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We believe that the Church, which is Christ’s
body, is the spiritual organism consisting of all born again believers of
this New Testament dispensation. (Ephesians 1:22-23; I Corinthians 12:13)
We
believe that the local church is the agency through which God has chosen
to accomplish His work in the world. A New Testament Baptist church is an
organized body of baptized believers; immersed upon a credible confession
of faith in Jesus Christ; having two offices (pastor and deacon);
congregational in polity; autonomous in nature; and banded together for
work, worship, edification, the observance of the ordinances, and the
worldwide fulfillment of the Great Commission. We believe that the local
church, under Christ’s headship, is to be free from any external hierarchy
and should not associate itself with any ecumenical endeavor,
neo-orthodoxy, new-evangelicalism, or any such efforts to compromise the
Truth. (Acts 2:41-47; Ephesians 3:10; Matthew 28:18-20; I Timothy 3; I
Peter 5:1-3; Ephesians 1:22; Romans 16:17; II Corinthians 6:14-17; I
Timothy 6:3-5)
We
believe that the scriptural ordinances of the church are baptism and the
Lord’s supper and are to be administered by the local church; that
baptism, by immersion, should be administered to believers only as a
symbol of their belief in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus
Christ and as a testimony to the world of that belief and of their death,
burial, and resurrection with Him; and that the Lord’s supper should be
partaken of by baptized believers to show His death “till He come”.
The Lord's Supper, like baptism is merely symbolic of our relationship
that already exists with the Lord. The Lord's Supper is not to be
viewed as a sacrament nor does it hold any special power. (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:41-47; 8:26-39; I Corinthians 11:23-28;
Colossians 2:12)
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