TriCity Baptist Church
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  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • A Caring Community
    • Church Leadership
    • Statement of Faith
  • Ministries
    • Sunday School
    • Kids4Truth
    • Youth Group
    • Life Groups
    • Community Involvement and Service Groups
  • Contact
  • Getting Started
    • Become a Christian
  • Sermon File
  • TCBC updates

Statement of faith

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The Holy Scriptures

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We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, as originally given by God, were fully and verbally inspired, fully inerrant, and that the Bible has been preserved to be the only absolute and infallible authority in matters of faith and conduct.
(Deut. 8:3; 2 Sam. 23:2; Psalm 12:6, 7; 19:7-11; Matt. 5:18; John 16:12-13; 2 Peter 1:19-21; John 10:34, 35; Rev. 22:18,19; 2 Tim. 3:16)

The Godhead

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We believe in one true and living God, the Creator of all things, infinite, unchangeable, and eternally existent in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, co-equal in power and glory and having the same nature and attributes.
(Gen. 1:1; Exodus 20:2,3; Deut. 6:4; 4:35; Psalm 90:2; Romans 1:1-6; Isaiah 45:14; 46:9; 1 Cor. 8:6; 2 Cor. 13:14; Matt. 28:19; John 1:1-3, 14; 14:9; Eph. 1:3-10)

God the Father

We believe in God the Father, the Supreme Being, as both infinite and perfect. He possesses all the attributes of eternity, self-existence, immutability, omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, holiness, righteousness, justice, love, peace and mercy. He created and now sustains and orders all things after the counsel of His own will, saves all who come to Him through Jesus Christ, and is called “Father” because of His relationship within the Trinity and with every believer.
(Gen. 1:1, 26-28; Isaiah 40:21-28; 45:6-7; Zeph. 3:5; Mal. 3:6; John 3:16; Rom. 11:33)

God the Son

We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, God manifest in the flesh, His conception and virgin birth by the Holy Spirit, His sinless human life, His absolute deity, that He is very God of very God, His divine miracles, His vicarious and atoning death, His bodily resurrection, His ascension into heaven, His present mediatorial work, and His imminent and personal return in glory and power.
(Isaiah 7:14; Matt. 1:18-25; 24:30; 24:44; 28:6; Luke 1:26-38; John 1:1, 14; 2:11; 20:30; Acts 1:9-11; Rom. 5:6-11; 8:34; 1 Cor. 15:3; Phil. 2:5-7; Heb. 4:15; 9:24; 1 Pet. 2:22; 3:18; 1 Thess. 4:16; Rev. 19:11-20)

God the Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person, possessing all the attributes of personality and deity. He convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment, leading to repentance, and that He regenerates, seals, indwells, teaches, guides, and comforts all genuine believers. We believe that being born of the Spirit makes one a child of God. We believe that the baptism of the Spirit is the possession of every believer whereby he is united to the body of Christ. We believe that the filling of the Spirit is the continual opportunity and responsibility of every believer, which assures victory over sin, and joy and power in service. We believe the Holy Spirit endues the believer with gifts for service upon conversion. We do not believe that the evidence of being filled with the Spirit is by speaking in tongues, nor do we practice the same. We believe the sign gifts were given for the purpose of authenticating the ministry of the apostles and were not intended for believers in this age.
(John 7:3, 9; 16:7-11, 13; Acts 1:5; John 3:3, 5; Titus 3:5; 1 Cor. 6:19; 12:4-13; 13:8-12; 2 Cor. 12:12; 5 Rom. 8:9; 12:3-8; John 14:16-18, 26; Acts 4:31; Eph. 1:13-14; 4:7-12; 5:18-20; 1 John 2:20, 27; Heb. 2:1-4; 9:14)

The Creation

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We believe that the universe was brought into existence by the direct act of the triune God in six, literal days, as recorded in the Bible. We reject the human theory of evolution as atheistic and contrary to the Scriptures.
(Genesis 1-2; Exodus 20:11; John 1:1-3; Col. 1:16-17)

