BAPTIST
CONFESSION
OF FAITH
FOR THE
21st CENTURYTHE CHALLENGE PRESS
BAPTIST CONFESSION OF FAITH
FOR THE 21st CENTURYBaptist Confessions of Faith date back for centu-
ries and have virtually remained the same. However, as
new conditions developed requiring more specific dec-
larations or clarifications of doctrine, new Confessions
were written to better spell out what Baptists believe.
In the past, most churches adopted the "New
Hampshire Confession of Faith," and this has served
churches for nearly two hundred years. Though ad-
equate for its day and time, new developments in
Christendom made it necessary for a further clarifica-
tion of certain doctrinal positions, and new Confessions
of Faith have been drawn up in more reason years.
A weakness of the New Hampshire Confession
of Faith is that certain Articles were written in generali-
ties or were ambiguous, thus making it acceptable to a
wider assortment of churches, some of which differed
greatly on specific doctrines. This is particularly true of
the articles relative to "The Church", "The Ordinances",
and "The Second Coming." A more recent Confession
of Faith has been drawn up to correct this weakness,
the Orthodox Baptist Confession of Faith.
The Orthdox Baptist Confession of Faith was
drawn up around 1935. Dr. W. Lee Rector, Pastor of
the First Orthodox Baptist Church of Ardmore, Okla-
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homa and former professor in both Baylor University
and Oklahoma Baptist University along with Dr. R.
Nelson Colyar of Denver, Colorado and Dr. L. S.
Ballard of Dallas, Texas were the three men most re-
sponsible for drawing up the Orthodox Baptist Con-
fession of Faith. This Confession of Faith has served
many churches throughout the years, but as we ap-
proach the 21st Century, we believe that a slight revi-
sion is needed.
With this in view, we publish this revision with the
prayer that it will prove to be acceptable to Baptist
churches of the 21st Century.M. L. Moser, Jr.
Pastor Emeritus
Central Baptist Church
Little Rock, Arkansas
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BAPTIST CONFESSION OF FAITH
FOR THE 21st CENTURY1. GOD We believe that there is one, and only one, true
and living God; that He is absolute in nature, perfect in
attributes, holy in character, the maker and supreme
ruler of heaven and earth; that He is infinite in wisdom,
marvelous in power, and amazing in love; that He is holy,
righteous, and true, worthy of all confidence and love;
that He unites in Himself the infinite, the eternal, and the
Almighty Three -- God the Father, and God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit; that the three Persons of the
Godhead subsist in the same divine nature, essence and
being; and that they are co-existent and co-equal in ev-
ery divine attribute, each one executing distinct but har-
monious offices in the great work of redemption.
Gen. 1:1; Dt. 4:39; Mk. 12:29; Gen. 17:1; Mt.
5:48; Isa. 6:3; 1 Chr. 29:11-12; Psa. 103:19; Rom.
11:33-34; Mt. 19:26; Psa. 19:9; Mt. 28:19; 1 Pet. 1:2-
3; 1 Jn. 5:7; Ex. 3:14; Gen. 1:26; and Tit. 3:3-72. THE DIVINE TRINITY 1. GOD THE FATHER. We believe that God
the Father, is the first Person set forth in the divine Trinity;
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that He is Almighty, merciful, and just; that He is holy,
righteous, and true; that He is eternally existent, glori-
ous in nature, possessing the attributes of omnipotence,
omniscience and omnipresence; and that He, in harmony
with His divine office, loves, provides, and protects, thus
exercising providential watchcare over the sons of men,
and especially a fatherly care over the children of God.
Mt. 28:19; Gen. 17:1; Mt. 19:26; Psa. 19:9; Isa.
6:3; Psa. 100:5; Prov. 15:3; Psa. 139:1-6, 13-14; Psa.
