Manitowoc Baptist Church, Inc.
Church Articles of Faith
I. Concerning the Scriptures
We believe that the Bible, sixty-six books in the Old and New Testaments, is without error in its original writing (1); its author was God (2); using Spirit-guided controlled men (3); being thereby verbally and plenary inspired (4); it is the sole authority for faith and conduct (5).
Some places where taught: (1) Prov. 30:5, 6; John 17:17; Rev. 22:18, 19. (2) II Pet. 1:19-21; Acts 3:21; Jude 3. (3) II Pet. 1:19-21; II Sam. 23:2; Acts 1:16; I Cor. 2:13, 14. (4) II Tim. 3:16; Matt. 5:18; Gal. 3:16. (5) II Tim. 3:15; Rom. 1:16; I Cor. 10:6-12; Eph. 6:17; I Tim. 5:18; II Tim. 3:17; II Pet. 3:15, 16; John 10:35; Acts 17:11.
II. Concerning the True God
We believe that there is one, and only one, living and true God (1); an infinite, eternal, self-existing, perfect Spirit (2); He is a personal Being, the creator and upholder of the universe (3); in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (4); equal in essence and in every divine perfection (5); but having distinct functions (6).
Some places where taught: (1) Deut. 6:4, 5; Jer. 10:10. (2) John 4:24; James 1:17; Heb. 1:12. (3) Heb. 3:4; Ps. 139:1-16. (4) Matt. 28:19; Malt. 3:16, 17; II Cor. 13:14; Ps. 2:2; Isa. 48:16. (5) John 10:30; John 17:5; Phil. 2:5, 6; I Cor. 8:6. (6) John 3:16; John 15:26.
III. Concerning Creation
We believe in the. Genesis account of Creation and that it is to be accepted literally and not figuratively (1); that man was created directly in God’s own image and after His own likeness and did not evolve from any lower form of life (2); that all animal and vegetable life was made directly and God’s established law is that they bring forth only “after their kind” (3); and the work of creation was completed in six solar (24 hour) days (4).
Some places where taught: (1) Gen. 1:1-2:25; Heb. 11:3. (2) Gen. 1:26. (3) Gen. 1:11, 12, 21, 24, 25. (4) Gen. 1:31; 2:1-2.
IV. Concerning the Fall of Man
We believe that man, although created without sin (1); by one transgression fell (2); so that all mankind are now sinners by state, disposition, and act (3); justly under condemnation. (4)
Some places where taught: (1) Gen. 1:27, 31; Eccl. 7:29; Gen. 2:16, 17. (2) Gen. 3:6. 7: Rom. 5:12, 19. (3) Eph. 2:2, 3; Isa. 53:6; Ps. 51:5; Rom. 3:9-18, 23; Rom. 5:15-19: Rom. 8:7; John 3:6; Gal. 3:22. (4) John 3:18; Ezek. 18:20; Rom. 1:20, 32; 2:1-16; 3:19; Gal. 3:10; James 2:10.
V. Concerning the Way of Salvation
We believe that the only way of salvation for sinners is by grace (1); made possible by the substitutionary death of the Son of God (2); Who, though eternally God (3); was born of the virgin Mary (4); lived a perfect, sinless life (5); shed His precious blood on the cross (6); arose bodily from the grave (7); and ascended to reign on high (8).
Some places where taught: (1) Eph. 2:8; I John 4:10; Acts 15:11; John 14:6; Acts 4:12. (2) John 3:16; Isa. 53:4, 5; Matt. 18:11; Heb. 2:9, 14; Matt. 20:28; Rom. 3:25, 26: I Cor. 15:3; Heb. 9:14, 15; II Cor. 5:14, 15. (3) John 8:58; Phil. 2:6, 7; John 1:1, 14; John 17:5. (4) Matt. 1:20-25; Luke 1:30-35; Isa. 7:14; Gal. 4:4, 5. (5) II Cor. 5:21: Heb. 5:8, 9; Phil 2:8. (6) Eph. 1:7; I Pet 1:19. (7) Matt. 28:1-10; Mark 16:6; Luke 24:6, 7; John 20:9; Rom. 4:25; I Cor. 15:4-8. (8) Acts 1:9; Heb. 7:25; Heb. 4:14; Heb. 1:3; Heb. 8:1; Heb. 7:25; Rom. 8:34.
