The Scriptures
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally and plenarily inspired Word of God. The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible and God-breathed, and therefore are the final authority for faith and life.
The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are the complete and divine revelation of God to man. The Scriptures shall be interpreted according to their normal grammatical-historical meaning. The King James Bible shall be the official and only translation used by the church (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21).
The True God
We believe there is one and only one living and true God, as the infinite, sovereign spirit, the maker and supreme ruler of heaven and earth. He is inexpressibly glorious in holiness, and worthy of all possible honour, confidence and love. In the unity of the Godhead, there are three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each person is equal in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the work of redemption.(Exodus 20:2-3; I Corinthians 8:6 Revelation 4:11)
The Devil (Or Satan)
We believe in the personality of Satan. He is the unholy god of this age and the ruler of all the powers of darkness. He is destined to the judgement of an eternal justice in the lake of fire. (Matthew 4:11; II Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 20:10)
Creation
We believe the Genesis account of creation as being neither allegory nor myth, but a literal, historical account of the direct, immediate creative acts of God without any evolutionary process. Man (spirit, soul, and body) was created by a direct act of God and not from previously existing forms of life. All men are descended from the historical Adam and Eve who were the first parents of the entire human race.(Genesis 1 and 2; Colossians 1:16,17; John 1:3)
The Fall Of Man
We believe that man was created in innocence under the law of his maker, but by voluntary transgression, Adam fell from his sinless and happy state and as a consequence, all men are totally depraved. Man is a partaker of Adam’s fallen nature and are sinners by nature and by conduct. Man is, therefore, under just condemnation without defense or excuse. (Genesis 3:1-24; Romans 1:18-32; 3:10-19; 5:12, 19)
The Virgin Birth
We believe that Jesus was begotten of the Holy Ghost in a miraculous manner, born of Mary, a virgin, as no other man was ever born or can ever be born of woman, and that he is both the Son of God and God the Son. (Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:35; John 1:14; Hebrews 1:8)
Death, Burial, Resurrection And Priesthood
We believe in the death, burial and the bodily resurrection of Christ. In his ascension into Heaven, he now sits at the right hand of the Father as our High Priest. (Matthew 28:6,7; Luke 24:39; John 20:27; I Corinthians 15:1-4; I John 2:1; Hebrews 2:17; 5:9,10)
Grace In The New Creation
We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be born again. This new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus. It is instantaneous and not a process. In the new birth, the one dead in trespasses and sins is made a partaker of the divine nature and receives eternal life, the free gift of God. (John 3:3; II Corinthians 5:17; I John 5:1, Acts 16:30-33; II Peter 1:4; Romans 6:23)
Repentance
We believe that repentance is a change of mind and purpose toward God as promoted by the Holy Spirit. It is characterized by godly sorrow for sin as offensive to God and ruinous to the soul. True repentance is inseparably connected to true faith. (Luke 13:1-3; 15:7; Acts 8:22; Romans 2:4; II Corinthians 7:10; Acts 20:21)
Salvation
We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins (John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7, 2:8-10; 1 Peter 1:18-19). We believe that faith in the Lord Jesus is the only condition of salvation (Acts 16:31)
Sanctification
We believe that sanctification is the divine setting apart of the believer unto God. It is accomplished in a threefold manner:
- An eternal act of God, based upon redemption in Christ, establishing the believer in a position of holiness at the moment he trusts the Saviour;
- A continuing process in the Saint as the Holy Spirit applies the Word of God to the life;
- The final accomplishment of this process at the Lord’s return. (Hebrews 10:10-14; John 17:17; II Corinthians 3:18; I Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 5:25-26; I Thessalonians 4:3-4; I John 3:2; Revelation 22:11)
The Security Of The Saints
We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Romans 8:1, 38-39; 1 Corinthians 1:4-8; 1 Peter 1:4-5).
We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through testimony of God’s Word which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh (Romans 13:13-14; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11-15).
Baptism
We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water, under the authority of the local church, to show forth in a solemn and beautiful picture of our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Saviour. It was through Him that we died to sin and rose to a new life. Baptism is a prerequisite to the privileges of church membership. Immersion, as a believer, shall be a prerequisite to church membership.
The Lord’s Supper
We believe the Lord’s Supper is always by solemn self-examination. We believe that the biblical order of the ordinances is baptism and the Lord’s Supper. (Acts 8:36,38,39; John 3:23; Romans 6:3-5; Matthew 3:16; Colossians 2:12; I Corinthians 11:23-28; Matthew 28:19,20; Acts 2:41-42)
Separation
We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Saviour and Lord. Separation from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices and associations is commanded of God. (Romans 12:1-2; 14:13; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; 1 John 2:15-17; 2 John 9-11)
The Rapture Of The Church
We believe in the imminent, pre-millennial return of Christ for his church. At that time, the dead in Christ shall be raised in glorified bodies, and the living in Christ shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. This will occur before the tribulation begins. (I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Corinthians 15:42-44, 51-54; Philippians 3:20,21; Revelation 3:10).
The Great Tribulation
We believe that the Great Tribulation, which follows the rapture of the church, will be culminated by the revelation of Christ in power and great glory to sit upon the throne of David and to establish the millennial reign of Christ. (Daniel 9:25-27; Matthew 24:29-31; Luke 1:30-33; Isaiah 9:6-7; 11:1-9; Acts 2:29-30; Revelation 20:1-4, 6)
The Righteous And The Wicked
We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked. Only those who are justified by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and sanctified by the spirit of our God are truly righteous in His esteem. All who continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked and under the curse.
This distinction holds among men both in and after death, in the everlasting bliss of the saved, and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost in the lake of fire. (Malachi 3:18; Genesis 18:23; Romans 6:17,18; I John 5:19; Romans 7:6; 6:23; Proverbs 14:32; Luke 16:25; John 8:21; John 8:44; Revelation 20:14-15)
The Church
We believe that the local church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is solely made up of born-again people. (1 Corinthians 12:12-14; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 1:22-23; 5:25-27)
We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:27; 20:17, 28-32; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11).
We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority or control (Acts 13:1-4; 15:19-31; 20:28; Romans 16:1, 4; 1 Corinthians 3:9, 16; 5:4-7, 13; 1 Peter 5:1-4).
Abortion
We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused taking of unborn human life. Abortion 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 (Job 3:16; Psalms 51:5; 139:14-16; Isaiah 44:24; 49:1, 5; Jeremiah 1:5; 20:15-18; Luke 1:44)
Missions
We believe that God has given the church a great commission to proclaim the gospel to all nations so that there might be a great multitude from every nation, tribe, ethnic group, and language group who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As ambassadors of Christ, we must use all available means to go to the foreign nations and not wait for them to come to us. (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:20)
The above doctrinal statement is taken from the website of Gantt Street Baptist Church. The matter has been abridged only to confine our purpose to the intent of presenting our Biblical position without speaking as a voice that seems to delineate the authority or constitutional polity of the church.
Our Affiliations:
We are Independent Baptist in affiliation. Our sending church is the Gantt Street Baptist Church in Cayce, SC.
