STATEMENT OF FAITH

 We believe in:

 We believe that love one for another as Jesus loves the believer manifests our discipleship, proves our love for God and symbolizes our authority as New Testament churches.  Love is therefore the great commandment of the LORD Jesus Christ upon which all others are dependent (Matt. 22:35-40; John 13:34, 35; John 15:12; 1 John 4:7-21; 1 John 5:1-3; Rev. 2:4, 5).

We believe in the infallible, verbal inspiration of the whole Bible and that the Bible is the all-sufficient rule of faith and practice.  That Almighty God has providentially verbally preserved the entire Old and New Testaments and provided the world with certain key translations in different languages. That the King James Version of the Holy Scriptures is God’s preserved word in the English language painstakingly translated out of the original tongues by reliable and thoroughly capable men.  That the Modern English versions are corrupt in one or all of the following: their texts, their translators, and/or their translation method.  This church uses only the King James Version and will not permit any teaching or preaching from any other English Version (Psalm 119:160; 2 Tim. 3:15-17; Psalm 12:6, 7; Is. 59:21; Mt. 5:18).

We believe in the personal triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, equal in divine perfection (Matt. 28:19).

We believe in the Genesis account of Creation in six days, and that a literal six days (Gen. 1; 2).

We believe that Satan is a fallen angel, the archenemy of God and man, the unholy god of this world, and that his destiny is the eternal lake of fire (Isa. 14:12-15; Ezek. 28:11-19; Matt. 25:41; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 6:10-17; Rev. 20:10).

We believe in the miraculous virgin birth and sinless humanity of Jesus Christ (Matt. 1:18-20; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22).

We believe in the deity of Jesus Christ (John 10:30; John 1:1, 14; 2 Cor. 5:19).

We believe the Holy Spirit is the divine Administrator for Jesus Christ in His churches (Luke 24:49; John 14:16, 17; Acts 1:4, 5, 8; Acts 2:1-4).

We believe that miraculous spiritual manifestation gifts were done away when the Bible was completed.  Faith, Hope and Love are the vital abiding Spiritual Gifts (1 Cor. chapters 12-14).

We believe that Man was specially created by God, in the image of God, and lived in innocence until he fell by voluntary transgression from his sinless state, the result being that all mankind are sinners (Gen. 1:26; Gen. 3:6-24; Rom. 5:12, 19).

We believe that the suffering and death of Jesus Christ was substitutionary for all mankind and is efficacious only to those who believe (Isa. 53:6; Heb. 2:9; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Peter 3:18; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 John 2:2).

We believe in the bodily resurrection and ascension of Christ and the bodily resurrection of His saints (Matt. 28:1-7; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Cor. 15:42-58; 1 Thess. 4:13-18).

We believe in the imminent pre-tribulation return of Christ to rapture the Redeemed unto Himself (1 Cor. 15:51, 52; 1 Thess. 4:14-17).

We believe in the pre-millennial, personal, bodily return of Christ as the crowning event of the Gentile age.  This event will include the judgment of the nations and the establishment of the Millennium Kingdom.  This will be followed by the resurrection of the unrighteous unto eternal punishment in the lake of fire and that the righteous shall enter into the heaven age (John 14:1-6; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; 2 Thess. 2:8; Rev. 19; Rev. 20:4-6; Rev. 20:11-15; Rev. 21:8).

We believe that the depraved sinner is saved wholly by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  The requisites to regeneration are repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, both gifts of God (Luke 13:3-5; John 3:16-18; Acts 20:21; Rom. 6:23; Eph. 2:8, 9).  The Holy Spirit convicts sinners, regenerates, seals, secures, and indwells every believer (John 3:6; John 16:8, 9; Rom. 8:9-11; 1 Cor. 6:19, 20; Eph. 4:30; Titus 3:5).

We believe that all who believe on Jesus Christ alone for salvation are eternally secure in Him and shall not perish (John 3:36; John 5:24; John 10:27-30; Rom. 8:35-39; Heb. 10:39; 1 Peter 1:5).

We believe that God deals with believers as His children, that He chastises the disobedient, and that He rewards the obedient (Matt. 16:27; Matt. 25:14-23; John 1:12; Heb. 12:5-11; 2 John 8; Rev. 22:12).

