Southern Baptists do not have a creed, but there are a set of beliefs that are held by most Baptists. They are stated in detail in “The Baptist Faith and Message” http://www.sbc.net/bfm/. Below is a concise summary of our beliefs:
- The Bible. We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God. Its truths are eternal and therefore fitting for every time, place, and people.
- God. We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
- Jesus. We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
- The Holy Spirit. We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by who enables Christians to live a godly life. He is also the Agent of salvation.
- Humanity. We believe all people are created in the image of God and have worth and value-able to experience a personal relationship with God. However, all persons have forfeited that relationship because of sin.
- Salvation. We believe that salvation was made possible for the world (for “whosoever”), and was accomplished by the sinless life, and substitutionary atoning death of Jesus Christ. Salvation is obtained through our faith in Christ alone, by God’s grace alone. True Christians will be kept by God throughout their life. (See the tab, “Knowing Christ” for information in becoming a Christian.)
- The Church. We believe that the church must be faithful to the content of unchanging Biblical doctrine– also faithful to the continually changing context of the culture in which it ministers. The church’s mission is to bring people into church so that they can be trained (“making disciples”) to go out into their culture as effective missionaries. Christians are to meet together regularly for worship, ordinances, and the encouragement of each other.
What is worship?
Our church is focused on the importance of all things being done for the glory of God. When genuine worship takes place, not only is the entire body enhanced and built up, but the mission and outreach of the church is strengthened. In Isaiah 6:1-8, after the prophet had authentically encountered God, three things resulted:
- A recognition of who God is
- A realization of the need for repentance and forgiveness
- A renewed desire for mission.
The people of God who have worshiped God and who have been mutually strengthened are prepared to enter the world to touch lives, meet needs, counsel hurts, speak to unjustices, and by life and witness proclaim the saving message of the gospel. Reaching people and exalting God are hardly in conflict. As a matter of fact, real outreach is prefaced upon genuine worship.