We are a local body of believers in Jesus Christ who: - Accept the Bible as the Word of God;
- Believe that the Bible is our only rule of faith and practice;
- Are united together as believers in Jesus Christ in the bonds of Christian love to serve and glorify Christ;
- Preach the gospel of Jesus Christ as being the only avenue whereby God has ordained that sinners may be converted;
- Preach the gospel in order to propagate God's Kingdom on earth;
- Adhere to the teachings of Christ in our personal lives; and
- Promote and maintain the ordinances of the Church as taught in the New Testament
We believe that God has created men and women in His image. We are the handiwork of God, made a little lower than the angels. We believe that God wants every human heart to be redeemed by faith in His Son, Jesus. We agree with the Word of God that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and that without His mercy and grace extended we shall all perish. We therefor stand in desperate need of a Savior to rescue us from the nature of sin and its sinful actions. We teach that no man can earn such grace, mercy, forgiveness, and eternal life and that Jesus is the only way by which we are saved. He is The Way, The Truth and The Life and no man can approach unto the Father except by Him. He is our Mediator, Immanuel, the God-man and Savior. We believe that the Lord our God is one Lord revealed in three persons; the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. We therefore preach and teach that sinners are led by the Holy Spirit to the Son who then leads us the Father. We are indebted then to God for His; Fatherhood in giving His own Son, His Son who came as the sinless Lamb to die for sinners like us, and to the Holy Spirit who is our very present help and comfort in this life in leading us to the Son and guiding our steps. We know that all men without faith in Jesus Christ are broken and lost. We know that God so loved the broken and lost of this world that He gave His only begotten Son so that we might not perish but have eternal life. OUR PURPOSE: - Promote unity and fellowship within the body of Christ within the confines of Word of God;
- Promote and support the work of Free Will Baptist as we deem necessary and appropriate;
- Above all to teach and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in order to further the Kingdom of God by the conversion and discipleship of souls.
ABOUT FREE WILL BAPTISTS:
Free Will Baptist roots can be traced to England as early as 1611.
The first FWB church in America was begun by Paul Palmer in 1727 in
Perquimans County, North Carolina. Some years later, in 1780, under the
leadership of Benjamin Randall, Free Will Baptists were established in
the northeast at New Durham, New Hampshire. From these early beginnings,
Free Will Baptists in America have had a continuing ministry. Today,
the National Association of Free Will Baptists is active in 40 states
and 20 foreign countries. The work of the National Association is
promoted from the National Office Building and Randall House
Publications, both located in Nashville, Tennessee. WHAT DO FREE WILL BAPTISTS BELIEVE:
- God – We believe that God is the Creator,
Sustainer, and Righteous Ruler of the universe. He has revealed Himself
in nature, and in the Scriptures of the Holy Bible as Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit: yet as one God.
- Jesus Christ – He is God’s unique Son; the only one
of a kind. The Scripture teaches that He is God revealed in flesh. In
His Divine nature He is truly God and in His human nature truly man. He
is the One once crucified for man’s sin, the now risen and glorified
Savior and Lord who mediates between God and man and who gives us access
to the Father through His intercession. None can come to the Father
unless they come through Him.
- Holy Spirit – All of the attributes of God are
ascribed to the Holy Spirit by the Scriptures. It is He who convicts and
convinces men of their sin. He also convinces man of that which is
right, and that a final day of judgment will come. He, it is, who comes
to live in us at conversion, to open our understanding to the Scripture,
and to lead us into the truth.
- The Bible – God used holy men to write the
Scriptures. They are, in both the Old and New Testaments, the very words
God intended us to have. They are, as given by God, without error and
are our only rule of faith and practice. We profit from them by learning
the truth about many things: they also speak to us about wrong doing;
they even correct us and get us back on course as well as instructing us
in right living.
- Man – God created man in a state of innocence. Man,
being tempted by Satan, yielded and willfully disobeyed God, becoming a
sinner and incurring God’s judgment upon sin. All of Adam’s descendants
inherit his fallen nature and thus have a natural inclination to sin.
When one comes to an age of accountability, he is guilty of sinning
before God and in need of salvation.
- God’s Relationship to His Creatures and Creation –
God exercises a wise and benevolent providence over all beings and
things. He maintains the laws of nature and performs special acts as the
highest welfare of mankind and His created order of things require.
- Salvation – Man receives pardon and forgiveness for
his sins when he admits to God that he is a sinner, when in godly
sorrow he turns from them and trusts in the work of Christ as redemption
for his sin. This acceptance of God’s great salvation involves belief
in Christ’s death on the cross as man’s substitute and the fact of God’s
raising Him from the dead as predicted. It is a salvation by grace
alone and not of works.
- Who Can be Saved? – It is God’s will that all be
saved, but since man has the power of choice, God saves only those who
repent of their sin and believe in the work of Christ on the cross.
Those who refuse in this life to repent and believe have no later chance
to be saved and thus condemn themselves to eternal damnation by their
unbelief.
- Perseverance – We believe that there are strong
grounds to hope that the saved will persevere unto the end and be saved
because of the power of divine grace pledged for their support. We
believe that any saved person who has sinned (whether we call him a
backslider or sinner), but has a desire to repent, may do so and be
restored to God’s favor and fellowship. Since man, however, continues to
have free choice, it is possible because of temptations and the
weakness of human flesh for him to fall into the practice of sin and to
make shipwreck of his faith and be lost.
- Gospel Ordinances – Free Will Baptists believe the
Bible teaches three ordinances for the church to practice: Baptism in
water by immersion, the Lord’s Supper, to be perpetuated until His
return, and the Washing of the Saints’ feet, an ordinance teaching
humility.
- Resurrection – Free Will Baptists believe the
Scriptures teach the resurrection of the bodies of all men, each in its
own order; they that have done good will come forth to the resurrection
of life, and they that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation.
- Church Government – Free Will Baptist churches
enjoy local church autonomy (self-governing). The local church is the
highest authority in the denomination. Local churches voluntarily
organize themselves into quarterly meetings, district, state, and
national associations for the purpose of promoting the cause of Christ
on the local, state, district, national, and world-wide level.
- Christ’s Second Coming – The Bible teaches that
Jesus Christ, who ascended on high and sits at the right hand of God,
will come again to close the Gospel dispensation, glorify His saints,
and judge the world.
- Missions – Free Will Baptists believe that Jesus
commanded the church to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to
every creature. For an in-depth study of Free Will Baptist beliefs and
practices, ask for a copy of the Free Will Baptist Treatise.
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