Articles of Faith
The Doctrine of the Bible
We believe the Bible is the verbally (every word) and plenarily (completely, every part) inspired (God breathed) Word of God as contained in the original manuscripts; that it is inerrant, infallible, and contains no contradictions; that the Bible is the final rule for faith and practice for the believer in Jesus Christ; and that the canon of sixty-six books from Genesis to Revelation is complete and equally inspired. Nothing shall be added to it nor taken from it. We also believe that the Holy Scriptures has been perfectly preserved and that we have the very Word of God today. Jesus said “Heaven and earth shall pass away, by My words shall not pass away” (Matt. 24:35) The manuscripts used for the King James version of the Bible as well as the commitment to an exact equivalent translation are some of the reasons for making the King James version of the Bible the official and only translation used by the Church. II Tim. 3:16-17; Heb. 1:1; II Pet. 1:20-21; Rev. 22:18-19
The Doctrine of God
We believe that there is one and only one living and true God. He is an infinite, intelligent Spirit, the maker and supreme ruler of heaven and earth; inexpressibly glorious in holiness and worthy of all possible honor, confidence and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption. These three are one God. Ex. 20:2-3; Gen. 17:1; I Cor.8:6; Eph. 4:6; John 4:24; Ps. 147:5; 83:18; 90:2; Ex. 15:11; I Tim. 1:17; Rev. 4:11
The Sovereignty of God
“Baptists believe that God, as an intelligent, rational Being, has a plan for man and for the universe and that He has the authority and the will to operate that plan. Many other groups place a great deal of emphasis upon the free will of man as though God had left the outcome of His plans to the fickle decisions of men who are sold under sin and dead in sin. “We believe that God seeks the sinner, rather than the sinner seeking God (Gen. 3:9; Rom. 3:11). It is God Who implements that salvation in individual men whom He has chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4). We believe that those who trust in Christ are eternally secure in Him, for we are kept by the power of God (1 Peter 1:5; Phil. 1:6; Heb. 7:25; John 10:27-30).“The king’s heart is directed by the Lord (Prov. 21:1). If God is God, then He is sovereign in wisdom, power, and grace! Some people are strangely afraid of this truth, as though they felt that we would protect ourselves against unfair treatment from Him by insisting that His will be limited by our wills. This seems to be nothing less than the sin of unbelief! “Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen. 18:25).“This Confidence in Him does not produce fatalism, as is sometimes charged, for the outcome of His plan is not the result of blind chance. It is fulfilled by our infinitely wise God, “who worketh all things after the counselof his own will” (Eph. 1:11). Neither does this truth remove missionary vision and a burden for souls, as some say. No group of people in Christendom has a greater missionary vision than Baptists who hold this truth. The same Lord Who ordains men to eternal life (Acts 13:48), ordains men in His service (John 15:16). He Who calls men to Himself through Jesus Christ (John 6:44; II Cor. 5:19) has sent us to preach Christ to them (II Cor. 5:20; Rom. 10:12-15). “Praise God that we can commit our way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will bring it to pass (Ps. 37:5)!”
