Church Member’s Handbook
of the
Pine Hill Baptist Church
Tunnel Hill, GA

Adopted by the “Membership” on September 6^th, 2006

This handbook is necessarily brief, many things being omitted; but an effort has been made to discuss the more important things a member should know.  It should be studied with Bible in hand since, in order to save space, most Bible references are given but not quoted. 

The Meaning of Church Membership

“I’m now a member of a Baptist Church.”

Millions of persons utter these words with a joy in their hearts that is inexpressible.  They have found Christ as Saviour, their sins are forgiven, and there is peace in their souls.  As Christians they have obeyed the Lord’s command to follow him in baptism and unite with his Church; they have found great happiness in this new relationship.

Many, however, who speak those words, fail to comprehend their significance.  Sometimes they live for many years without ever seeming to learn the real meaning of membership.  This should not be true.  Every member should know the seriousness and sacredness of his commitment.  It is surprising that so many hold membership without realizing their privileges and opportunities or accepting their obligations.  Surely this is not because of a determination to be indifferent.  They have not been brought face to face with the real meaning of church membership, nor have they had its various aspects laid on their hearts.

Just what is this organization to which you belong?  It is a New Testament church.  Dr. George W. McDaniel defined a local church as “an organized body of baptized believers equal in rank and privileges, administering its affairs under the headship of Christ, united in the belief of what He has taught, covenanting together to do what He has commanded, and co-operating with other like bodies in Kingdom movements” (The Churches of the New Testament, p. 23).

The church of the Lord Jesus Christ is the greatest institution that the world has ever known.  Christ established it during his personal ministry, and he is its Head (Matt. 16:18; Eph. 5:23; Col. 1:18).  He promised that he would be with it through the ages and that the gates of hell should not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18; 28:20).  To it he gave the Great Commission and the ordinances, and for it he went to the cross (Matt. 28:19-20; I Cor. 11:23-26; Eph. 5:25).  He loved the church, and he wants his churches to honor and glorify him as his representatives on the earth (Eph. 3:21; 5:25-27).

The Lord’s churches have the greatest task ever assigned to any individual or group in the world’s history—carrying the glorious gospel of Christ the Saviour to every nation and tongue.  No other commission like that has ever been given or will ever be given.  In carrying out this work, the churches have done more for the world than all the governments ever organized, all the other institutions ever established, or all the armies ever assembled.  World history has been changed by the work of Christ through his churches.

We see then that we have a great privilege in being members of Baptist churches.  They are churches with a glorious beginning, a blood-written history, an illustrious present, and a future as bright as the promises of God.  They are churches that have held true to God’s Word through persecution and tribulation and whose members have been numbered among the faithful.  They are churches that today have a membership of more than twenty-five million, and are growing rapidly as they carry the true gospel message to a lost world.  Truly it is a privilege to be a member of a Baptist church.

Membership also brings us great opportunities.  These include opportunity for fellowship in the finest company that can be found and opportunity for Christian growth, development, and training through the various departments of the church organization.  We have opportunity for Christian service through the church in the name of Christ to those at home and around the globe.  Where else can we find such opportunities to live for God and our fellow men?

Membership places upon us an inescapable obligation—an obligation to make the church and its work first in our lives.  It is an obligation to use our time and our talents for the glory of God, an obligation to support the work with our presence4, our influence, and our means.  Churches are never stronger than their membership; and a membership of worldly, careless, negligent, stunted Christians will prevent a church from accomplishing much for the Lord.  There is need for every member to be consecrated, trained, and enlisted in active service.  We are under obligation to be the very best members possible under the leading of the Lord.

We see then that membership is a privilege and an opportunity that entails great obligations.  Too many members have not learned these things.  Their churches mean little to them, and they mean little to their churches.  Dr. E. P. Alldredge, who for many years served as secretary of the Department of Survey, Statistics, and Information of the Baptist Sunday Scholl Board, once said that 60 percent of the members of the average church were un-enlisted.  That condition must be changed.  Won’t you help change it by making your membership really count for Christ?

