Doctrinal Statement: Of

First Missionary Baptist Church – Healdton, OK

1. We believe there is one, and only one, true and living God; and that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are three distinct persons of the one triune God. Deut 4:35; Psalm 83:18; 1 John 5:7
2. We believe the whole Bible from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 was written by men supernaturally and verbally inspired by God, and that it is a perfect treasure of Holy instruction II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:20-21.
3. We believe the Authorized (King James) Version Old and New Testaments are the Word of God kept intact for English-speaking peoples by way of God’s divine providence and work of preservation; and that the Authorized Version translators were not “inspired”, but were merely God’s instruments used to preserve His words for English-speaking peoples.
4. We believe that God created the heaven and earth, and that man was created distinct from and eminently higher than all forms of lower life. Genesis 1:1, 11, 21; Genesis 2:7; Acts 17:24-29
5. We believe that God purposely created mankind as male (man) and female (woman); that God blessed and charged man and woman to fulfill the design of their sexuality (intimacy and progeny) strictly in the confines of a marriage relationship between one man and one woman for one lifetime; and that pornography, fornication, adultery, polygamy, incest, bisexuality, homosexuality, bestiality, and any other such aberrations are all perversions of God’s design for mankind, and heinous transgressions of God’s Law. Gen 1:27-28; Gen 2:18,21-24; Lev 18:6-18,22-30; Deut 23:17; Deut 27:20-23; Prov 5:15,18-20; Prov 6:29; Prov 9:13-18; Prov 18:22; Eccl 9:9; Mt 19:3-8; Rom 1:18-32; I Cor 5:9; I Cor 6:9-10,18; I Cor 7:1-2,8-11; I Cor 10:8; Gal 5:19,21; Eph 5:5-6; Col 3:5-6; I Ths 4:4-5; Heb 13:4; Jude 7.
6. We believe that man by voluntary transgression, fell from the high and happy state in which he was created, and as a consequence, brought himself and all mankind under the condemnation of God. Genesis 3:6-24; Isaiah 53:6; Ephesians 2:1-3
7. We believe that Satan is an actual person, and not an imaginary influence; that he operates today as the god of this world and the prince and power of the air, and that he shall eventually be cast into the lake of fire, the eternal place of punishment, prepared for the devil and his angels. Job 1:6, 2:1-6; Matthew 25:41; II Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2; Revelation 20:10
8. We believe that Jesus was born of a virgin; that God the Father, through the Holy Spirit, is actually and eternally His divine Father; and that Mary, the virgin, is actually and innocently His human mother. Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25
9. We believe that Jesus Christ only is the great High Priest, and that He ever liveth to intercede for us. Hebrews 2:17-18, 4:14-16, 7:25
10. We believe that redemption is through the efficiency of the blood of Christ; that Christ died for the whole world, and offers salvation to all mankind. However, all will not be saved because they will not accept his offered mercy. John 5:40; Ephesians 1:7; Revelation 22:17
11. We believe that repentance and faith are essential to salvation. Matthew 3:1-13; Mark 1:14-15; Luke 13:3; Acts 20:21; Galatians 3:26
12. We believe that in order to be saved, one must be born again and that salvation is by grace through faith in Christ without any mixture of works whatsoever. John 3:3-8; Romans 4:1-6; Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 3:5
13. We believe that the children of God will not depart from Him so far as to be finally lost in hell. John 5:24, 10:27-30; Romans 8:35-39; I Peter 1:5
14. We believe that sanctification is a divine work of grace by which the believer is separated unto God and dedicated unto His righteous purpose; that it is not a state of sinless perfection, but a progressive work begun in regeneration and carried on in the life of every believer by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit and the work of God. Proverbs 4:18; Romans 15:16; Philippians 1:16; I Thessalonians 4:3
15. We believe that the church was personally founded by Jesus Christ during His ministry on earth; that it is a visible, local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ invested in her by His Word; that her only scriptural officers are bishops or pastors and deacons, whose qualifications, claims, and duties are clearly defined in the epistles to Timothy and Titus. Matthew 4:18-22, 16:18, 28:18-20; I Corinthians 1:13; I Timothy 3
16. We believe the church is the pillar and ground of the truth and that our Lord’s churches have a continuous existence from His day till now. Matthew 16:18, 28:18-20; Ephesians 3:21; I Timothy 3:15
17. We believe that Christ commissioned His churches to preach the gospel to all nations of the world. Matthew 28:18-20
18. We believe God’s program for financing the execution of His Great Commission is the program by which every believer gives tithes and offerings to God in and through the New Testament storehouse: His Church; that the institution of tithing predates and is separate from the Law; and that cheerful, obedient, sacrificial giving presents for God opportunities to manifest His grace and His inexhaustible bounty of blessings. Lev 27:30,32; I Chrn 29:3; II Chrn 31:10; Prov 3:9-10; Prov 11:25; Mal 3:8-11; Mt 6:1-4; Mt 23:23; Lk 6:38; Acts 4:33-35,37; Acts 11:29-30; Acts 20:35; I Cor 4:2; I Cor 16:2; II Cor 8:1-9; II Cor 9:6-7; I Tim 6:17-18; Heb 7:1-2,4; Heb 13:16.
19. We believe that Baptist churches may scripturally associate together in missionary, Christian education, and benevolent work, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit and governed by the laws of the New Testament.
20. We believe that none but regenerated persons ought to be church members. Acts 2:41-42, 8:35-39; Romans 14:1
21. We believe that baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordinances personally set in the church of the living God by the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 26:26-29, 28:18-20
22. We believe that baptism is the burial of a believer in water, symbolizing the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that it may be performed only by the authority of a Baptist church. Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:5-11; Acts 8:36-39, 10:17; Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12
23. We believe that the Lord’s Supper is a memorial spread and administered by the authority of a Baptist church; that it symbolizes the broken body and shed blood of the Son of God; and that it is restricted to those who hold membership in that local New Testament church. I Corinthians 11:17-34
24. We brand as unscriptural; open communion, alien baptism, pulpit affiliation with heretical ministers, unionism, modern conventionism, and the charismatic movement.
25. We believe that Jesus Christ is coming back to earth again; that His return shall be personal, audible, bodily, and pre-millennial, at which time, He shall build again the tabernacle of David that is fallen down in ruins, take up the throne of His earthly father, David, and shall rule and reign with His saints over the earth in peace, righteousness, and justice for one thousand years. Zechariah 14:9; Luke 1:32-33; Acts 1:11, 15:16; Revelation 5:10, 11:15,20
26. We believe there will be two resurrections, one for the righteous and one for the wicked; that the dead in Christ shall rise first and the living saints shall be changed and all caught up together to meet the Lord in the air to appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ; that the dead out of Christ shall rise at the close of the millennium and be brought before the Great White Throne judgment and there face the judge of the quick and the dead, Jesus Christ. Daniel 12:1-2; John 5:28-29; I Corinthians 15:51-54; I Thessalonians 4:14-17; Revelation 20:11-12
27. We believe that all the incorrigibly wicked shall suffer endless punishment in an eternal hell. Mark 9:43-48; Revelation 14:10-11, 20:10-15, 21:8