The Bible
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally inspired Word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writing, infallible and God-breathed. (II Tim. 3:16,17; II Peter 1:20,21; Matt. 5:18; John 17:17)
God
We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfection. (Deut. 6:4; II Cor. 13:14; John 17:5)
The Person and Work of Christ
a. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful man. (John 1:1,2,14; Luke 1:35; Isa. 9:6)
b. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and that forgiveness is secured solely by the shed blood of God's Son. We further believe that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Rom. 3:24,25; I Peter 2:24; Eph. 1:7; I John 2:2; Rom. 4:25; I Pet. 1:18-19)
c. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of God where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative Intercessor, and Advocate. (Acts 1:9,10; Heb. 9:24; 7:25; Rom. 8:34; I John 2:1,2)
The Person & Work of the Holy Spirit
a. We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and, that He is the supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption. (John 16:8-11; I Cor. 12:12-14; Rom. 8:9; Eph. 1:13,14; Titus 3:5)
b. We believe that He is the Divine Teacher who guides believers into all truths; and, that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit. (John 16:13; I John 2:20,27; Eph. 5:18)
The Nature of Man
We believe that man was created in the image likeness of God, but that in Adam's sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and, that man is totally depraved and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition. (Gen. 1:26,27; Rom. 3:22,23; 5:12; Eph. 2:1-3,12)
Salvation
We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This gift of salvation is given without regard to any and all human works or goodness before or after conversion. (John 3:16, Rom. 1:16, Rom. 4:5, Gal. 2:16) (Eph. 2:8-9; John 1:12; Eph. 1:7; I Pet. 1:18,19)
The Eternal Security & Assurance of the Believer
a. We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God's power and are thus secure in Christ forever. (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Rom. 8:1,38-39; I Cor. 1:4-8; I Peter 1:5)
b. We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God's Word; which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh. (Rom. 13:13,14; Gal. 5:13; Titus 2:11-13; I John 5:13; John 14:1-3; Eph. 2:5-7)
The Two Natures of the Believer
We believe that a true child of God has two births; one of the flesh, the other of the Sprit, giving man a flesh nature and a Spirit nature. The flesh nature is neither good nor righteous. The Spiritual man does not commit any sin. This results in warfare between the spirit and the flesh, which continues until physical death, or the return of the Lord. We believe that provision has been made for victory of the new nature over the old nature, through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit; and that all claims to the eradication of the old nature in this life are unscriptural. (Rom. 6:13; Gal. 5:16-25; Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:10; 3:5-10; I Pet. 1:14-16; I John 1:8)
Separation
We believe that God has called His children to be separated to holy living, unto Himself; for His glory. We further believe that all the saved should live in such manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord; and that separation from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasure, practices and associations is commanded of God. (II Tim. 3:1-5; Rom. 12:1,2; 14:13; I John 2:15-17; II John 9:11; II Cor. 6:4, 7:1)
Missions
We believe that it is the obligation of the saved to witness by life and by word to the truths of the Holy Scriptures and to seek to proclaim the gospel to all mankind. (Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; II Cor. 5:19,20).
The Ministry and Spiritual Gifts
a. We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowment of all His gifts; and He gives every Christian at least one spiritual gift for service, but that certain gifts such as tongues, interpretation of tongues, healing and miracles were temporary sign gifts and that they gradually ceased as the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their authority became established. (I Cor. 12:4-11; II Cor.2:12; Eph. 4:7-12; I Cor. 13:8-13)
b. We believe that God does hear and answer the prayer of faith, in accord with His own will, for the sick and afflicted. However, physical healing is not guaranteed by the atonement. Nor do men have the power to perform miracles of healing today. Actually at times, it is Gods will for sickness not to be removed from His children today. (Jms.5:14-16; I Jn.5:14,15; 2 Cor. 12:8-10
The Church
a. We believe that the church, which is the body and espoused bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born again persons of this present age. (Eph. 1:22,3; 5:25-27; I Cor. 12:14; II Cor. 11:2).
b. We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures and that it is God's will for His people to assemble together regularly in a local church for worship, fellowship, mutual encouragement and training through the Scriptures. (Acts 14:27; Acts 20:17; 28-32; Heb. 10:24-25; I Tim. 3:1-13;
Dispensationalism
We believe in the dispensational view of Bible interpretation. Therefore we especially recognize the biblical distinction between the Church and Israel and the difference in how He works in this Church age from the age of the law. However we reject the extreme teaching known as "hyper-dispensationalism", such as the teaching which opposes either the Lord's table or water baptism as a Scriptural means of testimony for the church in this age. (Matt. 28:10,20; Acts 2:41-42; 18:8; I Cor. 11:23-26; 2 Tim. 2:15; Eph. 2:3; Rom. 11:17-36).
The Personality of Satan
We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the cause of the fall; that, he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and that he shall be eternally punished in the lake of fire. We further believe that God has provided for our victory over Satan.
The Second Advent of Christ
We believe in the "Blessed Hope", the personal imminent, pre-tribulation and pre-millennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones; and in His subsequent return to earth, with His saints to establish His millennial kingdom. (I Thess. 4:13-18; Zech. 14:4-11; Rev. 19:11-16; I Thess. 1:10; 5:9; Rev. 3:10)
The Eternal State
a. We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment. (Matt. 25:46; John 5:28,29; 11:25,26; Rev. 20:5,6,12,13)
b. We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul, and the body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord. (Luke 23:43; Rev. 20:4-8; II Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; 3:21; I Thess. 4:16,17)
c. We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain after death in conscious misery until the second resurrection, when with soul and body reunited they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgement, and shall be cast into the lake of fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment. (Luke 16:19-26; Matt. 25:41-45; II Thess. 1:7-9; Jude 6,7; Mark 9:43-48; Rev. 20: 11-15)
Baptism
That the ordinance of baptism is the immersion of the believer in water in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; setting forth the essential facts in redemption and the death and resurrection of Christ; also essential facts in the experience of the believer, death to sin and resurrection to newness of life. (Rom. 6:4; Acts 8:26-39, John 3:23)
Communion
That communion at the Lord's table is a privilege accorded to all true believers, in commemoration of our Lord's death until He comes, and should always be preceded by self examination. (I Cor. 11:23-28, Col. 2:12)
We acknowledge that the above articles of faith in no way exhaust the content of our faith which is the entire Word of God. We recognize that some of these articles are fundamentals essential to Christian faith while others are simply doctrinal distinctives of RBC. We do believe that these articles are a true representation of the sound doctrine taught in the Scripture.