Church Covenant

The Church Covenant is a voluntary agreement by members of Pine Hill Baptist Church whereby we promise to conduct our lives in such a way as to glorify God and promote the ongoing of His Church.  Every member should study it carefully, refer to it often, and seek to live by it.  It clearly outlines the obligations of Church Membership.  The form of covenant in wide use in Baptist Churches is as follows:

Having been led, as we believe by the Spirit of God, to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and, on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we do now, in the presence of God, and this assembly, enter into covenant with one another as one body in Christ.

We engage, therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit to walk together in Christian love; to strive for the advancement of this church, in knowledge, holiness, and comfort; to promote its prosperity and spirituality; to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline, and doctrines; to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the gospel through all nations.

We also engage to maintain family and secret devotions; to religiously educate our children; to seek salvation of our kindred and acquaintances; to walk circumspectly in the world; to be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements, and exemplary in our deportment; to avoid all tattling, backbiting, and excessive anger; to abstain from sale of, and use of intoxicating drinks as beverage; to be zealous in our efforts to advance the kingdom of our Savior.

We further engage to watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember one another in prayer; to aid one another in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and Christian courtesy in speech; to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation and mindful of the rules of our Savior to secure it without delay.

We moreover engage that when we remove from this place we will, as soon as possible, unite with some other church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God's Word.

Basis of Covenant

Section 1 – Salvation and Baptism (John 1:11-12; Matt. 28:19-20).

Section 2 – Duties to the Church

1. To walk together in Christian love (John 13:34-35).
2. To strive for the advancement of the Church and promote its prosperity and spirituality (Phil. 1:27; II Tim. 2:15; II Cor. 7:1; II Peter 3:11).
3. To sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline, and doctrine (Heb. 10:25; Matt. 28:19; I Cor. 11:23-26; Jude 3).
4. To give it pre-eminence in my life (Matt. 6:33).
5. To contribute cheerfully and regularly (I Cor. 16:2; II Cor. 8:6-7).
6. To carry my membership when I move and be active in Church work wherever I live (Acts 11:19-21; 18:24-28).

Section 3 – Duties in Personal Christian Living

1. To maintain family and secret devotions (I Thess. 5:17-18; Acts 17:11).
2. To religiously educate the children (II Tim. 3:15; Deut. 6:4-7).
3. To seek the salvation of the lost (Acts 1:8; Matt. 4:19; Psalm 126:5-6; Prov. 11:30).
4. To walk circumspectly in the world, and to be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements, and exemplary in our deportment (Eph. 5:15; Phil. 2:14-15; I Peter 2:11-12).
5. To avoid gossip and excessive anger (Eph. 4:31; I Peter 2:21; Col. 3:8; James 3:1-2).
6. To abstain from sale or use of liquors (Eph. 5:18; Hab. 2:15).
7. To be zealous in our efforts for Christ (Titus 2:14).

Section 4 – Duties to Fellow Members

1. To watch over one another in love (I Peter 1:22).
2. To pray for one another (James 5:16).
3. To aid in sickness and distress (Gal. 6:2; James 2:14-17).
4. To cultivate sympathy and courtesy (I Peter 3:8).
5. To be slow to take offense, always ready for reconciliation (Eph. 4:30-32).

Christian Growth

Every child of God should desire to grow spiritually.  This is scriptural, for 2 Peter 3:18 says, “Grow in grace.”  When we are saved, we do not immediately become full-grown Christians but are only “babes in Christ.”  As “babes” we are commanded to “grow.”  To remain a “babe” is a shame and a tragedy.  Only by growing spiritually can we please God and glorify him in our lives.

How can a Christian grow in grace?  A large book or a series of sermons could be written on this subject, so we cannot give a comprehensive discussion here.  The following principles, however, can be outlined.

