What We Believe

The Elders and Congregation of Fellowship Bible Church have adopted the Abstract of Principles as the way to express what we confess as a congregation and the standard from which we will teach. It has roots in historic Christianity that spans back to the time of the Reformation and expresses the doctrines of that time with baptistic convictions. Below our statement fo faith, we also have  the disticntives of  our church and statements concerning current issues in our culture.

I. The Scriptures The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, and are the only sufficient, certain and authoritative rule of all saving knowledge, faith and obedience. (2 Tim. 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21)

II. God There is but one God, the Maker, Preserver and Ruler of all things, having in and of Himself, all perfections, and being infinite in them all; and to Him all creatures owe the highest love, reverence and obedience. (Deut. 6:4; 1 Cor. 8:4-6; 1 Tim. 1:17)

III. The Trinity God is revealed to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit each with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence or being. (Mt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14)

IV. Providence God from eternity, decrees or permits all things that come to pass, and perpetually upholds, directs and governs all creatures and all events; yet so as not in any way to be the author or approver of sin nor to destroy the free will and responsibility of intelligent creatures. (Heb. 1:3; Mt. 10:29-31; Prov. 16:33)

V. Election Election is God's eternal choice of some persons unto everlasting life-not because of foreseen merit in them, but of His mere mercy in Christ-in consequence of which choice they are called, justified and glorified. (Rom. 8:30; Eph. 1:3-6; Acts 13:48)

VI. The Fall of Man God originally created Man in His own image, and free from sin; but, through the temptation of Satan, he transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original holiness and righteousness; whereby his posterity inherit a nature corrupt and wholly opposed to God and His law, are under condemnation, and as soon as they are capable of moral action, become actual transgressors. (Gen. 1:27; 3:4-7; Rom. 5:12-21; Eph. 2:1-3)

VII. The Mediator Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, is the divinely appointed mediator between God and man. Having taken upon Himself human nature, yet without sin, He perfectly fulfilled the law; suffered and died upon the cross for the salvation of sinners. He was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended to His Father, at whose right hand He ever lives to make intercession for His people. He is the only Mediator, the Prophet, Priest and King of the Church, and Sovereign of the Universe. (Mt. 3:17; 1 Cor. 15:3-7; 1 Tim. 2:5; Rom. 5:6-11; Phil. 2:5-11; Heb 1:3)

VIII. Regeneration Regeneration is a change of heart, wrought by the Holy Spirit, who gives life to those who are dead in trespasses and sins enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the Word of God, and renewing their whole nature, so that they love and practice holiness. It is a work of God's free and special grace alone. (Jn. 3:1-8; Titus 3:5; 1 Pet. 1:3)

IX. Repentance Repentance is an evangelical grace, wherein a person being by the Holy Spirit, made sensible of the manifold evil of his sin, humbles himself for it, with godly sorrow, detestation of it, and self-abhorrence, with a purpose and endeavor to walk before God so as to please Him in all things. (Mk. 1:15; Acts 20:21; 2 Cor. 7:9)

X. Faith Saving faith is the belief, on God's authority, of whatsoever is revealed in His Word concerning Christ; accepting and resting upon Him alone for justification and eternal life. It is wrought in the heart by the Holy Spirit, and is accompanied by all other saving graces, and leads to a life of holiness. (Jn. 1:12; 5:24; Eph. 2:8, 9)

XI. Justification Justification is God's gracious and full acquittal of sinners, who believe in Christ, from all sin, through the satisfaction that Christ has made; not for anything wrought in them or done by them; but on account of the obedience and satisfaction of Christ, they receiving and resting on Him and His righteousness by faith. (Rom. 3:23-24; Rom. 5:1-2; 18, 19; 2 Cor. 5:21)

XII. Sanctification Those who have been regenerated are also sanctified by God's word and Spirit dwelling in them. This sanctification is progressive through the supply of Divine strength, which all saints seek to obtain, pressing after a heavenly life in heartfelt obedience to all Christ's commands. (Jn. 17:17; 2 Thes. 2:13; Heb. 12:14)

XIII. Perseverance of the Saints Those whom God has accepted in the Beloved, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere to the end; and though they may fall through neglect and temptation, into sin, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, bring reproach on the Church, and temporal judgments on themselves, yet they shall be renewed again unto repentance, and be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. (Jn. 10:28-29; 1 Jn. 2:19; Rom. 8:30)

