White Oak Baptist Church Statement Of Faith
(From our Constitution and Bylaws)

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We believe that there is one and only one God, the Creator, Preserver and Sustainer of all things, an intelligent, personal and spiritual being, infinite in all perfections.  He concerns Himself merciful in the affairs of humanity and hears and answers prayer.  To Him all creatures owe the highest love, worship and obedience,  We believe that God exists eternally as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, each with distinct personal attributes, but with division of nature, essence or being.

We believe that God has an enormous, unconditional love for us as His creatures and is at the same time also holy and perfect in every way.

We believe that God from all eternity, decrees or permits all things that occur, and constantly upholds, directs, and governs all creatures and all events, yet God is not the author or approver of sin, and His providence does not destroy the will or responsibility of intelligent creatures.

 

We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit and are the only sufficient, certain, and authoritative rule of all saving knowledge, faith and obedience and are totally and entirely trustworthy in all that they affirm.

 

We believe that God has eternally chosen persons in Christ unto everlasting life, not because of foreseen merit or faith in them, but only because of His free mercy and grace in Christ; those chosen by God are also called, justified and glorified.  Those whom God has elected choose to repent and believe the gospel.

 

We believe that God originally created humanity, both male and female in His own image and free from sin.  We believe that since Adam’s sin, all persons are sinners by nature and by choice.  Through the temptation of Satan, the first man disobeyed the command of God and fell from his original holiness and righteousness.  As a result, all his descendants except Jesus Christ inherit a nature corrupt and wholly opposed to the True God and His law, are under condemnation, and as soon as they are capable of moral action, actually practice sin and transgression.  The Image of God, though radically distorted does remain in all men and women; therefore, as bearers of the Divine image, they are worthy of honor and dignity from the point of physical conception.

 

We believe that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God.  Having eternally existed as God, He took on human nature, being conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.  Thus, He is fully God and fully man.  He perfectly fulfilled the law, living an authentic human life, yet without sin.  We believe in his miracles and teaching.  Jesus both proclaimed the Kingdom of God and demonstrated its provisional arrival by bringing a foretaste of the blessing, goodness and judgment of the Coming Kingdom.  In His substitutionary atoning death, by bearing God’s wrath for sins, Christ died on the cross for the salvation of those sinners who would believe in Him.  He was buried, bodily rose again on the third day, and ascended to His Father, at whose right hand He ever lives to make intercession for His people.  He is the only Mediator between God and humanity, the Prophet, Priest, and King of the Church and the Sovereign of the Universe.

 

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person, eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son.  He inspired the writing of the Scriptures, convicts the world of sin, and applies the work of Christ to those who are saved by regenerating them and by progressively sanctifying them.  He distributes spiritual gifts to every believer according to His sovereign good pleasure for the purpose of building up the body of Christ.  He is the Comforter, the Spirit of Adoption, the Seal of our Salvation and the Guarantor of our inheritance in Christ.

 

We believe that regeneration is a change of heart accomplished by the Holy Spirit, who makes alive those dead in sin, enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the Word of God, and renewing their whole nature, so that they desire to love and practice holiness.  Regeneration is the work of God’s free and special grace alone.

 

We believe that repentance is a gracious effect, which is first demonstrated when a person being made aware by the Holy Spirit of the manifold evil of his sin, is humbled for it and with a godly sorrow and hated of it, then chooses to walk before God so as to please Him in all things.  Repentance should be an ongoing experience for every Christian.

 

We believe that saving faith is the belief of God’s authority, of that which is revealed in His Word concerning Jesus Christ, accepting and resting on Him alone for eternal life.  It is accomplished in the heart by the Holy Spirit, is accompanied by all other saving graces and leads to a life of holiness.

We believe that Christian conversation is essential to salvation and begins with a knowledge of the gospel that engages the mind, will, and heart to a radical humbling for sin that leads a person to see Christ alone as the only hope of salvation and to choose to turn from sin and follow Christ as Savior and Lord.  Christian conversion leads to a love for God and his glory and a commitment to serve and honor Him in all that we do.

 

We believe that justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal of sinners who believe in Christ from all sin, through the atoning sacrifice that Christ has made to appease God’s wrath.  Sinners are justified not by or for anything done in them or by them or any sacrament, but on account of the obedient life and atoning sacrifice of Christ, as they receive and put their faith in Christ and His righteousness alone.

 

We believe that those who have been regenerated are also sanctified by God’s word and Spirit dwelling in them.  This sanctification is a progressive growth in holiness through the supply of Divine strength.  All true believers seek to grow spiritually, pressing after a heavenly Christlike life in obedience to all Christ’s commands and making use of the appointed means of spiritual growth; Prayer, Hearing and Doing the Word, Church Fellowship, and the Ordinances.