1. Be sure that you are born again.  Certainly you cannot grow spiritually if you are not a child of God.  The Lord said, “Ye must be born again.”  We are born again when we repent of sin and commit ourselves to Christ as our personal Lord and Saviour.  Make sure of your salvation.
2. Unite with one of the Lord’s churches, and to work for him.  Christ loved the church and gave himself for it.  He wants us to love it and give ourselves to it.  You cannot expect to grow spiritually if you do not obey the Lord’s first command to you as a Christian—to unite with his church.  You cannot live as good a Christian life outside the church as in it.  Make your church the most important interest of your life.  Attend the services, and participate in the activities.  Matthew 6:33 says, “See ye first” the work of the Lord.  We must do this to grow.
3. Cultivate your devotional life through Bible study and prayer.  The Bible is God’s Word to us.  Read it daily.  Read it through.  Read it by books and by subjects.  The more you read it, the more it will mean to you.  You will thus be better equipped for service to the Lord.  Prayer is God’s child in conversation with him.  The Bible says, “Pray without ceasing.”  Pray daily.  Pray about everything.  Pray as you work.  Have a secret place of prayer.  Establish a family altar in your home—a time when all the family is gathered together for Bible reading and prayer.  We cannot grow spiritually if we do not develop the devotional life.
4. Make much of Christian fellowship.  Let your closest friendships be with other Christians.  Visit their homes and invite them to your home.  Such fellowship is rich and blessed and will be a great strength for you in resisting temptation and growing spiritually.
5. Separate yourself from the world (II Cor. 6:14-18).  The world is against God (I John 2:15-17).  We are in the world, but we must not be of the world.  Let us separate ourselves from everything that is worldly, everything that would hinder our work for Christ.  As long as we hold on to worldly things we cannot grow spiritually.
6. Use and cultivate your talents for the Lord.  Every Christian has abilities which he can use for God.  Use your ability to speak, to sing, to handle business, to bring joy to needy hearts, to teach, to organize, or whatever your talent may be.  The church needs that which each member can do.  Dedicate yourself to Christ today (I Cor. 12:12-31).
7. Read good books and other Christian literature.  Every home should have religious books and periodicals.  Subscribe for the denominational weekly paper and mission journals.  Do not let the wrong type of books and other literature have a place in your home.
8. Be honest toward God in the use of your money.  Every Christian’s income belongs to God.  At least a tenth of it should be brought to God’s house regularly.  If you are dishonest toward God in matters relating to money, your spiritual growth will be stunted.  Study carefully, “God’s Plan of Church Finance” in this handbook.
9. Exercise self-control.  Satan is ever seeking to hinder our Christian lives and the Lord’s work by bringing jealousy, ill-temper, and selfishness into our hearts.  Church work has often been hindered by some Christian who sought to be “bossy” or was non-co-operative.  Such a spirit is of the devil.  If it appears in your life, destroy it by Bible study and prayer.
10. Seek the counsel and help of your pastor.  He is one of the best friends you can have.  God has set him in the church to aid you, to teach you, and to lead you.  Confide in him.  Work with him.  When you are in trouble, he will be ready to help you.  When you are tempted, he will fight with you in your battle with Satan.  When you need spiritual counsel or guidance, you will find no better earthly friend than your pastor.  As you walk with him, you will be walking closer to God; seek his fellowship.
11. Live for Christ one day at a time.  Each morning you awake to find that God has given you a new day to use for him.  Life for him every minute of it—in your business, at your job, in your home, in your social relationships, and wherever you are.  Live for him in the quiet moments, those times when you are alone.  This does not mean that you will neglect the responsibilities of your business or home, but it does mean that you will so live that the spirit of Christ is manifested in your life.  Live for Christ twenty-four hours a day.  If you fail, as you sometimes will, confess your sin in repentance and ask God to help you overcome it.  Sometimes Christians give up when they fail once.  That is not God’s way.  His Word says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9).  Peter denied the Lord, but he did not turn away in despair.  He came to the Lord in repentance and was forgiven.  Later he became the mighty preacher of Pentecost.  Do your best to resist the tempter:  but if you sometimes fail, do not give up.  Get up, get right, and go on.  As you love for Christ one day at a time, you will soon be living weeks and months and years for him.  This is the way of victorious living.
12. Win others to Christ.  The greatest work in the world is soul-winning.  Every Christian can and should bring others to the Saviour.  This work saves souls from hell, brings joy on earth and in heaven, and is the greatest means of Christian growth.  Dedicate yourself to it today, and ask God to guide you.  Pray for lost persons that you know.  As God leads you, talk to them about their spiritual needs.  Tell them about your own experience of salvation.  This was Paul’s method.  Everywhere he went, he gave testimony of his glorious conversion.  Us the Bible in talking to the lost.  Pray with them.  Lead them to pray for themselves.  When they have found the Saviour, lead them to confess him openly and unite with the church.  This work will give you the greatest joy you have known as a Christian (Psalm 126:5-6).

