What We Believe

What We Believe

Mission

The purpose of Calvary Baptist Church is to glorify God by loving God and loving our neighbor (Mark 12:28-31; I Cor. 10:31).

Confession of Faith

Section 1: Bibliology – The Scriptures

The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments (39 OT & 27 NT Books) which comprise the complete and final revelation of God, were given by inspiration of God, and are the very breath of God.  Therefore, all Scripture is authoritative, infallible, and inerrant.  The Scriptures are the only sufficient rule for faith and practice. [1]

[1] Ps. 19:7-14; 119:105; Is. 40:6-8; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:19-21.

Section 2: Theology Proper – God

There is but one God, the Maker, Preserver, and Ruler of all things, having in and of Himself, all perfections, and being infinite in them all; and to Him all creatures owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience that springs from faith.[2]  The Scriptures reveal that the one God eternally exists in three co-equal persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.[3]  God from eternity, decrees or permits all things that come to pass, and perpetually upholds, directs, and governs all creatures and all events, yet so as not in any way to be the author and approver of sin nor to destroy the will and responsibility of mankind.[4]

[2] Deut. 6:4; Ps. 145:3; John 1:1-3; 1 Cor. 8:4-6; 1 Tim. 1:17; Hebrews 12:28-29.

[3] Matt. 3:16-17; 28:19; John 10:30; 15:26; 2 Cor. 13:14.

[4] Gen. 50:18-20; Isa. 46:8-11; Prov. 16:33; Acts 4:27-28; Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3; Jas. 1:13-15.

Section 3: Anthropology & Hamartiology – Man & Sin

God created Adam and Eve in His own image and free from sin, but through the temptation of Satan, Adam transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original holiness. Therefore, all mankind inherits a nature corrupt and wholly opposed to God and His law.  As a result, every person is under condemnation and is a transgressor of the law.[5]

[5] Gen. 1:26-27; 3:1-7; Psalm 139:13-16; Rom. 5:12-19; Eph. 2:1-3.

Section 4: Christology – Christ

Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, truly God and truly man.  He is the only appointed Mediator between God and man.  Having taken upon Himself human nature by the miracle of the virgin birth, He was born without sin.  In His life, suffering, and death upon the cross He perfectly kept the biblical covenants and fulfilled the law of God, thus providing salvation for sinners.  He was buried, and on the third day He was raised up bodily and ascended to His Father, at whose right hand He ever lives to make intercession for His people.  He will return again visibly and bodily.  He is the only Prophet, Priest, and King of the Church and Sovereign of the Universe.[6]

[6] Ps. 22; Isa. 52:13-53:12; Jn. 1:1-14; Acts 1:9-11; Rom. 3:21-26; 8:34; 1 Cor. 15:3-4; Gal. 3:13; 1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 1.

Section 5: Pneumatology – The Holy Spirit

God the Holy Spirit brings glory to the Father and the Son.  He applies the work of Christ to believers and distributes spiritual gifts to every believer according to His sovereign good pleasure for the purpose of building up the body of Christ.  He convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment.  Indwelling believers at conversion, He counsels and guides them to put to death the works of the flesh and to manifest the fruit of the Spirit.  He is the Comforter, the Spirit of Adoption, the Seal of our Salvation, and Guarantor of our inheritance in Christ.[7]

[7] John 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16:7, 14; Acts 5:3; Rom. 8:9-17; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 5:5; Gal. 5:16-23; Eph. 1:13-14; 4:30.

Section 6: Soteriology – Salvation

Man is saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.  This is not a result of any work or merit of our own.  Saving faith is therefore receiving and resting upon Jesus alone for justification and eternal life.  The Holy Spirit quickens the hearts of men, which by nature is dead in trespasses and sins.  Believers are therefore united to Jesus by faith.[8]  Justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal of sinners, who believe in Christ, from all sin, through the satisfaction that Christ has made on account of His perfect obedience.[9]  Those who have been justified are also sanctified by God’s word and Spirit dwelling in them. This sanctification is positional in that all who are in Christ are sanctified.  This sanctification is also progressive as God works in us to live a life of holiness.[10]  All those whom God has saved will never totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere to the end; and though they may fall through neglect and temptation, into sin, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, bring reproach on the church and God’s fatherly discipline on themselves, yet they shall be renewed again unto repentance, and be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.[11]

[8] Rom. 3:37-28; 4:1-5; 4:17-25; 10:14, 17; Phil. 1:29; Eph. 2:8; Jas 2:14-26.

[9] Acts 13:38-39; Rom. 3:21-26; 8:34; 10:3-4; 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil 3:9.

[10] Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:27-29; John 17:17; Rom. 8:1-17; Gal. 5:13-24; 2 Pet. 1:3-11.

[11] John 6:37-40; 10:28-29; Rom. 8:28-39; 1 Cor. 1:8-9; Phil. 1:6; Hebrews 12:7-11.

Section 7: Ecclesiology – The Church

The Lord Jesus is the head of the church, which is composed of all His true disciples and against which the gates of hades shall not prevail.  Christians are to associate themselves into local churches for worship, service, and accountability.  The mission of the church is to love, serve, and disciple believers inside the church, and to love, serve, and evangelize those outside the church.[12]  The regular officers of a church are Elders (Pastors) and Deacons.[13]  Baptism is an ordinance of the Lord Jesus, obligatory upon every believer, wherein he is immersed in water in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, as a sign of his fellowship with the death and resurrection of Christ, of remission of sins, and of giving himself up to God, to live and walk in newness of life.[14]  The Lord’s Supper is also an ordinance of Jesus Christ, to be administered with the elements of bread and the fruit of the vine, and to be observed by His churches as a proclamation of His death until He comes.[15]

[12] Matt. 20:26-28; 28:18-20; Luke 6:27, 35; John 13:34-35; 2 Cor. 10:15-18; Jas. 2:8; 1 Pet. 1:22-25.

[13] John 10:16; Acts 20:17, 28; Eph. 1:22; 5:23; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; 5:17-18; Tit. 1:5-9; Heb.10:25.

[14] Matt. 28:19; Acts 2:38; Rom. 6:3-5; 1 Cor. 12:13.

[15] Matt. 26:26-29; 1 Cor. 10:16-17; 11:23-34.

Section 8: Eschatology – The Last Things

The bodies of men after death return to dust.  The souls of the righteous go immediately to God to rest with Him, while the souls of the wicked are reserved under darkness for the judgment.  The bodies of all the dead, both just and unjust, will be raised when Jesus physically returns.[16]  God has appointed a day, wherein He will judge the world by Jesus Christ.  The wicked shall go into everlasting and conscious punishment with the devil and his angels, and the righteous shall go into everlasting life and the presence of our Savior.[17]

[16] John 5:28-29; 1 Cor. 15:12-28; 2 Cor. 5:1-10; Phil. 1:23; Jude 5-7; Rev. 20:11-15.

[17] Matt. 25:46; John 5:22-29; Acts 17:31; Rom. 2:6-11; 2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Thess. 1:7-10; 2 Tim. 4:8; Rev. 7:13-17; 14:9-11.

For fuller doctrinal standards, you can look in The London Baptist Confession of Faith 1689.

Click Here for a PDF copy of our “Confession of Faith.”