 

We believe that those whom God has regenerated in Christ and sanctified by His Spirit will never totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere to the end.  Though believers may fall, through neglect and temptation, into sin, whereby they grieve the Holy Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, bring reproach on the Church and temporal judgments on themselves, yet they shall be renewed again unto repentance, and be kept through the power of God by faith unto salvation.

 

We believe that the Lord Jesus is the only Head of the Church, which is a living spiritual body composed of all His true disciples, and in Christ is invested supremely all power for its government.  Christians are to covenant together into particular churches, and are to be faithful to these churches in attendance, ministry and support.  To each of these churches, He has given all necessary authority for administering that order, discipline and worship He has appointed.  The two regular offices of a church are Bishops, Elders or Pastors, and Deacons or Servant Ministers.  We believe that God desires the local church to be a signpost of God’s mercifully righteous rule over every area of public and private life, a community with a common life that is recognizable as a foretaste of the blessings which God intends for the People of God.  Teaching and edifying believers and proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ are the primary duties of the local church. 

 

We believe that particular churches may cooperate with other like-minded churches in seeking to extend the Kingdom of god and fulfill the Great Commission.

 

We believe that water baptism is an ordinance of the Lord Jesus, obligatory on every believer.  It is a sign of the believer’s fellowship with Christ in His death and resurrection, of remission of sins, and of his giving himself up to God to live and walk in newness of life.  Immersion in water in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is the New Testament method of Baptism.

 

We believe that the Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of the Lord Jesus Christ to be observed by His churches until the end of the world.  In it, the people of God remember and proclaim the one sacrifice of Christ on the Cross; they look to the risen Christ for present spiritual nourishment; they acknowledge that they are one body in Christ; and they anticipate the return of Christ.  It is in no way a sacrifice.

We believe that every Christian should live for the glory of God and seek to realize the full stature of maturity in Christ.  Christians recognize that God has ordained civil authorities to promote good and to punish evil, but as citizens of the Kingdom of God, Christians owe primary allegiance to Jesus Christ, the Supreme Ruler.

 

We believe that God alone is Lord of the conscience, and He has left it free from any human doctrine or commandment which is in any way contrary to God’s Word or not contained in it.

 

We believe that the bodies of men and women decay after death; but their spirits remain conscious and go immediately to their appointed place – the righteous in Christ to rest with God, the wicked to be reserved in darkness for judgment. 

 

We believe that at the end of this age, a time known only to God, the Lord Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly, with power and great glory to consummate His Kingdom.  We believe in the resurrection of the body, the final judgment, the eternal blessedness of the righteous in Christ in heaven, and the endless suffering of the wicked in hell.

 

We believe that God has an enormous, unconditional love for us as His creatures.  God is also Holy or perfect in every way.  He has appointed the Church as His instrument to tell the world that salvation is found in Jesus Christ alone, and to model for others what it means to recognize Jesus Christ as Lord of every area of life.

 

We believe that all of us have fallen short of God’s standards for our lives, and have turned our backs on God’s authority over us.  Because of our rebellion, we are alienated from God and live in broken relationships with God and other people.  Our choice to reject God means that we have chosen death and judgment for ourselves instead of the never-ending and all-satisfying life with God that He offers us through Jesus Christ. 

 

We believe that Christian conversion is essential to salvation and begins with a knowledge of the gospel that engages the mind, will and heart to a radical humbling for sin which leads a person to see Christ alone as the only hope of salvation and to choose to turn from sin and follow Christ as Savior and Lord.  Christian conversion leads to a love for God and His glory and a commitment to serve and honor Him in all that we do.

 

We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.  He is fully God and fully human, and so He is the only one who can perfectly restore the relationship between us and God.  Christ died for sinners as their substitute, suffering the penalty for their sins that they might be forgiven.  We believe that He was literally, physically raised from the dead and that He lives forever as Master Ruler over all creation.  One day, he will visibly return to earth as Judge and Lord.

 

We believe that the Holy Spirit creates new life in those of us who put our confidence in Jesus Christ as our only Savior and commit ourselves to making Him the center of our lives as we live under His authority.  The Holy Spirit has the divine power to change us from the inside out, making us more and more into the persons God intends for us to be.  As a church, we are a community of believers undergoing the ups and downs of this process together as we seek to grow in our faith and point others to Jesus Christ.

 

We believe that the local church is essential to God’s plan to fulfill the Great Commission and that God desires the local church to be a signpost pointing to God’s mercifully, righteous rule over every area of public and private life.  He has entrusted the local church with primary duties of teaching and edifying its own members and telling others that salvation from sin is found in Jesus Christ alone.

 

We believe that local churches ought to pray for the health and edification of one another and may voluntarily associate themselves with one another in order to better fulfill the purpose of the Church, making disciples of Christ.

We believe that the whole Bible is God’s message to us, setting out His plan for the world and for us as His people.  It has the voice of authority in our daily lives, individually, and as a church.