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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Missions--Free Will Baptists believe that Jesus commanded the church to
go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.