VI. Concerning the Benefits of Salvation
We believe that all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are justified, their sin is pardoned (1); and the perfect righteousness of Christ is imputed to them (2); that they are regenerated or born again (3); manifesting repentance and faith (4); and that such true believers grow in grace (5); and shall endure to the end (6).
Some places where taught: (1) Acts 13:39; Rom. 5:9; Rom. 5:1, 2; Isa. 53:11, 12; Rom. 8:1; Zech. 13:1; Acts 10:43; Titus 3:7; I John 2:12. (2) II Cor. 5:21; Rom. 5:17, 19; Phil. 3:9; Rom. 3:24-26; Rom. 4:22-25; I Cor. 1:30. (3) John 3:3-8; I Pet. 1:23; I Cor. 2:14; Ezek. 36:26; Rom. 5:5; Col. 3:10; Rom. 8:9. (4) Acts 3:19; Rom. 10:9-13; Ps. 51:3-7; Rom. 1:17; Acts 16:31; Acts 17:30; 20:21; Luke 18:13; II Cor. 7:11; Heb. 11:6. (5) II Pet. 3:18; I Pet. 2:2; Col. 3:1, 2, 8-17; Rom. 6:22; Eph. 4:24; Gal. 5:16; Gal. 5:22-25; Phil. 2:12, 13. (6) John 8:31; Phil. 1:6; John 6:39; I John 2:19; John 10:27-29; Jude 24, 25; II Cor. 13:5.
VII. Concerning Sanctification
We believe that sanctification is presented in three phases in Scripture: that believers have been made partakers of Christ’s holiness (1); that they are being progressively sanctified (2); and that they will be completely sanctified at His glorification (3); We further believe that there is no complete eradication of the old nature in progressive sanctification (4); and that speaking in tongues is not a sign of either regeneration or sanctification, nor is the New Testament gift of tongues in existence today, but has ceased (5).
Some places where taught: (1) Heb. 10:10; I Cor. 6:11; I Cor. 1:30. (2) John 17:17; Phil. 1:9-11; Eph. 4:15; Eph. 5:26, 27; I Thess. 4:3; Rom. 1:17; II Cor. 3:18. (3) Col. 3:4; Phil. 3:21; Prov. 4:18; Phil. 2:12, 13; Eph. 1:4; II Pet. 1:5-8; I John 3:2. (4) Phil. 3:12-16; Gal. 5:17; Rom. 7:18-25. (5) Acts 2:8; 10:46; I Cor. 14:19; I Cor. 12:11, 30; I Cor. 13:8.
VIII. Concerning the Local Church
We believe that a local church is a congregation of baptized believers (1); associated together by a common faith and fellowship in the Gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ (2); and governed by His Word (3); seeking to extend the Gospel to the ends of the earth; that its only Scriptural officers are bishops (or pastors) and deacons, whose qualifications, claims and duties are defined in the Epistles to Timothy and Titus (4).
Some places where taught: (1) Acts 2:41, 42. (2) Matt. 28:19, 20; I Cor. 11:23-26. (3) II Tim. 3:15, 16. (4) I Tim. 3:1-16; Titus 1:5-9.
IX. Concerning a Local Church in Its Independence and Relationships
We believe that the local visible church of Christ is a voluntary and independent autonomous group of baptized believers (1); that it is a pure democracy, which organically can join nothing, and that it has the power and right within itself to confess its own faith in accordance with the New Testament (2); and that each congregation recognizes its own democratic self-containing government as its highest authority for carrying out the will of the Lord Jesus Christ (3).
