What We Believe

1. THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally inspired Word of God, the final authority for faith and practice, inerrant in the original writing, infallible, and God-breathed. We believe the King James Version to be the most accurate and literal translation of God’s Word for the English-speaking people.

II Tim. 3:16-17
Matt. 5:18
II Peter 1:20-21
John 16:12, 13

2. THE GODHEAD
We believe in one triune God, eternally existing in three beings – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory and having the same attributes and perfections.

Deut. 6:4
II Cor. 13:14
I John 5:7

3. THE PERSON AND WORK OF CHRIST
We believe the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men.

John 1:1,2,14
Luke 1:35

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead.

Rom. 3:24,25
I Peter 2:24
Eph. 1:7

4. THE PERSON AND WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the agent Who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and that He is the supernatural agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling, and sealing them unto the day of redemption.

John 6:8-11
I Cor. 12:12-14
Rom. 8:9

5. THE DEPRAVITY OF MAN
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature and became alienated from God; and that man is totally depraved, and of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition.

Gen. 1:26, 27
Rom. 5:12
Rom. 3:22,23
Eph. 2:1-3, 12

6. SALVATION
We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the remission of sins.

Eph. 2:8-10
Eph. 1:7
John 1:12
I Peter 1:8

7. THE ETERNAL SECURITY AND ASSURANCE OF BELIEVERS
We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ Jesus forever.

John 6:37-40
John 10:27-30
Rom. 8:1, 38, 39
I Cor. 1:4-8
I Peter 1:5

We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, which clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to sin.

Rom. 13:13,14
Gal. 5:13
Titus 2:11-15

8. THE TWO NATURES OF THE BELIEVER
We believe that every saved person possesses two natures, with provision made for victory of the new nature over the old nature through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and that all claims to the eradication of the old nature in this life are unscriptural.

Rom. 6:13
Roms. 8:12,13
Gal. 5:16-25
Eph. 4:22-24
Col. 3:13
I Pet. 1:14-16

9. SEPARATION
We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord; and that separation from religious apostasy, all worldly sinful pleasures, practices, and associations is commanded of God.

II Tim 3:15
Rom. 12:1,2
Rom. 14:13
I John 2:15-17
II John 9-11
II Cor. 6:14

10. MISSION OF THE SAVED
We believe that it is the obligation of the saved to witness by life and by word to the truths of the Holy Scriptures and to seek to proclaim the Gospel to all mankind.

Mark 16:15
Acts 1:8
II Cor. 5:19,20

11. THE MINISTRY AND THE SCRIPTURAL GIFTS
We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowment of all His gifts; and that the gifts of evangelists, pastors, and teachers are sufficient for the perfecting of the saints today; and that speaking in tongues and working of sign miracles gradually ceased as the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their authority became established.

II Cor. 12:4-11
I Cor. 13:8
Eph. 4:7-12

We believe that God does hear and answer prayer of faith in accord with His own will, for the sick and afflicted.

John 15:7
I John 5:14,15

12. THE CHURCH
We believe that the church is a local, called-out assembly of baptized believers.

Acts. 2:41
Eph. 1:22-23
Eph. 5: 25-27
I Cor. 12:13

We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures. It will continue until the rapture of the church; at that time God will again work through Israel.

Acts 14:27
Acts 20:28-32
Rev. 11:3-12
Rev. 7:4-8

13. DISPENSATIONALISM
We believe in the dispensational view of Bible interpretation, but reject the extreme teaching known as “hyper-dispensationalism”, such as believing there is a different gospel for other dispensations.

Matt. 28:19, 20
Acts 2:41, 41
II Tim. 2:15
Rom. 6:23

14. THE PERSONALITY OF SATAN
We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin, and the cause of the fall; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and that he shall be eternally punished in the lake of fire.

Job 1:6,7
Isa. 14:12-17
Matt. 4:2-11
Rev. 20:10

15. THE SECOND ADVENT OF CHRIST
We believe in that “blessed hope”, the personal, imminent, pretribulation, and premillenial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones; and in His subsequent return to earth, with His saints, to establish His millennial kingdom.

I Thess. 4:13-18
Rev. 19:11-18
Rev. 2:1-6
I Thess. 1:10
I Thess. 5:9
Rev. 3:10

16. THE ETERNAL STATE
We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men; the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment.

Matt. 25:46
John 5:28, 29
John 11:25, 26
Rev. 20:5, 6, 12, 13

We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul, and body will be reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord.

Luke 23:43
Rev. 20:4-6
II Cor. 5:8
Phil. 1:23
I Thess. 4:16, 17

17. THE LORD’S SUPPER
We believe that the Lord’s Supper is commemoration of His death and coming again and should be so observed. Observance should be preceded by self-examination.

I Cor. 11:23-28

18. BAPTISM
We believe in water baptism by immersion for the believer, that the scriptural procedure is that of hearing the Gospel, believing the Gospel, and then baptism as an outward evidence of having received Jesus Christ as Savior. Water baptism in no way adds to salvation by faith.

Matt. 28:19
Acts 8:36-38

In subscribing to these articles of faith, we by no means set aside, or undervalue, any of the scriptures of the Old and New Testament, but we deem the knowledge, belief, and acceptance of the truth as set forth in our Doctrinal Statement to be essential to sound faith and faithful practice, and therefore requisite for Christian fellowship within Northern Plains Baptist Church.