Other things could be said about growing in the spiritual life…allow the Holy Spirit to guide you, and he will lead you into greater spiritual knowledge and blessings day by day.  Spiritual growth is possible.  Seek it!

Baptist History

Baptist churches seek to follow the pattern of Christ’s church in the New Testament.  Baptists thus believe that their history began with Christ and the apostles.  This often has been proclaimed by Baptist historians and preachers.  It is one of the most glorious claims ever made for any church.  Most Baptists believe that both the Bible and history substantiate its truth.

What is the meaning of such a claim for Baptists?  It does not mean that the Baptist denomination can be traced by name back to Christ.  Also, it does not mean that there has been found an unbroken chain of baptisms, churches, or ministers.  It does mean that from the days of Christ until now, no date can be cited, no place designated, and no founder named, with the positive assertion, “This is where Baptists began!”  It also means that in every age from New Testament days until the present time, Christ’s church has continued to exist.  There have been churches holding essential New Testament principles such as those held by Baptists today.

In this handbook such as this we can give only a brief outline of the beginning and history of Baptists.  If the reader desires to make further study, there are numerous splendid volumes available.

Section 1 – The Beginning of the New Testament Church

1. Christ established his church during his personal ministry here on the earth.  This is one of the things which he definitely said he would do:  “Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18).  Before Christ left the earth, he stated that the work he had come to do was finished (John 17:4; 19:30).  The first members were the apostles (I Cor. 12:28).  Jesus took these men, who had been baptized by John the Baptist, and formed them into his church.  Before he left the earth, this church had a membership of about 120 (Acts 1:15), an organization, the ordinances, a commission, and a treasurer.  On Pentecost the three thousand saved and baptized were “added” to the church, which was already in existence.  This church was a local, visible body.
2. In the Greek New Testament the word translated “church” is ekklçsia.  George W. McDaniel, in his book, The Churches of the New Testament, said that it is used 109 times to refer to the Lord’s church.  He held that in 93 cases it designates a local church; in 14 cases, the church as an institution; and twice, all of the saved together in glory (pp. 296-99).  When the word “church” is used of an institution, it does not mean one big universal church but an institution made up of individual churches.  When we speak of “the home” or “the school” we do not mean one big universal home or school.  Nor is there one big church.  The New Testament never speaks of a group of churches as “the church,” nor is the words “universal” or “invisible” used with reference to the church anywhere in the New Testament.  If there is a sense in which all of the saved make up a universal, invisible church, it has no real existence until it is assembled in glory.  The way Jesus used the word ekklçsia or church also reveals that the church he established was a local, visible body.  He used the word 22 times:  3 times in Matthew and 19 times in Revelation.  In 21 of those 22 uses Jesus clearly was speaking of a local church.  In the other use (Matt. 16:18), he said, “I will build my church.”  There is no reason to believe that he was thinking of something altogether different from the local, visible body of which he spoke in all of the other references.  Evidently here he was thinking of the church as the institution which he was bout to establish.  When that institution is an actual reality, however, it exists as local, visible bodies.
3. Churches like this first church have continued to exist from that day to the present time.  Christ promised that they would not cease to exist.  He said that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against” his church (Matt. 16:18).  He said that it would be in the world to the end of the age (Matt. 28:20).  If the words of Jesus were true (and we know that they were), then there have been New Testament churches in existence in every age since Jesus spoke.  They will continue to be in the world until he comes again.  In the brief historical sketch in Section 3, we show how Christ’s promise did not fail.

