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| Poquoson Baptist Church Theological Profile |
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A brief summary of some of our foundational beliefs.
We believe that pastors and deacons must meet the qualifications outlined in First Timothy 3 and Titus 1. Regarding sound doctrine, we believe that the following statements accurately reflect some of the foundational truths taught in the Word of God. We believe that the denial of these truths would seriously erode the foundation of our faith and would be a threat to the spiritual welfare of our church. As such, we expect our pastor and deacons to affirm these beliefs.
The Old and New Testament Scriptures in their entirety are the only written Word of God, divinely inspired, authoritative, and inerrant in all that they affirm (whether speaking of moral values, history, science, or any other realm of knowledge) and are the only infallible rule of faith and practice. Any view which attributes to the Scriptures a lesser degree of inerrancy than total is in conflict with the Bible's self-testimony in general, and with the teaching of Jesus Christ in particular. The authoritative revelation of God ceased upon the completion of the New Testament and no such revelation is given by God today.
There is only one living and true God, eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, supremely holy, supremely good, supremely just, supremely wise, and absolutely sovereign. He manifests Himself to us in three eternal persons - the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, distinct in personality and role, yet of one substance, undivided in essence, and equally divine.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Man and woman are uniquely special creations of God, made in His image and possessing a spiritual nature which distinguishes them from the animals. Adam and Eve were real human beings, the ancestors of all subsequent human beings, and were directly created by God and did not come into being through evolutionary means.
Adam and Eve were created perfectly righteous and fit for communion with God. They were free to enjoy God's creation with the only restriction being the commandment of God to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They were under no compulsion to obey God but rather had the liberty to choose to obey God or choose to transgress His commandment. Seduced by Satan, they freely chose to disobey God and consequently fell from their original righteousness and communion with God. As the root and representative of all mankind, the guilt of their sin was imputed to their descendants and their corrupt nature was conveyed to their descendants by ordinary generation. All of their descendants are by nature children of wrath, dead in trespasses and sins, and are wholly inclined to evil.
Man in his corrupt nature, being in bondage to sin and under the curse of the law, has no means of redeeming himself and attaining communion with God through his own efforts, and is justly worthy of Hell. But God, though under no obligation to do so, chose to provide a way of redemption for mankind whereby mankind could again enjoy communion with Him. In the perfect expression of His grace, God sent forth His Son who clothed Himself with humanity, being conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary. Jesus Christ was, and is, fully God and fully man, inseparably joined in one person yet without mixture of natures. He lived a sinless life and freely offered His own life, suffering crucifixion on the cross, as a substitutionary, atoning sacrifice for sin. His sinlessness made Him the only acceptable sacrifice for sin. He suffered, died, and was buried, and on the third day He physically, bodily rose from the dead. It pleased God to promise forgiveness of sin and reconciliation to Himself to all who would trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. There is no other way of salvation provided for mankind except by the grace of God through faith in His Son.
Salvation is entirely the gift of God, given solely by His grace to His elect, whom He chose before the foundation of the world, not as a result of works of any kind, but according to His mercy and purpose. Salvation is freely given by God to those who have faith in Jesus Christ, who trust, receive and rest entirely upon His finished work on the cross. The very faith to believe is itself purely a gift of God. Regeneration, faith, justification, sanctification, and glorification are all aspects of salvation.
Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God's grace. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit whereby a person is enabled to understand the Word of God and respond in faith. Saving faith is always accompanied by genuine repentance. Repentance involves a complete change of heart, attitude, interest, and direction. It is a turning from sin and a turning to the living and true God.
When a person possesses true saving faith, the Holy Spirit, in all His fullness, comes to indwell him forever. While a person may be repeatedly "filled" with the Holy Spirit, in the sense that His presence and power on occasions may be particularly strong, there is no special "baptism of the Holy Spirit" subsequent to salvation.
It is through faith in Jesus Christ that we are justified, judicially declared not guilty. Justification is an act of God in which He imputes to a believer's account the very righteousness of Christ. Justification is a one-time act which renders a believer perfectly holy in God's sight, not because of the believer's personal holiness, but because of the righteousness of Christ which was imputed to his account.
While salvation is given by the grace of God independent of any good works, good works are nevertheless inseparably linked to salvation. Good works are not the cause or means of salvation but rather the product of salvation; good works follow inevitably as the fruit of saving faith and are wrought in a person's life through the working of the Holy Spirit. The ability to perform any work acceptable to God is solely due to the indwelling presence and enabling power of Christ. To further equip His children, God distributes various gifts among them, each one receiving a gift for the purpose of ministering to one another for the building up of the body of Christ.
Sanctification is a life-long process whereby a believer grows in maturity and holiness under the direction of the Holy Spirit, motivated by a love for Christ and the desire to be conformed to His image. The war against the flesh will continue until the grave and although the flesh at times will prevail the true believer will progress in holiness, with sin prevailing less and Christ-likeness prevailing more.
All true believers will persevere in the faith until the end of their lives and can never totally and finally fall away from their position in Christ on account of their sins, since their own righteousness is never the basis for their redemption. A true believer can know assuredly that he is in Christ and possesses eternal life but this assurance may or may not be immediately realized. The basis of assurance is rooted in the certain promises of Scripture, but the appropriation of assurance is rooted in the evidences of saving faith, that is, the fruits of the Spirit which are manifest in a believer's life, and the inner witness of the Holy Spirit. Because of sin, a believer's assurance may, for a time, be shaken or lost, but his salvation is forever secure and can never be lost.
There are areas of faith and practice for which God, in His wisdom, has given His children liberty, allowing them to be guided by individual conscience. In such areas, the believer should be guided by a love for his brethren and a desire to not be a stumbling block to anyone. Likewise, there are areas of faith and practice for which God has established clear and certain laws and principles. A believer is not under the law, in the sense that he will not be condemned for violating the law since that debt was paid in full by Christ. However, a believer is not exempt from the law. The moral laws of God have never been rescinded, nor are they subject to either temporal or cultural re-interpretation. While a believer will not suffer eternal condemnation for violating such laws, he will be subject to the temporal consequences of sin, he will grieve the heart of God, and will suffer loss of reward at the judgment seat of Christ.
Regarding these areas of law and liberty, it is wrong to require adherence to any practice that the Scriptures leave open to individual conscience, and it is equally wrong to engage in practice, under the pretense of liberty, that the Scriptures clearly condemn.
When a believer dies his spirit immediately goes to be with the Lord and his body remains in the grave awaiting the resurrection. At the resurrection his body will be raised, glorified and incorruptible, and will be united forever with his spirit. In that state of glorification the believer will dwell forever in Heaven in intimate, unbroken fellowship with God.
When a nonbeliever dies his spirit is immediately cast into Hell and remains in torment until the final judgment. At the last judgment he will be justly condemned for his sin and sentenced to everlasting torment in Hell. The Scriptures do not teach the annihilation of the soul.
The Scriptures teach that redeemed men and women are fully equal in the sight of God regarding their spiritual position and union with Christ. While many ministries within the church are open to both men and women, we believe that in certain positions of church leadership, such as pastors and deacons, God has ordained that men alone should serve.