NO SMALL STIR

Old Paths Baptist Church holds to the following doctrinal statements:

 

• We believe that the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, was given by inspiration of God, and is our only rule in matters of faith and practice.

• We believe in creation, not evolution; that man was created by the direct act of God and in the image of God.

• We believe that Adam and Eve, in yielding to the temptation of Satan, became fallen creatures. We believe that all men are born in sin.

• We believe in the Incarnation, the Virgin Birth, and the Deity of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We believe in His vicarious and substitutional Atonement for the sins of mankind by the shedding of His blood on the cross. We believe in the resurrection of His body from the tomb, His ascension into Heaven, and that He is now our Advocate. We believe that He is personally coming again.

• We believe in His power to save men from sin. We believe in the necessity of the New Birth, and that this New Birth is through the regeneration by the Holy Spirit. We believe that salvation is by grace through faith, plus nothing – minus nothing, in the atoning blood of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

• We believe that this statement of faith is a basis for Christian fellowship, and that all born-again men and women who sincerely accept it can and should live together in peace, and that it is their Christian duty to promote harmony among the members of the Body of Christ, who are walking separately from the world both in theory and in practice.

• We believe God has preserved His Word for us today. Old Paths Baptist Church uses only the King James Version for all preaching and teaching. We maintain a very firm conviction that the King James Version is God’s preserved Word for us today in the English language.

 

We believe and hold to the following Baptist distinctives:

Biblical Authority. The Bible is the verbally and plenarily inspired Word of God. The Bible is our final authority for all matters of faith and practice. The Bible is without error. (II Timothy 3:16, II Peter 1:21)

Autonomy of the Local Church. Autonomy means self governing. The church governs itself and its members. The local church is not governed by a Convention, Presbytery, Synod, Council, etc. (Matthew 18:15-18)

Priesthood of the Believer. We have access into the throne room of heaven. Our lives are to be our sacrifice. The priest conducted the sacrifices and made the petitions for the people in the Old Testament. With the covenant of grace, Jesus paid the price for our sins, we are made the priests and our lives are to be a living sacrifice to God. We have direct access into the throne room of heaven. (Romans 12:1,2, Hebrews 10:19)

Two Ordinances.

1. Baptism. We believe in full immersion Baptism. Since we are dead to sin, we are to be fully immersed. A burial involves more than sprinkling of a little dirt on the head of the corpse. Even as a dead animal is put completely under the ground, we believe in that full immersion symbolizes our death to sin. (Romans 6:1-7)

2. Communion. The Lord’s Supper is a symbol lesson of what Jesus Christ did on the Cross of Calvary. (I Corinthians 11:23-24)

Individual Soul Liberty. Each one of us will have to give an account of ourselves to God. We need to be the judge of one another. We shouldn’t enforce our rules of legalism on someone else or vice versa. We can and should correct someone if they are in outright sin though. We need to correct our brothers in a loving manner. We need to speak the truth in love, and it is best done going to that brother in private. We need to pray first, to make sure that we ourselves aren’t the one in the wrong. Let’s be careful not to judge, but also not to allow sin in the camp either. We need not impede each other’s soul liberty. (Matthew 7:1)

 

Saved Church Membership. Before anyone can be a member of a Baptist church, they first must be truly saved. (Acts 2:47)

Two Officers.
1. Pastor. Pastor is the same as the overseer or bishop. He is the elder of the church. In other words, the pastor is the leader of the church. A Pastor is worthy of respect and deserves to be paid for the work he does. The pastor is the servant of God who is entrusted with the awesome responsibility of accurately handling the Word of God. He must have the ability to teach and preach. (I Timothy 5:17, I Thessalonians 5:12)
2. Deacons. Deacons are men who exhibit signs of spiritual leadership. The deacons are servants to the pastors. The purpose of a deacon is to relieve the burden of the pastor, so the pastor can devote his time to prayer and ministry of the Word. (Acts 6:1-7)

 

Separation of Church and State. We believe that church and the government are to be separate entities. We should both pay our tithes and our taxes. God takes precedence over the government. (Matthew 22:21)