Beliefs

First Baptist Church of Elkhart exists to glorify God by equipping the believers to love God, love people and to influence our world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Confession of faith

(hover over each list item to read full statement)

1. The Scriptures

We believe that God has revealed Himself truthfully to humans through the inspired texts of the Scriptures. These canonical texts, the Old and New Testaments, are inerrant, infallible, and reliable in detail and in theological content in as much as they reflect the original manuscripts. The Bible, as the sufficient and completed Word of God, has authority over the church and the Christian's life and thought. As divinely inspired texts, the meaning of the biblical authors is to be discerned through careful, textual interpretation guided by the Spirit. Psalm 19:7-10; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 2 Timothy 3:16, 17; 2 Peter 1:19-21; Jude 3.

2. The True God

We believe in one God-eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing, always present, and perfectly holy, existing as three, co-equal, Persons- Father, Son, and Spirit, one in nature, attributes, power, and glory. God will be glorified by all creation and is worthy of our total worship and obedience. Genesis 1:1,26; Psalm 104, 148; Proverbs 30:4; Matthew 28:19; Mark 12:29; John 1:1-4, 14, 18; Acts 5:3, 4; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 Timothy 2:3-4.

3. Jesus

We believe that Jesus is the eternal Son of God. Through the Spirit, He was also born of the virgin, Mary. Therefore, Jesus is both fully God and fully human. As the Word made flesh, the Son is the perfect mediator between God and humanity. Proverbs 8:22-31; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-35; John 1:14-18, 5:16-29; Philippians 2:6-11; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; Hebrews 1:1-14.

4. The Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person, equal in nature with God the Father and God the Son. The Spirit had an active role in creation and in the inspiration of the Scriptures. He convicts sinners, guides humans into truth and regenerates believers to new life, baptizes them in Christ and serves as their assurance to eternal life. Believers mature in their faith through the work of the Spirit, who produces His fruit in them. The gifts of the Spirit are for ministry to the body of Christ and the "sign gifts" are not intended to be a pattern for today. Psalm 139:7-12; John 14:16, 17; 16:13,14; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 12:8-10, 28-30; 14:1-40; Galatians 5:22-23; Hebrews 2:3-4.

5. Creation

We believe that the Scriptures provide a literal and historical account of God’s creation of all things. The climax of the six days of creation was the special, immediate and personal creation of human life. The first humans, Adam and Eve, were directly created, not evolved from previous life forms. God created humans, male and female, in His image. Human life, sexual identity and roles are aspects of God’s creative design. From creation, marriage is a covenant between a male and a female that should be marked by sexual purity, by sacrificial male leadership, and by recognizing the divine blessing of children, including preborn children. Adam and Eve, though created in perfection and endowed with free will, sinned by their free choice warranting physical death, spiritual death, and eternal separation from God. Consequently, all human beings are born with a sinful nature, and are sinners in thought, word, and deed. Genesis 1:1-27; 2:7-25; 3:1-24; Psalm 127:3-5; 139:7-12; Matthew 19:4; Romans 1:18-32, 3:10-19; 5:12-19; Ephesians 5:22-33; Colossians 3:18-19.

6. Salvation

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures as the representative and substitutionary sacrifice and rose again for our justification. Only those who repent, believe in Him, and confess Him as Lord are justified on the grounds of His shed blood and are saved by grace through faith wholly apart from human merit and works. Genuine believers, the elect, are the adopted children of God and are eternally secure through the work of God. John 1:12, 13; 3:3-16; 5:24; 10:28, 29; Acts 13:39; 16:31; Romans 3:21-28; Ephesians 1:3-14; 2:8-10; Philippians 1:6; Titus 3:3-8; 1 Peter 1:23; 2 Peter 1:4-11.

7. The Church

We believe that the local church is a gathered congregation of believers, associated by covenant, practicing self-governance, and observing the ordinances of believer’s baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper. The church is to be committed to the authority of the Word of God in matters of doctrine and practice. God calls certain men to be pastors/elders, providing spiritual leadership for the church. Deacons, likewise, minister to the church body through specific acts of service. We believe that the universal church consists of all who have saving faith in Christ. As the body of Christ, the church is to fulfill His mission of making disciples throughout the world. Matthew 18:15-17; 28:18-20; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 12:12-28; 7:17; 11:16; Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:14, 15; 4:11-16; 5:23-32; 1 Timothy 2:12; 3:1-15.

8. Sanctification

We believe that every believer should walk by the Spirit and engage in practices that stimulate spiritual maturity. Christians grow as they worship and serve the Lord, study the Scriptures, pray, and live in fellowship with other believers. Christians are also to flee evil influences and practices, which hinder a Spirit-filled life. Due to the commission of Christ and the urgency of the gospel, all believers are to engage in gospel conversations, to live God-honoring lives, and to work continuously to spread the gospel to their neighbors and the nations. Matthew 5:16; 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; John 17:18; 20:21; Acts 1:8; Romans 6:1-14; 12:1; 2 Corinthians 5:20; 6:14-7:1; Galatians 5:16-25; Colossians 3:1-17; James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-17.

9. The Devil or Satan

We believe that Satan was once one of God’s highest created beings; that through pride and ambition he fell; and that he is now the malignant "prince of the power of the air" and the unholy god of this world; that he is the implacable enemy of God and His Son, Jesus Christ, and the accuser of the brethren; that he is the author of all false religions; that he is destined to final defeat at the hands of Jesus Christ, and that he shall be cast into the lake of fire forever and ever. Ezekiel 28:14–17; Isaiah 14:12–15; Ephesians 2:2; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 12:10; 2 Corinthians 11:13–15; 2 Thessalonians 2:8–11; Revelation 20:10.

10. The Return of Christ

We believe in the literal, bodily resurrection of the crucified Lord, His ascension into heaven, His present life there as our high priest and advocate, and His rapture of the church. He will return bodily and visibly to the earth at the end of the tribulation to establish His millennial kingdom, and to reign as the supreme Lord over all nations. Luke 24:36-43; John 14:1-6; 20:24-29; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Corinthians 15:12-58; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 5:1-11; Revelation 1:4-7; 19:11-16; 20:6.

11. The Resurrection

We believe in the bodily resurrection and judgment of all the dead. Those people who are in Christ will be saved to a life of eternal glory with God. Unbelievers will suffer judgment and eternal punishment in the lake of fire. Matthew 10:28; 18:8, 9; 25:41, 46; Mark 9:43-49; John 5:28, 29; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9; Revelation 20:6, 11-15; 21:1-8.

12. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper

We believe that Christian baptism is a part of the believer's obedience to Christ and involves immersion in water; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Christian baptism provides a solemn and beautiful illustration of our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, and identifies the believer with the Savior in death to sin and resurrection to new life. We believe that baptism should precede the privileges of church membership and is the public recognition of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The Lord's Supper is a memorial service in which the elements of bread and the fruit of the vine remind us of the love of God in Christ Jesus, "Who spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all," and that this ordinance is to be observed in anticipation of His coming and preceded always by solemn self-examination. Matthew 3:6, 16; 28:19-20; John 3:23; Acts 2:41-42; 8:36-39; Romans 6:3-5; 8:32; 1 Corinthians 11:23-38; Colossians 2:12.

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This confession of faith does not exhaust the extent of our beliefs. The Bible itself, as the inspired and infallible Word of God that speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality, and the proper conduct of mankind, is the sole and final source of all that we believe.