THIS WE BELIEVE
DOCTRINAL STATEMENT OF COMMUNITY BAPTIST CHURCH

SCRIPTURES
We believe that the Bible in its original manuscripts is God's special proclamation to all mankind, that it was written by men divinely inspired and that it is the only supreme infallible authority in all matters of faith and conduct, and errorless in all matters.

THE TRINITY
We believe in the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit: Three persons in one, from everlasting to everlasting, separate but equal personalities of the Godhead.

GOD THE FATHER
We believe in God the Father, perfect in holiness, infinite in wisdom, measureless in power. We rejoice that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He saves from sin and death all that come to Him through Jesus Christ.

GOD THE SON
We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, the eternal and only begotten Son of God, conceived of the Holy Spirit, of virgin birth, sinless in His life, satisfying God's holy wrath by His substitutionary death for the sins of the world by His death. We believe in His bodily resurrection, His ascension, His present position seated at the right hand of God interceding for His children. We believe in His coming for all saints, His future judgment of the unsaved and His eternal reign.

GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe in the person of the Holy Spirit who baptizes all believers into Christ at the moment of salvation. We believe He comforts, and empowers all believers, setting them apart for God and sealing their eternal salvation. We believe He sovereignly gifts them according to His will for the equipping of His Body. Furthermore, we believe the Holy Spirit was sent forth by Christ from the Father to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and to exalt the Son, Jesus Christ.

MAN
We believe that man is sinful by nature and choice. We believe there is nothing man can ever do to merit favor with God. We believe that man is depraved, being corrupt by nature, enslaved to sin and morally unable to delight in God and overcome his own proud preference for the fleeting pleasure of self-rule. We believe that man is responsible to God alone for the eternal state and condition of his soul.

SALVATION
We believe in the sovereign election of God -- totally apart from the will of man -- which draws the elect to Himself with irresistible grace. In salvation, man is redeemed, regenerated, justified, and secured fully and freely unto eternity. This salvation continues through sanctification, a work of God through faith, empowered by the Holy Spirit, by which God touches the soul of man and changes it into the likeness of Christ. We believe salvation is a gift totally separate from works, available to all who trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. We believe that -- although a believer is in no way saved by good works -- he is saved unto good works which God has prepared beforehand.

THE CHURCH
We believe that the Church is the spiritual body of which Christ is the head. We believe that the true Church is composed of all persons who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. We believe that this body expresses itself in local assemblies whose members have been immersed upon a credible confession of faith and have committed themselves for worship, for instruction, for evangelism and for service. We believe the ordinances of the local church are believers' baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper.

We also believe in the mutual submission of believers to each other in love, and that believers must exercise their spiritual gifts, in order that the body of Christ would be built up, being unified in the faith and knowledge of the Son of God and become mature -- like Christ. We also believe that each local church should recognize and affirm the divine calling of spiritually qualified men to give leadership to the church. We believe that each church is independent and autonomous, and must be free from interference by all ecclesiastical or political authority.

OUR COVENANT
We believe, therefore, that the members of this local body of Christ must covenant ourselves together for the advancement of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and the building up of His body in love.

First Adopted 1978 -- Revised August 2002