WICK ROAD
BAPTIST CHURCH
What We Believe
The Holy Scriptures - We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old & New Testament to be the verbally and plenary inspired Word of God. They are preserved, inerrant, infallible & God-breathed, and therefore are the final authority for faith & life. The 66 books are the complete and divine revelation of God to Man. The Scriptures shall be interpreted according to their literal normal grammatical-historical meaning. The 1611 King James Version of the Bible shall be the official & only text used throughout the church & at every activity (II Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21; Ps. 12:6-7; Ps. 119:89; James 1:25).
The Godhead - We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - each co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, coequal in power & glory, & equal in every way with their own distinct works in redemption. Three & yet only One God (Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; II Cor. 13:14; John 14:10, 26; I John 5:7).
Jesus Christ - We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having being conceived by the Holy Spirit & born of Mary - a Virgin, in order that He might reveal God & redeem sinful men through His death on the cross and literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Lk. 1:35; John 1:1-2, 14; II Cor. 5:19-21; Gal. 4:4-5; Phil. 2:5-8; I Pet. 2:24; Rom. 3:24-25). We believe that He ascended to Heaven & now is exalted at the right hand of God (Acts. 1:9-10; Heb. 9:24; 7:25; Rom. 8:34).
The Holy Spirit - We believe that the Holy Spirit is a Person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, & of judgment; and, that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling & sealing them unto the day of redemption (John 16:8-11; Rom. 8:9; I Cor. 12:12-14; II Cor. 3:6; Eph. 1:13-14).
Total Depravity of Man - We believe that man was created in the image & likeness of God, but through Adam's sin, the human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, & became alienated from God; and, that man is totally depraved, and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition (Gen. 1:26-27; 3:1-19; Rom. 3:22-23; 5:12; 6:23; Eph. 2:1-3).
Salvation - We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace & received by a personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins (John 1:12; Eph. 1:7; 2:8-10; I Pet. 1:18-19).
Eternal Security of Believers - We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God's power & are thus secure in Christ forever (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Rom. 8:1; 38-39; I Pet. 1:4-5).
The Second Advent of Christ - We believe in that "blessed hope", the personal, imminent, visible bodily return of Christ in the air to "catch up" or rapture the saved of earth prior to the 7 year Tribulation period. At the end of the Tribulation, Christ will personally & visibly return with His saints to rule and reign on the earth for a 1,000 year period (I Thess. 4:16-17; Matt. 24;29-31; Rev. 20:1-4).
The Church - We believe that the local church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is solely made up of born-again persons (I Cor. 12:12-14; II Cor. 11:2; Eph. 1:22-23). We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority or control (Act. 13:1-4; 20:28; Rom. 16:1, 4; I Cor. 3:9, 16; I Pet. 5:1-4). We recognize water baptism and the Lord's Supper as the two Scriptural ordinances of obedience for the local church in this age. The prerequisite for baptism at the local church is salvation, and it is the first step of obedience for the believer (Acts 2:41). Baptism pictures the believer's faith in Christ and brings the Christian into the membership of the local church. Baptism is by immersion only, in the Name of the Father, Son, & Holy Ghost & is administered within the authority of the local church. Prerequisites for the Lord's Supper at the local church are: salvation, baptism, and a self-examination period (Matt. 28:19-20; Acts. 2:41-42; Rom. 6:4-5; I Cor. 11:23-29).
The Eternal State - We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men: the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment & everlasting punishment (Matt. 25:45; John 5:28-29; 11:25-26; Rev. 20:12-13). 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, & body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord (Luke 23:43; II Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; 3:21; I Thess. 4:16-17).
Satan - We believe that Satan (as Lucifer) was once holy, & enjoyed heavenly honors, but due to pride and ambition to be like God, he became the author of sin & drew with him a host of angels. He is now God's enemy and man's great tempter. He is destined for final defeat at the hands of God's own Son & judgment in the Lake of Fire (Isaiah 14:12-15; Rev. 12:9; 20:10).
Creation - We believe in the Genesis account of creation, that God created the universe in six literal, 24 hour periods. Man was created in God's own image, and it was not a matter of an evolutionary process. (Gen.1-2; John 1:3; Col. 1:16-17).
Missions - We believe that God has given the church a great commission to proclaim the Gospel to all nations so that there might be a great multitude from every nation, tribe, ethnic group, & language group who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; II Cor. 5:20).