103:13; Mt. 6:25-30; Mt. 10:29-31; and Mt. 7:11
2. GOD THE SON -- VIRGIN BORN. We
believe that God the Son is the second Person set forth
in the divine Trinity; that He is Very God of Very God;
that He is almighty, merciful, and just; that He is holy,
righteous, and true; that He is eternally existent, glori-
ous in nature, possessing the attributes of omnipotence,
omniscience, and omnipresence; that God the Father,
through the Holy Spirit, is actually and eternally His di-
vine Father, and Mary the [v]irgin, is actually and inno-
cently His human mother; and that He, in harmony with
His divine office, mediates, seeks, and saves, thus ex-
ercising the mediatorial office of redemption.
Mt. 28:19; Jn. 1:1-3, 14, and Isa. 9:6; Mt. 28:18;
Tit. 3:5-6; Jn. 8:15-16; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 13:8; Phil.
2:6; Jn. 2:24; Mt. 28:20; Lk. 1:35 and 2:7-14; 1 Tim.
2:5-6; Lk. 19:10; and Jn. 3:16.
3. GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT. We believe that
God the Holy Spirit is the third Person set forth in the
divine Trinity; that He is almighty, merciful, and just; that
He is holy, righteous, and true; that He is eternally ex-
istent, glorious in nature, possessing the attributes of
omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence; that He
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restrains the world, the flesh and the devil; that He wit-
nesses to the Truth, convicts the lost, extols the Christ,
and testifies to the righteous judgments of God; that
He, in harmony with His divine office, comforts,
teaches, testifies, preaches, guides, regenerates, em-
powers, sanctifies, and anoints, thus exercising the
quickening role in the works of saving the lost and the
supervising role in the life of the saved.
Jn. 14:16-17 and 26; Jn. 15:26; Jn. 16:7-13;
Heb. 9:14; 1 Pet. 4:14; Isa. 40:12-15; 1 Cor. 2:10-
12; Psa. 139:7-12; 2 Thess. 2:6-7; Jn. 3:6, 8; Eph.
1:13-14; Acts 1:8; 1 Pet. 1:2; and Isa. 61:13. THE DEVIL We believe that Satan is an actual person, and
not an imaginary influence; that he once enjoyed high
heavenly honours and glorious heavenly privileges; that
he, through pride, ambition, and self-will attempted to
betray the Almighty and brought down upon his head
the judgment of God; that he operates today as the
god of this world and the prince of the power of the
air; that he is a diabolical inventor, an archdeceiver, and
the father of all lies; that he is the greatest enemy, the
mightiest tempter, and the most relentless accuser of
the saints; that he shall one day be incarnated in the
person of the Antichrist and in that role will finally meet
the Christ in the Battle of Armageddon; that there "the
seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head;"
and that he shall eventually be cast into the lake of fire,
the eternal place of punishment, prepared for the devil
and his angels.
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Job 1:6-12 and Job 2:1-7; Ezk. 28:12-19; Isa.
14:12-27 and Gen. 3:14; 2 Cor. 4:4 and Eph. 2:2; Mt.
24:11 and 2 Thess. 2:7-11 and Jn. 8:44; 1 Pet. 5:8 and
Gen. 3:1-6 and Rev. 12:10; Dan. 7:8 and Rev. 13:1-
10 and Rev. 19:20; Gen. 3:15; 2 Cor. 11:13-15; Jn.
14:30; and Eph. 2:2.4. THE HOLY BIBLE We believe that the Holy Bible is a supernatural
Book; that it is the very Word of God; that it is the full,
the final, and the complete revelation of God's will to
man; that it has God the Holy Spirit for its author, sal-
vation for its end, and truth without any admixture of
error for its matter; that it was written by holy men of
old under the immediate and direct inspiration of the
Holy Spirit; that it is verbally inspired and a perfect trea-
sure of holy instruction; that it has been supernaturally
preserved inerrant in the Authorized Version (KJV) for
all generations; and that it reveals the principles by which
God will judge us, and is, therefore, the true center of
Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all
human conduct, creeds, and opinions shall be tried.
Psa. 119:89; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; Jer. 1:9; Rev. 22:18-
19; Jn. 17:17; Jn. 3:32-34; 2 Pet. 1:20-21; 1 Pet. 1:10-
12; Zeph. 1:1; Psa. 19:7-11; Ex. 20:3-17; Psa. 1:2; Psa.
