CONFESSION OF FAITH
Article I: Inspiration of the Scriptures
We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired, or inbreathed; that it is a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction; that it has God for its Author, salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture of error for its matter; that it reveals the principles by which God will judge all; and therefore is, and shall remain to the end of the world, the true basis of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions shall be tried.
II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:21; Acts 11:14; Proverbs 30:5-6; John 17:17; Romans 2:12; I Corinthians 4:3-4; Philippians 3:16; Ephesians 4:3-6; I John 4:1; Jude 3, 5.
Article II: The Name, Nature, and Being of God
We believe that there is one, and only one, living and true God, an infinite, intelligent Spirit, whose name is Jehovah, the Maker and Supreme Ruler of the universe; inexpressibly glorious in holiness, and worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love, that in the unity of the Godhead, there are three separate and distinct persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.
John 4:24; Psalm 83:18; Exodus 15:11; I Peter 1:15-16; Mark 12:30; Revelation 4:11; Matthew 28:19; John 15:26; 10:30; Acts 5:3-4; Ephesians 2:18; II Corinthians 13:14; Revelation 1:4-5.
Article III: The Fall of Man
We believe that man was created in a state or condition of holiness, under the law of his Maker; but by a voluntary transgression he fell from that happy and holy state; in consequence of which all mankind are now sinners, not by constraint but by choice; being by nature utterly void of that holiness required by the law of God, inclined to evil; and therefore under just condemnation to eternal ruin, without defense or excuse.
Genesis 1:27; Acts 17:24-28; Genesis 3:6-24; Romans 5:12, 19; Psalm 51:5; Romans 8:7; Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:9-18; Ephesians 2:1-3; Romans 1:18; Galatians 3:10, 22; Ezekiel 18:19-20.
Article IV: The Way of Salvation
We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly by grace; through the mediatorial office of the Son of God; who by the appointment of the Father, freely took upon Himself man’s nature, yet without sin; honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and by His death made a full atonement for sins; that having risen form the dead, He is now enthroned in heaven; and uniting in His wonderful person the tenderest sympathies with divine perfections, He is in every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate, and an all-sufficient Savior.
Ephesians 2:5, 8-10; John 4:10; Acts 15:11; John 1:1-14; 3:16; Hebrews 4:14; Philippians 2:6-7; II Corinthians 5:21; Isaiah 42:21; Galatians 4:4-5; Romans 3:21; Isaiah 53:3, 5; Matthew 20:28; Romans 3:21-26; 9:13-15; Hebrews 1:3, 8; Colossians 3:1-4; Hebrews 7:25; Psalm 45:1-17; 89:19.
Article V: The Blessings of the Gospel
We believe that the great gospel blessing which Christ secures to those who believe in Him is salvation; that that includes all the divine redemptive acts of God on behalf of the sinner, such an justification, which is the divine act of God whereby He purchased by the shed blood of Christ, and by His mighty power, the freedom of the believer from the power and dominion of sin; grace, the divine disposition of God, wherein He saves men, not upon any merit of their own, but wholly by the work and merit of Christ; propitiation, the divine act of God in offering Christ as the sinner’s substitute; imputation, the divine act of God whereby He imputes, or counts the righteousness and excellencies of Christ to the believer; forgiveness, the divine act of God by which He remits the sins of a believer; sanctification, the divine act of God whereby He imparts His holiness to the inner man, or newly born one, and sets apart the entire man to the service of God; glorification, the divine act of God whereby that element or part of man which is mortal will be changed into a state and condition of immortality.
Matthew 1:21; Romans 1:16; Acts 4:12; 10:43; Romans 4:1-5; 5:1; 4:13-25; Galatians 3:11; Romans 3:24; I Corinthians 1:30; Hebrews 9:12; I Peter 1:18; Ephesians 2:5, 8-10; I John 1:2; Romans 3:25; 4:8-9; Acts 5:31; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; John 17:17, 19; Acts 20:32; I Corinthians 1:2; 6:11; Ephesians 5:26; I Thessalonians 5:23; I John 3:9; II Peter 1:4; I John 3:1-2; Philippians 3:20-21; I Corinthians 15:51-53; Romans 8:17.
Article VI: Salvation Free
We believe that the blessings of salvation are made free to all by the gospel; that it is the immediate duty of all to accept them by a cordial, penitent, and obedient faith; and that nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth, but his own inherent depravity and voluntary rejection of the gospel; which rejection involves him in an aggravated condemnation.
Isaiah 55:1; Luke 14:17; Revelation 22:17; Romans 16:26; Mark 1:15; Romans 1:15-17; John 5:40; Matthew 23:37; Romans 9:32; Proverbs 1:24; John 3:19; Matthew 11:20; Luke 19:27; II Thessalonians 1:8.
Article VII: Grace in Regeneration
We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be regenerated, or “born from above”; that regeneration consists in giving a holy disposition to the mind; that it is effected in a manner above man’s comprehension by the power of the Holy Spirit, in connection with divine truth, so as to secure his voluntary obedience to the gospel; and that its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance, faith, and newness of life.
