We Believe…

Revised May 2026

Antioch Baptist Church Statement of Faith

The Scriptures

We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament were written by men divinely inspired, and are the words of God, are without error, and are the only rule for faith and practice.

The Trinity

We believe that there is only one true God, who is in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the creator and ruler of heaven and earth, who knows all things past, present, and future, and to whom we owe perfect love, trust, and obedience.

The Father

We believe that the Father perpetually upholds, directs, and governs all creatures and all events, yet He is not the author or approver of sin, nor does He destroy the free will and responsibility of intelligent creatures. God shows great mercy to all but is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

The Son

We believe that Christ, being the eternal Son of God, became incarnate, fully God and fully man, conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He was without sin and died as a substitute for sinners, suffering divine wrath for their sakes. He was raised from the dead bodily and appeared to His disciples, ascended into heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of God, and is the only mediator, reconciling God and man by faith in his name only.

The Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is fully God. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures and enables men to understand divine truth, convicting men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to faith in Christ and effects regeneration. He bestows spiritual gifts by which believers serve God through his church.

He empowers Christians for holy living.

The Fall

We believe that by nature all persons are fallen and depraved creatures, through the fall of Adam and the imputation of his sin to his posterity, and that all persons are subject to God’s just judgment for their sins.

Salvation

We believe that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved Romans 10:9. Once saved through faith in Jesus Christ, we are saved eternally often referred to as “the perseverance of the saints”.

Justification

We believe that sinners are justified in the sight of God through faith in Christ alone, who made full atonement for sin by his death, and whose righteousness is imputed to them, by grace and not by works.

Good Works

We believe that good works are the fruits of faith and follow after justification.

The Church of Jesus Christ

We believe that the visible church of Christ is a congregation of professing believers, each of whom having given evidence of regeneration and having given themselves up to the Lord and to one another, have covenanted together to be a church of Jesus Christ, to keep up the preaching of the Scriptures, the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and church discipline, according to the New Testament model. The church is the body of Christ and the pillar and ground of the truth. Its officers Are the Pasor and deacons and its government is congregational.

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper

We believe that Christ has commanded his church to observe two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism is immersion in water, upon a credible profession of faith, in the name the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, to show forth our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior. It is the first command of Christian discipleship and is therefore prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and participation in the Lord’s Supper. It is a testimony of personal faith in Christ and in no sense causes regeneration or remission of sin. The Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of Jesus Christ, to be observed by His church until Christ returns. It is in no sense a sacrifice, but is designed to commemorate his death, to confirm faith and the other graces to Christians, and to be a bond, pledge, and renewal of their communion with Him, and of their church fellowship.

Marriage

We believe that the triune God in the days of creation instituted and constituted marriage for the growth and joy, fidelity, comfort, self-giving, and propagation for the creatures made in his image, man and woman. It also was designed to portray the absolute fidelity and love of Christ for his bride, the church, and the certainty of his establishing an unbroken union of happiness and holiness with the church by his giving his life to obtain her for Himself. Thus, by example and by command marriage is sanctioned by God as the joining of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other and that Scripture prohibits and threatens with judgment the style of life that embraces any other practice of sexual intimacy.

The Last Day

We believe that Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth, the dead will be raised bodily, 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 dwell joyfully forever with the Lord.