12:7; and Jn. 12:485. CREATION We believe that the Genesis record of creation is
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literal, and not allegorical or figurative; that any theory
of evolution is a contradiction of the Genesis account
of creation and therefore false; that God personally cre-
ated the heaven and the earth in six 24-hour days; that
He miraculously brought forth all original matter out of
nothing; that He actually fashioned all organic forms as
specific creations subject to limited changes within the
specie; that He definitely ordained each specie to bring
forth after its kind; that He finally formed man out of
the dust of the ground, not by any process of evolution
but by instant action, and breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life and man became immediately a living soul;
that He created man in the image and likeness of God;
that He created Eve from a rib in Adam's side and that
she is the mother of all living; that His every creative
act was complete and perfect in itself; and that not one
of His creations was conditioned upon antecedent
changes naturally wrought during interminable periods
of time.
Gen. 1:1 and Jn. 1:1-3, 14 and Heb. 11:3; Gen.
1:21, 24-27; and Gen. 2:7, 21-23 and Gen. 3:20; and
Col. 1:16.6. THE FALL OF MAN We believe that man, originally created in holi-
ness and actually associated with God in innocence
under His law, did, by voluntary transgression of
the Lord's command, fall from the high and happy
state in which he was created, and, as a consequence,
became a sinner alienated from God and brought
upon himself and all mankind just condemnation;
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and that he is now, by virtue of his fallen nature, ut-
terly void of holiness, positively inclined to evil, and
actually condemned to eternal ruin, without defense or
excuse.
Gen. 1:26-27 and Eccl. 7:29; Gen. 3:6; Gen. 3:23-
24; Ezk. 18:4; Rom. 5:12; Rom. 1:21-23 and Rom.
3:10-18; and Rev. 21:87. THE BLOOD ATONEMENT We believe that the lost sinner is guilty and already
under just condemnation; that he is by nature alien
to God and because of sin condemned to die; that
atonement for sin was effected through the
mediatorial office of the Son who by divine appoint-
ment, freely took upon Himself our nature, yet without
sin; that He, through obedience during His earthly walk,
personally honoured the divine Law by keeping it, and,
through His death on the cross, actually satisfied the
penalty of the offended Law by suffering in the sinner's
stead; that He, through His obedience and sacrificial
death, made full and vicarious atonement for all sin; that
He died, the just for the unjust, bearing our sins in His
body on the tree; and that He, through the shedding of
His blood on the cross of Calvary, evidenced eternal
provision for cleansing, for pardon, for peace and for
rest.
Isa. 53:6; Rom. 6:7 and Rom. 8:23; 1 Tim. 2:5-6
and Heb. 2:17 and 2 Cor. 5:21; Mt. 5:17-18 and 1
Pet. 2:24; Heb. 10:10-12; 1 Pet. 3:18; Rev. 1:5; Isa.
55:7; Jn. 14:27; Mt. 11:28; 1 Jn. 1:7; Eph. 1:7; and
Heb. 9:22
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8. SALVATION BY GRACE We believe that grace is elective and saving; that
it embraces the personal triune, and redemptive minis-
try of God the Father, and God the Son, and God the
Holy Spirit; that it comprehends all of the labours put
forth by the Almighty in the interest of perfect righteous-
ness and the salvation of the lost soul; that it encom-
passes foreknowledge, foreordination, and predestina-
tion; that it, and it alone, saves even unto the uttermost
all who repent toward God and believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ; and that salvation thus wrought is wholly
by grace, "The free gift of God," requiring neither cul-
ture nor works in any form to secure it or to keep it.
2 Tim. 1:8-9 and Eph. 2:8-9; Tit. 3:3-7 and 1 Pet.
1:2-5; Mt. 23:37; Rom. 8:28-30; Heb. 7:25 and Acts
20:20-21; Rom. 6:23; Rom. 11:6; Rom. 5:20; Isa. 1:18;
and Isa. 55:1.9. REPENTANCE AND FAITH We believe that repentance and faith are solemn
and inseparable prerequisites of salvation; that they are
inseparable graces wrought in the heart by the quick-
ening Holy Spirit; that the alien sinner, being deeply con-
victed of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment to come
by the personal ministry of the Holy Spirit, and by Him
having his understanding enlightened so that he can see
the way of salvation through Christ, does actually re-
pent, turning to God with unfeigned contrition, confes-
sion, and supplication, and does actually believe, sur-
10
rendering himself wholeheartedly to the Lord Jesus, im-
mediately receiving Him as personal and all-sufficient
Saviour and openly confessing Him before all men.
