What We Believe

WHAT WE BELIEVE

The Scriptures

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter.

God

There is one and only one living and true God. The eternal God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

God the Father

God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

God the Son

Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ, He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His death on the cross, He made provision for the redemption of men from sin.

God the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. He exalts Christ. He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.

Man

Man was created by the special act of God, in His own image, and is the crowning work of His creation. By his free choice, man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. The sacredness of human

personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore every man possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.

Salvation

Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense, salvation includes regeneration, sanctification, and glorification.

God's Purpose of Grace

Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end.

The Church

A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a local body of baptized believers who are associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. This church is an autonomous body. The New Testament speaks also of the church as the body of Christ, which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages.

Baptism & the Lord's Supper

Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the life, and

the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby believers in Christ memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.

Last Things

God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly ...the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The

unrighteous will be consigned to Hell. The righteous will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.

Evangelism & Missions

It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by personal effort.

Family

God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. Marriage is the unity of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. The husband and wife are of equal worth

before God, since both are created in God's image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. Children, from the moment of conception, are a living blessing and heritage from the Lord.

MARRIAGE

Whereas, stated in these bylaws is our commitment to fidelity and submission to the scriptures as “the divine revelation of the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of

the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried”.

Whereas we believe, that the cultural term 'marriage' has only one meaning that is consistent with the sanction of God as delineated in scripture; the joining of one man and one woman in an exclusive union.

Whereas we believe, that God created human sexual intimacy within marriage for purposes of his glory and to provide His direction for sexual expression of humankind. Human flourishing, natural

reproduction, and the physical joining of two persons into a single covenant union are also stated as purposes.

Whereas we believe, scripture teaches that any form of sexual intimacy outside of the purposes for which God created is sexual immorality. Examples of sexual immorality include but are not limited to; adultery,

fornication, homosexuality, bisexual conduct, polygamy, bestiality, incest, pedophilia, pornography, any attempt to change one's sex, refusal to live and behave in accordance with ones biological sex. Sexual immoralities are sinful and offensive to God.

Whereas we believe, that God through the Gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit offers redemption and restoration to all sinners who will believe on Christ. It is by God’s mercy and grace that all who believe

will receive forgiveness and restoration through the finished work of Jesus Christ in atonement for sin.

Be it therefore resolved, that in order to preserve the Christian distinctiveness, biblical faithfulness and integrity of Grace Southern Baptist Church as a local Body of Christ we feel that we must speak to this important issue. In order to be a biblical role model to our church members as well as the community; it is imperative that all persons specifically employed by this church in any capacity, as well as those who serve as leadership volunteers, shall affirm this Resolution on Sexuality and Marriage and conduct themselves accordingly.

Be it also resolved, that pursuant to the scriptures and these bylaws membership within our church will not be extended to those living in unrepentant sexual immorality and that any church member who involves themselves in unrepentant sexual immorality should understand they have subjected themselves to appropriate and loving church discipline. Church discipline is intentionally focused on restoration and the process of church discipline is delineated in Article II section 7 of these bylaws.

Be it further resolved, that our pastoral staff shall not officiate any union, nor shall our facilities or property be used for any union ceremony or any other celebration involving unions other than those of a biological man and a biological woman. Further, our church shall not recognize any other “marital unions” as biblically valid.

Let it finally be resolved that we shall seek to treat individuals involved in sins of sexual immorality as sinners who, like us, all are in need of restoration with God. We will lovingly point them toward the

repentance called for by God. We will seek to interact with all persons in a godly way. We will treat kindly and fairly those involved in any sin, including sexual immorality calling them to repentance and

restoration with God and the church. We will seek to lovingly embrace repentant persons with a spirit of restoration and humbly endeavor to exemplify the fruits of the spirit in all relations with one another as

Scripture calls believers to do.

Genesis 1:2-28; 2:15-25; 3:1-20; Proverbs 31:10-31; Ecclesiastes 9:9; Matthew 19:4-6; Mark 10:5-9; John 3:1-21 Romans 1:18-32; 6:23; 5:8; 10:9,10; 1 Cor. 6:9-20; 7:1-16; Galatians 5:16-26; Ephesians 2:8-10, 5:21-33; 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; Titus 2:3-5; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 3:1-7; 1 John 1:9