Some places where taught: (1) Matt. 18:15-18; I Cor. 5:4, 5, 13. (2) I Tim. 3:15; Jude 3; Rev. 2 and 3. (3) Matt. 18:15-18; Acts 6:3-5; I Cor. 5:4, 5, 13; I Tim. 3:15.
X. Concerning Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
We believe that both Christian baptism and the Lord’s Supper are each a memorial, a symbol and a prophecy (1); We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion in water of a believer (2); in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost (3); to show forth, in a solemn and beautiful emblem, our participation by faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, with its effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life (4); that it is prerequisite to the privileges of a church relation; and a prerequisite to the Lord’s Supper (5); in which the members of the church by the use of bread and fruit of the vine(non-alcoholic) commemorate together the death of Christ (6); preceded always by solemn self-examination.(7)
Some places where taught: (1) Rom. 6:3, 4; I Pet. 3:21. (2) Acts 8:36-39; John 3:22, 23; 4:1, 2; Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 8:12; 16:32-34; 18:8. (3) Matt. 28:19. (4) Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12; I Pet. 3:20, 21; Acts 22:16. (5) Acts 2:41, 42; Matt. 28:19, 20. (6) I Cor. 11:26; Matt. 26:26-29. (7) I Cor. 11:28.
XI. Concerning the Lord’s Day
We believe that the first day of the week is the Lord’s Day, and is a Christian institution (1); it is to be kept sacred to spiritual purposes by abstaining from all unnecessary secular labor and recreation, for it commemorates the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead (2); by the devout observance of all the means of grace, both private, and public (3); and by predicting the rest that remains for the people of God.
Some places where taught: (1) Acts 20:7; John 20:19; I Cor. 16:1, 2. (2) Acts 20:7; Mark 16:9; John 20:19. (3) Heb. 10:24, 25.
XII. Concerning Civil Government and Religious Liberty
We believe that civil government is of divine appointment, for the interests and good order of human society (1); and that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed (2); except only in the things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ (3); Who is the only Lord of the conscience, and the Prince of the kings of the Earth (4); and that church and state should be separate, the state owing the church protection and full freedom; no ecclesiastical group or denomination should be preferred above another by the state (5); the state should not impose taxes for the support of any form of religion; a free church in a free state is the Christian ideal (6).
Some places where taught: (I) Rom. 13:1-7. (2) Matt. 22:21; Titus 3:1; I Pet. 2:13, 14; I Tim. 2:1-3. (3) Acts 5:29; Acts 4:18-20. (4) Matt. 23:10; Ps. 72:11; Ps. 2; Rom. 14:9-13. (5) James 4:12. (7) Matt. 22:21.
XIII. Concerning the State of the Righteous and the Wicked
We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked (1); that such only as through faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and sanctified by the Spirit of our God, are truly righteous in His sight (2); while all such as continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked (3); and under condemnation, and that there will be a resurrection of the righteous and a resurrection of the unrighteous (4).
Some places where taught: (1) Mal. 3:18. (2) Rom. 10:9-10. (3) John 3:18. (4) Dan. 12:2.
XIV. Concerning Future Events
We believe the Scriptures teach that at death the spirit and soul of the believer pass instantly into the presence of Christ and remain in conscious joy until the resurrection of the body when Christ (1); comes for His own (2); the blessed hope of the believer is the imminent, personal, pre-tribulational, premillennial appearance of Christ to rapture all believers (3); His bride; His righteous judgments will then be poured out on an unbelieving world during the Tribulation (the seventieth week of Daniel), the last half of which is the Great Tribulation (4); the climax of this fearful era will be the physical return of Jesus Christ to the earth in great glory to introduce the Davidic kingdom (5); Israel will be saved and restored as a nation (6); Satan will be bound and the curse will be lifted from the physical creation (7); following the Millennium, the Great White Throne judgment will occur, at which time the bodies and souls of the wicked shall be reunited and cast into the Lake of Fire (8).