Acts 20:21-22 and Mk. 1:15; Acts 11:18 and
Eph. 2:8 and Jn. 6:44; Jn. 16:8-11; Mt. 3:1-2, 8; Acts
3:19; Lk. 13:3 and Lk. 18:9-14; Acts 9:6 and Rom.
10:10.10. REGENERATION We believe that in order to be saved lost sinners
must be regenerated, or born again; that regeneration
is a recreative act, far beyond comprehension, wrought
in the believer's heart by the direct personal ministry of
the Holy Spirit; that it is instantaneous, miraculous, and
non-evolutionary or cultural; that it embraces the divine
acts of cleansing the heart from all inward sins and of
pardoning the soul of all outward guilt, in connection
with the work of begetting a new creature in Christ
Jesus; that the dead sinner is made to live through the
new birth, becoming thereby a regenerated spirit, pos-
sessing eternal life, the gift of God; that the new birth
comes after the Holy Spirit secures voluntary repen-
tance and belief in the gospel; that it is the actual im-
portation of the divine life, not a mere transformation
of the human life; and that the proper evidence of re-
generation appears in the holy fruits of the obedient and
willing faith of the followers of the Lord Jesus.
Jn. 3:3-5, 7; 2 Cor. 5:17; Jn. 3:8, and Jn. 3:16;
Jn. 1:12-13; Isa. 1:18 and Tit. 3:5-7; Eph. 2:1, 5 and
Rom. 6:23; Jn. 16:8-11; Mt. 7:16-18 and Jas. 2:17-
20.
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11. JUSTIFICATION We believe that justification is one of the great gos-
pel blessings secured through Christ for all who trust
Him; that it is a legal and divine decree, declaring the
believing sinner just; that it is thus a state of being free
from condemnation, including forgiveness for inward
sins and pardon for outward sins; that it secures through
faith freedom from legal bondage, exemption from
the wrath of God, and possession of peace which
passes all understanding; that it is bestowed, not in con-
sideration of any works of righteousness which we
have done, but solely upon the evidence of faith in
God and the Redeemer's blood; and that it brings us
into a state of unchanging peace and favour with God
and secures every other blessing needful for time and
for eternity.
Rom. 3:24-25; Rom. 3:28; Rom. 8:33; Rom. 8:1
and Jn. 5:24 and Rom. 4:3-8; Rom. 6:6; Rom. 5:9; Rom.
5:1 and Phil. 4:7; Rom. 8:31-33; Gen. 15:6 and Heb.
2:4.12. THE SECURITY OF THE BELIEVER We believe that salvation wrought by grace is
everlasting; that the saved soul journeying through the
valley of the shadow of death need fear no evil; that
the Holy Spirit-begotten and born are kept by the power
of God; that the believer in Christ Jesus shall not be
brought into judgment; that no one can lay anything to
the charge of God's elect; that they are securely held
in both the hand of the Father and the Son; and that
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the age-old Baptist doctrine, "Once in grace, always in
grace," is heavenly and gloriously true.
Jn. 3:16; Jn. 3:36; Jn. 5:24; Jn. 6; Psa. 23:4; Isa.
37:23-24; Phil. 1:6 and 1 Pet. 3:5; Jn. 5:24 and Rom.
8:1; Jn. 10:27-29 and Rom. 8:31-33 and Rom. 8:35-
39 and 2 Tim. 1:12.13. SANCTIFICATION We believe that sanctification is a divine work of
grace; that it is not a state of sinless perfection attained
through a "second blessing" or through a special "Bap-
tism of the Holy Ghost;" that it is an act of grace by
which the believer is separated unto God and dedicated
unto His righteous purpose; that by it we enter into di-
vinely appointed privileges and thus become larger par-
takers of His holiness; that it is a progressive work, be-
gun in regeneration, and carried on in the life of every
believer by the presence and the power of the Holy
Spirit and the Word of God; and that it is nurtured only
by Heaven's appointed means, especially by the Holy
Spirit, the Word of God, and the saved through his self-
examination, obedience, self-denial, watchfulness, and
prayer.