1980 Regular Baptist Press. Used by permission. Paul R.Jackson, The Doctrine and Administration of the Church (RBP, 1980), p.139
The Doctrine of Christ
We believe in the essential Deity and Virgin Birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ; that His conception was the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit; that He was born of the Virgin Mary as no other man was ever born nor can ever be born of a woman, and that He is both the Son of God and God the Son; that He is true God and true man; that He is man’s only hope of salvation from sin, being the mediator between God and man; that He died on the cross, was buried and rose bodily the third day for our sins according to the Scriptures; that His return for the Church, the body of Christ, which He will take to be with Him in heaven at the rapture and before the seven years of tribulation is imminent; that He will return to the earth after the tribulation to set up His millennial reign on earth. Isa. 7:14; Lk. 1:35; Jn. 1:1-4; Jn. 10:30; Jn. 14:6; I Thess. 4:13-18; I Tim. 2:5-6; Rev. 20:4-6
The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit
We believe the Holy Spirit is a divine person equal with God the Father and Christ Jesus; that He was active in creation; that He came to permanently indwell every believer at salvation in fulfillment of Christ’s promise (Jn. 14:16); that He convicts, regenerates, indwells, seals, in-fills, empowers, and guides the believer. That in His relation to the unbelieving world He restrains evil until the pre-tribulation rapture of the Church. I Cor. 6:19; Eph. 1:13-14; Eph. 5:18; Rom. 8:14, I Pet. 1:2; Jn. 14:16-17; Gen. 1:1-3; II Thess. 2:7; Jn. 3:35; Acts 1:5, 8 We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowal of spiritual gifts; that God uniquely uses evangelists and Pastor, teachers to equip believers for the work of the ministry; that the “sign gifts” (tongues, healing, etc.) were temporary and foundational as were the gifts of apostles and prophets; that their purpose was to confirm the Word (Mk. 16:20) until the Scriptures were completed. We believe that speaking in tongues was never the common or necessary sign of the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit; that while physical healing of our present bodies is not in the atonement, God may choose to heal in answer to the prayers of believers; that ultimate deliverance from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation when we will receive a glorified body. The Holy Spirit convicts of sin, of judgment and of righteousness; that He bears witness to the truth of the gospel in this present Church age. Eph. 4:7-12; I Cor. 1:12; 12:6-14; 13:8; 14:21-22; James 5:15
The Doctrine of Man
We believe that God created man in His own image and likeness. Man fell into sin by a voluntary transgression and ended his sinless and blessed fellowship with God and thereby incurred both physical and spiritual death. We believe that all men are born with a sinful nature, evidenced by sinful acts; that man is totally depraved and if he is not born again (John 3), he is eternally lost and therefore under just condemnation without defense or excuse. Gen. 3:1-6; Rom. 5:1:19; 3:10-19; 1:18, 32; Rev. 20:11-15; Eph. 2:1-3; John 3:18
The Doctrine of Salvation
We believe that salvation of sinners is wholly of grace; through the mediatoral office of the Son of God, who by appointment of the Father, freely took upon Him the nature of man, yet without sin, honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and by His death made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins; that His atonement consisted not in setting an example as a martyr, but was the voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner’s place, the JUST dying for the unjust, Christ the Lord, bearing our sins in His own body on the tree; that, having risen from the dead, He is now enthroned in heaven as an all-sufficient Savior.
We believe that the scope of salvation includes forgiveness of all our sins, past, present, and future; a perfect standing before God as in Jesus Christ; and the changing of our present earthly body to one like His when we see Him. We believe that the attitude either of reconciliation or enmity toward God is eternally fixed at death. We further believe that there is an appointed day of judgment of the wicked when they will be cast into the lake of fire, there to remain in everlasting conscious punishment and torment. John 1:12; 5:24; 10:28-29; Rom. 6:23; 3:24; Acts 15:11; II Cor. 5:21; Eph. 2:8-9; I Jn. 5:17; 3:2; Rom 8:19-23; II Thess. 1:7-9; Heb. 9:27; II Pet. 2:9; Rev. 20:12-15; 21:8
We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be born again; that the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus; that it is instantaneous and not a process; that in the new birth the one dead in trespasses and in sins is made a partaker of the divine nature and receives eternal life, the free gift of God; that the new creation is brought about in a manner above our comprehension, solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with divine Truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the Gospel; evidenced in the holy fruits of repentance and faith and newness of life. John 3; Col. 2:13
Doctrine of Eternal Security
We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever (Jn. 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Rom. 8:1, 38-39; I Cor. 1:4-8; I Pet. 1:4-5).We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh (Rom. 13:13-14; Gal. 5:13; Tit. 2:11-15).
