What We Believe

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As an observant, prospective guest of Heritage Baptist Church, perhaps you have stumbled into the beliefs section in order to foresee the direction of our services. And rightfully so! Here at Heritage we are considered "conservative" because we believe that truth is absolute and that God's Word to humanity does not change. In other words, we consider the Bible to be God's Word and we adhere to what it says. (Note: The only Bible we use is the Authorized King James Version.) Now, what follows this paragraph is our "Statement of Faith" -- a statement that we do not change and a statement that every member must agree upon. This has been our statement since Heritage Baptist has been a church, and it will remain our statement as long as Heritage is a church. And remember, the statement is a statement, not an argument. This web page is primarily about what we believe, not why we believe it; the Bible verses listed are why we believe what we believe.

Statement of Faith

1. THE SCRIPTURES - We believe that the Holy Bible as originally written was verbally and plenarily inspired and the product of Spirit-controlled men, and therefore is truth without any admixture of error for its entire matter. We believe the Bible to be the center of true Christian unity and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions shall be tried. (II Tim. 3:15-17; Jn. 6:63; II Pt. 1:19-21; Jn. 10:25; Rom. 2:12; I Jn. 4:1)

2. THE TRUE GOD - We believe there is one and only one living and true God, as infinite, sovereign Spirit, the Maker and Supreme Ruler of Heaven and earth; inexpressively glorious in holiness, and worthy of all possible honor, confidence and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, equal in every Divine perfection, and executing distinct, but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption. (Jn. 4:24; Ex. 20:2,3; I Cor. 8:6; Rev. 4:11; Jn. 10:30; Eph. 2:18; Mt. 28:19; Mk 12:30)

3. THE HOLY SPIRIT - We believe the Holy Spirit is a Divine person, equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature; that He was active in the creation; that in His relation to the unbelieving world He restrains the evil one until God's purpose is fulfilled; that He convicts of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; that He bears witness to the truth of the gospel in preaching and testimony; that He is the agent in the new birth; that He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies, and helps the believer. (The gifts of tongues and healing were "sign-gifts" until the Scriptures were completed. These gifts ceased at that time.) (Jn. 14:16,17; Mt. 28:19; Hb. 9:14; Jn. 14:26; Lk. 1:35; Gen. 1:1-3; Jn. 16:8-11; Acts 5:30-32; Jn. 3:5,6; Eph. 1:13; Mk. 1:8; Jn. 1:33; Acts 11:16; Lk. 24:49; Rom. 8:14, 16, 26, 27; Rom. 15:19; Hb. 2:4; I Cor. 13:8)

4. THE DEVIL OR SATAN - We believe in the personality of Satan, that he is the unholy god of this age, and the ruler of all the powers of darkness, and is destined to the judgment of the eternal justice in the lake of fire (Mt. 4:11; II Cor. 4:4; Rev 20:10)

5. CREATION - We believe the Genesis account of the creation as being neither allegory nor myth, but the literal, historical account of the direct, immediate creative acts of God without any evolutionary process: that man, spirit, soul and body, was created by a direct work of God and not from previously existing forms of life; and that all men are descended from the historical Adam and Eve, first parents of the entire race. (Gen. 1 and 2; Col. 1:16, 17; Jn. 1:3)

6. THE FALL OF MAN - We believe that man was created in innocence under the law of his Maker, but by voluntary transgression Adam fell from his sinless and happy state, and all men sinned in him, in consequence of which all men are totally depraved, are partakers of Adam's fallen nature, and are sinners by nature and conduct; and are therefore under just condemnation without defense or excuse. (Gen. 3:1-6, 24; Rom. 3:10-19, 5:12, 19, 1:18, 32)

7. THE VIRGIN BIRTH - We believe that Jesus was begotten of the Holy Spirit in a miraculous manner, born of Mary, a virgin, as no other man was ever born or can ever be born of women, and that He is both the Son of God and God the Son. (Gen. 2:15, Is. 7:14; Mt. 1:18-25; Lk. 1:35; Jn. 1:14; Hb. 1:8)

8. THE ATONEMENT FOR SIN - We believe that the salvation of sinners is Divinely initiated and wholly of grace through the mediatorial offices of the Son of God who, by the appointment of the Father, freely took upon Him our nature, yet without sin, honored the Divine law by His personal obedience, and by His death made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins; that His atonement consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was a voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner's place, the Just dying for the unjust, Christ the Lord, bearing our sin in His own body on the tree. (Gen. 3:15; Jn. 3:16; Jonah 2:9; Eph. 2:8; Acts 15:11; Rom. 3:24, 25; Mt. 18:11; Phil. 2:7, 8; Hb. 2:14; Is. 53; I Jn. 4:10; I Cor. 15:3; II Cor. 5:21)

9. RESURRECTION AND THE PRIESTHOOD - We believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ, in His ascension into Heaven, where He now sits at the right hand of the Father as our High Priest. (Mt. 28:6; Lk. 24:39; Jn. 20:27; I Cor. 7:5; I Jn. 2:1; Hb. 2:17, 5:9-10)

10. SALVATION BY GRACE - We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be born again; that the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus; that it is instantaneous and not a process; that in the new birth the one dead in trespasses and sins is made a partaker of the Divine nature and revives eternal life, the free gift of God; that the new creation is brought about by our sovereign God in a manner above comprehension, solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with Divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the gospel that it is motivated and received by the gracious and unwarranted love of God, and that its power and evidence appears in the holy fruits of the repentance, faith and newness of life. (Jn. 3:3; II Cor. 5:17; I Jn. 5:1; Jn. 3:6, 7; Acts 16:30-33; II Pet. 1:4; Rom. 6:23; Eph. 2:1, 5, 8, 9; II Cor. 5:19; Col. 2:13; Jn. 3:8)

