use and perpetuation of the King James
Version of the Bible, and believe it to be the preserved Word of God for English speaking people. (Matt. 5:
18; Jn. 16:12-17; II Tim. 3:16-17; II Pt. 1:20-21).
(B) Dispensationalism. We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense
reveal divinely determined dispensations or rules of life which define man’s responsibilities in successive
ages. These dispensations are not ways of salvation, but rather are divinely ordered stewardships by which
God directs man according to His purpose. Three of these dispensations—the law, the church, and the
kingdom—are the subjects of detailed revelation in Scripture. (Gen. 1:28; 1 Cor. 9:17; 2 Cor. 3:9-18; Gal.
3:13-25; Eph. 1:10; 3:2-10; Col. 1:24-25, 27; Rev. 20:2-6)
(C) The Godhead. We believe in one triune God, eternally existing in three persons¬—Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit—each co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, coequal in power and glory, and having the
same attributes and perfections. (Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; John 14:10, 26)
(D) The Person and Work of Christ.
1. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be
God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal
God and redeem sinful men. (Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-2, 14; 2 Cor. 5:19-21; Gal. 4:4-5; Phil. 2:5-
8)
2. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as
a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and, that our justification is made sure by His literal,
physical resurrection from the dead. (Acts 2:18-36; Rom. 3:24-25; 1 Pet. 2:24; Eph. 1:7; 1 Peter 1:3-5)
3. 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; Heb. 9:24; 7:25; Rom. 8:34; 1 John 2:1-2)
(E) The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit.
1. 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. (John 16:8-11; Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:12-14; 2
Cor. 3:6; Eph. 1:13-14)
2. 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 (Eph. 1:17-18; 5:
18; 1 John 2:20, 27)
3. We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowal of spiritual gifts to every believer. God uniquely
uses evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip believers in the assembly in order that they can do the work
of the ministry. (Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Cor. 12:4-11, 28; Eph. 4:7-12)
4. 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, and that 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 all sins, except blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, are forgivable. (John 1:12; Eph. 1:
7; 2:8-10; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; Matt. 12:31-32; 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 local church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is solely made
up of born-again, baptized persons. (1 Cor. 12:12-14; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 1:22-23; 5:25-27)
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; 18:18; 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,
piercings, and bodily markings. (Rom. 12:1-2; 14:13; 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; 1 John 2:15-17; 2 John
9-11; Lev. 19:28; 1 Cor. 6:19-20)
(K) The Second Advent of Christ. We believe in that blessed hope, the personal, imminent return of
Christ Who will rapture His church prior to the seven-year tribulation period. At the end of the Tribulation,
Christ will personally and visibly return with His saints, to establish His earthly Messianic Kingdom which
was promised to the nation of Israel. (Ps. 89:3-4; Dan. 2:31-45; Zech. 14:4-11; I Thess. 1:10; 1 Thess. 4:13-
18; Titus 2:13; Rev. 3:10; 19:11-16; 20:1-6)
(L) The Eternal State.
1. We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, 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 in conscious bliss they 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; I 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 cause 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)
(N) Creation. We believe that God created the universe in six literal, 24-hour periods. We reject
evolution, the Gap Theory, the Day-Age Theory, and Theistic Evolution as unscriptural theories of origin.
(Gen. 1-2; Ex. 20:11)
(O) Civil Government. We believe that God has ordained and created all authority consisting of three
basic institutions: 1) the home, 2) the church, and 3) human government. Every person is subject to these
authorities, but all (including the authorities themselves) are answerable to God and governed by His
Word. God has given each institution specific Biblical responsibilities and balanced those responsibilities
with the understanding that no institution has the right to infringe upon the other. The home, the church, and
the state are equal and sovereign in their respective Biblically assigned spheres of responsibility under
God. (Rom. 13:1-7; Eph. 5:22-24; Heb. 13:17; 1 Pet. 2:13-14)
(P) Human Sexuality.
1. We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a
marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality,
bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. We
believe that God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one’s gender by surgery or appearance.
(Gen. 2:24; Gen. 19:5, 13; Gen. 26:8-9; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom. 1: 26-29; 1 Cor. 5:1; 6:9; 1 Thess. 4:1-8; Heb.
13:4)
2. We believe that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman. (Gen. 2:24;
Rom. 7:2; 1 Cor. 7:10; Eph. 5:22-23)
(Q) Family Relationships
1. We believe that men and women are spiritually equal in position before God but that God has
ordained distinct and separate spiritual functions for men and women in the home and the church. The
husband is to be the leader of the home, and men are to be the leaders (pastors and deacons) of the church.
