CALVARY'S

ARTICLES OF FAITH

ARTICLES OF FAITH

Calvary Baptist Church

Hazel Park, Michigan

This statement of faith, while it is comprehensive, is by no means exhaustive, and yet it is satisfactory in that it covers the salient teaching of the Scriptures.  It is to be interpreted as expressed in and according to the natural and literal meaning of the respective passages of Scripture presented under each article.

I. THE HOLY SCRIPTURES

We believe in the verbal inspiration, and the consequent divine authenticity and authority of the Old and New Testaments.  We hold to the inspiration of each book of every word and of every letter down to the smallest particle of a letter, of the original Scriptures.  We concede that human infirmity and error characterize the translation of the Scriptures, but hold that absolute perfection is stamped upon the original writings.  The Holy Spirit gave the very words of the sacred writings to holy men of old, and we have in the original manuscripts a divine Revelation that is accurate and all sufficient for both faith and conduct (II Tim. 3:16,17; II Peter 1:21; I Cor. 2:13; Mark 12:26,36; 13:11; Acts 1:16, Luke 24:5-27, 44).

II. THE TRINITY OF THE GODHEAD

We believe in the Trinity of the Godhead, and that there is distinctness, mutual relation and essential quality of each of the three Persons in the Godhead – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that these Three are one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes and perfections and worthy of precisely the same homage, confidence and obedience.  We hold that the Godhead subsists in a personality which is threefold, indicated by relationship as Father and Son; by a mode of being as Spirit, and by the different parts taken by each of the Godhead in manifestation and the work of redemption (Gen. 1:1,26,27; 3:22; 11:6-8; Deut. 6:4; Isa. 63:3-10; Matt. 28:19,20; Mark 12:29; John 1:1-4; Acts 5:3,4; II Cor. 13:14; Heb. 1:3; Rev. 1:4-6; John 3:5,6; 14:17).

III. THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE

We believe that the vast scene of creation – the heavens and the earth and all that is in them – angels and man, the visible and unseen, from the greatest archangel down to the smallest insect or least atom of nature – all, the animate and inanimate, were created by the fiat of the Almighty God, and that He is the source and sustainer of all creation, as well as the framer of the ages of time and the dispensations of administration (Gen. 1:1; Col. 1:15-17; Acts 17:24-29; Heb. 1:2,3, 11:3).

IV. SIN AND UNIVERSAL RUIN

We believe that the Devil or Satan, created intelligent, wise, beautiful, strong, and perfect in character and ways, fell from an exalted position through pride and rebellion, and in his fall dragged down with him into moral ruin a host of angels of God, and subsequently also dragged down to moral ruin the parents of the human family who had been created in the image and likeness of God.  We further believe that when Adam sinned he fell under the penalty of spiritual death, so that he totally lost all spiritual life, becoming dead in trespasses and sins, and subject to the power of the Devil and fleshly evil, and that the ruin of the race is universal, total and irremediable by any human effort whatsoever (Ezek. 28:11-19; Isa. 14:12-15; I Tim. 1:6; II Peter 2:4; Jude 6; Gen. 3:1-24; Rom. 3:9-31; Eph. 2:1-3; I John 3:8).

V. THE INCARNATION

We believe that the only begotten Son of God, the Word who was God, ever subsisting in essential Deity – was conceived of the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary, apart from paternal human generation and hence was holy, possessing the essential rights of Jehovah and the Messiah.  We further believe that the incarnation did not constitute the Lord Jesus Christ a person, but manifested Him as such, for as a divine Person He came into the world by means of incarnation.  In Christ two natures are united – divine and human – each in correspondence with the other, and subsisting in equal perfection – not divisible, but may be distinguished in the Person (John 1:1-2; Matt. 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-35; John 1:14; Gal. 4:4; I Tim. 3:16; Isa. 9:6; Psa. 40:6; Heb. 10:5).

VI. THE IMPECCABILITY OF CHRIST

We believe that Jesus Christ our Lord was impeccable; that there was no sin in Him, and that He was not born under the curse of a broken law, nor was His body subject to death.  He was absolutely holy in birth, nature, life, service and death.  He was the only human being ever exempted from the curse of Adam’s fall and the sinfulness of the race (Luke 1:35; John 8:46, 14:30; Acts 2:27; 3:14; I John 3:5; I Peter 2:22; II Cor. 5:21).

VII. THE DEATH OF CHRIST

We believe that neither death nor judgment had any claim upon our Lord Jesus Christ, but that He, the Holy One of God, voluntarily offered Himself without spot to God as the foreordained Lamb to bear away the sin of the world, and as the one perfect and supreme sacrifice for a sinful race.  He was made sin on the cross, and a curse on the tree, bearing our sins in His own body, and suffering for sin, dying the Just for the unjust.  His death was penal, vicarious and substitutionary (John 10:17,18; 1:29; I Peter 1:20; II Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13; I Peter 2:24; I Cor. 15:3,4; Rom. 4:25; 5:6-8).

