| Declaration Of Faith
1) The beliefs of the church are contained in the Bible, which is our final authority in all matters. We believe the whole Bible to be God’s Word, and thus completely trustworthy. The New and Old Testaments as originally given are inspired and without error.
2) As a church we hold to “The Baptist Affirmation of Faith (1966)” as a helpful and true record of what the Bible teaches.
We believe the following essential doctrines:
3) We believe in One God, and that there are three Persons in the Godhead – The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Each are equal, eternal and divine.
4) We believe in the sovereignty of God. He made all things, upholds all things, keeps all things, and governs all things.
5) We believe in the total sinfulness of human nature. This came about by the historic Fall of man from his original state of innocence. The Fall has left all mankind in a state of condemnation and separation from a Holy God. All men need to be born again and redeemed.
6) We believe in the full deity of our Lord Jesus Christ – God’s only begotten Son: His virgin birth, His real and perfect manhood, the total authority and complete authenticity of His teaching, speech and miracles; His substitutionary death on the cross for the sins of His people, His bodily resurrection and His ascension into heaven; His present reign in glory, and intercession for His people; His personal, visible return in glory.
John 1:1, Col 2:9, Heb 1:1, 2, 8, 2:14, 4:15, 7:24, 25, Matt 1:20, 2 Cor 5:21, 1 Peter 3:18, Rom 1:4, Luke 24:39, 1
Cor 15:3 – 8, Acts 1:9 – 11, 1 Thess 4:13 – 18.
7) We believe in the justification of the sinner soley by faith, through the atoning merits of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
8) We believe in the grace of God in freely electing a people to be saved.
9) We believe in the work of the Holy Spirit in regenerating, converting and sanctifying the soul.
10) We believe in God’s gracious enabling of true believers to persevere in their Christian lives to the end.
11) We believe in the resurrection of the body and the judgement of the world – the everlasting conscious punishment of the wicked, and the everlasting blessedness of the righteous.
1 Cor 15:20 – 27, Acts 17:31, 2 Cor 5:1, 6, 8, 10, Phil 1:23, Luke 16:23,24, Matt 25:46, 2 Thes 1:7 – 10.
We further believe:
i) In the Universal Church, the body of Christ on earth, of which the local church is an expression. The responsibility of the church is to declare the gospel to the world.
ii) The local church is a gathered community of believers, living in fellowship with one another, under the Headship of Christ. The church is sufficient under Christ, through His Word and by His Spirit, to order it’s life in obedience to God’s will. This includes observing the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
iii) The importance of baptism upon repentance of sin and profession of faith in Christ – the mode of immersion being that most appropriate to the teaching and evidence of the New Testament
iv) The Lord’s Supper is a commemoration of our Lord’s death. Partakers should be baptised believers who have joined themselves to the life of the church. This principle will be applied pastorally to each individual case.
v) This church recognises the oneness of the body of Christ and wishes to express the unity which believers have in Christ, through fellowship with all Bible -believing churches. Co-operation with other churches will be entered upon where the gospel is not compromised nor obscured in it’s proclamation, and where worldly practices are not adopted. For this reason Northend Baptist Church stands apart from the ecumenical movement as expressed in the World Council of Churches, and it’s constituent bodies.
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