Section 2 – Finding New Testament Churches Today

Since New Testament churches, like those set up by our Lord, are in the world today, how may they be identified?

1. New Testament churches must have four things true concerning their origin and doctrine.  (1)  They must have the right founder—Jesus Christ.  (2)  They must have been founded in the right place—in Palestine, where Christ lived.  (3)  They must have been founded at the right time—during the earthly ministry of Jesus.  (4)  They must be teaching the doctrines the Lord gave his church in the New Testament.  Churches which cannot meet these conditions can hardly be the churches the Lord established.  Can any churches meet such requirements?  Where did the various denominations begin?  The following table, showing the origin of some of the denominations, is prepared from the statements of historians.  Similar facts could be given concerning every other denomination except Baptists.

2. A study of this historical table will quickly reveal that it would be difficult for any of these denominations to prove that its churches are the true New Testament churches established by the Lord while he was here.  Even if historical records are not considered, the doctrinal test is enough.  For example, how can churches which teach sprinkling for baptism or sprinkling for babies, neither of which is found in the New Testament, claim that they are true New Testament churches?
3. Does this mean that Christ’s promise of perpetuity did fail and that there are no true New Testament churches in the world?  Baptists do not accept such a conclusion.  They believe that their churches are New Testament churches because of their doctrines, their organization, and their practices.  Many of them also believe that Baptists have a historical relationship with churches in every age since Christ.  Some Baptists believe that the doctrinal claim is all that is necessary—that the authentication of a Baptist church is its acceptance of the New Testament as its sole and final authority.  Many of these, including numerous modern scholars, say that Baptist history can only be traced back to the Reformation period; but they recognize that Baptist principles do reach back to Christ.  Other Baptists, and others who are not Baptists, believe that there is a kinship between the Baptists of today and groups through the ages who have held to basic New Testament truth.  The following quotations reveal this position:
1. John T. Christian (Baptist):  “I have no question in my own mind that there has been a historical succession of Baptists from the days of Christ to the present time” (A History of the Baptists, pp. 5-6).
2. George W. McDaniel (Baptist):  “Baptists are justly proud of their parentage—the New Testament.  They have an ancient and scriptural origin…There is no personality this side of Jesus Christ who is a satisfactory explanation of their origin” (The People Called Baptists).
3. Alexander Campbell (Disciple or Church of Christ):  “The Baptists can trace their origin to Apostolic times and can produce unequivocal testimony of their existence in every century down to the present time” (Debate with Walker).
4. John C. Ridpath (Methodist):  “I should not readily admit that there was a Baptist church as far back as A.D. 100, though without doubt there were Baptists then, as all Christians were then Baptists” (quoted from W. A. Jarrel, Baptist Church Perpetuity, p. 59).  If all Christians were then Baptists, what kind of churches did they form?  Baptist churches, of course.
5. Ypeij and Dermount (Dutch Reformed Church):  In 1819 the king of the Netherlands appointed these men to write a history of the Dutch Reformed Church, and to investigate the claims of the Dutch Baptists that they could trace their history back to Christ.  These men wrote in their report:  “We have now seen that the Baptists who were formerly called Anabaptists, and in later times Mennonites, were the original Waldenses, and who have long in history…received the honor of that origin.  On this account the Baptists may be considered as the only Christian community which has stood since the days of the apostles, and as a Christian society which has preserved pure the doctrines of the Gospel through all the ages” (quoted from Christian, History, p. 95).
6. Mosheim (Lutheran):  “The first century was a history of the Baptists.”
7. Cardinal Hosius (Roman Catholic):  “If the truth of religion were to be judged by the readiness and cheerfulness which a man of any sect shows in suffering, then the opinions and persuasions of no sect can be truer or surer than those of the Anabaptists; since there have been none for these twelve hundred years past that have been more grievously punished” (quoted from G. H. Orchard, A concise history of Foreign Baptists, p. 363).
4. Whether the historical relationship can be established or not, we can certainly say that Baptist churches of today are New Testament churches, in their doctrine, organization, and practice.  It must be our purpose as Baptists to keep them true to the New Testament in every way—the type of churches Christ wants and needs in the world.

