Connections Baptist Church
Doctrinal Beliefs
It is our goal to:
1. Exalt the Savior,
2. Edify the Saints, and
3. Evangelize the Sinners
Bibliology
The Bible is God- breathed, inerrant, infallible, and it is as it claims to
be, the Word of God (2 Tim.3:16). God the Holy Spirit used holy men
through the process of inspiration to move them to write not just thoughts,
but every word (2 Pt.1:21)(Mt.4:4). This “moving” of the Holy Spirit was
not the same as the moving or inspiration that a poet feels as he writes,
but more of carrying them to write.
God not only gave His Word, but He promised to preserve it for every
generation (Psalm 12:6-7) (Is.40:8). As a result, the King James Bible
is the Word of God preserved by God for the English-speaking people.
The Bible is just as true, relevant and profitable today as it was when
it was written in the original manuscripts (Hebrews 4:12). According to
2 Tim. 3:16, the Bible is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and
instruction in righteousness.
Theology Proper
There is one God and supreme being that is holy, ever existent, all
powerful, all knowing and ever present in the affairs of man today
(Deut.6:4, Lk.1:37, Is.40). God is a triune God, but manifests Himself
as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, forming
the Trinity. God is then three Persons in one Essence, not three
distinct gods (1 Jn.5:7). God is a loving God and at the same time
a holy God, therefore, though He loves man, He hates sin. Because
of the sin of man, the world today has rejected God and His Word.
As a result, God required death as a payment for the sin of man and
sent His Son to pay that price. (Rom.6:23, Jn.3:16, 2 Cor.5:21).
Jesus the Son of God
Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and at the same time God the Son.
Christ was not created, but the relationship between Jesus' humanity
and deity can be seen in the hypostatic union
(100% God and 100% man) (Jn.10:30, Jn.8:58, Jn.1:1,14).
Since Jesus is God in the flesh, He possesses all of the attributes
of God the Father (Mk.2, Jn.1:3, Col.1:16-18; 2:9).
Jesus Christ was born of a virgin by the Holy Spirit and lived a perfect
life while on earth(Lk.1:34-35). The purpose of His coming was to pay
the price of sin on the cross, and therefore provide a way for man to
receive the forgiveness of sins (Lk.19:10, Jn.3:16). Without this
sacrifice, man would have no hope of ever receiving eternal life.
The Holy Sprit
The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the trinity. He is not just a force,
a power, or a pleasant feeling that one experiences, but is One with
God the Father (Acts 5:3-4, 1 Jn.5:7). When Christ left, He left us
the Holy Spirit; to reprove the world of sin, righteousness and judgment
(Jn.16:8). At the point of salvation, the Holy Spirit seals the believer,
dwells in him, and gives him eternal life (Eph.1, 4:30). The Holy Spirit
then guides, teaches, testifies and witnesses to the believer as One
who comes alongside of him in order that he might please God while
on the earth (Jn.14:26,15:26). The single most important attribute of
God is His holiness, hence the Holy Spirit (Is.57:15).
Eternal Security
When a person receives Jesus Christ as Savior, he also receives the
eternal life that He gives (1 Jn.5:11-13). Once a person receives eternal
life, he cannot lose it. Because a person cannot receive eternal life by
his works, it is impossible that his eternal life be taken away because
of works. Moreover, there is no man that can take it away from him,
not even himself (Jn.10:27-29, Rom.8). If this were the case, eternal
life would not be eternal, but temporal. It is God that saves, not the
person; therefore it is God who keeps one saved, and not the person.
Man
God made man in His image; this image is one of a perfect state. God
also gave man a freewill, making him responsible for his own decisions
. Because Adam sinned in the garden, every man born after him is born
with a sin nature (Rom.3:10, 23, Rom.5:12). A man is not a sinner
because he sins, but he sins because he is a sinner.
Salvation
Salvation from eternal punishment is only received one way, through
Jesus Christ (Jn.14:6). A person must recognize that he is a sinner,
repent of his sins, realize that Christ died to pay his payment on the
cross, and must ask Him to forgive him of his sins and be his Savior.
