Statement of Faith Emmanuel Baptist Church
Statement of Faith created and adopted by the membership of EBC on 02/20/2022.
All Scripture presented on this website is from the King James Version 1611 (KJV).
Our desire is to know the Lord Jesus Christ, to make Him known to all, to make disciples, and to bring glory to His Name by living fruitful lives.
Mat 28:18-20; Act 1:8; John 15:8
There is One God: Isaiah 45:5-6; Isa 45:18; Isa 45:21-22
God: We believe in one God, eternally existent in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit— who are infinite in glory, wisdom, holiness, justice, power, mercy, grace, knowledge, and love and that He created everything out of nothing for His own pleasure and purpose.
God the Father: God, as Father, reigns over all of His Creation with providential care and is all-powerful, all loving, all-knowing, and all-wise.
Genesis 1:1; 1 Chronicles 29:10; Jeremiah 10:10; Matthew 6:9; Acts 1:7; Romans 8:14 – 15.
1Corinthians 8:6; 1Corinthians 15:24; Ephesians 4:4 6.
God the Son – Jesus Christ is unique in that He is fully God and fully man. He is co-equal with the Father and Holy Spirit. He is God, who in His incarnation was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary and became a man. In His earthly ministry He lived a sinless life, performed miracles, and died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins according to the Scriptures.
By the power of God, He was raised from the dead in the same body now glorified. He ascended into Heaven where, at the right hand of God, He continually makes intercession for us. He will soon return in the air for His bride the church at the rapture. He will return at the conclusion of the Tribulation and physically reign on the earth for 1000 years.
Isaiah 9:6-7; Luke 1:26-35; John 1:1-5; John 1:14; Romans 8:3.
Jesus identified Himself as God: John 10:22 – 42
God the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and the Son; He regenerates the believing sinner; indwells, guides, instructs, seals, gifts, and empowers the believer for Godly living and service; He comforts the children of God.
The Holy Spirit guides and gives power to the church, the body of Christ, to fulfill the Great Commission. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment and points, men/women, to Jesus. Every believer is called to live in the power of the Holy Spirit so that he/she will not fulfill the lust of the flesh but to bear the fruit of the Spirit to the glory of God.
John 3:3-8; John 14:15-17; Ephesians 5:18; Galatians 5:16-26
Scripture: We believe that the 66 books of the Bible are the literal written Word of God. The Bible is divinely inspired, inerrant throughout, and that holy men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit to write the very words of Scripture.
The Word of God is without error. We believe that God has preserved His Word throughout the centuries. The final guide to the interpretation of Scripture is Scripture itself.
Scripture is our final authority in all matters of faith and life as revealed by the Holy Spirit to each individual believer.
We believe that the Bible is preserved for the English-speaking in the King James Version.
2 Timothy; 2 Peter 1:21.
Man, woman, and sin: Adam, the first man, and Eve, the first woman, were created in the image of God, their fall into sin is the basis for the necessity of salvation for mankind. Death, both physical and spiritual, entered this world and affected creation as a whole, a direct consequence of man’s sin. The Word of God tells us that everyone has Adams’s sin nature, and we are all sinners, inherently from Adam and individually by choice. As sinners we are therefore subject to God’s wrath and condemnation. The Word of God clearly tells us that a man must be born again, or he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Genesis 1:26 – 27 John 3:3; Romans 8:22; 3:10, 23
Salvation: Salvation is the gift of God and includes the forgiveness of sins, the imputation of the righteousness of Jesus Christ (onto the repentant sinner), and the gift of eternal life. Jesus shed blood washes away our sin. Jesus is the only way by which man may have access to God. Union with the Triune God provides all blessings in this life and the life hereafter. Salvation is received by faith alone, apart from all good works and merit.
John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Ephesians 2:8-10; Rom 6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:1 -4.
Baptism: The Word of God states that after a person has believed on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, then he or she should be baptized by immersion in water.
Baptism is a testimony that the person being baptized has:
(1) died with Christ to their old self;
(2) they are raised with Christ a new creature.
Baptism does not save, true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ saves. God commands us to believe in the finished work and Person Jesus Christ and then to be baptized.
Acts 8:36-40; Acts 16:30-34.
Eternal Security of the believer: Every child of God possesses eternal life. Being justified by faith, sanctified by God, and sealed by the Holy Spirit, he/she is safe and secure for all eternity and cannot lose his/her salvation. Through sin, a Christian can lose his/her fellowship, joy, power, testimony, and rewards, and incur the Father’s chastisement (discipline) but the relationship is eternal, being established by the new birth.
John 10:27-29, I Corinthians 3:11-17, 5:1-5 and 11:30-32 and Hebrews 12:5-11.
The Church: A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ (believers’ baptism and the Lord’s supper), governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth.
Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor and deacon is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.
