Our Beliefs
The Bible - We believe that the Holy Bible as originally written was verbally inspired of God and the product of Spirit controlled men, and therefore has truth without admixture of error for its matter. We believe it is the supreme standard of all faith and practice.
God the Father - We believe that there is only one living and true God, infinite in every excellence; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three personal distinctions – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – one in nature, attributes, power and glory, and equal in every divine perfection.
Jesus Christ - We believe in the absolute deity of the eternal Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, existing from all eternity, coequal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin mother, possessing a divine nature unaltered in essence and undivested of its normal attributes and powers. We believe in His sinless life, His substitutionary death on the Cross for our sins, His bodily resurrection from the grave, His ascension to the right hand of God, and His premillennial return to the earth.
The Holy Spirit - We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person, a member of the triune Godhead, and possessed of all the distinctive divine attributes. He convicts of sin, bears witness to the truth, and is the agent of the new birth. He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses to, sanctifies, and helps the believer, indwelling every true child of God.
Man - We believe that man was created in innocence, but by voluntary transgression fell from his sinless state, plunging the entire human race into condemnation and death. The penalty for sin was paid by Christ in His atoning death on the cross. Those who continue rejecting this sacrifice for sin will be eternally punished in their sinful state in the Lake of Fire.
Image of God - We believe that every person from every race, tongue, tribe, and nation is made in the image of God with inherent worth and value from the moment of conception and, therefore, must be treated with compassion, love, kindness, respect, dignity, and when necessary, protected. (Genesis 1:26-27; Psalm 139:13-16; Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31.) All people, regardless of their past or current sin struggles, are loved and welcomed at our gatherings and events. Hateful and harassing behaviors or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be forsaken and repented of and/or lovingly confronted and corrected. (Luke 15:1-2; Romans 5:6-8; Jude 1:23; Colossians 4:6.)
We believe that God determines who we are. He wonderfully and intentionally formed people distinctly male and female; different and yet equal in value, dignity, and worth. Together, these two complementary genders each reflect an aspect of God’s image and nature. (Genesis 1:26-27.) Since The Fall (Genesis 3:1-7), all people are sinful and broken in every way, including sexually; some have a specific struggle regarding their gender and/or sexual identity, and some are unable to clearly determine their sex either genetically or physically (those whom the Lord Jesus acknowledged as “eunuchs who have been so from birth” (Matthew 19:12)). All are made in the image of God, and all are called to live a fruitful life in obedience to Christ finding their identity in Him through the gospel. All should embrace their biological sex and gender insofar as it may be known because God has created each individual intentionally as an expression of His image, including our sex and gender.
We believe that the meaning of marriage is conveyed only through the joining of one man and one woman in an exclusive, ordered, covenantal, sexual, procreative, lifelong union as explained in Scripture (Genesis 2:22-25; Ephesians 5:22-23). In God’s wise purposes, men and women are not simply interchangeable, but were made to complement each other in marriage in mutually enriching ways which reflect the loving relationship and union between Christ and The Church. The husband exercises humble headship in a way that displays the caring, sacrificial love of Christ, and the wife confidently submits to her husband in a way that models the love of The Church for Her Lord. (Genesis 2:18-25; Matthew 19:4-6; Ephesians 5:22-33; Colossians 3:18-19; 1 Timothy 2:8–3:13; Titus 1:5-9; Romans 16:1-2; 1 Corinthians 11:2-3)
We believe God has commanded that no sexual activity be engaged in outside of an exclusive marriage between one man and one woman. Any form of sexual immorality (including, but not limited to, adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual behavior, polyamorous behavior, bestiality, incest, and use of pornography) is contrary to God’s intention and design for sexual intimacy and is, therefore, sinful. (Matthew 15:18-20; Romans 1:20-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 12-18; Hebrews 13:4)
We believe that God offers redemption to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. All who are redeemed are progressively conformed into the image of Jesus, and when all things are made new, will be fully conformed to the image of Christ for eternity. (Acts 3:19-21; Romans 10:9-10; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11)
Salvation - We believe that the only escape from the condemnation of sin is through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, when He voluntarily took upon Himself a human body and nature, yet without sin, and by his suffering, death, and resurrection, made full satisfaction to the justice of God for the sin of man; that the blessings of this salvation are given on the ground of grace to all who believe; that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation; that no works, however good, can make that salvation more secure.
The Church - We believe the Church to be a body of persons called out by the power of God to faith in a crucified and risen Christ.
Baptism - We believe that Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water and is properly called “Believer’s Baptism.” It sets forth in a beautiful and solemn way our faith in, and union with, our Lord Jesus Christ in His death, burial, resurrection, and newness of Life.
The Lord’s Supper - We believe that the Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of our Lord’s death, and an expression of the hope of His return. The elements are symbolical of the body of Him Who is the Bread of Life, and of the shed blood of Him Who is the True Vine, and may be properly partaken of only by members of the body of Christ, living in a godly manner.
Future Things - We believe in the resurrection of the bodies of the dead; that believers who sleep in Jesus will be raised at the imminent arrival of Christ for His Church and caught up with transformed living believers to meet the Lord in the air, and that the wicked dead will be raised at the close of the Millennial Kingdom and stand in their bodies at the Great White Throne Judgment to receive their final doom.
Heaven and Hell - We believe in a literal Heaven where Jesus Christ is now seated at the right hand of the Father. At death the believer’s soul is taken into Heaven to await reunion with the resurrected and glorified body. Heaven is a prepared place of eternal bliss for a prepared people.
