Statement of Faith

ReConstruct Church affirms the Baptist Faith and Message (2000), the confession of faith of the Southern Baptist Convention, as a faithful summary of what we believe the Bible teaches. The statements below summarize its eighteen articles in our own words, with Scripture references. Our final authority is the Bible itself, not any human confession.

 

The Scriptures

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction, has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. All Scripture is totally true and trustworthy, and it is the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation. (2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21; Psalm 119:105; John 17:17)

 

God

There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections, all powerful and all knowing, and to Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being. (Genesis 1:1; Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; John 4:24; 1 John 5:7)

 

God the Father

God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men. (Matthew 6:9; John 5:26; Romans 8:14-15; 1 Peter 1:17)

 

God the Son

Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself human nature yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body, ascended into heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. (Isaiah 53; Matthew 1:18-23; John 1:1-18; Romans 5:6-21; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8; Hebrews 4:14-15; 1 Timothy 2:5-6)

 

God the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures and enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ, convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Savior and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. (John 14:16-17; John 16:7-14; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 12:3-13; Ephesians 1:13-14; Galatians 5:22-23)

 

Man

Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation, and the gift of gender is part of the goodness of God's creation. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race, and all people inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God. Every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love. (Genesis 1:26-30; Genesis 3; Psalm 8:3-6; Romans 3:10-18, 23; Romans 5:12)

 

Salvation

Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration (the new birth), justification (God's gracious and full acquittal of sinners who believe in Christ), sanctification (the believer's growth toward moral and spiritual maturity), and glorification (the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed). Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace. (John 3:3-21; Romans 3:23-25; Romans 10:9-13; Ephesians 2:8-22; Titus 3:5-7)

 

God's Purpose of Grace

Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of man and comprehends all the means in connection with the end. All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ and sanctified by His Spirit will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end. (John 6:37-40; John 10:27-29; Romans 8:28-39; Ephesians 1:4-14; Philippians 1:6)

 

The Church

A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. Its scriptural officers are pastors/elders/overseers and deacons. The New Testament also speaks of the church as the Body of Christ, which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages. (Matthew 16:15-19; Acts 2:41-47; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Ephesians 4:11-16; 1 Timothy 3:1-15)

 

Baptism and the Lord's Supper

Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming. (Matthew 28:19-20; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29; Colossians 2:12)

 

The Lord's Day

The first day of the week is the Lord's Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance and commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead. It should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private. Activities on the Lord's Day should be commensurate with the Christian's conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. (Matthew 28:1-7; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2; Revelation 1:10)

 

The Kingdom

The Kingdom of God includes both His general sovereignty over the universe and His particular kingship over men who willfully acknowledge Him as King. Particularly the Kingdom is the realm of salvation into which men enter by trustful, childlike commitment to Jesus Christ. Christians ought to pray and to labor that the Kingdom may come and God's will be done on earth. The full consummation of the Kingdom awaits the return of Jesus Christ and the end of this age. (Matthew 6:10; Mark 1:14-15; Luke 17:20-21; Colossians 1:13; Revelation 11:15)

 

Last Things

God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord. (Matthew 24:27-44; John 14:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; Revelation 20:1-22:13)

 

Evangelism and Missions

It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations. The new birth of man's spirit by God's Holy Spirit means the birth of love for others. Missionary effort on the part of all rests upon a spiritual necessity of the regenerate life and is expressly and repeatedly commanded in the teachings of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ has commanded the preaching of the gospel to all nations, and it is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle. (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Romans 10:13-15; 2 Corinthians 5:18-20)

 

Education

Christianity is the faith of enlightenment and intelligence. In Jesus Christ abide all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. All sound learning is therefore a part of our Christian heritage. The cause of education in the Kingdom of Christ is co-ordinate with the causes of missions and general benevolence, and should receive along with these the liberal support of the churches. In Christian education there should be a proper balance between academic freedom and academic responsibility, always limited by the pre-eminence of Jesus Christ and the authoritative nature of the Scriptures. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Proverbs 3:13-14; Colossians 2:3; 2 Timothy 2:15)

 

Stewardship

God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him. Christians have a spiritual debtorship to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel, and a binding stewardship in their possessions. They are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions, and should contribute of their means cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancement of the Redeemer's cause on earth. (Malachi 3:8-12; Matthew 6:19-21; Luke 12:16-21; 2 Corinthians 8-9; 1 Peter 1:18-19)

 

Cooperation

Christ's people should, as occasion requires, organize such associations and conventions as may best secure cooperation for the great objects of the Kingdom of God. Such organizations have no authority over one another or over the churches. Members of New Testament churches should cooperate with one another in carrying forward the missionary, educational, and benevolent ministries for the extension of Christ's Kingdom. Cooperation is desirable between the various Christian denominations when the end to be attained is itself justified and when such cooperation involves no violation of conscience and no compromise of loyalty to Christ and His Word. (Acts 15:1-35; 1 Corinthians 1:10-17; Ephesians 4:1-16; Philippians 1:15-18)

 

The Christian and the Social Order

All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society. Means and methods used for the improvement of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can be truly and permanently helpful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ. In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality. We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick, and speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. (Micah 6:8; Matthew 5:13-16; Matthew 25:31-46; Romans 12-14; James 1:27)

 

Religious Liberty

God alone is Lord of the conscience, and He has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are contrary to His Word or not contained in it. Church and state should be separate. The state owes to every church protection and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends. The church should not resort to the civil power to carry on its work. A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal, and this implies the right of free and unhindered access to God on the part of all men. (Matthew 22:21; Acts 4:19-20; Romans 13:1-7; 1 Timothy 2:1-2)

 

The Family

God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God's pattern for marriage and to teach their children spiritual and moral values. (Genesis 1:26-28; Genesis 2:18-25; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Psalm 127; Proverbs 22:6; Ephesians 5:21-33; Ephesians 6:1-4)

 

The Full Statement

The complete text of the Baptist Faith and Message (2000) is published by the Southern Baptist Convention and can be read at bfm.sbc.net. If you have questions about what we believe, we would love to talk with you. Contact us at info@reconstructchurch.net or 501-365-1242, or join us Sundays at 10:00 AM and Wednesdays at 6:30 PM at 200 Lori Lane, Batesville, AR 72501.