Tabernacle Baptist Church
Independent Baptist Church in Drakes Branch, Virginia
Tabernacle Baptist Church

Statement of Faith

 

  1. We believe that the KJV 1611 or the Authorized King James Version to be the only Bibles to be used in our Church Services, Sunday School, Nursery, Christian School, or any service in that our church is associated with.  We believe the Old and New Testaments to be verbally inspired of God, infallible in writing and is final, sole authority in faith and life.  II Tim. 3:16 – 17; II Peter 1:19-21.
  2. We believe the Godhead eternally exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and that these three are one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes, and perfection. 1:1; 1:26; 11-7; Matt. 3:16-17; II Cor. 13:14
  3. God the Father:
    1. His eternal existence as God.
    2. One third of the Godhead Trinity.
  4. The Lord Jesus Christ:
    1. His eternal existence as God. Heb. 1:1-8
    2. His incarnation by means of the Virgin Birth. Isa. 7:14; Luke 1:35
    3. His sacrificial death on the cross as a substitutionary atonement for sin reconciling man to God. Rom. 3:25; 5:10; II Cor. 5:18 – 19; Eph. 2:16
    4. His literal bodily resurrection from the dead. Luke 24:36 – 43; John 20:14; Acts 10:40 – 41
    5. His present ministry of intercession in Heaven. Acts 1:9 – 10; Heb. 8:1 – 2; I John 2:1
    6. His personal return. Matt. 26:64; Acts 1:11; I Thess. 4:16; Rev. 1:7
    7. He is one third of the Godhead.
  5. Holy Spirit
    1. We believe He is one third of the Godhead.
    2. We believe He convicts men of sin. John 16:7 – 11
    3. He regenerates, indwells, seals, and sets the believer apart unto a holy life. I Cor. 3:16; Eph. 1:13 – 14; Eph. 4:30
    4. He keeps and empowers believers every day.
    5. He is a teacher of the Word of God and guide for our daily life.
    6. Anyone who doesn’t have the Holy Spirit living in he/she is not a child of God. Rom. 8:9
  6. Man:
    1. We believe man was created in the image of God. Pure and innocent. Gen. 1:26
    2. We believe man is a tripod being; body, soul, and spirit. Gen. 2:7
    3. We believe in the total depravity of man. Adam fell through the sin of disobedience. Rom. 5:19
    4. We believe because of this, all men are in need of redemption. Rom. 3:10, 23, 5:12, 6:23
    5. We believe Life begins at conception. Psalms 51:5; Lk. 1:31; Jer. 1:5
    6. We believe the Only way for man to be in fellowship with God is Through the Lord Jesus Christ. John 14:6
  1. Satan:
    1. We believe in the personal reality of Satan. Job 1:6 – 9; 2:3; Matt. 4:1 – 11; I Peter 5:8; James 4:7.
    2. He is a fallen angel. Isa. 14:12 – 15
    3. His power is limited by God. Job 2:6; Matt. 4:1 – 11
  2. Salvation:
    1. We believe salvation is solely by grace through faith in the blood sacrifice, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Eph. 2:8 – 9; Rom. 10:9, 10, 13; John 3:16 – 17; I Peter 1:18, 19
    2. Salvation is Everlasting: John 3:36; John 6:37, 40
  3. Church:
    1. The church is composed of born again believers, who have been baptized by the Holy Spirit and by water immersion, who have voluntarily united together for the sole purpose of worship and spiritual growth and education.
    2. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the head of the church. He provides, leads, directs, and meets the needs of the church. Acts 2:41 – 47; Eph. 5:21 – 32
    3. The local church has absolute right of self-government and the decisions of the local church are final in and on all matters. Acts 5: 1 – 10
  4. Ordinances:
    1. We believe that Christ gave only two ordinances to observe till He comes.
      1. The Lord’s Supper. I Cor. 11:23 – 33
      2. Baptism by water immersion. (Note: There is no saving power in baptism. It is for those who have already received Christ as their Saviour.) Matt. 28: 19 – 20.
  5. Future:
        1. We believe that the church will be called out of this world by Lord Jesus Christ.
        2. We believe the second coming of Christ has two stages. First the calling out of the church, this includes all born again believers. I Thess. 4:13 – 18
        3. We believe this is a pretribulation event. I Thess. 1:10; 4:13
        4. Second stage of the second coming, Christ will return with his saints to set up His Kingdom, 1000 years reign. Rev. 19:11 – 16; 20:4 – 6
  6. Missions:
    1. Because all men everywhere without Christ are lost and are bound for eternal punishment (Rom. 1:18 – 32), and men cannot believe in Him of whom they have not heard (Rom. 10:14), we believe that we are debtors to all men and have the responsibility of giving them the Gospel.
    2. We believe in supporting missionaries, men, who are of the same faith.
    3. All missionary work and support must be done by and through the local church. Amos 3:1 – 3
  7. Human Sexuality:
    1. We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between one man and one woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, beastiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. We believe that God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one’s gender by surgery or appearance. (Gen. 2:24; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom. 1:26-29; Heb. 13:4)
    2. We believe that the only Scriptural marriage is the joining of one man and one woman. (Gen. 2:24; Rom. 7:2; 1 Cor. 7:10; Eph. 5:22-23)
  8. Abortion:
    1. We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused taking of unborn human life. Abortion is murder. We reject any teaching that abortion due to rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, or birth or population control are acceptable.  (Job 3:16; Ps. 51:5, 139:14-16; Isa. 44:24, 49:1, 5; Jer. 1:5, 20:15-18; Luke 1:44)
  9. Euthanasia:
    1. We believe that the direct taking of an innocent human life is a moral evil, regardless of the intention. Life is a gift of God and must be respected from conception until natural death. Thus we believe that an act or omission which, of itself or buy intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder contrary to the will of God. Discontinuing medical procedures that are extraordinary or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be a legitimate refusal or over-zealous treatment. (Ex. 20:13, 23:7; Matt 5:21; Acts 17:28).
  10. Love
    1. We believe that we should demonstrate love for others, not only toward fellow believers, but, also toward those who are not believers, those who oppose us, and those who engage in sinful actions. We are to deal with those who oppose us graciously, gently, patiently, and humbly. God forbids the stirring up of strife, the taking of revenge, or the threat or use of violence as a means of resolving personal conflict or obtaining personal justice. Although God commands us to abhor sinful actions, we are to love and pray for any person who engages in such sinful actions. (Lev. 19:18; Matt 5:44-48; Luke 6:31; John 13:34-35; Rom. 12:9-10, 17-21, 13:8-10; Phil. 2:2-4; 2 Tim. 2:24-26; Titus 3:2; 1 John 3:17-18)