Some places where taught: (1) II Cor. 5:8. (2) I Cor. 15:51-57. (3) Titus 2:13; I Thess. 4:14-17. (4) Matt. 24:21. (5) Rev. 19:11-16. (6) Rom. 11:26, 27. (7) Rev. 20:2, 3. (8) Rev. 20:1-15.
XV. Concerning Heresy and Apostasy
We believe in total and complete separation as taught in the Word of God from all forms of heresy and ecclesiastical apostasy. We believe the Scripture teaches that we are to: 1.Try them (1); 2.Mark them (2); 3.Rebuke them (3); 4.Have no fellowship with them (4); 5.Withdraw ourselves from them (5); 6.Receive them not (6); 7.Have no company with them (7); 8.Reject them (8); 9.Separate ourselves from them (9).
Some places where taught: (1) I John 4:1. (2) Rom. 16:17. (3) Titus 1:13. (4) Eph. 5:11. (5) II Thess. 3:6. (6) II John 10, 11. (7) II Thess. 3:14. (8) Titus 3:10. (9) II Cor. 6:17.
XIV. Concerning Human Sexuality
We believe God has commanded that no sexual intimacy be engaged in outside of the marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bi-sexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. We believe the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman as husband and wife. We believe that man and woman are spiritually equal in position before God, but that God has ordained distinct and separate spiritual functions for men and women in the home and the church. The husband is to be the leader of the home and men are to be the leaders (pastors and deacons) of the church. Accordingly, only men are eligible for licensure and ordination by the church. (Gen. 2:24; 19:5,13; 268-10; 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; Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:18; 1 Tim. 2:8-15; 3:4-5,12).
XVII. Concerning Abortion
We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion, therefore, constitutes the taking of human life. We reject any teaching that abortions of pregnancies due to rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, birth or population control, or mental well-being of the mother are acceptable. (Job 3:16; Ps. 51:5; 139:14-16; Isa. 44:24; 49:1,5; Jer. 1:5; 20:15-18; Luke 1:44).
XVIII. Concerning Missions
We believe God has given the church a great commission to proclaim the Gospel to all nations so there might be a great multitude from every nation, tribe, ethnic group, and language group who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As ambassadors of Christ we must use all scriptural means to go to the foreign nations and not wait for them to come to us (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16: 15; Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; 2 Cor. 5:20).
IX. Concerning Law Suits Between Believers
We believe that the Scriptures give clear guidelines in the case of a Christian bringing civil law suits against other Christians or the church to resolve personal disputes. We believe the church possesses all the resources necessary to resolve personal disputes between members. Only when the offending individual refuses to be submissive to the guidelines of Scripture, could a law suit be considered. Even then, the Scripture teaches that for the cause of Christ it may be best for the offended one to be defrauded. We believe, however, that a Christian may seek compensation for injuries from another Christian’s insurance company as long as the claim is pursued without malice or slander (Matt. 18:15-17; 1 Cor. 6:1-8; Eph. 4:31-32).
XX. Concerning Divorce and Remarriage
We believe God hates divorce and intends marriage to last until one of the spouses dies. We believe that God’s legal guidelines for divorce were reluctant and given only because of man’s sinful nature. Although divorce and remarried persons or divorced persons may hold positions of service in the church and be greatly used of God for Christian service, we believe Scripture prohibits them from holding the offices of Pastor or Deacon (Mal. 2:14-17; Matt. 19:3-12; Rom. 7:1-3; 1 Tim 3:2,12; Titus 1:6).
XXI. Concerning Giving
We believe every Christian, as a steward of the portion of God’s wealth entrusted to him, is obligated to support his local church financially. We believe that God has established the tithe as a basis for giving, but that every Christian should also give other offerings sacrificially and cheerfully to the support of the church, relief of those in need, and the spread of the Gospel. We believe that a Christian relinquishes all rights to direct the use of the tithe or offering once the gift has been made (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).