What We Believe
What We Believe at Friendswood Baptist Church
Scripture – We believe the Old and New Testaments to be verbally inspired by God, inerrant in the original writings, and that they are of supreme and final authority in faith and life (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21).
The Godhead – We believe the Godhead eternally exists in three persons-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that these three are one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes, and perfections (Genesis 1:1 & 26; Matthew 3:1-17; Matthew 28:19, 20; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Romans 8:9).
The Lord Jesus Christ – We believe in: (1) His eternal existence as God (Hebrews 1:8; John 1:1-3). (2) His incarnation by means of the virgin birth (Luke 1:34,35; Isaiah 7:14). (3) His death on the cross as the substitutionary atonement for sin (Romans 3:25; Hebrew 9:14). (4) His literal, bodily resurrection from the dead (Luke 24:36-43; Acts 10:40-41). (5) His present ministry of intercession in heaven (Acts 1:9; 1 John 2:1; Hebrews 3:1-2). (6) His personal, bodily return to earth (Acts 1:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Colossians 2:9; Matthew 26:64).
The Holy Spirit – We believe the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, convicts men of sin (John 16:8); regenerates, indwells, seals (1 Corinthians 3:16; Ephesians 1:13-14) and sets believers apart unto a holy life. All children of God are baptized in the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation. He keeps and empowers believers day by day (Acts 1:8). He is the teacher of the Word of God and guide in our daily life (1 Corinthians 2:13). Anyone who does not have the Spirit living in him is not a child of God (Romans 8:9).
Man – We believe: (1) Man was created innocent and pure (Genesis 1:26). (2) Adam fell through the sin of disobedience (Romans 5:19). Thereby, all men are corrupted in body, mind and soul (Romans 5:12; Jeremiah 17:9; Ephesians 2:3). (4) Therefore all are in need of redemption (Romans 3:23).
Salvation – We believe: (1) That salvation is solely by grace through faith in the blood sacrifice, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Ephesians 2:8-9). (2) All who receive Him are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and become children of God (Titus 3:5). (3) All who are truly saved are kept forever (John 10:27-30). (4) However, God cannot overlook sin in His children and will chasten and correct them in love (Hebrews 12:5-8).
The Church – We believe: (1) That the local church is composed of regenerated baptized believers, voluntarily united together for the purpose of worship, edification, fellowship, spiritual growth and service. (2) That it has been commissioned by Christ to propagate the gospel unto the uttermost parts of the earth. (3) That the local church has absolute right of self government, free from interferences of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations; and that the one and only superintendent is Christ through the Holy Spirit. (4) That on all matters of membership, of policy and government, of benevolence, the will of the local church is final (Acts 2:41-47; 4:33-37; 5:1-29; Ephesians 4:11-16).
The Ordinances – We believe that Christ gave only two ordinances to the church to be observed “till He come.”
(1) The Lord’s Supper – It was left us as an ordinance by the Lord Himself (Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24) for a memorial of His death until He comes. It should be taken only by obedient Christians and should not be taken unadvisedly, but with the examination of one’s self (1 Corinthians 11:23-24).
(2) Believer’s Baptism – We practice baptism by immersion because of the example of our Lord Jesus while He was here on earth (Matthew 3:13) and because of the command given by our Lord to be baptized (Matthew 28:19). We believe that the scriptures clearly teach believer’s baptism only (Acts 8:37). It should be made clear that there is no saving power in baptism-it is meant as a first step of obedience for those who are already saved-giving a clear picture of the fact that the believer is dead, buried and raised spiritually with Jesus Christ by faith in Him (Romans 6:6).
