Preamble
The members of Heritage Baptist Church confess the following teachings as a summary of what the church preaches and believes. Members are expected to be in substantial agreement with these teachings, and officers are expected to believe and uphold these teachings.
Scripture references offered in each section are for study purposes only; they are not part of the actual statement, and they are not meant to represent the complete Scriptural evidence for the statements that we confess.
Foundational Theology
God
There is only one God—the Maker, Preserver, and Ruler of all things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible. He is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. To Him all people owe the highest love, praise, gratitude, reverence, and obedience.
Deut. 6:4; 1 Tim. 1:17; Ps. 90:2; Isa. 6:3
The Trinity
The one God eternally exists as three persons, revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each with distinct personal attributes, but without division of the one divine nature. In creation and salvation, each person of the Trinity undertakes unique roles.
Matt. 3:16-17; 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; John 1:1; John 15:26; Gal. 4:6
Creation
God is the Creator of all things, including man, who alone has been made in God’s image. As the image-bearer of God, man is to manifest the righteousness of God as His representative ruler upon the earth via cultural development, while modeling the love of God through interpersonal relationships.
The literal first man and woman, Adam and Eve, were sinless and righteous in the Garden of Eden before they rebelled and disobeyed. Male and female were part of God’s original purpose, as were the institutions of work, of dominion over the creation, and of marriage and procreation.
Genesis 1-2
Providence
God is immortal and eternal. He sustains and sovereignly rules over all things, and providentially brings about His eternal good purposes to redeem a people for Himself and restore His fallen creation, to the praise of His glorious grace. His perfect and exhaustive foreknowledge of all things flows from His ruling authority and decree which sovereignly orders all things. But God’s providence also ensures that His will is done in such a way that sinful acts proceed from those that commit them, and not from God, who is holy and righteous.
Eph. 1:11; Dan. 4:34-35; Matt. 10:29-31; Ps. 33:11; Acts 2:23; Rom. 9:6-24
Revelation
God has generally revealed Himself to all humanity; for each person is created in His divine image, with the moral law of God written on their hearts, which is to say, woven into their very nature. This innate knowledge includes knowledge of God’s righteous character and eternal moral standards, which the conscience of every man bears witness to. Furthermore, the vast creation, in its intricate beauty and order, testifies unceasingly to the knowledge, wisdom, power, and supreme authority of the Creator, leaving all without excuse before His holy throne.
Additionally, God has specially revealed Himself via the inspired words of the holy Scriptures— the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments. These writings alone constitute the Word of God, which is authoritative and without error in the original writings, and is complete, sufficient, and final in its authority over every domain of knowledge to which it speaks.
Gen. 1:26-27; Rom. 1:18-20, 32; 2:14-16; Ps. 19; Acts 14:15-17; 2 Tim. 3:15-16; 2 Pet. 1:19-21
The Fall of Man
Although God created man in His own image and free from sin, Adam transgressed the command of God, succumbing to temptation by Satan, and fell from his original holiness and righteousness. By God’s righteous judgment, Adam’s descendants inherit a nature corrupt and opposed to God and His law, and are therefore under condemnation.
Gen. 3; Rom. 3:10-18, 23; 5:12-21; 8:7-8; 1 Cor. 2:14; Ps. 51:5; Eph. 2:1-3
Election
God, from all eternity, graciously chose some persons for Himself out of sinful humanity. This was not because of foreseen merit in them, but was only because of His mercy in Christ. God set His love upon His elect and foreknew them. Presently, He effectually calls them by means of the Gospel, justifies them by the righteousness of Christ, and will glorify them in His eternal kingdom.
Eph. 1:4,11; 2 Thess. 2:13-14; Rom. 8:29-30; Rom. 11:5
Jesus Christ the Savior
Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, is the divinely appointed mediator between God and man. In His divine nature, He was in the beginning with God the Father and the Holy Spirit; in fact, all creation is said to have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. In the end, at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
John 1:1-18; Col. 1:15-20; Phil. 2:9-11; 1 Tim. 2:5
Even though He had all riches and all glory in heaven, by the eternal plan of the Trinity, God the Son willingly took the poverty of humanity in order to bestow God’s riches on His people. He was conceived miraculously as a human baby by the Holy Spirit, in the virgin Mary, and forever after that He is the God-Man, having one person in two natures, fully God and fully man.
Phil. 2:5-8; Matt. 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38; John 1:4; Heb 2:14-16
Having taken upon Himself human nature, yet without sin, He perfectly fulfilled God’s law in His life. He preached the Gospel; healed the sick; raised the dead; rebuked the wind and waves; and taught the ways of the kingdom of God. Having fulfilled all righteousness, He was condemned as a criminal, even though He committed no crime. He suffered and died on the cross, in fulfillment of Scripture, for the salvation of God’s elect.
