Statement of Faith & Beliefs
My doctrinal statement is reflected in the published statement of the church I pastor. The following is the Statement of Faith summary as adopted by Community Baptist Church of Columbus, GA.
The Bible
We believe the Bible, consisting of sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, is the verbally inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God. The Bible is God-breathed (II Tim. 3:16), and is to be the final authority in all matters of faith and practice. We further believe that God has preserved His Word in the King James Version (KJV). For languages other than English, we believe the translation must be based upon the Textus Receptus (TR), which is the same Greek text the KJV is based upon. For this church, the King James Version of the Bible shall be the official and only translation used by the church (II Tim. 3:16-17; II Pet. 1:20-21)
The Godhead
We believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit eternally existing as three persons, and yet are still One. These are co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and have the same attributes and perfections (Gen. 1:26; Deut. 6:4; Isa 6:3).
Person & Work of Jesus Christ
We believe that the Lord Jesus, the eternal and only begotten Son of God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, became man, without ceasing to be God (Phil. 2:5-8). Jesus Christ is full deity because He is God, and He became fully human as a man. He did this in order that He might reveal God in His righteousness and redeem man in his sinfulness (John 1:1; 14:9; Isa. 7:14; I John 4:14).
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His literal death and shed blood on the cross as a representative, vicarious, and substitutionary sacrifice. Our justification is made sure by His literal physical, bodily resurrection from the dead (I Cor. 15:1-4).
We believe the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven and is now seated at the right hand of God the Father (Heb. 12:2) where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Mediator, Advocate and Intercessor (I Tim. 2:5; I John 2:1; Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25).
We believe in that “blessed hope,” which is the personal, imminent, pretribulational, premillennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones. We further believe in His subsequent return to earth with His saints, at the end of the tribulation period, to establish His millennial kingdom (I Thess. 4:13-18; Rev. 19:11-20:6).