11. JUSTIFICATION - We believe that justification is the judicial act of God whereby He declares us to be righteous through faith in Christ Jesus; that justification includes the pardon of sin and the imputation of God's righteousness; that it is bestowed, not in consideration of any works of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in the Redeemer's blood. (Acts 13:39; Is 53:11; Zech. 13:1; II Cor. 5:18-21; Rom. 5:1, 9; 8:1)

12. REPENTANCE - We believe that repentance is the change of mind and purpose toward God prompted by the Holy Spirit; that it is characterized by godly sorrow for sin that is offensive to God and ruinous to the soul; and that true repentance is inseparably related to true faith. (Lk. 13:1-3; 15:7; Acts 8:22; Rom. 2:4; II Cor. 7:10; Acts 20:21)

13. FAITH AND SALVATION - We believe that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation. (Acts 16:31)

14. SANCTIFICATION - We believe that sanctification is the Divine setting apart of the believer unto God accomplished in a threefold manner: first, an eternal act of God, based upon redemption in Christ, establishing the believer in a position of holiness at the moment he trusts Christ as Savior; second, a continuing process in the saint as the Holy Spirit supplies the Word of God to the life; third, the final accomplishment of this process at the Lord's return. (Hb. 10:10-14; 3:1; Jn. 17:17; II Cor. 3:18; I Cor. 1:30; Eph. 5:25, 26; I Th. 4:3, 4; 5:23; Eph. 5:27; I Jn. 3:2; Jude 24, 25; Rev. 22:11)

15. ADOPTION - We believe that adoption is the gracious act whereby the Father, for the sake of Christ, places new believers into the honored position of mature sons in contrast with regeneration whereby the believer receives the nature of God and becomes a child of God. The full benefit of the position accorded by adoption as the sons of God awaits the glorification of the believer at the coming of the Lord. (Eph. 1:5; Gal. 4:1-7; Eph. 1:13; I Jn. 3:1, 2)

16. THE SECURITY OF THE BELIEVER - We believe that all who are truly born again are kept or preserved by God the Father for Jesus Christ. (Phil. 1:6; Jn. 10:28, 29; Rom. 8:35-39; Jude 1)

17. THE CHURCH - We believe in the unity of all true believers in the church which is the Body of Christ, which was established on the day of Pentecost, and that all believers, from Pentecost to the Rapture, both Jew and Gentile, are added to this church by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We believe that this church is manifested through the local church which is a congregation of immersed believers associated by covenant of faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws; exercising the gifts, rights and privileges invested in them by His Word; and that its officers are pastors and deacons, whose qualifications, claims, and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures. We believe the true mission of the church is the faithful witnessing of Christ to all men as we have opportunity. We hold that the local church has the absolute right of self-government free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations; that the one and only superintendent is Christ through the Holy Spirit; and that on all matters of membership, of polity, of government, of discipline, of benevolence, the will of the local church is final. (Eph. 3:1-6; I Cor. 12:12, 13; Acts 2:41, 42; I Cor. 11:2; Eph. 1:22, 23; 4:11; Acts 20:17-28; I Tim. 3:1-7; Col. 1:18; Eph. 5:23,24; Acts 15:13-18)

18. BAPTISM AND THE LORD'S SUPPER - We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water, under the authority of the local church, to show forth a solemn and beautiful emblem of our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, through Whom we died to sin and rose to a new life; that baptism is a prerequisite to privileges of church membership. We believe the Lord's Supper is observed in remembrance of the sacrificial death of Christ and should always be preceded by solemn self-examination. (Acts 8:36, 38, 39; Jn. 3:23; Rom. 6:3-5; Mt. 3:16; Col. 2:12; I Cor. 11:23-28; Mt. 28:19, 20; Acts 2:41, 42)

19. SEPARATION - We believe in obedience to the Biblical commands to separate entirely from worldliness, ecclesiastical apostasy, and compromise, and separate unto God. (II Cor. 6:14-7:1; I Th. 1:9, 10; I Tim. 6:3-5; Rom. 16:17; II Jn. 9-11)

20. CIVIL GOVERNMENT - We believe that civil government is of Divine appointment for the interests and good order of human society; that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed except in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the only Lord of the conscience and the coming King of kings. (Rom. 13:1-7; II Sam. 23:3; Ex. 18:21, 22; Acts 23:5; Matt. 22:21; Acts 5:29; 4:19. 20; Daniel 3:17, 18)

21. THE RAPTURE AND SUBSEQUENT EVENTS - We believe in the imminent, premillenial return of Christ for His Church, and that at that moment the dead in Christ shall be raised in glorified bodies, and the living in Christ shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air before the seventieth week of Daniel. We believe that the Great Tribulation, which follows the Rapture of the Church, will be culminated by the revelation of Christ in power and great glory to sit upon the throne of David and to establish the millennial reign. (I Thess. 4:13-18; I Cor. 15:42-44, 51-54; Phil. 3:20; Rev. 3:10; Dan. 9:25-27; Matt. 24:29-31; Lk. 1:30-33; Isa. 9:6, 7; 11:1-9; Acts 2:29, 30; Rev. 20:1-4, 6)

22. THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED - We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that only those who are justified by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and sanctified by the Spirit of our God are truly righteous in His esteem; while all such as continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked and under the curse; and this distinction holds among men both in and after death, in the everlasting felicity of the saved and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost in the lake of fire. (Mal 3:18; Gen. 18:23; Rom. 6:17, 18; I John 5:19; Rom. 7:6; 6:23; Prov. 14:32; Luke 16:25; Matt. 25:34-41; John 8:21; Rev. 20:14, 15)