I. CONCERNING THE SCRIPTURES
We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired, and is a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction; that it has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture of error for its matter; that it reveals the principles by which God will judge us; and therefore is, and shall remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions should be tried.
II. CONCERNING THE TRUE GOD
We believe that there is one, and only one, living and true God, an infinite, intelligent Spirit, whose name is JEHOVAH, the Maker and Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth; inexpressibly glorious in holiness, and worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost; equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.
III. CONCERNING CREATION
We believe that the Genesis account of creation is to be accepted literally and not figuratively. We believe that the six days of creation mentioned in Genesis chapter one were solar hour days. We believe that all animal and vegetable life was made directly and that they follow God's law in multiplying "after their kind". We believe that the entire human race sprang from one man, Adam, and one woman, Eve, literal people who were created directly in God's image and after His likeness and did not evolve from any lower form of life.
IV. CONCERNING THE FALL OF MAN
We believe that man was originally created a sinless being. By voluntary transgression, he fell from that sinless state, and, as a result, all mankind are now sinners by nature and by conduct and are justly under divine condemnation.
V. CONCERNING THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is both truly God and truly man. His literal human body was miraculously conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and He was born of a human mother who was a virgin. He was the God-Man with two natures, divine and human. He lived a sinless life on earth, died on the cross as a substitute for sinners and bearing the judgment of their sins, and was raised bodily from the tomb as a testimony to the sufficiency of His sacrifice and as a guarantee of His people's future resurrection. He now is in heaven as the great High Priest of His people. He will return for His people at the rapture of the Church, and later to the earth to reign following the tribulation period.
VI. CONCERNING THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person, co-equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature . He was active in creation. He restrains the "evil one" until God's purpose is fulfilled. He convicts men of sin. He indwells each believer. He performs various ministries such as regenerating, sealing, guiding, teaching, sanctifying, and strengthening. He bears witness to the Truth of the Gospel in preaching and testimony. He is the agent in the new birth. The Holy Spirit bestows spiritual gifts upon believers, these gifts being special abilities for service.
VII. CONCERNING THE WAY OF SALVATION
We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace; through the mediatorial offices of the Son of God; who by the appointment of the Father, freely took upon him our nature, yet without sin; honored the divine law by his personal obedience, and by his death made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins; that having risen from the dead he is now enthroned in heaven; and uniting in his wonderful person the tenderest sympathies with divine perfections, he is every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate, and an all sufficient Savior.
VIII. CONCERNING JUSTIFICATION
We believe that the great Gospel blessing, which Christ secures to such as believe in Him, is justification. Justification includes the pardon of sin, and the promise of eternal life on principles of righteousness. It is bestowed, not in consideration of any works of righteousness that we have done, but solely through faith in the Redeemer’s blood; by virtue of which faith His perfect righteousness is freely imputed to us of God. Justification brings us into a state of most blessed peace and favor with God, and secures every other blessing needful for time and eternity.
IX. CONCERNING THE FREENESS OF SALVATION
We believe that the blessings of salvation are made free to all by the Gospel. It is initiated by God and is accomplished by grace apart from any human works. It is the duty of all persons to accept it by personal faith. Nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth, but his own inherent depravity and voluntary rejection of the Gospel. All who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are forgiven, regenerated, and justified.
X. CONCERNING GRACE IN REGENERATION
We believe that, in order to be saved, sinners must be regenerated, or born again. Regeneration consists in giving a holy disposition to the mind. It is effected in a manner above our comprehension by the power of the Holy Spirit, in connection with divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the Gospel. Its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance, and faith, and newness of life.
XI. CONCERNING REPENTANCE AND FAITH
We believe that Repentance and Faith are sacred duties, and also inseparable graces, wrought in our souls by the regenerating Spirit of God; whereby being deeply convinced of our guilt, danger and helplessness, and of the way of salvation by Christ, we turn to God with unfeigned contrition, confession, and supplication for mercy; at the same time heartily receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as our Prophet, Priest and King, and relying on Him alone as the only and all sufficient Savior.