Man

We believe that man was originally created by God in His image and for His own glory, but that Adam later sinned, thereby alienating himself from his Creator and plunging the entire human race into sin and death. We believe that as a consequence, all men are totally depraved, dead in trespasses and sins, being sinners both by nature and by choice, under the just condemnation to eternal punishment and everlasting existence separated from God, and stand in need of the forgiveness of God and of the new birth through the regeneration of the Holy Spirit.
(Genesis 1:26-27; 3:1-6; 16-24; Isaiah 53:6; Rom. 3:10-18, 23; 5:12-19; Eph. 2:1-3; John 3:3-8; Titus 3:5)

Salvation

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We believe the Scriptures teach that salvation of sinners is divinely initiated, wholly of grace, and accomplished only through the atoning work and shed blood of the Son of God; that His sacrificial death and bodily resurrection are the only grounds of salvation; that it is wholly apart from works and stands upon the sole condition of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and never without genuine repentance; that in order to be saved the sinner must be born again, being regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith in God's Word and becoming the recipient of a new nature; that the great Gospel blessing which Christ secures to such as believe in Him is justification, that judicial act of God accompanied by the pardon of sin and the imputation of divine righteousness, not because of any works of righteousness on man’s part, but solely through faith in the Redeemer's blood; that the believer who has exercised personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is completely justified and in possession of a salvation which is eternally secure.
(John 3:3-6; 3:16; Rom. 2:4; Heb. 4:2; 2 Cor. 7:9, 10; 1 Peter 1:18-23; Acts 13:39; Eph. 2:8-10; 2 Peter 1:4; 1 Tim. 2:5,6)

Security of Believers

We believe that the born-again Christian is completely justified and eternally secure in Christ, that he is kept by the power of God, that nothing can separate him from the love of God, and that none of Christ’s sheep will perish. We believe that the genuine believer can thus know that he has eternal life, and that the Spirit bears witness to the believer that he is a child of God, and that the Spirit is the promise that the believer will obtain the inheritance reserved in heaven for the saints. We believe that the assurance of salvation is not to be an occasion to the flesh but a motivation to purity.
(John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Rom. 8:1, 38-39; 1 Cor. 1:4-8; 1 Peter 1:5; Rom. 12:13-14; 8:12-13; Gal. 5:16, 25; Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:10; 1 Peter 1:14; 1 John 3:5-9; 5:11-13)

Biblical Separation

We believe that separation from the world and unto holiness should characterize the life of every believer. We should be separated unto God by bearing the fruit of His Spirit and by being conformed to the image of His Son. We believe the Scriptures admonish every believer not to love the world or the things of the world, but rather to flee evil desires, avoid every kind of evil and refrain from questionable practices which destroy one's testimony, offend one's brother and fail to glorify God.
(Prov. 15:33; Gal. 5:22-25; Rom. 12:1-2; 14:19-21; 1 Cor. 6:10, 12; 8:9-13; 10:23, 33; 2 Cor. 6:14-18; 7:1; Eph. 4:32; 5:1-2, 7-10,15- 20; Phil. 4:8; 2 Thess. 4:7; 1 John 2:15-16)

We believe that separation from all whose teachings and practice are contrary to the revealed Word of God must be practiced by God’s people and His Church. Believers are to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but are to reprove them. Therefore, any and all participation in ecclesiastical and religious apostasy, (including ecumenical evangelism), must be avoided.
(2 Cor. 11:4; 2 Tim. 2:16-18; Rom. 16:17; Gal. 1:8, 9; Titus 3:10; 2 Cor. 5:7-13; 1 Tim. 6:3-6; 2 John 9-11)

