THE SCRIPTURES
We believe in the authority and sufficiency of the Holy Bible, consisting of the sixty-six canonical books of the Old and New Testaments, as originally written. These verbally (the very words) and plenarily (complete in every respect) inspired texts are the product of Spirit-controlled men and therefore are infallible and inerrant in detail and theological content. We believe the Bible to be the authority and standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions shall be tried. 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21
THE TRIUNE GOD
We believe there is one and only one living and true God, who is an infinite 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 unbegotten Father, His only begotten Son, and the Holy Spirit who proceeds from both the Father and the Son, equal in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption. Deuteronomy 6:4; John 4:24; 1 Corinthians 8:6; John 15:26-27; Acts 2:14-47
GOD THE FATHER
We believe in the person of God the Father who sends both God the Son and God the Holy Spirit in redemptive history. We believe that the Father has provided a great salvation for those who repent of their sins and trust Christ and His finished work through the Holy Spirit; that He calls, justifies, forgives, adopts, sanctifies, keeps, and will glorify them. John 14:26; Romans 8:28-39; John 4:24
THE SON OF GOD
We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ who is the second Person of the Trinity, the eternal Word, and the only begotten Son. Without any change in His divine Person, He became a man by the Holy Spirit and the miracle of the virgin birth and thus is both true God and true man, one Person with two natures. He gave Himself in death upon the cross, bearing the sin of the world, and suffering the full penalty of divine wrath in our stead. He bodily arose from the grave and as our great High Priest ascended into Heaven, there to appear before God as our Advocate and Intercessor. We believe that His second coming will be a literal return to the earth as King and Ruler of this earth at which time He will sit on the Throne of David. Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:31-33; 24:1-7; John 1:1, 14; 3:16; Acts 1:9-11; Galatians 4:4-5; Colossians 1:12-29; 1 Timothy 2:5, 6; 1 Peter 2:21-24; Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:8-10; 1 John 2:1-2; Revelation 19:11-16
THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same divine nature; that He was active in the creation; that in His relation to the unbelieving world He restrains the evil one until God’s purpose is fulfilled; that He convicts the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment; that He bears witness to the truth of the Gospel in preaching and testimony; that He is the active Agent in the new birth; that He seals, empowers, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies the believer, and baptizes each believer into the body of Christ. We believe that the sign/revelatory gifts of the Holy Spirit have fulfilled their purpose and are not applicable to the work of the Holy Spirit today. Genesis 1:1-3; Matthew 28:19; John 1:33; 3:5-6; 14:16-17, 26; 16:7-11; Acts 1:8; 5:30-32; Romans 8:14, 16, 26, 27; 1 Corinthians 12:8-13, 28-30; Ephesians 1:13-14; Hebrews 2:2-4; 9:14; 10:15-18
CREATION
We believe the creation of the physical universe and man was completed in six, 24-hour days; that the biblical record is a literal, historical account of the direct, immediate creative acts of God without any evolutionary process; that man was created by a direct work of God and not from previously existing forms of life; and that all men are descended from the historical Adam and Eve, first parents of the entire human race. Genesis 1:1-2:25; John 1:3; Colossians 1:16, 17
THE DEVIL OR SATAN
We believe in the reality and person of Satan, that he was created by God as an angel but through pride and rebellion became the enemy of his Creator; that he is the unholy god of this age, the author of all the powers of darkness, a liar, and an adversary of the children of God. We believe he is destined to the judgment of eternal justice in the Lake of Fire. Ezekiel 28:11-19, Isaiah 14:12-21, John 8:44; 2 Corinthians 4:4; 1 Peter 5:8; Revelation 20:10
THE FALL OF MAN
We believe that man was created in innocence (in the image and likeness of God) under the law of his Maker, but by voluntary transgression, fell from his sinless and happy state, consequently all men sinned in Adam, and in consequence, all men are totally depraved, are partakers of Adam’s fallen nature, and are sinners by nature and by conduct, and therefore under just condemnation without defense or excuse. Genesis 3:1-6, 24; Romans 3:10-19; 5:12; Romans 1:18, 32
SALVATION
We believe that the salvation of sinners is divinely initiated and wholly of grace; through the mediatorial offices of the Son of God, who by the appointment of the Father, freely took upon Him our nature, yet without sin, and honored the divine law by His personal obedience, thus qualifying Himself to be our Savior; that by the shedding of His blood in His death, He fully satisfied the just demands of a holy and righteous God regarding sin; that His sacrifice was a 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, and uniting in His wonderful person the tenderest sympathies with divine perfection, He is in every way qualified to be a suitable, compassionate and all-sufficient Savior. Upon the exercise of faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ, the repenting believer receives deliverance and eternal security from all condemnation, every spiritual resource needed for life and godliness, and the divine guarantee that they shall never perish. Ephesians 2:8-9; Acts 15:11; Romans 3:24-25; John 3:16; Matthew 18:11; Romans 8:1; Philippians 2:7; Titus 3:5; Hebrews 2:14-17; Isaiah 53:4-7; 1 John 4:10; 1 Corinthians 15:3;