Heb. 2:14-18; Isa. 53; Luke 24:25-27; 1 Cor. 15:3
By His sacrifice, Christ bore in our place the punishment due us for our sins, thereby making a full satisfaction of God’s justice on our behalf. By His perfect obedience, He satisfied the just demands of God on our behalf, and that perfect obedience is credited to all who trust in Christ alone for their acceptance with God.
John 1:29; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 7:26-28
Christ was buried, and rose again the third day, appeared to His disciples for 40 days, and then ascended to His Father, at whose right hand He ever lives to make intercession for His people. He is the only Mediator; the Prophet, Priest, and King of the Church; and Sovereign of the Universe.
Matthew 28; Luke 24; Acts 1:1-11; Heb. 7:25, 28
Regeneration
Regeneration (i.e., being born again) is a change of heart, worked by the Holy Spirit, who enlightens the minds of sinners spiritually and savingly to understand the Word of God, makes them alive, and renews their whole nature, so that they repent, believe in Christ, and begin to love and practice holiness. This rebirth is a work of God’s free and special grace alone.
John 3:5-8; 1 Pet. 1:3; Titus 3:4-7; Eph. 2:4-7
Saving Faith
Saving faith, which includes repentance, is turning away from sin and self-righteousness and turning towards Christ—trusting and resting in Him alone for forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Saving faith is worked in the heart by the Holy Spirit and is therefore a gift of God, lest any man should boast. Moreover, it is accompanied by all other saving graces, and leads to a life of holiness (i.e., walking in good works, which God prepared beforehand); for faith without works is dead.
Eph. 2:8-10; James 2:14-26; Mark 1:15; 1 Thess. 1:9-10; Acts 11:18; 13:48; 14:15; 16:14, 30-31; Rom. 4:5
Justification
Justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal of sinners who believe in Christ, from all sin, through the satisfaction that Christ has made. It is not on account of anything worked in them or done by them, but is on account of the obedience and satisfaction of Christ, in His death for sins and His resurrection from the dead.
Rom. 3:21-31; Gal. 2:15-16
Sanctification
Those who have been born again and justified by God through faith in Jesus Christ are also being sanctified as they walk cooperatively with the Holy Spirit who indwells them, in accordance with the Scriptures. Though they will never be completely free from indwelling sin in this life, all believers are called to pursue holiness through obedience to the commands of Christ, in response to the saving grace of God. This sanctification is progressive through the supply of divine strength, which all believers seek to obtain, pressing after a heavenly life in heartfelt obedience to all of Christ’s commands.
Gal. 5:16-25; Rom. 8:3-14; 2 Cor. 3:16-18; 5:17; Heb 12:14; 2 Pet. 1:3-11
Perseverance of the Saints
Those whom God has justified in Christ and sanctified by His Spirit will never totally or finally fall away from the state of grace, but will persevere to the end. They may, through neglect and temptation, fall into sin, by which they will grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, bring reproach on the Church, and bring temporal judgments on themselves. But all of God’s people will continually be renewed again to repentance, and be kept by the power of God through faith to salvation.
John 10:27-30; John 6:37; Rom 8:29-30, 33-39
The Second Coming of Christ and the Resurrection
The Lord Jesus Christ will personally, physically, and gloriously return with His holy angels. He will then exercise His role as final Judge, and His kingdom will be consummated. The just and the unjust will both be raised—the unjust to judgment and eternal punishment in hell, and the just to eternal blessedness in the new heaven and the new earth. On that day, the Church will be presented faultless before God by the obedience, suffering, and triumph of Christ, with all sin purged and its wretched effects forever banished.
Mark 13:24-27; 14:62; Acts 1:11; Matt. 25:31-46; Rev. 20:11-21:8
Church Life and Christian Obedience
The Church
The Lord Jesus is the Head of the Universal Church, which is composed of all His true disciples in every place throughout the ages. In Him is invested supremely all power for the governance of His people. According to His commandment, Christians are to associate themselves into localized church bodies for the purposes of corporate worship, fellowship, and the work of Gospel ministry. To each of these localized church bodies, Christ has given needful authority for administering that order, discipline, and worship which He has appointed. The regular officers of a localized church body are elders and deacons.
Eph. 1:22-23; 4:11-16; Acts 14:23; Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9
Baptism
Baptism is an ordinance of Jesus Christ, obligatory upon every believer, in which they are immersed in water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, as a sign of their fellowship with the death and resurrection of Christ, of the remission of their sins, and of their giving themselves up to God, to live and walk in newness of life. It is a prerequisite to church membership.
Matt. 28:19; Acts 2:38-41; 8:36-39; 10:44-48; Rom. 6:1-11
The Lord’s Supper
The Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of Jesus Christ, to be administered with the elements of bread and wine, and to be observed by His churches until the end of the world. It is in no sense a sacrifice. Rather, it serves to commemorate His death; to confirm the faith and other graces of Christians; and to be a bond, pledge, and renewal of their communion with Him, and of their church fellowship.