Section 3 – A Brief Summary of Church History

In apostolic days and for a period thereafter, the churches remained reasonably free from false teaching.  Even before the end of the first century, however, Satan began to sow evil seeds.  Churches here and there were teaching doctrines not true to “the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”  Baptismal regeneration, salvation by works or law, centralized church government, union of church and state, and other heresies appeared.

In the year 312 the Roman emperor Constantine took the first steps toward governmental support for Christianity.  Gradually, church and state were united into a great politico-ecclesiastical alliance.  This union finally culminated in the full development of Roman Catholicism by about the end of the sixth century.  With Catholicism in control the Dark Ages came.  The period lasted until the Reformation.  The translation of the Scriptures into the language of the people, the invention of printing, and revolt of many religious leaders against the Roman hierarchy then brought a new day in world history.

During all this time of the rise and development of false doctrine and practice in the churches, there were scattered through Europe, Asia, and Africa, groups of dissenting churches which refused to acknowledge the Roman pope and sought to follow the New Testament.  Some early groups were the Montanists, Novatians, and Donatists.  Later groups included the Petrobrusians, Waldensees, and Anabaptists.  Catholic historians call most of these sects “Anabaptists.”  They were mercilessly persecuted throughout the centuries until after the Reformation, and some persecution against them has continued to modern times.

Though these groups did not carry the name “Baptists,” many of them did hold various Baptist tenets, such as separation of church and state, spiritual democracy, salvation by grace apart from sacraments, believers’ baptism, and immersion as the mode of baptism.  Churches holding these truths cherished New Testament principles.  They shared with Baptists the desire to follow Christ’s will for his churches.

When the Reformation came, numerous new non-Catholic groups appeared.  Some of them became the large Protestant denominations of today.  They all rejected many of the heresies of the Roman Catholic Church, but most of them retained some teachings which had no foundation in the New Testament.  In the centuries since the Reformation other denominations have been formed until there are now hundreds of separate denominational organizations.  Some of them have departed far from using the New Testament as their only rule of faith and practice.

In the Reformation period the people called Baptists also appeared.  As we have already stated, many historians believe that they had existed under other names in the preceding centuries.  Now they became known as Baptists, and their history may be clearly traced from that period.  In England, they began a slow but steady growth.  Soon they began to appear in other lands.  Here in America the first Baptist church was established in Rhode Island about 1738, and soon there were churches in other colonies.  They grew very rapidly during the Revolutionary period and the early years of the new nation.  Today, Baptists constitute the largest evangelical group in America, with approximately twenty million members.  There are now more than twenty-five million Baptists in the world, with churches in more than one hundred nations.

Section 4 – Baptist Past and Baptist Future

Baptists have contributed many things to the world’s progress.  Perhaps their greatest contribution is religious freedom.  They have fought for it through the centuries, and its establishment in America came largely through their influence and effort.  They also inaugurated the modern mission movement.  William Carey, an English Baptist, was the first foreign missionary of the English-speaking world.  The first Sunday school society for Bible teaching was started by a Baptist layman in London, and the great Bible societies of England and America have had strong Baptist support.  Baptists have made many other contributions to the progress of Christianity.

The Baptist pas is glorious.  As we remain true to Christ, our future is assured.  The Lord has promised that his churches will be here until the “end of the world.”  Inspired by the unfailing devotion of our forebears and assured of victory by the promises of God, let us as Baptists, in this day of religious compromise and retreat, hold fast “the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”  Let us, with renewed fervor, lift up the banner of him who said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (John 12:32).