XII. CONCERNING SANCTIFICATION
We believe that Sanctification is the process, which according to the will of God, makes us partakers of his holiness. It is a progressive work; that it is begun in regeneration. It is carried on in the hearts of believers by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit through continual use of the appointed means, - especially, the word of God, self-examination, death to self, watchfulness, the community of faith, and prayer.
XIII. CONCERNING THE PRESERVATION OF THE SAINTS
We believe that those whom God has chosen before the foundations of the world and efficaciously called into saving faith and regenerated by His Holy Spirit can never lose salvation but shall be preserved in a state of salvation to the final hour and be eternally saved.
XIV. CONCERNING THE CHURCH
We believe that a visible church of Christ is a congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the Gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws; and exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His word; that its only scriptural officers are elders or pastors, and Deacons, whose qualifications, claims, and duties are defined in the Epistles to Timothy and Titus.
XV. CONCERNING BAPTISM AND THE LORD'S SUPPER
We believe that Christian Baptism is the immersion in water of a believer, into the name of the Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost; to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem, our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, with its effect, in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life; that it is pre-requisite to the privileges of a church relation; and to the Lord's Supper, in which the members of the church by the sacred use of bread and wine, are to commemorate together the dying love of Christ; preceded always by solemn self-examination.
XVI. CONCERNING THE LORD'S DAY
We believe that the first day of the week is the Lord's Day, and is a Christian institution that is to be kept sacred to spiritual purposes insofar as is possible on the part of the individual believer. It commemorates the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. It is a time for public worship and for spiritual growth.
XVII. CONCERNING CIVIL GOVERNMENT AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
We believe that civil government is of divine appointment and is for the maintenance of good order in human society. Believers are to pray for, honor, and obey civil authorities except where to do so would be to violate plain commands and principles of the Word of God. The Church and the State have separate spheres of authority and the State has no valid jurisdiction over the ministry of the Church. The State should not favor one ecclesiastical group over another, nor should the State impose taxes for the support of any form of religion. A free church in a free State is the Christian ideal.
XVIII. CONCERNING THE FUTURE EVENTS
We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked. Those who are righteous will enter into eternal bliss with Christ and those who are wicked will be lost forever. We believe that the Scriptures teach that at death the "inner man" of the believer pass into the presence of Christ and remain in conscious joy until the resurrection of the body when Christ comes for His own. The climax of this age to come will be the physical return of Jesus Christ to the earth in great glory to reestablish the Davidic kingdom. Following this thousand-year reign of Christ (the Millennium), the Great White Throne Judgment will occur, at which time the bodies and souls of the wicked shall be reunited and cast into the lake of fire, a divinely appointed place of eternal torment. The saved will enter the city that God has prepared for His own and will live with the Lord in resurrected and glorified bodies.
XIX. CONCERNING THE FAMILY
God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption.
Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.
The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God's image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.
Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God's pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.
Genesis 1:26-28; 2:15-25; 3:1-20; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Joshua 24:15; 1 Samuel 1:26-28; Psalms 51:5; 78:1-8; 127; 128; 139:13-16; Proverbs 1:8; 5:15-20; 6:20-22; 12:4; 13:24; 14:1; 17:6; 18:22; 22:6,15; 23:13-14; 24:3; 29:15,17; 31:10-31; Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; 9:9; Malachi 2:14-16; Matthew 5:31-32; 18:2-5; 19:3-9; Mark 10:6-12; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 7:1-16; Ephesians 5:21-33; 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Timothy 5:8,14; 2 Timothy 1:3-5; Titus 2:3-5; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 3:1-7.
XX. CONCERNING THE "BAPTIST FAITH AND MESSAGE"
Covenant Life Baptist Church has also adopted and accepts “The Baptist Faith and Message”, a 2000 affirmation of basic Christian beliefs as an addendum to our statement of faith. (See link: http://www.sbc.net/bfm2000/bfm2000.asp ).