Luke 22:14-20; Matt. 26:26-29; 1 Cor. 11:23-26
Public Worship
Christians are commanded not to forsake the assembling of themselves together. The Christian Church, from its beginning, has assembled on the first day of the week—the Lord’s Day, the day of Jesus’ resurrection—for public worship, singing, exhortation and teaching, the breaking of bread, and prayer.
Heb. 10:24-25; Acts 2:42; 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2; Rev. 1:10
Governing Authorities
Christians are to submit to the governing authorities, knowing that they are ordained by God. They may also serve in government and in the military. Yet, they are only to “render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” If there is a conflict between the government and God’s law (e.g., if the governing authorities forbid what God has commanded, or command what God has forbidden), Christians are to obey God rather than men.
Rom. 13:1-7; 1 Pet 2:13-17; Matt. 22:15-21; Acts 4:1-22; 5:17-29; Dan. 3:1-18; 6:1-10
Marriage and Sexuality
Adam and Eve were made to complement each other in a one-flesh union that establishes the only normative pattern of sexual relations for men and women. In addition, male-female marriage ultimately serves as a type of the union between Christ and His Church.
God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman; thus, homosexuality, lesbianism, trans-genderism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, pedophilia, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. According to God’s Word, the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one biologically-born man who has remained a biological man, and one biologically-born woman who has remained a biological woman. Neither Heritage Baptist Church as an institution, nor its officers, will ever participate in or recognize any other so-called marriage.
Matt. 19:3-9; Gen. 2:18-25; Eph. 5:22-33; Lev. 18:6-18, 22-23; Rom. 1:26-27; 1 Cor. 5:1; 6:9-10; Heb. 13:4; 1 Thess. 4:1-8
Male and Female Roles
God created mankind in His image: male and female, sexually different but with equal personal dignity. Therefore, individuals should affirm their biological sex and refrain from any attempts to physically change, alter, or disagree with their biological sex.
Moreover, in God’s wise purposes, men and women are not simply interchangeable, but rather they complement each other in mutually enriching ways. God ordains that they assume distinctive roles, which reflect the loving relationship between Christ and the Church. The husband exercises headship in a way that displays the caring, sacrificial love of Christ, and the wife submits to her husband in a way that models the love of the Church for Her Lord. In the ministry of the Church, both men and women are encouraged to serve Christ and to be developed to their full potential in the manifold ministries of the people of God. The distinctive leadership role within the Church given to qualified men is grounded in creation, fall, and redemption, and must not be undermined by appeals to cultural developments.
Gen. 1:26-27; Deut. 22:5; Eph. 5:22-33; Col. 3:18-19; 1 Cor. 14:33-35; 1 Tim. 2:8-15
Sanctity of Human Life
Every human life begins at fertilization and is inherently sacred because God has created mankind in His image. Consequently, every human life must be recognized, respected, and protected as having the rights of a person and the inviolable right to life. God created each person’s inmost being, knitting each person together in his or her mother’s womb. As God’s individualized and personal creation, each person is fearfully and wonderfully made. God has ordained all the days of each person’s life before they came to be.
We the members of Heritage Baptist Church are therefore strongly committed to the preservation and defense of unborn human life, which compels our religious, moral, and ethical duty to defend unborn human life. We unequivocally affirm that abortion is the unjust taking of innocent human life and reject any position that allows exceptions to the legal protection of our preborn neighbors, compromises God’s holy standard of justice, or promotes any God-hating partiality. At the same time, we proclaim the boundless grace and mercy of God, extended through Jesus Christ to all sinners, including women who have had abortions, offering forgiveness, healing, and restoration to those who repent and trust in Him.
Gen. 1:26-27; 9:6; Ps. 139:13-16; Ex. 21:22-25; Prov. 24:10-12
Obedience to God
Following through with repentance and faith on a daily basis, believing Christians are to obey God’s Word and to pursue the fruit of the Holy Spirit—especially to love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love their neighbor as themselves.
Deut. 6:4-9; Gal. 5:16-26; Rom. 12:1-2
Residual Clause
This Statement of Faith does not exhaust the extent of our religious beliefs. The Bible, as the inspired and infallible Word of God, speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality, and the proper conduct of human affairs.
For Further Reading
The following documents are confessions of faith which the elders of Heritage Baptist Church perceive to be faithful expositions of the traditions we seek to uphold, and we provide them here for further reading. None of the following documents is confessionally binding on Heritage Baptist Church, but they offer expositions of sound doctrine and are profitable for reading and study.
- 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith
- Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy
- Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
- Nashville Statement on Biblical Sexuality
- Crossville Statement on Biblical Sexuality
- Dallas Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel
- The Frankfurt Declaration of Christian and Civil Liberties