The Doctrine of the Church
The local Church is a congregation of baptized believers associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel observing the ordinances of Christ, governed by His Word, meeting together for worship, evangelism, Bible study and fellowship, exercising the gifts, rights and privileges invested in them by the Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of earth. (Acts 2:37-47, 16:14, 15, 30-34; Rom. 6; Phil. 1:1) We believe that the Trinity Baptist Church of Fitzwilliam is Baptist with the following Baptist Distinctive that differentiates it from other denominations. These beliefs are the gauges by which our lives and our Church are governed.
- B ible is the only rule of faith and practice. (II Tim. 3:16)
- A utonomy of each local Church
- P riesthood of all believers (I Pet. 2:9)
- T wo Ordinances; Baptism by immersion (Acts 2:41) and the Lord’s Supper (I Cor. 11:20-34)
- I ndividual Soul liberty (Rom. 14:13)
- S aved Church Membership (Acts 2:41, 47)
- T wo Church Offices; Pastor and Deacons (I Tim. 3:1-13)
- S eparation of Church and State (Acts 5:29)
Doctrine of Satan and Fallen Angels
We believe that Satan is a person. He is a created being who sinned and became the arch enemy of God and His creation. He is the chief adversary of God’s children. He seeks to keep man from the Lord; and when he cannot succeed in this, he seeks to weaken the testimony of Christians. He has at his command a great host of fallen angels (demons) to carry out his purposes. He is not omnipotent and can be overcome by the power of God. His doom is sealed in the Lake of Fire forever and ever. (Ezek. 28:12-19; Isa. 14:12-14; Rev. 12:10; 20:10)
Doctrine of Last Things
We believe there will be a pre-millennial, pre-tribulation rapture of all Church believers in the first phase of the second coming of Christ for His bride, the Church. (I Thess. 4:13-17; I Cor. 15:50-52; Phil. 3:20, 21; I Jn. 3:2.) That His coming is the “blessed hope” which is the personal, bodily and imminent return of our Lord and Savior. (Acts 1:8-9) After the seven year tribulation Christ will return to the earth with His saints in power and great glory to set up His Kingdom (the millennium) (Acts 1:11; 24:15; I Cor. 15:3-20; Heb. 7:25; I Jn. 2:1-2; Rev. 21:1-8). After the millennial reign of Christ the unsaved will be raised for judgment and cast into the Lake of Fire forever. (Rev. 20:11-15)
Doctrine of Creation
We believe that God created the universe in six literal, 24-hour periods. We reject evolution, the Day-Age Theory, and Theistic Evolution as unscriptural theories of origin (Gen. 1-2; Ex. 20:11).
Doctrine of Separation
We believe that God commands Christians to be a separated people according to II Corinthians 6:17-18 and 7:1; “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”The Trinity Baptist Church of Fitzwilliam will, by God’s grace, be separated from all forms of apostasy and religious inclusivism. We reject the ecumenical movement joining all Churches into one body regardless of doctrine or practice and the charismatic renewal movement with its unscriptural emphasis on tongues and healing. The Church will enjoy fellowship with Churches of like faith and order, but will have no part in any council of Churches that is ecumenical in nature or thrust. We believe Christians are to be personally separated from all worldly practices that hinder spiritual growth and stability. We believe that a Christian should live a holy life and maintain a testimony consistent with the New Testament.
Doctrine of Christian Practice (Church Covenant)
The Trinity Baptist Church of Fitzwilliam believes that a Christian ought to enter into the following covenant: Having been led, as we believe, by the Holy Spirit of God, to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, and on profession of our faith, having been baptized by immersion in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, we do now, in the presence of God, angels, and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another, as one body in Christ. We engage therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, to walk together in Christian love; to strive for the advancement of this Church in knowledge, holiness and comfort; to promote its prosperity and spirituality; to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline and doctrines; to give it a sacred preeminence over all institutions of human origin; to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the Church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the Gospel through all nations.