The New Testament speaks of the church as the Body and Bride of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of the church age, believers from every tribe, tongue, people, nation both Jew and Gentile. The church is composed of all those who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ during the church age, have been regenerated by the Spirit of God by whom they have been baptized into one body of whom Christ is the head. The purpose of the church is to love, worship, and glorify God, love people, reach the lost and make disciples. We accomplish this by prayer, study and application of the Bible, evangelism, discipleship, fellowship, ministry, and worship.
Matthew 16:15-19; 18:15-20; Acts 2:41-42,47; 5:11-14; 6:3-6; 13:1-3; 14:23,27; 15:1-30; 16:5; 20:28; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 3:16; 5:4-5; 7:17; 9:13-14; 12; Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:19-22; 3:8-11,21; 5:22-32; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 2:9-14; 3:1-15; 4:14; Hebrews 11:39-40; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Revelation 2-3; 21:2-3.
Satan: We believe as the Bible reveals that Satan is a created angelic being. Satan was originally named Lucifer. Lucifer was the anointed Cherub who guarded the throne of God until he rebelled against God. Satan is the author of sin, a liar and the father of lies, and is destined to the judgment of eternal punishment in the lake of fire. He is the adversary, enemy of both God and man.
Satan is NOT equal to God. God is All-Powerful, All-Knowing, All-Present. Satan is limited in power, in knowledge and cannot be present in more than one place at a time.
Isa 14:12-15; Eze 28:13-19; Matt 4:1-3; Acts 5:3; 2 Cor 4:4; John 8:44; Rev 20:10.
Hell: Hell is the temporary holding place for lost souls, it is not purgatory. There is no such place called purgatory.
Hell was created for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41) but those who have rejected God’s mercy and grace and die in their sin will be placed in hell until the Great White Throne Judgment.
At the end of the Millennial reign of Christ, the unsaved will be called before the Great White Throne of God and judged. Death and hell will at that time be cast into the lake of fire. God will judge unbelievers (unsaved), they will then be cast into the lake of fire, where they will be for all of eternity.
Revelation 20:11-15; Luke 16:19-31.
Heaven: Heaven is the eternal home of those who have been redeemed by the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the born again or saved.
Heaven is described in the Bible as a place where the throne of God is located.
1Corintians 2:9; Revelation 4:1 – 6; 21:4.
Prayer: The Church is commanded throughout Scripture to be a people of prayer. Over and over especially in the book of Acts we see that the church is to pray and preach.
We are to pray without ceasing. 2 Thessalonians 5:17; Acts 2:42.
Things that should be included in our prayers: praise and thanksgiving, confession of sin, salvation for the lost, the needs of others and ourselves.
Evangelism: If the church is to grow it must prayerfully go.
We can and should utilize different God-honoring methods to get the Gospel in front of people, but we must not compromise or water down the message.
Evangelism simply put is taking the Gospel (Good News) to the world, beginning within our own households.
Matthew 20:18-20, Acts 1:8.
Discipleship: Once a person comes to the Savior, God has given us the responsibility to help them grow as believers.
We need to take the responsibility as lead by the Holy Spirit to guide new converts in the learning process, but it does not end there we are to learn Scriptures and application of those Scriptures throughout our lives and help and encourage others to do the same.
Ministry: Meeting other’s needs in the Name of Jesus.
Worship: Corporate (together with other believers) and individual. Worship includes but is not limited to music. It includes prayer, Scripture reading, offerings, decisions, and most importantly the hearing of God’s Word. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Worship is NOT just focused on music.
Roman 10:17
Fellowship: Fellowship is a person-to-person relationship with God and fellow believers.
Acts 2:42; 46.
Eschatology: The Word of God has given us a glimpse of things to come. The church age will end with the pre-tribulation rapture of the church, the tribulation period will begin with the signing of the 7-year peace covenant with the Anti-christ, Israel and other nations. After the tribulation there will follow a 1000-year physical reign of Christ on this earth. The great white throne judgment will happen at the end of the 1000 years ushering in the new heaven and new earth, where there is no more curse, no more sorrow, no more tears, no more death.
1 Corinthians 15:50 – 58; 1 Thessalonians 4:13 – 18; Revelation 5 – 22.
Marriage: Biblical marriage is a covenant in which one man and one woman are married to each other in a monogamous, lifetime relationship as described and defined by the Word of God.
Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4 – 5.
Abortion: We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. We believe that Christians should not have abortions and should not vote for people who support abortion. We also believe that Christians should have no part in violence against abortion clinics, or abortion providers. Christians should pray for and share the Gospel with those who have had an abortion or are involved with or have been involved in the abortion industry.
Job 3:16; Psalm 51:5; 139:14-16; Isaiah 44:24; 49:1, 5; Jeremiah 1:5; 20:15-18; Luke 1:44)
Statement of Faith adopted by the membership of Emmanuel Baptist Church on 02/20/2022. All Statements of Faith written and adopted prior to this date are null and void at the adoption of this document.