Accordingly, only men are eligible for licensure and ordination by the church. (Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:18; 1 Tim.
2:8-15; 3:4-5, 12)
2. We believe that God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. The
husband is to love his wife as Christ loves the church. The wife is to submit herself to the Scriptural
leadership of her husband as the church submits to the headship of Christ. Children are an heritage from the
Lord. Parents are responsible for teaching their children spiritual and moral values and leading them,
through consistent lifestyle example and appropriate discipline, including Scriptural corporal correction.
(Gen. 1:26-28; Ex. 20:12; Deut. 6:4-9; Ps. 127:3-5; Prov. 19:18; 22:15; 23:13-14; Mk. 10:6-12; I Cor. 7:1-
16; Eph. 5:21-33; 6:1-4, Col. 3:18-21; Heb. 13:4; I Pet. 3:1-7)
(R) Divorce and Remarriage. We believe that God disapproves of and forbids divorce and intends
marriage to last until one of the spouses dies. Divorce and remarriage is regarded as adultery except on the
grounds of fornication and abandonment. Although divorced and remarried persons or divorced persons
may hold positions in the church and be greatly used of God for Christian service, if they were divorced
after salvation, they may not be considered for the offices of pastor or deacon. (Mal. 2:14-17; Matt. 19:3-
12; Rom. 7:1-3; 1 Cor. 7:15; 1 Tim. 3:2, 12; Titus 1:6)
(S) Abortion. We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living
human being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused taking of unborn human life. Abortion is
murder. We reject any teaching that abortions of pregnancies due to rape, incest, birth defects, gender
selection, birth or population control, or the physical or mental well being of the mother are acceptable.
(Job 3:16; Ps. 51:5; 139:14-16; Isa. 44:24; 49:1, 5; Jer. 1:5; 20:15-18; Luke 1:44)
(T) Love. We believe that we should demonstrate love for others, not only toward fellow believers,
but also toward both those who are not believers and those who oppose us. We are to deal with those who
oppose us graciously, gently, patiently, and humbly. God forbids the stirring up of strife, the taking of
revenge, or the threat or the use of violence as a means of resolving personal conflict or obtaining personal
justice. Although God commands us to abhor sinful actions, we are to love and pray for any person who
engages in such sinful actions. (Lev. 19:18; Matt. 5:44-48; Luke 6:31; John 13:34-35; Rom. 12:9-10; 17-21;
13:8-10; Phil. 2:2-4; 2 Tim. 2:24-26; Titus 3:2; 1 John 3:17-18)
(U) Lawsuits Between Believers. We believe that Christians are prohibited from bringing civil
lawsuits against other Christians or the church to resolve personal disputes. We believe the church
possesses all the resources necessary to resolve personal disputes between members. We do believe,
however, that a Christian may seek compensation for injuries from another Christian’s insurance company as
long as the claim is pursued without malice or slander. (1 Cor. 6:1-8; Eph. 4:31-32)
(V) Missions. We believe that God has given the church a great commission to proclaim the Gospel to
all nations so that there might be a great multitude from every nation, tribe, ethnic group, and language group
who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As ambassadors of Christ we must use all available means to go to
the foreign nations and not wait for them to come to us. (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; John
20:21; Acts 1:8; 2 Cor. 5:20)
(W) Giving. We believe that every Christian, as a steward of that portion of God’s wealth entrusted to
him, is obligated to support his local church financially. We believe that God has established the tithe as a
basis for giving, but that every Christian should also give other offerings sacrificially and cheerfully to the
support of the church, the relief of those in need, and the spread of the Gospel. We believe that a Christian
relinquishes all rights to direct the use of the tithe or offering once the gift has been made. (Gen. 14:20;
Prov. 3:9-10; Acts 4:34-37; 1 Cor. 16:2; 2 Cor. 9:6-7; Gal. 6:6; Eph. 4:28; 1 Tim. 5:17-18; 1 John 3:17)
AUTHORITY OF STATEMENT OF FAITH
The 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. We do believe, however, that the foregoing Statement of Faith accurately represents the
teaching of the Bible and, therefore, is binding upon all members. All literature used in the church shall be
in complete agreement with the Statement of Faith.
| "Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the Victory... "I Chronicles 29:11 |
| Victory Baptist Church 305.248.2008 |
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