Doctrinal Statement

Our Beliefs

Evangel Baptist Church receives the Scriptures as the inspired Word of God, and as the sole authority in matters of faith and practice. Its understanding of Christian truth as therein contained is expressed by the following declaration of faith.

A. We believe that the Bible is God’s infallible Word: written by men who were divinely “moved by the Holy Spirit” and that it is our supreme authority in all matters of faith and practice. We affirm our belief in the verbal and plenary inspiration of the Scriptures in their original autographs. (1 Timothy 3:l6-l7; 2 Peter l:l9-21)

B. We believe in God the Father, First person of the Trinity, perfect in holiness, infinite in wisdom, and measureless in power. We rejoice that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ. (Exodus 20:2-3; John 3:l6; Hebrews 7:25; Matthew 7:7)

C. We believe in Jesus Christ, Second person of the Trinity, the eternal and only begotten Son of God, conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, sinless in His life, making atonement for the sins of the world by His vicarious death and shed blood on the cross. We believe in His bodily resurrection, His Ascension into Heaven, and His High Priestly intercession for His people. We believe in His visible, pre-tribulational, pre-millennial return to the world according to His promise. (John 3:l6; 1 Corinthians l5:3-4; 1 Thessalonians 4:l3-l8; John l4:l-6; Leviticus l7:ll; Ephesians l:7)

D. We believe in God the Holy Spirit, the Third person of the Trinity, who came forth to convict the world of sin, and of judgment, and to regenerate, sanctify, comfort, and seal forever those who believe in Jesus Christ. (John l4:l6; John l7:26)

E. We believe that all men by nature and by choice are sinners, but that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”. Moreover, we believe that those who accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord will rejoice forever in Heaven. And, those who refuse to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord will remain the children of the devil, and will be forever separated from God and will spend everlasting life in the lake of fire. (Romans 3:23; John 3:l6; John 3:l8; John 3:36; 1 Corinthians 2:9-l0)

F. We believe in the absolute eternal security of the believer. (John l0:28; Psalm 55:22; Romans 8:l6; 1 John 5:l3)

G. We believe in the universal church: a living spiritual body of which Christ is the Head and of which all regenerated people are members. We believe that a local church is a company of believers in Jesus Christ, baptized on a credible confession of faith, and associated for worship, work and fellowship. We believe that God has laid upon these churches the task of proclaiming to a lost and dying world the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior, and the enthroning of Him as Lord and Master. We believe that all human betterment and social improvements are the inevitable by-products of such a gospel. (Acts 2:4l-42; Matthew l6:l6-l8).

H. We believe that every human being is responsible first and foremost to God in all matters of faith; that each church is independent and autonomous and must be free from interference by any ecclesiastical or political authority; that therefore Church and State must be kept separate as having different functions, each fulfilling its duties free from the dictation or patronage of the other. (Romans 13:1-7; Titus 3:1; 1 Peter 2:13,14,17; Acts 5:29; Galatians 1:16; Matthew 22:21).

I. We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowment of His gifts, and that He gave the gifts of evangelist and pastor-teacher for the perfecting of the saints today. We believe that the gifts of tongues, healing powers, and other sign miracles were given to the members of the early church for a limited time as a sign to the Jews, and that they gradually ceased as the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their authority became established. We also realize and believe that we serve a God that can choose to work in unusual and miraculous ways in special situations even during this age.(1 Corinthians 12 and 13,especially 13:10; Hebrews 2:3,4; 1 Corinthians 14:22).

J. We believe that the term “marriage” has only one meaning and that is marriage sanctioned by God which joins one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to only occur between a man and a woman who are married to each other, and that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of sexual immorality is sinful and offensive to God. We believe that in order to preserve the function and integrity of the church as the local Body of Christ, and to provide a biblical role model to the church members and the community, it is imperative that all persons employed by the church in any capacity, all members, and all who serve as volunteers, must abide by and agree to this Statement on Marriage and Sexuality and conduct themselves accordingly. We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect and dignity. Accordingly, hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture nor the doctrine of this church (Genesis 2:20b-24; 19:5,13; Lev. 18:1-30; 20:10-16; Romans 1:26-29; 1 Corinthians 5:1; 6:9; 1 Thess. 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4).

K. We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion at any stage constitutes the unjustified taking of human life and is murder. We reject any teaching that abortions of pregnancies due to rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, birth or population control, or the mental well-being of the mother are acceptable. As is the case with any sin, complete forgiveness is found through Jesus Christ (Job 3:16; Psalms 51:5; 139:4-16; Isaiah 44:24; 499:1,5; Jeremiah 1:5; 20:15-18; 1 John 1:9)

Copied from the CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS of Evangel Baptist Church, most recently revised and approved November 17, 2013.