VIII. THE SHED BLOOD OF CHRIST

We believe that Jesus Christ shed His precious blood on the cross, that is, He laid down His life under the judgment of God, and that this is the only ground of justification by God, forgiveness of sins, and peace with God.  The infinite worth of Christ’s sacrifice of Himself is enough.  There remains no more sacrifice for sin and nothing else can give the soul a place before God; nothing can be added, for the blood of Christ and the Person of Christ are of infinite and eternal value (Heb. 9:14-22; I Peter 1:18,19; Rom. 3:24-26; 4:25; 5:1,9,10; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:20).

IX. CHRIST’S DEATH, RESURRECTION AND ASCENSION

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, who as to His nature and life was perfectly holy, was crucified by both Jews and Gentiles, and that He was buried, raised from the dead on the third day, and after forty days ascended to Heaven, where He now sits crowned and glorified at God’s right hand, and is sharer of His Father’s throne (I Cor. 15:3,4; I Peter 3:18; Acts 12:30; Rom. 6:4; Acts 1:9-11; I Peter 3:22; Mark 16:19; Luke 24:50,51; Rev. 3:21).

X. THE GOSPEL FOR THE HUMAN RACE

We believe that the Gospel of Christ issuing from His death and resurrection should be preached without reserve or qualifications to every creature under Heaven; that all who believe in Christ are responsible to do their utmost to proclaim the Gospel worldwide, and that the responsibility of all who hear the Gospel is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for justification and forgiveness of sins (Luke 24:46-48; Acts 1:8; 13:38,39; Rom. 10:10-17).

XI. PERSONALITY AND PRESENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine Personality, co-equal with the Father and the Son in power, position and glory.  We believe, further, that as promised, the Holy Spirit came down from Heaven on the day of Pentecost, to dwell permanently in the Church and in the body of each believer, and now is the efficient power for godly living, Christian service, and spiritual worship (Acts 5:3,4; Matt. 28:19; John 14:16,17; Acts 2:1-4; I Cor. 3:16; 6:19).

XII. REGENERATION

We believe that the Holy Spirit used as instruments to accomplish the new birth, the people of the Lord and the Word of the Lord, and that no one is born again by a mere act of his own will, nor by the will of another, but that the Holy Spirit effects the new birth through the Word of the Lord preached or written, by working in the conscience and heart repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus.  We further believe that all this is accomplished by the sovereign will of God (John 1:13,12; 3:5,8; I Cor. 6:11; I Peter 1:23; James 1:18).

XIII. ASSURANCE OF SALVATION

We believe that it is the privilege of all who are born again, by the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ Jesus as revealed in the Scriptures, to be assured of their salvation.  When they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and receive Him as their Saviour, they are in possession of eternal life and delivered from judgment and the wrath to come, and are so perfectly identified with Christ that He is their life.  We further believe that finally the Lord will present every redeemed one to Himself, faultless and in glory (John 3:14-16; 10:27-30; 5:24; I Thess. 1:10; Rom. 5:10; 6:6-11; Rom. 8:29-39; Phil. 1:6; Eph. 5:25-27).

XIV. ETERNAL PUNISHMENT

We believe that all who do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour here in this life are condemned and that their condemnation is final and eternal; that for those consigned to the Lake of Fire in the final judgment, Scripture holds out no hope of cessation or limitation of the duration of their punishment.  The punishment is fixed and eternal.  The same word, “eternal,” is employed to express the life time of Almighty God, the life of the redeemed in glory, and the doom of the lost.  Degrees of punishment are proportioned to the guilt of each.  (John 3:36; Matt. 25:46; Mark 9:44,46,48; II Thess. 1:7-9; Heb. 6:2; Rev. 20:11-15).

XV. CHRIST AS HIGH PRIEST AND ADVOCATE

We believe that Christ in His present exaltation in glory is administering before God as the High Priest over the house of God and the Advocate in the family of God; that as High Priest He represents those who believe in Him before God and intercedes for them and thus succors them and maintains them in relationship with God.  His ceaseless advocacy with the Father is for the restoration of erring children of God not a restoration to relationship but to communion and joy which is forfeited through sin (Heb. 2:18; 4:14; 15:7; Rom. 8:33,34; I John 2:1; Luke 22:32; John 13:1-14; 21:15-18).

XVI. THE CHURCH OF CHRIST

We believe that since the day of Pentecost there has been one Church on the earth, consisting of all who believe in Christ, who are united by the Holy Spirit to the risen and ascended Son of God, and that in the same Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jew or Gentile.  We further believe that Christ is the One and only head of the Church, and that the Holy Spirit operates variously in and through the various members of the body.  The one Body unites believers to each other and to Christ.  The limits of the body define the extent and breadth of Christian fellowship (Acts 2:47; I Cor. 12:1-31; Rom. 12:5; Eph. 4:3-16; Col. 1:24; Eph. 1:22,23).