1 Thess. 4:3 and 1 Thess. 5:23; Rom. 15:16 and
Jer. 1:5; Prov. 4:18 and Jn. 17:17 and 2 Cor. 3:18; 1
Jn. 2:29 and Rom. 8:5; 1 Tim. 4:5; Lk. 9:23; Mt. 24:42;
and Mt. 7:7-1114. THE LORD'S RETURN We believe that Christ Jesus is coming back to
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earth again; that His return shall be personal, audible,
visible, and bodily; that it shall mark the advent of the
"day of the Lord" and usher in the millennium; and that
He shall in that day turn the tables on Satan, take
up the throne of His father David, put down all of
His enemies, rule with a rod of iron, triumph over sin,
and give the world an example of righteous govern-
ment during His thousand years of personal reign on
earth.
Job 18:25-26 and Isa. 9:6-7 and Zech. 14:4 and
Mal. 4:2 and Lk. 1:31-33 and Mt. 25:31-34; Rev.
19:11-21 and Acts 1:11 and 1 Thess. 4:16-17 and Rev.
1:7; 2 Pet. 3:10; Rev. 20:4-6; Rev. 19:20 and Rev.
20:1-3 and Rev. 20:10; Isa. 9:7; 1 Cor. 15:25-27; Psa.
2:9 and Rev. 12:5 and Rev. 19:15; 1 Jn. 3:8; and Psa.
72:1-2015. THE RESURRECTION We believe that Christ Jesus arose bodily from
the grave on the first day of the week, which day we
now observe as the Lord's Day, a day of worship;
that His miraculous emergence from the tomb fore-
casted a like bodily resurrection for every member
of the Adamic race; that the dead in Christ shall
rise first and in glorified bodies like His; that they
shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air; that the
dead in trespasses and sins, or the dead out of Christ,
shall rise at the close of the millennium; and that they
shall be brought before the Great White Throne Judg-
ment and there face the Judge of the quick and the
dead.
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Mt. 28:6 and Lk. 24:1-12; 1 Cor. 15:12-22; 1
Thess. 4:13-18; Rev. 20:5-6; Rev. 11:15; Dan. 12:3;
1 Sam. 2:6; Isa. 26:19; Hos. 13:14; and Isa. 25:6-8.16. INDIVIDUAL REWARDS We believe that reward and salvation are not one
and the same thing. We believe that the Lord shall re-
ward His own; that He Himself shall descend from
Heaven with a shout; that the dead in Christ shall rise
first; that a solemn separation shall take place; that the
blood-washed and Holy Spirit-begotten shall be caught
up to meet Him in the air, and there be rewarded ac-
cording to the deeds done in the body; and that the
place called the New Heaven and the New Earth is or-
dained the everlasting dwelling place of the children of
God. We believe that the wicked are children of the
devil; that they are rebels against God; that they reject
the free offer of salvation through Christ; that they ig-
nore the wooings of the Holy Spirit; and that they, as a
consequence, are hell bound, being under a death sen-
tence; that they shall spend eternity in the Lake of Fire
which burneth with fire and brimstone where the
Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet shall ever be.
1 Cor. 3:11-15; 1 Thess. 4:16-18 and Mt. 24:40-
41 and Mt. 13:47-50; 1 Cor. 3:8 and Rev. 21:1-8; Jn.
8:44; Rom. 8:7; Jn. 3:18; Rev. 20:10-15; and Rom.
6:2317. THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED We believe that there is a radical and essential dif-
15
ference between the righteous and the wicked. We be-
lieve the righteous are they who believe in Christ Jesus,
the justified by faith, and the sanctified by the Holy Spirit
and the Word; that the righteous are heirs of God and
joint-heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ; and that eternal
life, the gift of God, is the matchless possession of the
just. We believe that the wicked are they who do not
believe in Christ Jesus, the condemned because of un-
belief and the corrupted by the god of this world; that
the unjust spurn the privileges of God's grace, choos-
ing the life of sin and rebellion; and that eternal damna-
tion is the inescapable portion of the unjust.