Satan

We believe in the personal existence of Satan, the adversary of man, the “god of this age,” and the enemy of Christ and His Church, whose intent is to supplant God and frustrate His purposes. Satan has been defeated by the work of Christ and his ultimate end will be everlasting punishment.
(Genesis 3:1-5; Luke 8:12; 2 Cor. 4:3-4; 11:13-15; 2 Timothy 2:26; Luke 4:1-13; Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43; 25:41; Eph. 2:2; Heb. 1:14; 1 Peter 5:8; Isaiah 14:12-17; Rev. 20:9-10)

The Church

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We believe in the universal, invisible Church, the body of Christ, which was constituted and empowered by the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and that the Church consists of all true believers in Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church. We believe that a local New Testament church is an assembly of believers in Christ, baptized upon profession of saving faith in Him and associated together in obedience to His Word for worship, edification of the saints, observance of the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s supper, the exercise of the spiritual gifts, and the spread of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ to all the world. We believe the Scriptures teach that Christ is the supreme authority of the church and the leadership, gifts, order, discipline, and worship are all appointed through His sovereign will as revealed in the Scriptures. The Scriptural officers serving under Christ and over the assembly are elders and deacons; both of whom must meet the biblical qualifications and fulfill the duties given in God’s Word in the epistles to Timothy and Titus.
(Matt. 28:19,20; Acts 10:44,45; Eph. 1:22,23; Acts 1:5; 2:1-4; 11:15,16; Titus 1:5-9; I Cor. 12:13; Heb. 12:23; Acts 8:36-39; Rom. 6:3-5; I Cor. 11:23-28)

The Return of Christ 

We believe in that “Blessed Hope” of the personal, imminent, pre-tribulation and pre-millennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed Church and in His subsequent return to earth with His saints to establish His Millennial Kingdom.
(Zech. 14:4-11; 1 Thess. 1:10; 3:13; 4:1; 5:9; Rev. 3:10; 19:11-16; 20:1-6)

The Eternal State

We believe the Scriptures teach the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust. All those who through faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ will spend eternity in full enjoyment of God's Presence and those who through impenitence and unbelief refuse to accept God's offer of mercy will spend eternity in everlasting punishment in the lake of fire.
(Psalm 16:11; Matt. 25:46; John 5:28, 29; 14:2; Rev. 20:14, 15; 21:4, 8)

Cultural Issues

Marriage and Human Sexuality

Spiritual Leadership

Abortion

We believe that marriage was ordained and designed by God and the only legitimate marriage is the union of one man and one woman. We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity should be engaged in outside of marriage between a man and a woman and that all other forms of sexual activity, (including homosexuality, bisexuality, lesbianism, fornication, adultery, etc.), are prohibited in God’s Word and are a perversion of God’s gift of intimacy in marriage.
(Gen. 2:24; 19:5, 13; 26:8-9; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom. 1:26-29; 7:2; 1 Cor. 5:1; 6:9; 7:10; Eph. 5:22-23; 1 Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4)
We believe that men and women are spiritually equal in position before God but that God has ordained distinct and separate spiritual functions for men and women in the home and the church. The husband is to be the leader of the home and men are to be the leaders, (i.e., pastors, elders, and deacons) of the church. Accordingly, only men are eligible for the New Testament offices and for licensure and ordination by the church.
(Eph. 5:22-33; Col. 3:18; 1 Tim. 2:8-15; 3:1-5, 12; Titus 1:6)
We believe the Bible teaches that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified taking of unborn human life and is murder.
(Job 3:16; Psalm 51:5; 139:14-16; Isaiah 44:24; 49:1-5; Jer. 1:5; 20:15-18; Luke 1:44)

Authority of the Statement of Faith

The Statement of Faith does not exhaust the extent of our doctrinal beliefs. The Bible itself is the sole and final Source of all that we believe. We believe the foregoing Statement of Faith accurately reflects the teaching of the Bible and, therefore, is binding upon all members. All literature used and all teaching presented in the church shall be in full agreement with this Statement of Faith.