Baptist Doctrine

A church is known not only by its history but also by its doctrine.  We believe that Baptist origins can be traced back to Christ.  We thus should be able to identify the Lord’s churches by their doctrines.  The Lord’s churches today will be teaching what his churches in the first century taught.  Therefore, “The Baptist Faith & Message” adopted by the Catoosa Baptist Association in 1925; 1963; and last updated:  June 14^th, 2000) is the basis of Baptist Doctrine of this Church.  We hope the reader will carefully study these with Bible in hand, since the Scripture references alone are used to set forth each doctrine.

I. The Scriptures

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.

Exodus 24:4; Deuteronomy 4:1-2; 17:19; Joshua 8:34; Psalms 19:7-10; 119:11,89,105,140; Isaiah 34:16; 40:8; Jeremiah 15:16; 36:1-32; Matthew 5:17-18; 22:29; Luke 21:33; 24:44-46; John 5:39; 16:13-15; 17:17; Acts 2:16ff.; 17:11; Romans 15:4; 16:25-26; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-2; 4:12; 1 Peter 1:25; 2 Peter 1:19-21.

II. God

There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

A. God the Father

God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men.

Genesis 1:1; 2:7; Exodus 3:14; 6:2-3; 15:11ff.; 20:1ff.; Leviticus 22:2; Deuteronomy 6:4; 32:6; 1 Chronicles 29:10; Psalm 19:1-3; Isaiah 43:3,15; 64:8; Jeremiah 10:10; 17:13; Matthew 6:9ff.; 7:11; 23:9; 28:19; Mark 1:9-11; John 4:24; 5:26; 14:6-13; 17:1-8; Acts 1:7; Romans 8:14-15; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 4:6; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 11:6; 12:9; 1 Peter 1:17; 1 John 5:7.

B. God the Son

Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord.

Genesis 18:1ff.; Psalms 2:7ff.; 110:1ff.; Isaiah 7:14; 53; Matthew 1:18-23; 3:17; 8:29; 11:27; 14:33; 16:16,27; 17:5; 27; 28:1-6,19; Mark 1:1; 3:11; Luke 1:35; 4:41; 22:70; 24:46; John 1:1-18,29; 10:30,38; 11:25-27; 12:44-50; 14:7-11; 16:15-16,28; 17:1-5, 21-22; 20:1-20,28; Acts 1:9; 2:22-24; 7:55-56; 9:4-5,20; Romans 1:3-4; 3:23-26; 5:6-21; 8:1-3,34; 10:4; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2:2; 8:6; 15:1-8,24-28; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; 8:9; Galatians 4:4-5; Ephesians 1:20; 3:11; 4:7-10; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:13-22; 2:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 3:16; Titus 2:13-14; Hebrews 1:1-3; 4:14-15; 7:14-28; 9:12-15,24-28; 12:2; 13:8; 1 Peter 2:21-25; 3:22; 1 John 1:7-9; 3:2; 4:14-15; 5:9; 2 John 7-9; Revelation 1:13-16; 5:9-14; 12:10-11; 13:8; 19:16.

C. God the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Saviour, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.

Genesis 1:2; Judges 14:6; Job 26:13; Psalms 51:11; 139:7ff.; Isaiah 61:1-3; Joel 2:28-32; Matthew 1:18; 3:16; 4:1; 12:28-32; 28:19; Mark 1:10,12; Luke 1:35; 4:1,18-19; 11:13; 12:12; 24:49; John 4:24; 14:16-17,26; 15:26; 16:7-14; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4,38; 4:31; 5:3; 6:3; 7:55; 8:17,39; 10:44; 13:2; 15:28; 16:6; 19:1-6; Romans 8:9-11,14-16,26-27; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 3:16; 12:3-11,13; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; 1 Timothy 3:16; 4:1; 2 Timothy 1:14; 3:16; Hebrews 9:8,14; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 John 4:13; 5:6-7; Revelation 1:10; 22:17.