Mal. 3:16-18 and Jn. 3:6; Rom. 3:22, 24 and
Rom. 4:3 and Rom. 1:17; Rom. 8:1-17; and Acts 20:32
and Jn. 15:3; Rom. 8:17; Rom. 6:23; 2 Cor. 4:4; Rev.
21:8 and Mt. 23:37 and Prov. 29:1 and Mt. 25:4118. THE LOCAL CHURCH We believe that a New Testament church, accord-
ing to divine purpose and plan, is a visible, local, orga-
nized body; that it is composed of baptized believers
associated together by a covenant of faith and fellow-
ship in the gospel; that New Testament validity flows
from strict obedience to essential principles of New Tes-
tament Law; that it is a sovereign, independent, demo-
cratic, and militant body; that its ministry is gloriously
blessed with the presence and leadership of the Holy
Spirit and the light and revelation of the written Word;
that its work should ever be from within to without and
never from without to within; that it is a self-governing
body and is the sole judge, under the limitations of the
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Scriptures, of the measure and method of co-opera-
tion; that it is the only ecclesiastical tribunal the Lord
has on earth; that its judgment concerning membership,
missions, benevolence, co-operative alignments, and
support is final; that it was personally founded by Christ
Jesus during His ministry on earth; that it is subject to
His laws and is the custodian of His ordinances; that
the perpetuity of our faith, our doctrines and practices,
ordinances and ordinations, has been effected through
the Holy Spirit personally planting and preserving local
Baptist churches of like faith and order down through
the centuries from the first church in Jerusalem even until
now.
Mt. 28:19-20; 1 Cor. 1:1-3; Acts 2:41-42; 2 Cor.
8:5; Mt. 16:19 and Mt. 18:15-17 and Jn. 14:16-17,
26; Acts 1:8 and Acts 13:1-4; Mt. 18:17-18; Mt.
16:18-19; Mt. 26:26-29 and Mt. 28:19-20; 1 Tim.
3:15; Mk. 3:13-14; and Lk. 6:12-13.19. ORDINANCES We believe that Baptism and the Lord's Supper
are ordinances personally set in the church of the living
God by the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that Bap-
tism is the burial of a believer in water by the authority
and instruction of a local Baptist church; that it sym-
bolizes the death and the burial and the resurrection of
the Lord Jesus Christ; that it also typifies the believer's
death to sin, the burial of his old nature, and his resur-
rection unto a new life; and that it is administered in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit. We believe the Lord's Supper is a memorial
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spread and administered by the authority and instruc-
tion of a local Baptist church; that it symbolizes the bro-
ken body and the shed blood of the Son of God; that
its observance points backward to the crucified Lord
on Calvary and forward to the returning Lord in glory.
We believe that these ordinances are not sacraments,
but are sacred symbols, pointing to the world's only
Saviour, and bidding the sons of men look unto an ev-
erlasting fellowship with the King of kings and Lord of
lords when He shall return to take over the reins of all
government. We believe the two elements are unleav-
ened bread and "the fruit of the vine[.]"
Mt. 26:26-29 and Mt. 28:19; Rom. 6:3-5 and
Mt. 16:19 and Acts 10:47; 1 Cor. 11:23-24; 1 Cor.
11:24-25; and 1 Cor. 11:26 and Mt. 26:26-29 and Dt.
32:14.20. CHURCH ADMINISTRATION We believe that the churches of God and the state
should be kept completely separate; that civil officers
should be prayed for, conscientiously honoured and
obeyed; that diligence should be had in seeking the will
of God in all church matters; that missionary endeavour
should ever be executed from within the local church
to without; that pastors and deacons, the only divinely
appointed church officers, should be duly ordained and
brought to understand the sacred duties devolving upon
them; that the Lord's Day, the first day of the week,
should be honoured both by saint and sinner; that Bible
teachings should be constantly and consistently fostered
by local church bodies; that members should be delib-
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erately and prayerfully voted into the fellowship of the
local body; that unruly church members should be
prayerfully and Scripturally disciplined by the local
church; and that church letters should be granted to sis-
ter local churches of the same faith and practice.
