WESTSIDE BAPTIST CHURCH

STATEMENT OF FAITH

1.        The Bible – We believe that the Bible is the verbal, plenary, inspired Word of God.  The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible and God-breathed and, therefore, are the final authority for faith and life.  We believe the Word of God has been translated and preserved into the English language through the King James Version. (Ps. 12:6-7; Mark 13:31; II Tim. 3:16; II Peter 1:20-21)

2.      God – We believe that there is one and only one living and true God, the maker and supreme ruler of Heaven and Earth; inexpressibly glorious in holiness and worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct, but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption. (Gen. 1:1-2; Ps. 83:18; Matt. 28:19; John 4:24; 10:30; Eph. 2:18)

3.      Jesus Christ – We believe that Jesus Christ is God, the second person of the Godhead, eternal, and with God the Father in the beginning and at the creation. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary blood atonement; that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical, bodily resurrection from the dead that He is the only mediator between God and men. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven and is at the right hand of God where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of representative, intercessor, and advocate. We believe that one day Christ will come back to get all those who are saved and take them to Heaven. We believe that Jesus Christ will sit as judge at the Judgment Seat of Christ to judge the saved according to their works. He will also pass the final judgment on the lost at the Great White Throne Judgment.(John 1:1-3; Col. 1:16-17; Is. 7:14; Luke 1:35; John 1:14; Gal. 4:4-5; Phil. 2:5-8; Rom. 3:24-25; I Peter 2:24; Eph. 1:7; I John 1:7; Acts 1:9-10; I John 2:1-2; II Cor. 5:10; Rev. 20:11-15)

4.      The Holy Spirit – We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person; equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature; that He was active in creation; that in His relations to the unbelieving world He restrains the Evil one until God’s purpose is fulfilled; that He convicts of sin, of judgment, and of righteousness; that He bears witness to the truth of the Gospel in preaching and testimony; that He is the agent in the New Birth; that He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies, and helps the believer. (Gen. 1:1-3; Matt. 28:19; Mark 1:8; Luke 1:35; Luke 24:49; John 1:33; John 3:5-6; John 14:16-17, 26; Eph. 1:13-14; Heb. 9:14)

5.      Man – We believe that man was originally created in the image and likeness of God, sinless and innocent; but that in Adam’s voluntary sin the human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God. Man is a sinner by nature and by choice. Man is totally depraved and therefore under condemnation and the wrath of God, doomed for Hell and eternity in the lake of fire. He is of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition. (Gen. 1:26-27;Mark 9:43-48; John 3:18, 36; Rom. 3:22-23; 5:12; 6:23; Eph. 2:1-3; 4:17-19; Rev. 20:11-15)

6.      Salvation – We believe that Scripture teaches that we can know that we are saved. Salvation is a gift of God, apart from any works or merit on the part of man. Salvation is brought to man by grace and received by repentance toward God and personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of sins. Salvation is freely offered to all who will receive it and results in a changed life. (John 1:12; II Cor. 5:17; Eph. 1:7; 2:8-10; I Peter 1:18-19; I John 1:9; 5:13)

7.      Eternal Security – We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are “in Christ” and 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; I Cor. 1:4-8, 30; II Cor. 5:17; I Peter 1:4-5; Eph. 4:30; John 5:24)

8.      Separation – We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord. This is not in order to be saved or to keep our salvation, but because we are saved and desire to live pleasing to our Lord. Living a life of Scriptural separation helps us to maintain a godly testimony toward them that are without and increases our opportunity for being an effective witness to the lost. Separation from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices and associations is commanded of God. (Rom. 12:1-2; 14:13; II Cor. 6:14-7:1; II Tim. 3:1-5; I John 2:15-17; II John 9-11)

9.      The Eternal State – We believe in the resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life in Heaven, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment in the lake of fire. (Matt. 25:46; John 5:28, 29; 11:25-26; Rev. 20:5-6, 12-13)

10.   The Church – We believe that a local church is a congregation of baptized believers, associated by the covenant of faith and fellowship of the Gospel; that it observes the ordinances of Christ and is governed by His laws; that it exercises the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in it by His Word; that its officers are pastors and deacons whose qualifications, claims, and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures. We believe the true mission of the church is the faithful witnessing of Christ to all men as we have opportunity. We hold that the local church has the absolute right of self-government free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations, and the one and only superintendent is Christ through the Holy Spirit; that the will of the local church is final as the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation on all matters of membership, policy, government, discipline, and benevolence. (Col. 1:18; Acts 2:41-42; 15:13-18; 20:17-28; Eph. 1:22-23;4:11; 5:23-24; I Cor. 11:2; I Tim. 3:1-7)

11.    The Second Coming – We believe in that blessed hope, the personal, imminent return of Christ, who will call out (rapture) His church prior to the seven-year tribulation period which marks the end of the Church Age. At that moment the dead in Christ shall rise and be caught up together with the living saints. When we are raptured, He will change our vile, corruptible bodies into the likeness of His glorious body. At the end of the Tribulation, Christ will personally and visibly return to earth 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 Cor. 15:51-54; Phil. 3:21; I Thess. 1:10; 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; I John 3:2; Rev. 3:10; 19:11-16; 20:1-6)