XVII. BAPTISM

We believe that baptism by immersion is an ordinance of the New Testament.  It is the outward sign and confession of identification with the Lord Jesus Christ in His death, burial and resurrection, as well as the expression of submission to His Lordship.  It is the outward sign and confession of that which has potentially taken place in the purposes of God with the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ when He died, was buried, quickened, raised up, exalted and seated at the right hand of God in the Heavenlies (Rom. 6:3,4,6; 6:11-13; Col.2:12; Eph. 2:4-6).  Now since the Lord Jesus has wrought our redemption by His death on the cross, He is the divinely appointed and ordained Saviour.  He has been exalted to the highest place of honor and authority in the universe of God and is made the Head of the Church.  (Matt. 28:18-20; Rom. 6:3,4; Acts 2:37,38; 10:48; 19:5).

XVIII. THE LORD’S SUPPER

We believe that the Lord’s Supper is another ordinance of the New Testament.  It is a memorial because it is kept in memory of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and His death.  The Lord Jesus chose bread and wine and designated them by thanksgiving and prayer as the peculiar memorials of His supper.  The bread represents the sacrificial body of Christ, and the wine the sacrificial and covenant blood of Christ.  All who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour are in that covenant and are made partakers of its salvation and spiritual blessings (Luke 22:14-20; Matt. 26:26-29; I Cor. 11:23-31).

XIX. SANCTIFICATION

We believe that the members of the Body of Christ are sanctified by God the Father and by virtue of their being in Christ as sanctified ones, are perfected forever as to their standing by the one offering of Christ.  As to their state, they carry with them all through life a sinful nature and need constant sanctification by the washing of water by the Word and the indwelling presence and power of the Holy Spirit, and only as they walk in (by) the Spirit will they not fulfill the desires of the flesh (I Cor. 1:1,2; 6:11; Jude 1; Eph. 5:25-27; John 17:17-19; Heb. 2:11; 10:10; 13:12; Gal. 5:16-25).

XX. PRIESTHOOD OF BELIEVERS

We believe that every believer is a royal priest and that all believers have equal access and divine right to draw near to God in the holiest of all, and are privileged to offer up spiritual sacrifice – apart altogether from human appointment or authority (Heb. 10:2; 10:10-22; 13:15,16; I Peter 2:5,9).

XXI. THE LORD’S SECOND COMING

We believe that this present dispensation will end with the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, first to receive His own unto Himself and then later with His own to establish the throne of David upon the earth and to reign in righteousness over the earth for a thousand years.  We believe that the return of the Lord Jesus will be personal and pre-millenial  and so far as the Church is concerned it is imminent (II Sam. 7:16;  Isa. 9:6,7; Micah 5:2; Psa. 72:7,8; Luke 1:32,33; Acts 1:10,11; 3:19-21; 15:14-18; Rev. 20:1-6; John 14:3; I Thess. 4:13-18).

XXII. RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD

We believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead according to the Scriptures in bodily form and thus became the firstfruits of them that sleep; that upon His return He will raise out from among the dead those who have died in Christ, this being the first resurrection and that after the 1000 years, He will raise those who have died in unbelief to receive their sentence of judgment (I Cor. 15:20, 23; John 5:28,29; I Thess. 4:16,17; Rev. 20:5,6).

XXIII. PERSONALITY OF SATAN

We believe that Satan, the open and declared enemy of God and man, was created a sinless being.  He fell through pride and insubordination, and is the author of all moral evil.  Satan is a living personality – a veritable being.  His appointed doom is the Lake of Fire.   The present spheres of his activity are in heavens, the air and earth (Job 1:6-12; John 8:44; II Cor. 11:13-15; Eph. 2:2; 6:12-16; I Peter 5:8; Rev. 12:9; 20:2,3,10).

XXIV. DIVINE OR BODILY HEALING

We believe that sickness together with every other disorder and evil in human life are the effects of sin, and that since according to the clear teaching of the New Testament, Christ “died for our sins,” and that “He was made sin for us,” divine healing is not in the sacrifice made by Christ in the sense that salvation and the forgiveness of sins are in it.  The suffering and death of Christ, in every form, according to the New Testament, was substitutionary, penal and vicarious (Rom. 4:25; I Cor. 15:3; II Cor. 5:21; I Peter 2:24; 3:18).  It is nowhere taught in Scripture that Christ died for the effects of sin, but for sin.  The effects of sin did not need a satisfactory penalty meted out, but sin did because it is an offense of God’s holiness and an infringement of His law and will.  Christ, therefore, bare the penalty of sin in His suffering and death.  We further believe when Matt. 8:17 quotes Isaiah, “Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sickness,” it is not that He took them in the sense that He died for them and put them away by healing the sick.  The passage clearly refers to what took place during our Lord’s public ministry and not what took place in His death.  In His vicarious death, Christ bore the penalty of sin and accomplished a redemption which covers every possible effect of sin and will, therefore, when He brings in full and eternal redemption, put an end to all sin.  During the present dispensation, the Lord heals the body in answer to believing prayer, but only according to His own sovereign will and for His glory, and not because He is bound to do so because of what He has accomplished by His death on the cross.