Acts 1:8 and Acts 13:1-35; Rom. 13:1-7; Acts
14:23 and Acts 6:1-6; Acts 2:42; Rev. 1:10; Mt. 16:19
and Acts 10:47; Mt. 18:15-17; Acts 15:19-27 and Acts
18:27 and Rom. 16:1-2 and Mt. 28:19-20.21. CHURCH CO-OPERATION We believe that it is the privilege and the right of
local churches to cooperate with each other in carrying
out the commission of the Lord; that such cooperation
is righteously effected only when the principles of Christ
are preserved in the work fostered; and that all associ-
ated endeavour of local churches should be carried on
in such a way as to preserve the sovereign integrity of
each local body in all matters of faith and practice.
2 Cor. 8:1-6, 16-24; 2 Jn. 1-4; Mt. 16:18-19 and
Acts 15:19-27.
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CHURCH COVENANT The Church Covenant is a voluntary agreement
entered into by members of a Baptist church whereby
they promise to conduct their lives in such a way as to
glorify God and promote the ongoing of the Lord's
church. Every member should study it carefully and re-
fer to it often and seek to live up to it for it clearly out-
lines the obligations of church membership. The follow-
ing Church Covenant with a few additions, is the one
in general use by most Baptist churches today.* * * * Having been led, as we believe, by the Spirit of
God, to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour,
and on the profession of our faith having been baptized
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost, we do now, in the presence of God, an-
gels and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully en-
ter into covenant with one another as one body in Christ
(Jn. 1:11-12; Mt. 28:19-20).
We engage, therefore, by the aid of the Holy
Spirit, to walk together in Christian love (Jn. 13:34-35);
to strive for the advancement of this church in knowl-
edge, holiness and comfort (Phil. 1:27, 2 Tim. 2:15);
to promote its prosperity and spirituality (2 Cor. 7:1, 2
Pet. 3:11); to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline
and doctrines (Heb. 10:25, Mt. 28:19, 1 Cor. 11:23-
26, Jude 3); to give it a sacred pre-eminence over all
20
institutions of human origin (Mt. 6:33); to contribute
cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry,
the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and
the spread of the gospel through all nations (1 Cor.
16:2, 2 Cor. 8:1-24).
We also engage to maintain family and secret de-
votions (1 Thess. 5:17-18, Acts 17:11); to religiously
educate our children (2 Tim. 3:15, Dt. 6:4-7, Psa. 78:5-
7, Psa. 48:13); to seek the salvation of our kindred and
acquaintances (Acts 1:8, Mt. 4:19, Psa. 126:5-6, Prov.
11:30); to walk circumspectly in the world; to be just
in our dealings, faithful in our engagements, and exem-
plary in our deportment (Eph. 5:15, Phil. 2:14-15, 1
Pet. 2:11-12); to avoid all tattling, backbiting, and ex-
cessive anger (Eph. 4:31, 1 Pet. 2:21, Col. 3:8, Jas.
3:1f); to abstain from the sale and use of non-medicinal
drugs and intoxicating drinks as a beverage (Eph. 5:18,
Hab. 2:15), and to be zealous in our efforts to advance
the kingdom of our Saviour (Tit. 2:14).
We further engage to watch over one another in
brotherly love (1 Pet. 1:22); to remember each other
in prayer (Jas. 5:16); to aid each other in sickness and
distress (Gal. 6:2, Jas. 2:14-17); to cultivate Christian
sympathy in feeling and courtesy in speech (1 Pet. 3:8);
to be slow to take offense, but always ready for rec-
onciliation, and mindful of the rules of our Saviour to se-
cure it without delay (Eph. 4:30-32).
We moreover engage that when we remove from
this place we will, as soon as possible, unite with some
other church of like faith and order, where we can carry
out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God's
Word (Acts 11:19-21; 18:24-28). [!]
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