John 3:3, 5, 7; I Corinthians 1:18; Revelation 21:27; II Corinthians 5:17; Ezekiel 36:26; Romans 2:28-29; 5:5; I John 4:7; John 3:8; 1:13; Philippians 2:13; James 1:16-18; I Peter 1:22, 25; I John 5:1; Colossians 3:9-11; Ephesians 5:9; Galatians 5:19-21; Matthew 3:8-10; I John 5:4, 8.
Article VIII: Repentance and Faith
We believe that repentance and faith are sacred duties and also inseparable graces, wrought in men’s souls by the regenerating Spirit of God; whereby being deeply convinced of their guilt, danger, and helplessness, and of the way of salvation by Christ, they turn to God with unfeigned contrition, confession, and supplication for mercy; at the same time heartily receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as their Prophet, Priest, and King, and relying on Him alone as the only and all-sufficient Savior.
Mark 1:15; Ephesians 2:8; I John 5:1; John 16:18; Acts 2:37-38; 16:30-31; Luke 18:13; James 4:7-10; II Corinthians 7:11; Romans 10:9-11; Acts 3:22-23; II Timothy 1:12.
Article IX: God’s Purpose in Grace
We believe that election is the eternal purpose of God, according to which He graciously regenerates, sanctifies, and saves sinners; that being perfectly consistent with the free agency of man, it comprehends all the means in connection with the end; that it is a most glorious display of God’s sovereign goodness being infinitely free, wise, holy, and unchangeable; that it utterly excludes boasting, and promotes humility, love, prayer, praise, trust in God, and active imitation of His free mercy; and it encourages the use of means in the highest degree; that it may be ascertained by its effects in all who truly believe the gospel; that it is the foundation of Christian assurance; and that to ascertain it in regard to oneself demands and deserves the utmost diligence.
II Timothy 1:8-9; Ephesians 1:13-14; Hosea 11:1; II Thessalonians 2:13-14; Acts 13:48; John 10:16; Exodus 33:18-19; Romans 11:28-29; James 1:17-18; I Corinthians 4:7; I Peter 2:9; Ephesians 1:3-6; II Timothy 2:10; I Corinthians 9:22; I Thessalonians 1:4-10; Romans 8:28-31; II Peter 1:10-11; Philippians 3:12.
Article X: Security of the Believer
All those that have this precious faith wrought in them by the Spirit, can never finally nor totally fall away; seeing the gifts of God are without repentance; so that He still begets and nourishes them in faith, repentance, love, joy, hope, and all the graces of the Spirit unto immortality; and though many storms and floods arise, and beat against them, yet they shall never be able to take them off that foundation and rock, which by faith they are fastened upon; not withstanding, through unbelief, and the temptations of Satan, the sensible sight of this light and love, be clouded and overwhelmed for a time; yet God is still the same, and they shall be sure to be kept by the power of God unto salvation, where they shall enjoy their purchased possession, they being engraven upon the palms of His hands, and their names having been written in the book of life from all eternity.
Matthew 7:24-25; John 13:10; 10:28-29; I Peter 1:4-6; Isaiah 4913-16.
Article XI: Harmony of the Law and the Gospel
We believe that the law of God is the eternal and unchangeable rule of His moral government; that it is holy, just, and good; and that the inability which the Scriptures ascribe to fallen men to fulfill its precepts, arises entirely from their love for sin; to deliver them from which, and to restore them through a Mediator to unfeigned obedience to the holy law, is one great end of the gospel, and of the means of grace connected with the establishment of the church.
Romans 3:21; Matthew 5:17; Romans 3:20; 4:15; 7:12; Galatians 3:21; Psalm 119; Romans 8:7-8; John 5:44; 6:44; Joshua 24:19; Jeremiah 13:23; Romans 8:2, 4; 10:4; Hebrews 12:14; Matthew 16:17-18; I Corinthians 12:28.
Article XII: A New Testament Church
We believe that a New Testament Church is always and only a local, visible, called out assembly of Scripturally baptized believers covenanted together under New Testament law for the purpose of carrying out the Great Commission, with the Holy Spirit dwelling in their midst as Comforter, and with an unbroken lineage from the time of Christ down to today. We also believe that Jesus Christ established His church during His personal ministry on earth, and that it always by nature a local congregation meeting together under the example and pattern of churches in the Scriptures, and that each church is an independent, self-governing body, and no other ecclesiastical body may exercise authority over her. She is not to be confused with the family of God, consisting of all the saved, Ephesians 3:15. We believe that Jesus Christ gave the Great Commission to New Testament Churches only, and that He promised the perpetuity of His churches.
Matthew 4:18-22; 16:18; 18:15-18; 28:19-20; Mark 1:14-20; John 1:35-51; Ephesians 3:21.
Article XIII: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
We believe that Scriptural baptism is the dipping into water by church authority of a believer in Christ, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem, his faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, with its effect, in his death to sin and resurrection to a new life; that it is pre-requisite to the privileges of a church relation, and to the Lord’s Supper in which the members of a church by the sacred use of the unleavened bread and the fruit of the vine, are to commemorate together the undying love of Christ; preceded always by a solemn self-examination.