A person must trust Christ and Christ alone for his salvation, for He
is the only way (Acts 4:12).
A person does not need to “get his life right” with God before he can
approach Him. The whole reason why man needs a Savior is because
he cannot “get his life right” enough to find favor in God’s eyes, so he
must let God do the work in him. On the other hand, when a person
is saved, his works will change (Eph.2:8-10). The way of knowing if
someone is saved or not is by looking at their works
(Mt.7:20, Acts 26:20). Salvation is repentance from sin and faith
towards God (1 Thes.1:9, Acts 20:21). Repentance is a change of
mind that leads to a changed life. It is not the prayer that saves
someone, but the decision of repentance and accepting God’s
terms through Jesus Christ for salvation.
The Church
The English word "church" in the Bible is the word ecclesia in the
Greek. This is a compound word that uses the words ek and kale.
The word ek means out of, and the word kalew means to call. The
word ecclesia then by definition is a called out assembly. But not
every called out assembly is a church, for the Bible clearly teaches
that only those that have accepted Christ as their Savior are part of
the church (Acts 2:47). The Bible frequently refers to the church as
the Bride of Christ, Christ himself being the Bridegroom. Another
name in the Bible for the church is the body of Christ, and specifically
names Christ the Head of the church (Col.1:18). The church in the
Bible is very significant, for Ephesians 5:25 says that Christ gave
himself for it. The Bible teaches that even though the church is
significant, no one can receive salvation by means of a church,
for it is only Christ that can forgive sins (Mk.2:7, Jn.14:6, Acts 4:12).
The End Times
The world today is in its last days, and we can see the signs leading
up to the end of times. Christ said that some signs would be wars
and rumors of wars, nations against nations, famines, pestilences,
earthquakes, etc (Mt.24:6-7).
The next point on the calendar of God’s program is the rapture of the
church (1 Thes.4:18). The Bible teaches that the rapture is imminent,
therefore no other event needs to happen before the rapture of the
church. The works of the believer will then be judged at the judgment
seat of Christ (1 Cor.3:13, 2 Cor.5:10). Not for salvation, but for
recompense and rewards which we will be able to cast back at the
feet of Jesus. The believers will then enjoy what the Bible calls the
Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev.19:9-10).
On earth the seven year tribulation will begin after the rapture. At this
time, the anti- Christ will make himself known to the world as one that
brings peace and stability to the world (2 Thes. 2:6-12). This time is
referred by the Bible as the beginning of sorrows (Mt.24, Dan.9).
Half way through the tribulation (3 ½ years into it), the anti- Christ will
sit in the temple of God in the place of God, committing what the Bible
calls the abomination of desolations spoken of by Daniel (Dan.9). At
this point, the great tribulation will begin, making the second half of the
tribulation worse than the first.
At the end of the seven years, the second coming of Christ will take
place, in which all His children will descend with Christ as our
Conqueror and King. The saints will be robed in white riding a white
horse right behind Christ (Rev.19:11-16). At this point, the nations
will try to unite and fight against Christ. This battle is called the battle
of Armageddon (Rev.19:19-21). The battle will really be no battle at
all, for Christ will speak and with His voice will He defeat the nations
(Rev.19:21). Immediately following will be the Millennial Reign of Christ,
and during those 1,000 years, Satan will be bound. At the end of those
1,000 years, Satan will be loosed again for his final attempt to defeat
Christ. The earth will be then destroyed (2 Pt.3:9-10). Satan will then
be cast into the Lake of Fire, death and hell will also be cast into the
Lake of Fire (Rev.20:8-10). At that time, God will make a new heaven
and a new earth and in it will be the New Jerusalem, where the saints
will forever abide with Christ (Rev.21:1-7).
Marriage
Fundamental Baptist Church joyfully complies to the God- ordained
definition of marriage (one man married to one woman) as identified
in the Bible (Genesis 2:19-25; Mark 10:6-9; Ephesians 5:25).