XIV. The Church The Lord Jesus is the head of the Church, which is composed of all His true disciples, and in Him is invested supremely all power for its government. According to His commandment, Christians are to gather together into local churches; and to each of these churches He has given needful authority for administering that order, discipline and worship which He has appointed. The regular officers of a Church are Elders, and Deacons. (Col. 1:18; Mt. 16:18; 18:15-18; 1 Tim. 3:1-15; 1 Pet. 5:1-4)

XV. Baptism Baptism is an ordinance of the Lord Jesus, obligatory upon every believer, wherein he is immersed in water in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, as a sign of his fellowship with the death and resurrection of Christ, of remission of sins, and of giving himself up to God, to live and walk in newness of life. (Mt. 28:19-20; Rom. 6:3-5; Acts 8:38-39)

XVI. The Lord's Supper The Lord's Supper is an ordinance of Jesus Christ, to be administered with the elements of bread and the fruit of the vine, and to be observed by His churches till the end of the world. It is in no sense a sacrifice, but is designed to commemorate His death, to confirm the faith and other graces of Christians, and to be a bond, pledge and renewal of their communion with Him, and of their church fellowship. (Mt. 26:26-27; 1 Cor. 10:16-17; 11:23-26)

XVII. The Lord's Day The Lord's Day is a Christian institution for regular observance, and should be employed in exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private. (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:1-2; Col. 2:16; 3:16; Rev 1:10)[1]

XVIII. Liberty of Conscience God alone is Lord of the conscience; and He hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are in anything contrary to His word, or not contained in it. Civil magistrates being ordained of God, subjection in all lawful things commanded by them ought to be yielded by us in the Lord, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. (Rom. 13:1-7; 1 Pet. 2:17)

XIX. The Resurrection The bodies of men after death return to dust, but their spirits return immediately to God-the righteous to rest with Him; the wicked, to be reserved under darkness to the judgment. At the last day, the bodies of all the dead, both just and unjust, will be raised. (1 Cor. 15; Jn. 5:28, 29; Phil. 3:21)

XX. The Judgment God hath appointed a day, wherein He will judge the world by Jesus Christ,[2] when everyone shall receive according to his deeds; the wicked shall go into everlasting punishment; the righteous, into everlasting life. (Mt. 25:31-46; 1 Cor. 15:35-58; 2 Cor. 5:10)

[1] The language has been modified to remove excessive Sabbath language.
[2] We believe this will occur in concert with the visible bodily return of Christ.

DISTINCTIVES
Biblical – We believe that the Bible is our final authority concerning the faith and practice of our local assembly, both corporately and individually.

Confessional – We hold that doctrine is derived from the Bible and that faithful Christians have distilled these truths from the Scripture into statements of faith by which local assemblies confess what they believe. We have chosen the Abstract of Principles for its Biblical strength, yet simple and straightforward manor, as well as its ties to historic Reformed confessions.

Reformed – We hold that the Protestant Reformation of the 16th and 17th century recaptured certain Biblical truths which were gradually perverted in the Roman Catholic church and codified at the council of Trent. Therefore we hold that the so-called “Five Solas” of the Reformation (Sola Scriptura, Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Solus Christus, and Sola Deo Gloria) codify the essence of this recapturing of Biblical truth.

Baptistic – We believe that the Bible puts forth that the proper means of baptism is by immersion and for those who have professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ only.

Cessationist – We hold that the miraculous sign gifts of the early church are no longer functional today. We do not limit what God can do according to all His holy will but hold that He works in various means throughout history and that the apostolic gifts for the foundation of the church have now passed.

STATEMENTS
Human Sexuality - We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that God disapproves and forbids any attempt to alter one’s gender. We believe that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman. Any effort to redefine marriage or any other relationship in a way contrary to Scripture will not be condoned nor accepted (Genesis 2:21-25; Leviticus 18: 1-30; Romans 1:18-27; Ephesians 5:23-25).

Sanctity of Human Life - We believe that each person is a unique creation of God made in His image, and in upholding that sanctity of life, do oppose the destruction of or violence against human life because it is unwanted, imperfect, or merely inconvenient, as an atrocity against all of mankind and against God. We oppose the wholesale destruction of life by abortion on demand, the direct or indirect infanticide of newborn children for reasons of mental or physical defects and the impending threat of legalized euthanasia directed toward the elderly portion of our society. Senility, infirmity, mental challenges, and mental illnesses are not to be recognized as reasons for extermination and the consideration, teaching and support of these practices are inconsistent with God’s divine purpose (Jeremiah 1:4-5; Psalm 139:13-16; Exodus 23:7; Luke 1:15; Galatians 1:15-16; Psalm 127:3; Genesis 9:6).