Acts 8:36-39; Matthew 3:5-6; 28:18-20; Romans 6:4; Acts 2:41-42; I Corinthians 11:26, 28; 5:1, 8; John 6:26-71.
Article XIV: The Lord’s Day
We believe that the first day of the week is the Lord’s Day; that it is to be kept sacred as a memorial of the resurrection of Christ from the dead; that Christians should refrain from all secular labor and worldly recreations; that they should devoutly use all the means of grace, both private and public, by which they may be drawn closer to God and provoked to holier living, and in preparation for their eternal abode in the presence of God.
Acts 20:7; Colossians 2:16-17; I Corinthians 16:1-2; Revelation 1:10; Psalm 118:15, 24; Isaiah 58:13-14; Hebrews 10:24-25; 4:3-11.
Article XV: Civil Government
We believe that civil government is of divine appointment and arrangement, for the best interests and good order of human society; and that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed; except in matters opposed to the will of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only Lord of men’s consciences, and the Prince of the kings of the earth.
Romans 13:1-7; Deuteronomy 16:18; Jeremiah 30:21; Matthew 22:21; I Peter 2:13; Acts 5:29; Matthew 10:28; Daniel 3:15-18; Matthew 23:10; Romans 14:4; Revelation 19:6; Psalm 2.
Article XVI: The Righteous and the Wicked Contrasted
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, and sanctified by the Spirit of our God, are truly righteous in His esteem; whereas all such as continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked, and under the curse; and that distinction holds among men both in and after death.
Malachi 3:18; Proverbs 12:26; Acts 10:34-35; Romans 1:17; 7:16; I John 3:7; 2:29; Galatians 3:10; Proverbs 14:32; Luke 16:25; Matthew 13.
Article XVII: The Resurrections
We believe that there will be a resurrection both of the righteous and of the wicked; that there will be one thousand years of time intervening between the resurrection of the righteous and that of the wicked; that the dead in Christ shall rise first; and that at the expiration of the one thousand years the wicked will then be raised and judged.
Acts 26:8; 24:15, 21; John 5:28-29; I Corinthians 15:51-52; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 20:4-6, 12-15.
Article XVIII: Christ’s Appearing; the Rapture of the Saints; the Great Tribulation; the Coming of Christ in Glory
We believe that at the end of the gospel age Christ will appear and that the sleeping saints will be resurrected and that the living saints will be instantaneously changed and all together caught up to the Lord. That, we believe, will occur at the beginning of Daniel’s “Seventieth Week”. During the first three and one-half years the beast will deceive the Jews, and all the people for a while and the world’s government will be organized under the domination of the beast. The beast will, at the beginning of that week, or seven year period, make a covenant with the elect(the Jews) to rebuild their temple and to restore their ancient worship, but in the middle of that week he will break that covenant and The Great Tribulation period will then begin and will continue for three and one-half years. During that period the saints who shall then be with Christ shall receive their rewards, and the Lamb and the bride(the church) shall be married. The Great Tribulation period will climax with the battle of Armageddon; at that time Christ will destroy those armies, the judgment of nations will occur, the living wicked will be destroyed, and the Millennial reign of Christ and His saints over the earth will then begin.
Daniel 9:20-27; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Corinthians 15:51-53; Revelation 19:7-10; II Corinthians 5:1-10; Revelation 22:12; Zechariah 14; Matthew 24:31-46; Revelation 19:11-21.
Article XIX: The Judgments
We believe that there will be a judgment of rewards for the righteous; that that judgment will take place at Christ’s coming to receive His saints; that the wicked will be judged at the close of the millennial age.
II Corinthians 5:10; Psalm 58:11; Proverbs 11:18; I Corinthians 3:8, 11-15; Revelation 11:18; 22:12; 20:12-15.
Article XX: The Final States
We believe that the earth will be redeemed from the curse of sin and fitted as the eternal dwelling place of the people of God, that the fitting of the earth for the eternal home of the redeemed will be by a process of purification by fire, or melting; that the finally impenitent and incorrigibly wicked will be cast, both souls and resurrected bodies, into Gehenna, or the lake of fire and brimstone, where they shall be punished forever.
Isaiah 65:17; Romans 8:20-22; Hebrews 1:10-12; II Peter 1:10-13; Revelation 21-22; Psalm 9:17; Proverbs 27:20; Ezekiel 31:16; Matthew 5:29-30; 10:28; Luke 12:5; Jude 7; Revelation 20:10; 21:8.
(This Confession of Faith was adopted and revised by the Landmark Missionary Baptist Church of Vancouver, Washington, as a statement of our beliefs and practices to any and all individuals who would inquire to our contending for the faith once delivered unto the saints. These Articles of Faith originate as those found in J.E. Cobb’s Manual for Baptist Churches, copyright 1954. Revisions have been made and adopted by the Landmark Missionary Baptist Church as we have periodically become aware and been challenged in matters of communicating and defending our beliefs.)