2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24
NEW CREATION IN CHRIST
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 partaker of the divine nature, is adopted as a child and heir of God, and receives eternal life, the free gift of God; that the new creation is brought about by our sovereign God 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; that its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance and faith and newness of life. John 3:3-8; 2 Corinthians 5:17; 1 John 5:1-5; Acts 16:30-33; 2 Peter 1:4; Romans 6:23; 8:15-17; Ephesians 2:1, 5; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Colossians 2:13
JUSTIFICATION
We believe that justification is that judicial act of God whereby He declares the believer righteous upon the basis of the sinner’s guilt being imputed to Christ and the righteousness of Christ being imputed to the sinner; that it is bestowed, not in consideration of any work of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in the Redeemer’s death and resurrection. Romans 3:24; 4:5, 25; 5:1, 9; 1 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 2:16; Philippians 3:9
SANCTIFICATION
We believe that sanctification is the divine setting apart of the believer unto God accomplished in a threefold manner; (1) an eternal act of God based upon redemption in Christ establishing the believer in a position of holiness at the moment he trusts the Savior; (2) a progressive change in his walk as day by day he grows in grace toward the likeness of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit in the continual use of the appointed means, especially the Word of God, self-examination, watchfulness, prayer and yielding to the Spirit through biblical change; (3) the final accomplishment of this process will be realized at the Lord’s return. Hebrews 10:10-14; John 17:17; Romans 8:13, 28-29a; 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Ephesians 4:11-16; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4; 5:23-24; 2 Peter 3:18; 1 John 3:1-3; Jude 24, 25; Revelation 22:11.
THE SECURITY OF THE SAINTS
We believe the design of God’s divine plan is that every person, immediately upon acceptance of Christ as personal Savior and Lord, receives eternal life and is made at once a Son of God; that believers are kept by the power of God through faith, are kept in a state of grace, and are eternally secure apart from any human works; that such only are believers who endure to the end, and that the believers’ persevering attachment to Christ and His own and their growth in the likeness of Christ are God’s marks which distinguish them from superficial professors. 1 John 5:11-13; John 1:12; Philippians 1:6; John 8:31; Revelation 21:7-8; Ephesians 2:10; Romans 8:28-29a; John 14:21-23; John 10:27-29; 1 John 2:19; 5:1-3; John 13:34-35; Ephesians 2:10, Titus 2:11-13; James 2:14-20
THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED
We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that such only as through faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and sanctified by the Spirit of God’s righteousness, are therefore righteous in His esteem; while all who continue in unrepentance and unbelief are wicked in His sight, remaining under sin’s curse; this distinction holds among men both in this life and after death, continuing in the everlasting joy of the saved and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost. Genesis 18:23; Proverbs 14:32; Malachi 3:18; Matthew 25:31-41; Luke 16:19-26; Romans 6:14-23; 1 John 5:19
THE LOCAL CHURCH
We believe that a local new testament church is an organized body or assembly of baptized believers, associated by a covenant of faith and fellowship of the gospel; sovereign in polity, and banded together to fulfill God’s purpose for the church:
"FBCR exists to Glorify God by Making and Maturing Disciples as we GATHER, GROW & GO" - FBCR Purpose Statement
We believe that it is the responsibility of the local church to celebrate the ordinances of Christ publicly as a church body; to be governed by His laws; and to exercise the gifts, duties, and privileges vested in them by His word; that its spiritual officers, pastors and deacons, are men whose qualifications, claims and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures. We hold that the local church has the absolute right of self-government free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations; and that the one and only head is Christ through the Holy Spirit; that it is scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the Gospel; that each local church is the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation. On all matters of membership, of polity, of government, of discipline, and of benevolence, the will of the local church, following the Word of God, is final. Matthew 18:15-17; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:41-42; 15:13-18; 1 Corinthians 12:28, Ephesians 1:22-23; 3:8-10; 4:11-16; 5:23-24; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-15
BAPTISM AND THE LORD’S SUPPER
We believe that Jesus gave two ordinances to the church, the baptism of believers and the Lord’s Supper. Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, to show forth in a solemn testimony and picture of our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, with its effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life. Believer’s baptism is a prerequisite to the privileges of church membership. We believe that the Lord’s Supper is a symbolic ordinance, picturing Christ’s body given for our sins and His blood shed for our redemption. The Lord’s Supper is not a saving ordinance but helps us to remember Jesus’ death as we look forward to His coming again. This ordinance is to be observed by regenerate, obedient believers.