A complete statement of our beliefs can be viewed in the file below.
God the Father - We believe that there is only one living and true God, infinite in every excellence; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three personal distinctions – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – one in nature, attributes, power and glory, and equal in every divine perfection.
Jesus Christ - We believe in the absolute deity of the eternal Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, existing from all eternity, coequal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin mother, possessing a divine nature unaltered in essence and undivested of its normal attributes and powers. We believe in His sinless life, His substitutionary death on the Cross for our sins, His bodily resurrection from the grave, His ascension to the right hand of God, and His premillennial return to the earth.
The Holy Spirit - We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person, a member of the triune Godhead, and possessed of all the distinctive divine attributes. He convicts of sin, bears witness to the truth, and is the agent of the new birth. He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses to, sanctifies, and helps the believer, indwelling every true child of God.
Man - We believe that man was created in innocence, but by voluntary transgression fell from his sinless state, plunging the entire human race into condemnation and death. The penalty for sin was paid by Christ in His atoning death on the cross. Those who continue rejecting this sacrifice for sin will be eternally punished in their sinful state in the Lake of Fire.
Image of God - We believe that every person from every race, tongue, tribe, and nation is made in the image of God with inherent worth and value from the moment of conception and, therefore, must be treated with compassion, love, kindness, respect, dignity, and when necessary, protected. (Genesis 1:26-27; Psalm 139:13-16; Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31.) All people, regardless of their past or current sin struggles, are loved and welcomed at our gatherings and events. Hateful and harassing behaviors or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be forsaken and repented of and/or lovingly confronted and corrected. (Luke 15:1-2; Romans 5:6-8; Jude 1:23; Colossians 4:6.)
We believe that God determines who we are. He wonderfully and intentionally formed people distinctly male and female; different and yet equal in value, dignity, and worth. Together, these two complementary genders each reflect an aspect of God’s image and nature. (Genesis 1:26-27.) Since The Fall (Genesis 3:1-7), all people are sinful and broken in every way, including sexually; some have a specific struggle regarding their gender and/or sexual identity, and some are unable to clearly determine their sex either genetically or physically (those whom the Lord Jesus acknowledged as “eunuchs who have been so from birth” (Matthew 19:12)). All are made in the image of God, and all are called to live a fruitful life in obedience to Christ finding their identity in Him through the gospel. All should embrace their biological sex and gender insofar as it may be known because God has created each individual intentionally as an expression of His image, including our sex and gender.
We believe that the meaning of marriage is conveyed only through the joining of one man and one woman in an exclusive, ordered, covenantal, sexual, procreative, lifelong union as explained in Scripture (Genesis 2:22-25; Ephesians 5:22-23). In God’s wise purposes, men and women are not simply interchangeable, but were made to complement each other in marriage in mutually enriching ways which reflect the loving relationship and union between Christ and The Church. The husband exercises humble headship in a way that displays the caring, sacrificial love of Christ, and the wife confidently submits to her husband in a way that models the love of The Church for Her Lord. (Genesis 2:18-25; Matthew 19:4-6; Ephesians 5:22-33; Colossians 3:18-19; 1 Timothy 2:8–3:13; Titus 1:5-9; Romans 16:1-2; 1 Corinthians 11:2-3)
We believe God has commanded that no sexual activity be engaged in outside of an exclusive marriage between one man and one woman. Any form of sexual immorality (including, but not limited to, adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual behavior, polyamorous behavior, bestiality, incest, and use of pornography) is contrary to God’s intention and design for sexual intimacy and is, therefore, sinful. (Matthew 15:18-20; Romans 1:20-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 12-18; Hebrews 13:4)
We believe that God offers redemption to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. All who are redeemed are progressively conformed into the image of Jesus, and when all things are made new, will be fully conformed to the image of Christ for eternity. (Acts 3:19-21; Romans 10:9-10; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11)
Salvation - We believe that the only escape from the condemnation of sin is through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, when He voluntarily took upon Himself a human body and nature, yet without sin, and by his suffering, death, and resurrection, made full satisfaction to the justice of God for the sin of man; that the blessings of this salvation are given on the ground of grace to all who believe; that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation; that no works, however good, can make that salvation more secure.
The Church - We believe the Church to be a body of persons called out by the power of God to faith in a crucified and risen Christ.
Baptism - We believe that Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water and is properly called “Believer’s Baptism.” It sets forth in a beautiful and solemn way our faith in, and union with, our Lord Jesus Christ in His death, burial, resurrection, and newness of Life.
The Lord’s Supper - We believe that the Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of our Lord’s death, and an expression of the hope of His return. The elements are symbolical of the body of Him Who is the Bread of Life, and of the shed blood of Him Who is the True Vine, and may be properly partaken of only by members of the body of Christ, living in a godly manner.
Future Things - We believe in the resurrection of the bodies of the dead; that believers who sleep in Jesus will be raised at the imminent arrival of Christ for His Church and caught up with transformed living believers to meet the Lord in the air, and that the wicked dead will be raised at the close of the Millennial Kingdom and stand in their bodies at the Great White Throne Judgment to receive their final doom.
Heaven and Hell - We believe in a literal Heaven where Jesus Christ is now seated at the right hand of the Father. At death the believer’s soul is taken into Heaven to await reunion with the resurrected and glorified body. Heaven is a prepared place of eternal bliss for a prepared people.
A complete statement of our beliefs can be viewed in the file below.
| shelby-first-baptist-complete-statement-of-beliefs.docx |