I. The Scriptures: The Holy Bible, revered as the foundation of Baptist doctrine, was authored by men divinely inspired by God and serves as His revelation to humanity. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction, with God as its Author, salvation as its end, and truth, devoid of any mixture of error, as its matter. (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21)
II. God: There is one living and true God, embodying the core of Christian beliefs. The eternal triune God reveals Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each with distinct personal attributes yet unified in nature, essence, and being. (Deut. 4:35, 6:4; Matt. 28:19; John 14:10, 26; 1 Cor. 8:6)
A) God the Father: God as Father governs with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the unfolding of human history in accordance with His gracious purposes. He becomes a true Father to those who accept Him as their God through faith in Jesus Christ.
B) God the Son: Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ, He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He honored divine law through His obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross, He made provision for the redemption of humanity from sin.
C) God the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, exalting Christ. He convicts humanity of sin, righteousness, and judgment while enlightening and empowering believers and the church to engage in worship, evangelism, and service.
III. Man: According to Baptist doctrine, man was created by God's special act in His own image, constituting the pinnacle of His creation. Through his free choice, man sinned against God, introducing sin into the human race. The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His image and that Christ died for each individual. Therefore, every person of every race holds full dignity and is deserving of respect and Christian love. (Gen. 1:26-27; Rom. 3:22-23; 5:12; 6:23; Eph. 2:1-3; 4:17-19)
IV. Salvation: Salvation is central to Christian beliefs and encompasses the redemption of the entire person, offered freely to all who confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Through His blood, Jesus obtained eternal redemption for believers. Salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification in its broadest sense. (Matt. 12:31-32; John 1:12; Eph. 1:7; 2:8-10; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; 1 John 1:9; Rom. 10:9, 13)
V. God's Purpose of Grace: Election reflects the gracious purpose of God, through which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. All true believers will endure to the end. Those whom God accepts in Christ and sanctifies by His Spirit will never fall away from grace but will persevere to the end. (Matt. 12:31-32; John 1:12; Eph. 1:7; 2:8-10; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; 1 John 1:9, 5:9-12)
VI. The Church: A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, bound together by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, and committed to spreading the gospel to all nations. The New Testament also depicts the church as the Body of Christ, encompassing all redeemed people across the ages. (1 Cor. 12:12-14; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 1:22-23; 5:25-27; Acts 14:27; 20:17, 28-32; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11; Acts 13:1-4; 15:19-31; 20:28; Rom. 16:1, 4; 1 Cor. 3:9, 16; 5:4-7, 13; 1 Pet. 5:1-4)
VII. Baptism and the Lord's Supper: In line with Baptist doctrine, Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water, symbolizing faith in a crucified, buried, and resurrected Savior. It signifies the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and rebirth to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience where followers honor the death of the Redeemer while anticipating His second coming. (Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; 8:36-38; 1 Cor. 11:23-26)
VIII. The Kingdom: The Kingdom of God represents both His overall sovereignty over the universe and His specific kingship over those who willingly acknowledge Him as King. (Psa. 22:28, 103:17-22, 145:10-13)
IX. Last Things: In His own time and manner, God will bring the world to its destined end. Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly; the dead will be resurrected, and Christ will judge all humanity in righteousness. The unrighteous will be sent to Hell, while the righteous will receive their reward and dwell eternally with the Lord in Heaven. (Psa. 89:3-4; Dan. 2:31-45; Zech. 14:4-11; 1 Thess. 1:10, 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; Rev. 3:10; 19:11-16; 20:1-6)
X. Evangelism and Missions: Every follower of Christ and every church of the Lord Jesus Christ bears the duty and privilege to make disciples of all nations, continually striving to win the lost to Christ through personal effort. (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; 2 Cor. 5:20)
XI. Stewardship: A core tenet of Christian beliefs is that God is the source of all blessings, both temporal and spiritual; everything we possess comes from Him. Christians are spiritually indebted to the whole world, serve as holy trustees of the gospel, and have a binding stewardship concerning their possessions. They thus have an obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and resources. (Gen. 14:20; Prov. 3:9-10; Acts 4:34-37; 1 Cor. 16:2; 2 Cor. 9:6-7; Gal. 6:6; Eph. 4:28; 1 Tim. 5:17-18; 1 John 3:17)
XII. The Christian and the Social Order: Every Christian is obligated to pursue the will of Christ in personal conduct and broader society. In the spirit of Christ, Christians should challenge every form of greed, selfishness, and vice. (Lev. 19:28; Rom. 12:1-2; 14:13; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; 1 John 2:15-17; 2 John 9-11)
XIII. The Family: God has designed the family as the foundational institution of human society. Marriage consists of the union of one man and one woman in a lifelong covenant. Both husband and wife share equal worth before God, as both are created in His image. The marriage relationship exemplifies God's connection with His people. Children, from conception onward, are a gift and heritage from the Lord. Parents hold the responsibility to impart spiritual and moral values to their children through consistent lifestyle examples and appropriate discipline, inclusive of Scriptural guidance. (Ps. 127:3-5; Prov. 19:18; 22:15; 23:13-14)
XIV. Abortion: We believe that human life begins at conception, affirming that the unborn child is a living human being. Therefore, abortion represents the unjustified and unexcused taking of unborn life, which we classify as murder. We reject the notion that abortions are acceptable in cases of rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, population control, or to protect the physical or mental well-being of the mother. (Job 3:16; Ps. 51:5; 139:14-16; Isa. 44:24; 49:1, 5; Jer. 1:5; 20:15-18; Luke 1:44)
XV. Human Sexuality: We uphold that God commands no intimate sexual relations outside the marriage between one man and one woman. We categorize homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography as sinful misrepresentations of God's gift of sex. Additionally, we believe that God disapproves of any attempts to alter one's gender through surgical or appearance modifications.
A) We affirm that the only biblically acceptable marriage is the union of one man and one woman in a covenant commitment for life. (Gen. 2:24; Gen. 19:5, 13; Gen. 26:8-9; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom. 1:26-29; 1 Cor. 5:1; 6:9; 1 Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4; Gen. 2:24; Rom. 7:2; 1 Cor. 7:10; Eph. 5:22-23)
XVI. Arbitration & Conciliation: We believe that Christians should refrain from litigating against one another or the Church in civil courts to settle personal disputes. The Church possesses the necessary resources to resolve conflicts among believers. However, a Christian may seek appropriate compensation for injuries through another Christian’s insurance, provided the claim is pursued without malice or slander. (1 Cor. 6:1-8; Eph. 4:31-32)