x

Declaration of Faith

of the Bethel Baptist Church

Iowa Falls, Iowa

 

As Bible-believing Baptists, we, the Bethel Baptist Church of Iowa Falls, Iowa, desire to reaffirm our unwavering position concerning the Word of God.  We believe in the Verbal/Plenary inspiration of the Bible.  The Bible is our rule for faith and practice.             II Timothy 3:16; II Peter 1:21; Matthew 5:17-18

 

We believe there is only one true and living God, unlimited in every aspect, the supreme maker and ruler of heaven and earth; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons--the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - equal in every divine perfection and executing different, but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.

            Matthew 3:16; Revelation 4:11; I Corinthians 13:14

 

  We believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ; that Jesus was begotten of God in a miraculous manner, born of  Mary, a virgin; lived a sinless life; was crucified for our sins, buried, and rose again the third day.  He ascended into heaven and is now on the right hand of the Father making intercession for the believer.

            John 1:1-3; Isaiah 7:14; Philippians 2:4-11; I Peter 3:18

 

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, co-equal with the Father and the Son. In his relation to the unbelieving world, He restrains the Evil One until God’s purpose is fulfilled; that He convicts us of sin, of righteousness, and of judgement; He bears witness to the truth of the Gospel.  He fills, guides, teaches, and sanctifies daily through the Word of God.   John 16:8; I Corinthians 3:16; Romans 8:26; John 17:7

 

We believe that Satan is a distinct personality, the unholy god of this age and the author of all sin and spiritual darkness. He is doomed to eternal punishment in the lake of fire.     II Corinthians 4:4; Romans 3:10-18

 

We accept the Genesis account of creation and believe that man came by direct creation of God and not by the process of evolution.

            Genesis 1&2; Colossians 1:16-17; John 1:3

 

  We believe that man was created in innocence, but fell by his own voluntary transgression.  Now all mankind is born into sin and are sinners in thought, word, and deed.

            Romans 3:10-19; 5:12

 

We believe the local New Testament Church is a company of born-again immersed believers, united together for worship, evangelism, edification, and observance of the ordinances.  It is independent and sovereign in church government.  It’s head is the Lord Jesus and it’s authority is the Word of  God.

            Acts 2:41-42; Colossians 1:18

 It has two ordinances:

                                    (1) Baptism

                                                Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water to show forth a solemn and beautiful emblem of our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior,                                                        with it’s effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life.  It is a pre-requisite to the privilege of church membership.      Romans 6:3-5

                                    (2) Communion

                                                The Lord’s Supper is the commemoration by believers of His death until He comes and our continual fellowship with Him.  It should always be                                                                 preceded by careful self-examination.      I Corinthians 11:23-32

 

We believe that all those who have trusted Christ as their Savior are truly born again and can never be lost.

            John 10:28; Romans 8:35-39

 

We believe that God looks on the unsaved as wicked and lost; and that they are destined for eternal punishment.  They who have placed their trust in the finished work of Christ shall inherit eternal life.

            Romans 6: 17-23

 

We believe that future events will be in the following order:

                        1) Pre-tribulational Rapture of the Church

                                    I Thessalonians 4:14-17; Acts

 

                        2) Israel’s Seventieth Week or the Great Tribulation.

                                    Revelation 11:  Daniel 9:27

 

                        3) Return of Christ to the earth and the millennial reign.

                                    Revelation 19:11-16;  20: 2-3

 

                        4) Great White Throne Judgement.

                                    Revelation 20: 11-12

 

                        5) Eternal State - born-again believers in the presence of God, and  whose names were not found in the Lamb’s Book of Life to                                              everlasting punishment.  Revelation 21: 1-6; 20:15

 

   We desire to continue adherence to the Historic Baptist position of the sovereignty of the local church, which means “full freedom of deliberation, decision, and deportment, under God, without coercion, restriction, supervision or domination from any outside individual, organization, or institution.”

 

            We declare that our position shall be that of a New Testament church, affiliating, cooperating, and associating only with those interests which are sound and true to the Word of God.

 HUMAN SEXUALITY 

We  believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, pedophilia, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. We believe that God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one’s gender by surgery or appearance. Genesis 2:24; 19:5; Leviticus 18:1-30; Romans 1:26-29; 1 Corinthians 5:1; 6:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4.

  MARRIAGE 

We believe that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman. Genesis 2:24; 1 Corinthians 7:2; Ephesians 5:22-33; Matthew 19:1-9. 1 Corinthians 7:8-15. 

Therefore we the membership of Bethel Baptist Church, Iowa Falls,  Iowa, will only allow weddings between one man and one woman to be performed in our Church or by our Pastor.