We believe that Jesus Christ established His church during His ministry on earth and that it is always a local, visible assembly of Scripturally baptized believers in covenant relationship to carry out the Commission of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Each church is an independent, self-governing body, and no other ecclesiastical body may exercise authority over it.  We believe that Jesus Christ gave the Great Commission to the New Testament churches only, and that He promised the perpetuity of His churches (Matt. 4:18-22; Matt. 16:18; Matt. 28:19, 20; Mark 1:14-20; John 1:35-51; Eph. 3:21).

We believe that there are two pictorial ordinances in the Lord's churches: Baptism and the Lord's Supper.  Scriptural baptism is the immersion of penitent believers in water, administered by the authority of a New Testament church in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The Lord's Supper is a memorial ordinance, restricted to the members of the church observing the ordinance (Matt. 28:19, 20; Acts 8:12, 38; Rom. 6:4; 1 Cor. 5:11-13; 1 Cor. 11:1, 2, 17-20, 26).

We believe that there are two divinely appointed offices in a church, pastors and deacons, to be filled by men whose qualifications are set forth in Titus and 1Timothy.

We believe the ecumenical / inter-faith movement to be part of the prophesied apostasy of the last days and that all believers and Scriptural churches must separate from such things (Mat. 25:33-46; Rom. 16:17, 18; 2 Cor. 6:14-17; 2 Tim. 4:3, 4; 2 Jhn. 1:10, 11).

We believe in freedom of worship without interference from the government and affirm our belief in civil obedience, unless the laws and regulations of civil government run contrary to the Holy Scriptures (Rom. 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-15).

OUR CHURCH COVENANT

Having been led, as we believe, by the Spirit of God, to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour, and on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, we do now, in the presence of God, angels and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another, as one body in Christ.

We engage, therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, to walk together in Christian love, to strive for the advancement of this church, in knowledge, holiness and comfort; to promote its prosperity and spirituality to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline and doctrines; to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expense of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the gospel through all nations.

We also engage to maintain family and secret devotions; to religiously educate our children; to seek the salvation of our kindred acquaintances; to walk circumspectly in the world; to be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements and exemplary in our deportment; to avoid all tattling, backbiting and excessive anger; to abstain from the sale and use of intoxicating drinks as a beverage, and to be zealous in our efforts to advance in the kingdom of our Saviour.

We further engage to watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember each other in prayer; to aid each other in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and courtesy in speech; to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation and mindful of the rules of our Saviour to secure it without delay.

We moreover engage that when we remove from this place we will, as soon as possible, unite with some other church, where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God's work.

CHRISTIAN LIFESTYLE STATEMENT

 We affirm that the Bible clearly reveals God’s will for the lifestyle of His redeemed people and deny that Biblical standards in such areas as the family and sexuality are outdated in modern time (Deuteronomy 4:2, Psalms 119:89, Matthew 5:17-19, Mark 13:31, Romans 15:4, 1 Corinthians 10:6-11).  Human sexuality is a good gift from God to be received from God with thanksgiving.  We deny that sexual activity outside of marriage is necessary for the full development of human personhood (Genesis 1:27-28, 2:18-25, Proverbs 5:18-19, Song of Solomon, Hebrews 13:4).  We affirm that in the Bible, God defines marriage as a life-long exclusive covenant between a man and a woman and sexual activity is pleasing to God only within marriage.  We deny that same-sex relationships constitute marriage in the Biblical sense (Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:3-9, Romans 7:2-3).  We deny that homosexuality, lesbianism, incest, bestiality, adultery, premarital sex or pornography are pleasing to God (Exodus 20:14,17, Leviticus 18, Matthew 5:27-30, Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 5:1-2, 9-13, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 13-20, 7:3-5, 8-9, Ephesians 5:3-5, 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8).  We affirm that these lifestyle guidelines are clearly based on Holy Scripture and therefore constitute the will of God for the members of All Nations Baptist Church; and, we further affirm that these lifestyle guidelines shall serve as the basis for pastoral care and church discipline.  We deny that the use of these lifestyle guidelines is motivated by anything other than a reverent fear of Almighty God our Maker, Redeemer and Judge, and our sincere desire to obey His commandments revealed in Holy Scripture according to the Holy Scriptures, Authorized King James Bible.