Mountain View Baptist Church

 

I.  The Word of God

 

                We accept the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments as the authoritative, inspired, inerrant Word of God.  We believe that both the writers and the writings; both the concepts and the very words themselves are inspired by God (2 Tim 3:16), recorded by men led by the Spirit of God (2 Pet 1:21), and preserved without flaw by God (Ps 18:30).

 

 

II.  God’s Character and Work

 

We believe that God possesses each of the following attributes in infinite measure, with absolute perfection.  God is self-existent (Jn 5:26), spiritual (Jn 4:24), unchanging in His character and in relation to His promises and purposes (Ps 33:11, Heb 6:17), eternal (Ps 90:2), omnipresent (Ps 139:8), omniscient (Heb 4:13), omnipotent (Isa 14:24), devoid of division or contradiction ((Dt 6:4), holy (Isa 6:3), loving-gracious-merciful-patient (Ps 145:8-9), and just (Ps 5:4, 89:14).

                We believe that God created all that is (Gen 1:1) through Christ (Jn 1:3) in six days (Ex 20:11).  Since creation God’s providence has sustained, and will continue to sustain all He has created (Ps 65:9-19).  God has also redeemed His people through Christ (Col 1:14) and will one day bring about the consummation of His kingdom when Christ returns.

 

 

III.  Man’s Character

 

             We believe man’s character is inherently sinful; all people (Rom 3:23) are stained with sin (Ps 58:3), and these sins have sadly separated us from God (Isa 59:2, Ps 5:4).  We all became sinners when Adam sinned (Rom 5:18), not upon the advent of our own volitional act of disobedience.  Our disobedience is the result of being a sinner, not the cause.  We do not seek God unless God first seeks us (John 6:44, Ro 3:11, 1 John 4:19).

 

 

IV.  Christ’s Person and Work

 

            We believe Jesus is the unique Son of God (Jn 3:16), who is completely divine (Col 2:9), and became completely human (Jn 1:14).  We believe in the pre-existence of Christ (Jn 1:1-2), His virgin birth (Isa 7:14), and His sinless life (2 Cor 5:21).

                We believe Jesus Christ came to do the will of His Father in heaven (Jn 6:38).  This consisted of living the perfect, sinless life all other humans are incapable of living, and dying sacrificially for us (2 Cor 5:21).  Jesus is the only bridge which can traverse the chasm of sin which separates us from God; salvation is found in no one else (Acts 4:12).  He proved His final victory over sin and death when He was resurrected (Heb 9:26) bodily from the grave (Lk 24:39).

 

 

V.  Holy Spirit’s Person and Work

 

            We believe the Holy Spirit is fully divine (2 Cor 13:14) and personal (1 Cor 2:11); He is not merely a “force” or supernatural conscience.

             We believe the Holy Spirit is the giver of life.  Adam came to life when God’s breath (Spirit) was breathed into him (Gen 2:7).  The Scriptures are alive (Heb 4:12) because God breathed His Spirit into them (2 Tim 3:16).  The Spirit leads the way to eternal life by convicting people of sin (Jn 16:8) and by bringing about repentance and faith (Rom 8:14).  The Holy Spirit gave life to the church at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-11), and sustains the life of the church by empowering its members (1 Cor 12:1-13). 

 

 

 VI.  The Trinity

 

            We believe the Scriptures present a triune God which is entirely compatible with the oneness of our God.  God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are equal with God the Father (Mt 28:19).  The Scriptures demonstrate a subordination to the Father on the part of the Son (Jn 6:38), but this subordination is not based upon unequal status, but rather upon voluntary submissiveness to the plans and purposes of the Father.  The order in which the members of the Trinity are commonly presented is not indicative of a hierarchy, but it rather represents the order of their involvement in the process of salvation:  The Father elects and creates, the Son redeems, and the Spirit applies that redemption to the heart.

 

 

VII.  Salvation

 

            We believe salvation is initiated by God’s grace and accepted through faith (Eph 2:8-9) in Christ Jesus (1 Jn 5:12).  In this, God has essentially created a “new” person with a heart for God (Jn 3:3).  One must believe that Jesus is Lord and that He was raised from the dead (Ro 10:9).  Our belief, or faith in Jesus Christ is also a gift from God (Eph 2:8-9), as is our repentance, or turning from sin (Ro 2:4).  From beginning to end we say with the prophet Jonah, "Salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9)."  We believe true salvation is invariably accompanied by repentance and good works (Acts 26:20), which are the results of salvation, not the cause. 

 

 

VIII.  The Church

 

            We believe the church is the collective group of all who are true, born-again believers in Christ (Rom 12:4-5).  This is the universal church.  The Bible also refers to the church in the local sense (Rom 16:1).  Whether one speaks of the universal or local body of believers, several qualities must be evident in that body for it to be called “the church.”  It must be unified (Eph 4:4), holy (1 Thess 4:3), dedicated to the proclamation of the Gospel (Mt 28:18-20), and diligent in the preservation of sound doctrine (Jude 3). 

 

 

IX.  The Ordinances

 

            We believe baptism is symbolic of a believer’s desire to be identified with Christ, and to proclaim so publicly.  We believe in “believer’s baptism", wherein the immersion and subsequent rising up out of the water symbolize the believer’s death to their old ways (as Jesus died), their burial (as Jesus was buried), and their resurrection to walk in newness of life (as Christ was resurrected).  This form of Baptism is faithful to the symbolism of Romans 6:4, and symbolizes the necessary spiritual transformation in the life of a believer (Acts 2:38); it neither creates nor enhances that transformation.

                We believe the Lord’s supper is an ordinance instituted by Jesus Christ where believers commemorate the dying love of Christ, and the spiritual significance of His death for them as believers (Lk 22:19-20).  Like baptism, the Lord’s supper neither initiates nor enhances our salvation; it is a memorial celebration where we focus quadrilaterally.  We look back at Christ to remind us of the price of our redemption (Rev 5:9); we look up to experience fellowship with God; we look around at the oneness of the body (1 Cor 10:17); and we look ahead in anticipation of the wedding feast with the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

 

 

X.  Eschatology

 

            We believe that one day, Christ will return and the righteous dead will be raised and judged (Rev 20:4, 2 Cor 5:10, Rom 14:10), antichrist and his hordes will be defeated (Rev 19:11-21), Satan will be bound in the bottomless pit (Rev 20:1-3), and the nations will be judged (Mt 25:31-46).  Satan will be released from the pit and the unbelieving dead will be raised and judged (Rev 20:1-15), Satan and all unbelievers will be cast into the lake of fire (Mt 25:41,46; Rev 20:10-15), and the old earth will be destroyed (2 Pet 3:10-13). The New Heavens and the New Earth will be created (Rev 21-22).

             Ultimately, what we need to know about eschatology in practical terms is that Jesus Christ is returning, that we do not and can not know when, and that we must be watchful and prepared for His return (Mk 13:32-37).

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Questions?