We also engage to maintain family and private devotions; to religiously educate our children; to seek the salvation of our kindred, acquaintances, and all others; to walk circumspectly in the world; to be just in our dealings, faithful to our engagements, and exemplary in our deportment; to avoid all tattling, backbiting, and excessive anger; to avoid any practice or substance that would defile or damage the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, namely our bodies, to abstain from all activities which dishonor our Lord Jesus Christ, cause a fellow believer to stumble, or hinder the winning of a soul to Christ, and to be zealous in our efforts to advance the kingdom of our Savior.
We moreover engage, that when we remove from this place, we will as soon as possible, unite with some other Church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God’s Word.
Doctrine of Civil Government
We believe that God has ordained and created all authority consisting of three basic institutions: 1) the home; 2) the Church; and 3) the state. Every person is subject to these authorities, but all (including the authorities themselves) are answerable to God and governed by His Word. God has given each institution specific Biblical responsibilities and balanced those responsibilities with the understanding that no institution has the right to infringe upon the other. The home, the Church, and the state are equal and sovereign in their respective Biblically assigned spheres of responsibility under God (Rom. 13:1-7; Eph 4:22-24; Heb. 13:17; I Pet. 2:13-14).
Doctrine of Christian Education
The Trinity Baptist Church of Fitzwilliam believes that the children of our families need an education that trains children not to walk in the counsel of the ungodly (Ps. 1:1). The families need to obey Colossians 2:8 “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” We must encourage families to enroll their children in a Christian education program. We must see that our children are protected according to Proverbs 19:17 “Cease, my son to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of my knowledge.”
Doctrine of Human Sexuality
We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity should be engaged in outside of marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. (Gen. 2:24; 19:5; 26:8-9; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom. 1:26-29; I Cor. 5:1; 6:9; I Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4).
Doctrine of Divorce and Remarriage
We believe that God hates divorce and intends marriage to last until one of the spouses dies. There can be a divorce on the grounds of fornication. Although divorced and remarried persons or a person married to a divorced person may hold positions of service in the Church and be greatly used of God for Christian service, they may not be considered for the offices of Pastor or Deacon. (Mal. 2:14-17; Matt. 19:3-12; Rom. 7:1-3; I Tim. 3:2, 12; Tit. 1:6).
Doctrine of 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 abortion of pregnancies due to rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, birth or population control, or mental well-being of the mother are acceptable (Job 3:16; Ps. 51:5; 139:14-16; Isa. 44:24; 49:1,5; Jer. 1:5; 20:15-18; Lk. 1:44).
Doctrine of Giving
We believe that every Christian, as a steward of that portion of God’s wealth entrusted to him, is obligated to support his local Church financially. We believe that God has established the tithe as a basis for giving, but that every Christian should also give other offerings sacrificially and cheerfully to the support of the Church, the relief of those in need, and the spread of the gospel. We believe that a Christian relinquishes all rights to direct the use of the tithe or offering once the gift has been made. (Gen. 14:20; Pro. 3:9-10; Acts 4:34-37; I Cor. 16:2; II Cor. 9:6-7; Gal. 6:6; Eph. 4:28; I Tim. 5:17-18; I Jn. 3:17).
Doctrine of Missions
We believe the command to give the gospel to the world is clear and unmistakable and that this command was given to the churches. We believe that we should only support missionaries who are Baptist in name serving under mission boards which are Baptist in name. Both the missionary and their board must be in agreement with the doctrinal statement of Trinity Baptist Church of Fitzwilliam. (Matt. 28:18-20; Mk. 16:15; Jn. 20:21; Rom. 10:13-15
AUTHORITY OF THE STATEMENT OF FAITH
The Statement of Faith does not exhaust the extent of our faith. The Bible (66 books) itself is the sole and final source of all that we believe. We do believe, however, that the foregoing Statement of Faith accurately represents the teaching of the Bible, and therefore, is binding upon all members.
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