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What We Believe
These are the items of faith upon which we are unwilling to waiver:
1. The Bible, consisting of the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament, is the inerrant Word of God, perfect and complete. The Bible never disagrees with God’s will or person and is God-breathed to accomplish His purposes on earth. The Bible is the ultimate authority for all believers and the church and supersedes all human authorities and creeds. [Hebrews 4:12; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Jeremiah 30:2; Exodus 31:18]
2. The one and only true God consisting of three separate persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, contained in one indivisible entity, the Godhead. The three separate persons are distinct, with separate roles and relationships within the Godhead, but are completely in agreement and of the same will. [John 17:1; Isaiah 63:10; Matthew 3:16; Matthew 38:19; Genesis 3:22; Romans 8:26-27]
3. God the Son existed in perfect unity within the Godhead since before creation. To execute His salvation plan, restoring the relationship between humans and God to the original perfect state. God was conceived in the person of Jesus Christ in the virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit, was simultaneously completely human and completely divine, and lived a perfect life on earth before submitting to both worldly and divine punishment to atone for the sins of the saints. He bodily resurrected from the dead three days later, continued His earthly ministry for a short time, and ascended to heaven. He remains in Heaven but will return to earth to complete the world’s restoration to its perfect, sinless state. [John 20:28; Isaiah 9:6; Luke 1:35; Acts 1:9; Matthew 13:53-57; John 8:12; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15-16; 1 John 2:6; Matthew 24:44; 1 Thessalonians 4:16]
4. God, the Holy Spirit, is a person, not a force or expression of the will or the power of God. He indwells each believer and communicates directly with them for the purposes of empowerment, correction, intercession, purification, bestowing spiritual gifts, and teaching. [Judges 3:10; 1 Samuel 16:13; Luke 4:14; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:26; Galatians 5:22-23; 1 John 4:2; 1 Cor 2:12]
5. God created the world and all that is in it by the power of His perfect will. God existed before the creation of anything and is of a separate nature from anything created. In creating the world, He shared some of His attributes with creation, making it perfect. He placed the created world under the authority of man. [Genesis 1; John 1:1-5; Acts 4:24; Revelations 10:6]
6. God created man in His image, creating first man and then woman. He created them perfectly and communed with them freely and openly. They were created with different but perfect roles in creation and relationship with each other. Man sinned by seeking equality with God and therefore disobeying His command, thus corrupting man’s relationship with God, all their descendants, and the rest of the world by the introduction of sin. [Genesis 2-3; Romans 5:12-16]
7. Despite humans’ sinful nature following the first act of sin and man’s perpetual state of rebellion against God, God continued to desire a relationship between redeemed humans that glorifies Him. To achieve this will, He calls individuals based on His perfect grace and not based on an individuals’ action to be called to His perfect forgiveness through Christ’s atonement. These individuals are restored to a perfect relationship with God and will spend eternity in Heaven in His presence. Those who are not called will be condemned for their sins and spend eternity apart from God. [Romans 8:28-30; Ephesians 1:4-6; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 1:9; Ephesians 1:12; Ezekiel 33:11; Revelations 22:17; Romans 11:5-6]
8. The Church consists of all believers in God as revealed by the Bible and the Holy Spirit who are saved by a profession of faith and by demonstrating evidence of the transforming power of salvation in their lives. Together, the church members seek to follow God’s will, worship and honor Him and carry the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ to the world. Christ is the head of the church, and the church is unified with Him. The term “church” can be accurately applied to a local group of believers and all believers throughout the world. All believers are members of the same church and must be treated as brothers and sisters by all other believers, regardless of race, culture, location, or other human-made dividers. [Ephesians 1:22-23; Matthew 16:18; Acts 2:47; Hebrews 12:23; Romans 16:5; Ephesians 5:25; Ephesians 4:15-16]
9. The priesthood of all believers. We believe that a believer is saved by grace through faith. A believer has free access to God, the Father, through the one and only High Priest, Jesus Christ, our Savior. We believe that there is no separation of a spiritual nature between the congregation and the pastor. [Ephesians 2:5-10; Hebrews 9:11-28]
10. Two ordinances of the church: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Believer's Baptism by immersion. Baptism does not save but is symbolic as a testimony of the work of Christ. The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic remembrance of Christ’s works as our deliverer and His faithfulness in fulfilling all of His promises both to Israel and all humanity. [John 3:5; Romans 6:3-10; Matthew 3:11; Acts 8:27-39; Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:17-30]
11. Each believer and each church must seek to spread the knowledge of salvation through Christ locally, nationally, and worldwide. This evangelism must not be coercive but rely on the saving grace and call of God on each person who hears it. The church must never seek civil authority over non-believers and must refuse this authority if offered. The church must not seek to impose believers’ behavioral requirements established in the Bible upon non-believers. [Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 5:12-13; Matthew 28:18-20]
12. Every individual has the right of private judgment in religion without coercion from any source except the irrefutable call of God. The individual is responsible to God alone. We believe that the church and state can never be united without real injury to both. [Matthew 12:10; John 14:26; John 8:32; Galatians 5:1; Matthew 22:17-22; 1 Peter 2:13-16]
13. The local congregation is autonomous as far as governance, organization, and authority among the worldwide church and as a corporate entity in the society and culture in which it exists. The final human authority on matters which pertain to church government rests with the congregation of the local church; however, the local church, its leaders, and its members will be held accountable for the decisions and actions of the local church. [Ephesians 5:30,31; 1 Corinthians 16:1-3; Revelation 2:1-7]
Our Mission
Living by Word and Deed - The Gospel of Jesus Christ.
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
- Colossians 3:16-17
Our Affiliations
As Baptists, we believe that each local church is independent (autonomous) with Christ as its leader and with the Word and the Holy Spirit’s guidance. We also believe that there is an excellent benefit of working with churches of like faith to further spread the Gospel. As an independent church, we have chosen to affiliate and work with the following organizations: The Clinton Baptist Association, The American Baptist Churches of Ohio, and the American Baptist Church USA, as long as these organizations remain faithful to our doctrinal statement.
Want To Know More?
Send an email to Pastor Clark at pastornick@wilmingtonfirstohio.com and ask for a PDF of our Church Constitution to find out more about our membership process, leadership practices, and more.
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