Baptism: Matthew 3:16; Acts 2:41, 42; 8:12, 26-39; Romans 6:3, 5; Colossians 2:12
The Lord’s Supper: Matthew 26:26-30; Mark 14:22-26; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-28
PERSONAL SEPARATION
We believe that the lifestyle of the believer shall be characterized by a walk that exemplifies their faith in Jesus Christ and sets them apart from the world. The believer should live so as to please God and not be conformed to the standards of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of their mind. The child of God shall be separate from that which violates the direct commands or principles of the Scriptures and shall be completely obedient to the Word of God. This lifestyle shall exhibit soberness, righteousness, and godliness in this present world. However, we are not to disengage from relationships with those who do not have faith. Rather, we are to be lights to the world and interact with non-believers for the Gospel's sake. Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; Titus 2:12; 1 Peter 1:13-16; 1 John 2:15-17; 1 Corinthians 5:9-13; John 17:15-17; Matthew 5:13-16
FUTURE EVENTS
We believe in the personal, visible, premillennial second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ as the King of kings and Lord of lords. We believe that we are now living in the church age or the age of grace and the end times will begin with the rapture of the church and will culminate with the final judgment of the righteous and the wicked. As these future events unfold, we believe that Scripture teaches there will be a 7-year tribulation period on the earth which will follow the rapture of the church. After the tribulation, Jesus Christ will return to earth and set up His kingdom for a 1000-year rule, which is called the Millennial Reign of Christ. Following the Millennial Reign, a great judgment will take place known as the Great White Throne Judgment. Books will be opened and those not found written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will be cast into the Lake of Fire. Those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will be ushered into the new heaven and new earth. Isaiah 65:17; John 14:1-4; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43; 16:27; 24:1-51; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30;
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Rev. 19:11-16; 20:11-15; 21:1
MARRIAGE & FAMILY
God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation and care of the human race. 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. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to her husband, the servant leader of the home, even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and be his partner/helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.
From the moment of conception, children are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God's pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children godly and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents. Genesis 1:26-28; 2:15-25; 3:1-20; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Joshua 24:15; 1 Samuel 1:26-28; Psalms 51:5; 78:1-8; 127; 128; 139:13-16; Proverbs 1:8; 5:15-20; 6:20-22; 12:4; 13:24; 14:1; 17:6; 18:22; 22:6,15; 23:13-14; 24:3; 29:15, 17; 31:10-31; Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; 9:9; Malachi 2:14-16; Matthew 5:31-32; 18:2-5; 19:3-9; Mark 10:6-12; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 7:1-16; Ephesians 5:21-33; 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Timothy 5:8, 14; 2 Timothy 1:3-5; Titus 2:3-5; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 3:1-7
HUMAN SEXUALITY
We believe that God has given the gift of sexual intimacy to marriage. This gift is His means to propagate the human race as well as give pleasure to husband and wife in marriage.
God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that the Bible states that any form of perversion(s) of God’s gift of sex such as homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, fornication, adultery, and pornography, are sinful. We believe that God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one’s gender whether by surgery or appearance.
NOTE: As with other temptations and sin(s), we affirm that both heterosexual and homosexual persons should find help in the church to engage in the Biblical battle against all improper sexual thoughts and behaviors. Genesis 2:24; 19:5, 13; 26:6-11; Leviticus 18:1-30; Romans 1:26-29; 1 Corinthians 5:1; 6:9;
1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4
CIVIL GOVERNMENT
We believe that civil government is of divine appointment and that we are responsible to be good citizens. However, should government command us to violate God’s Word, we must obey God rather than man. Daniel 3:17-18; Romans 13:1-7; Acts 4:18-20; 1 Timothy 2:1-3; Titus 3:1; 1 Peter 2:13-17