Our Beliefs
We believe “that any group of Baptists, large or small, have the inherent right to draw up for themselves and publish to the world a confession of their faith whenever they think it advisable to do so…confessions are only guides and interpretations, having no authority over the conscience…therefore the sole authority for faith and practice among Baptists is Jesus Christ, whose will is revealed in the Holy Scriptures”… “We do not regard this confession as a complete statement of our faith, having any quality of finality or infallibility…We hold ourselves free to revise our statements of faith as may seem wise and expedient at any time.”** We believe this confession of our faith to be in agreement with The Baptist Faith and Message, June 14, 2000 and make reference to that document for more complete listings of authoritative scripture references.
With the above in mind, we offer this brief statement of the essential beliefs of the University Baptist Church.
The Scriptures
The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture of error, for its matter. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the only sufficient, certain, and authoritative root of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience.
(Matt 5:17-18, 22-29, John 5:39, 16:13-15, 17:17, 2 Tim 3:15-17, 2 Pet 1:19-21)
God
There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver and Ruler of the Universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing, perfect in all His attributes, one in essence eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence and obedience.
(Is 45:5-7, 1 Cor 8:4, John 4:24, Matt 28:19, 2 Cor 13:14)
God the Father. God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe,
His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all-powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men.
(Gen 1:1, Psalm 19:1-3, Is 43:3, 15, 64:8, Matt 7:11, John 14:6-13, 1 Cor 8:6, 1 Pet 1:17)
God the Son. Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord.
(Is 7:14, 53, John 1:1-18, 10:30, Acts 1:9, Rom 1:3-4, 3:23-26, 1 Cor 8:6, Eph 1:20, Col 1:13-22, 2:9, 1 Thes 4:14-18, 1 Tim 2:5-6, Heb 1:1- 3, 1 Pet 2:21-25)
God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Savior, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the Church in worship, evangelism, and service.
(Ps 139:7-10, Matt 28:19, John 14:16-17, 15:26, 16:7-14, Acts 1:8, 2:1-4, 5:3, Rom 8:9-11, 1 Cor 2:10-14, 12:3-11, 13, Eph 1:13-14, 5:18, 2 Pet 1:21)
Man
Man was created by a special act of God, in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. By his free choice, man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan, man fell from his original innocence. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship, and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God. Man has inherited a nature, corrupt and wholly opposed to God and His law, and bears responsibility to God for his sin. Being made in the image of God, every man of every race possesses dignity, and is worthy of respect and Christian love. God desires that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, that He might restore them to fellowship with Himself and give them authority and power in life.
(Gen 2:5-7, Rom 3:10-18, 23, 5:6, 12, 19)
Salvation
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
In its broadest sense, salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God’s grace whereby believers become new creatures in Jesus Christ. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through the conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal, upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ.
Justification brings the believer into a relationship of peace and favor with God.
Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God’s purposes, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling within him. Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate person’s life. Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed.
(John 3:3-21, Acts 20:32, 1 Cor 1:30, 1 Pet 1:2-23)
Faith and Repentance
Saving faith is the belief on God’s authority of whatsoever is revealed in His Word concerning Christ and accepting and resting in Him alone for justification and eternal life.
Christian faith is trusting God’s Word rather than our own mind, feelings or the world, as our guide to meaning and fulfillment. Faith comes to us in increasing measure as we read, obey and experience the truth of God’s Word.
Repentance occurs when one is made aware, by the Holy Spirit, of the manifold evil of his sin, and humbles himself for it, with Godly sorrow, with a purpose of turning from sin toward God. Repentance is a genuine loathing for all that is evil and a love for all that is good.
(Luke 13:3, 5, Eph 2:10)
God’s Purpose
God, from eternity, decrees or permits all things that come to pass and perpetuates, upholds, directs and governs all creatures and all events through His providence, yet He is not the author or approver of sin. He does not in any way destroy the free will and responsibility of any who will stand before God in judgment.
Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, sanctifies and glorifies sinners, and is consistent with the free agency of man and comprehends all the means in connection with the end. It is a glorious display of God’s sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise, holy and unchangeable. It excludes boasting and promotes humility.
Those whom God has accepted in Christ and sanctified by His Spirit will never fall away from the state of grace. Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation and thereby grieve the Spirit, but they can never fall away from Him who promised that those who believe in Him shall have as a permanent possession eternal life.
(John 3:16, 6:44-45, Rom 8:28-39, Eph 1:4-23. 2:1-10, 1 Pet 1:2-5)
The Church
The Lord Jesus is the head of the Church, which is composed of all His true disciples. A
New Testament church is a local body of baptized believers who are associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the Gospel. The Church observes the ordinances of Christ, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Members are committed to His teaching, exercising their responsibilities, gifts, and privileges invested in them by His Word and seeking to extend the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Our aim, under the Savior’s Lordship, is that UBC will be Christ ruled, Pastor led, Deacon served, Committee operated, and Congregation affirmed.
The Church is an autonomous body operating through democratic process under the Lordship of Christ. In such a congregation, members are equally responsible. Its
Scriptural officers are Pastors and Deacons.
The New Testament speaks also of the Church as the body of Christ, which includes all the redeemed of all the ages. We also believe that all born again believers alive today are
a part of Christ’s body, and are our brothers and sisters, regardless of denomination.
(Eph 1:22-23, Col 1:18)
Baptism and The Lord’s Supper
Baptism is an ordinance of the Lord Jesus, commanded by Him for every believer. It is the immersion of the believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. New Testament baptism is a prerequisite to church membership.
The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the Church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the
Redeemer and anticipate His second coming. It is in no sense a sacrifice, but is designed to commemorate our Lord’s death and to be a bond, pledge and renewal of the Christian’s communion with Him and of their church fellowship. Participation in the Lord’s Supper shall be restricted to believers in Christ, who by their own conscience, are in fellowship with, and support of, our Lord’s program through His local churches.
(Matt 28:19-20, Luke 22:19-20, Rom 6:3-5, 1 Cor 11:23-29)