The following statements are a summary of our beliefs concerning some of our core doctrines (teachings). They are based on the bible – God's revelation of Himself to mankind in human history. Since they are from God, it is the responsibility of the believer to be submitted to God's revealed truth, and to have his/her conscience and actions directed by Him.
The full disclosure of our beliefs is the Baptist Faith and Message, 2000 to which we adhere completely in practice and administration.
The Bible
The Bible is known by several names: the Bible, the Holy Bible, the Scriptures, the Holy Scriptures, and the Word of God. We teach that it was written by men who were inspired by the Holy Spirit. God is it's author, salvation of all people is it's purpose, and it is truth without any inclusion of error, for its contents. The Bible is the supreme authority for everyone in all matters of faith and conduct; in particular as it completely reveals God's will for the salvation of all people through personal faith in Jesus Christ.
The Bible is the foundation for all preaching, teaching, instruction, and decision-making here at FBCW (Matthew 5:18; John 10:35; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21).
GOD
We teach that God is the one and only true living God. He
is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being. He is sovereign,
holy, all knowing, all powerful, infinite, and eternally existing in
three distinct co-equal persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each has
distinct personal attributes; but is the same in essence, nature, being,
and perfection. The triune God is the creator and sustainer of all
things (Genesis 1:31; Deuteronomy 6:4-5).
GOD The Father
We
teach that God the Father guides all of creation, including the
direction of human history, according to His own purpose and for His own
glory. He is a Father to all who become children of God through faith
in Jesus Christ. He hears prayers and answers them according to His
wisdom, love, mercy, goodness, and grace (Genesis 1:1; Exodus 6:2-3;
Psalm 19:1-3; Isaiah 64:8; John 4:24; Hebrews 12:9).
GOD the SON (Jesus Christ)
We
teach that Jesus Christ is God. Having been sent from heaven to earth,
He became a man. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of a
virgin (Mary). He perfectly revealed and performed the Father's will
while remaining sinless. He was fully man and fully God, but was
submissive to the Father's will at all times. This led him to die on the
cross where he shed His blood to offer forgiveness for the sins of all
people who believe in Him. He was buried, and bodily resurrected to
eternal life. He ascended to the Father in Heaven as the Mediator of the
reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory
to judge the world and finalize His redemptive mission (Matthew 1:18-25;
John 1:1-3, 14; Philippians 2:5-9; Colossians 1:15-20).
God the Holy Spirit
We teach that the Holy Spirit is God. He is co-equal and
co-existent with God the Father and God the Son. He exalts Jesus Christ.
He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He initiates
and directs people to the Savior. He indwells each believer, and
empowers each of them to live a godly life. He gives spiritual gifts to
every believer for their effective function in the church. He seals the
believer unto the final day of redemption. He edifies, encourages, and
empowers the believer in worship, discipleship, and service to God (John
14:16-19, 16:7-15; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8).
Man
We teach that man is the special creation of God and is
made in His image. He made mankind as male and female thus making the
gift of gender a part of His goodness in creation. Originally, man was
free of sin and given the freedom of choice. By this free choice, man
sinned against God, bringing sin into the human race. Because of this,
all have sinned and do not live for God's intended creative purpose.
This result brings physical and spiritual death to all. Only God's
forgiveness through His grace can restore a person to God's intended
creative purpose. This salvation is available to any person, therefore
God's activity in this salvation dignifies every person of every race
and makes them worthy of respect, and Christian love (Genesis 1:26-30;
Psalm 8:3-6; Romans 1:29-32, 3:10-18; 1 Corinthians 1:21-31; Ephesians
2:1-22).
Salvation
We teach that the salvation of lost and sinful mankind is
a free gift of God's grace apart from human effort; is based solely
upon Jesus' atoning and vicarious death on the cross, and is offered
freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. There is no
salvation with God apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.
Repentance and faith are necessary, yet inseparable, experiences of
saving grace. Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God, while
faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and the commitment of the
entire personality to Him as Lord and Savior (Genesis 3:15; Exodus
3:14-17; Matthew 16:21-26; John 1:11-14, 3:3-21; Colossians 1:9-22).
We teach that the church is made up of saved believers who have been baptized. Together they form what the New Testament calls the body of Christ. The purpose and function of each individual believer is lived out in a faith community called the church. That faith community gathers for worship, fellowship, teaching and ministry. We believe that each member serves a vital role in the church and that the Bible is the source for determining those roles. We believe that the Bible is the source for the self-governing structure of our church as well. Our church functions independently from any other religious organization, yet in cooperation with other gospel-centered churches (Matthew 16:15-19, 18:15-20; Acts 2:41-42, 47; Ephesians 5:22-32; 1 Timothy 2:9-14).
Baptism and The Lord's Supper
We teach that each believer should be baptized by immersion under water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Because it is a church ordinance, it is a prerequisite to the privileges of church membership.
The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience in which the body of believers remembers the death of Jesus and anticipates His second coming. The symbolic elements are unleavened bread and the fruit of the vine.
Though they are ordinances commanded by Jesus for believers to practice, neither baptism nor the Lord's Supper are necessary for a person's salvation (Matthew 3:13-17, 26:26-30; Mark 1:9-11, 14:22-26; Luke 3:21-22, 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29).
Evangelism
We teach that every follower of Jesus has the responsibility to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to all nations, and to assist with new believers' growth in the faith. This is best achieved through a verbal witness complemented by a Christian lifestyle (Genesis 12:1-3; Isaiah 6:1-8; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Romans 10:13-15).
Eternity
We teach that man was created to exist forever. For all
people that receive God's salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, they
will spend eternity in union with God. This is known as heaven. For
those that reject God's salvation, they will spend eternity separated
from God. This is known as hell. In His own time and in His own way, God
will bring the world to its God-determined end. Jesus Christ will then
judge all people by His righteousness (Matthew 25:31-46; John 14:1-3; 1
Corinthians 15:24-28, 35-58).
Human Sexuality and Marriage
We teach that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in
outside of marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, transgenderism and pornography are sinful perversions of God's gift of sex. We believe that God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one's gender identity by surgery or appearance. We believe that the term marriage has only one legitimate meaning, and that is marriage sanctioned by God, which joins one man and one woman in a single, covenantal union, as presented in the Bible. Since both are created in God's image, the husband and wife are of equal worth before God (Genesis 2:24; Genesis 19:5, 13; Genesis 26:8-9; Leviticus 18:1-30; Romans 1:26-29; 1 Corinthians 5:1, 6:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4).
Therefore, all marriage ceremonies performed in any facility owned, leased, or rented by the First Baptist Church of Wellington will be only those ceremonies sanctioned by God, joining one man with one woman as that gender was determined at birth (Romans 7:2; 1 Corinthians 7:10; Ephesians 5:22-23).