III. Man

Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God's creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original innocence whereby his posterity inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin. Therefore, as soon as they are capable of moral action, they become transgressors and are under condemnation. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God. The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore, every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.

Genesis 1:26-30; 2:5,7,18-22; 3; 9:6; Psalms 1; 8:3-6; 32:1-5; 51:5; Isaiah 6:5; Jeremiah 17:5; Matthew 16:26; Acts 17:26-31; Romans 1:19-32; 3:10-18,23; 5:6,12,19; 6:6; 7:14-25; 8:14-18,29; 1 Corinthians 1:21-31; 15:19,21-22; Ephesians 2:1-22; Colossians 1:21-22; 3:9-11.

IV. Salvation

Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

A. Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God's grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace.

Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Saviour.

B. Justification is God's gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. Justification brings the believer unto a relationship of peace and favor with God.

C. Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God's purposes, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate person's life.

D. Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed.

Genesis 3:15; Exodus 3:14-17; 6:2-8; Matthew 1:21; 4:17; 16:21-26; 27:22-28:6; Luke 1:68-69; 2:28-32; John 1:11-14,29; 3:3-21,36; 5:24; 10:9,28-29; 15:1-16; 17:17; Acts 2:21; 4:12; 15:11; 16:30-31; 17:30-31; 20:32; Romans 1:16-18; 2:4; 3:23-25; 4:3ff.; 5:8-10; 6:1-23; 8:1-18,29-39; 10:9-10,13; 13:11-14; 1 Corinthians 1:18,30; 6:19-20; 15:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17-20; Galatians 2:20; 3:13; 5:22-25; 6:15; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-22; 4:11-16; Philippians 2:12-13; Colossians 1:9-22; 3:1ff.; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 2 Timothy 1:12; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 2:1-3; 5:8-9; 9:24-28; 11:1-12:8,14; James 2:14-26; 1 Peter 1:2-23; 1 John 1:6-2:11; Revelation 3:20; 21:1-22:5.

V. God's Purpose of Grace

Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of man, and comprehends all the means in connection with the end. It is the glorious display of God's sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise, holy, and unchangeable. It excludes boasting and promotes humility.

All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end. Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, and bring reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on themselves; yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

Genesis 12:1-3; Exodus 19:5-8; 1 Samuel 8:4-7,19-22; Isaiah 5:1-7; Jeremiah 31:31ff.; Matthew 16:18-19; 21:28-45; 24:22,31; 25:34; Luke 1:68-79; 2:29-32; 19:41-44; 24:44-48; John 1:12-14; 3:16; 5:24; 6:44-45,65; 10:27-29; 15:16; 17:6,12,17-18; Acts 20:32; Romans 5:9-10; 8:28-39; 10:12-15; 11:5-7,26-36; 1 Corinthians 1:1-2; 15:24-28; Ephesians 1:4-23; 2:1-10; 3:1-11; Colossians 1:12-14; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14; 2 Timothy 1:12; 2:10,19; Hebrews 11:39–12:2; James 1:12; 1 Peter 1:2-5,13; 2:4-10; 1 John 1:7-9; 2:19; 3:2.

VI. The Church

A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.

The New Testament speaks also of the church as the Body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation.

Matthew 16:15-19; 18:15-20; Acts 2:41-42,47; 5:11-14; 6:3-6; 13:1-3; 14:23,27; 15:1-30; 16:5; 20:28; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 3:16; 5:4-5; 7:17; 9:13-14; 12; Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:19-22; 3:8-11,21; 5:22-32; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 2:9-14; 3:1-15; 4:14; Hebrews 11:39-40; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Revelation 2-3; 21:2-3.

VII. Baptism and the Lord's Supper

Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord's Supper.

The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.

Matthew 3:13-17; 26:26-30; 28:19-20; Mark 1:9-11; 14:22-26; Luke 3:21-22; 22:19-20; John 3:23; Acts 2:41-42; 8:35-39; 16:30-33; 20:7; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 10:16,21; 11:23-29; Colossians 2:12.

VIII. The Lord's Day