What Free Will Baptists
Believe
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Missions ~ Free Will Baptists believe that Jesus
commanded the church to go into all the world and preach the Gospel
to every creature. For an in-depth study of Free Will Baptist
beliefs and practices, ask for a copy of the Free Will Baptist
Treatise.
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