Ashley Baptist Church Statement of Faith:

Ashley Baptist Church is an independent, fundamental Baptist church. The doctrinal statement which follows is an integral part of the constitution. All members and leaders are carefully instructed upon uniting with our church and are expected to support this doctrinal statement.  The Scripture verses used are representative and not to be considered exhaustive.

1. The Scripture

We believe the authority and sufficiency of the Holy Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, as originally written; that is was verbally and plenary inspired and is the product of Spirit controlled men, and therefore is infallible and inerrant in all matters of which it speaks.

We believe the Bible to be the the true center of Christian unity and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creed and opinions shall be tried (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:19-21.)

2. The One Triune God

We believe in the One Triune God who is personal, spirit, and sovereign; perfect, infinite, and eternal in His being, holiness and love, wisdom and power; absolutely separate and above the world as its Creator, yet everywhere present in the world as the Upholder of all things; self-existent and self-revealing in three distinct persons, the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit, each have a distinct ministry is God's relation to His creation and people. (Genesis 1:1; John 4:24; Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 40:28; 43:10; 1 John 1:5; Matthew 28:19, 1 Peter 1:2; 3:18; 2 Corinthians 13:14)

3. The Lord Jesus Christ

We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ who is the second person of the second person of the Triune God, the eternal Word and the One and Only Son; that without any change in His divine Person, He became man by the miracle of the virgin Birth, thus to continue forever as both true God and true Man, one Person with two natures; that as Man He was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin; that as the Perfect Lamb of God He gave Himself in death upon the cross, becoming there the sin of the world, and suffering its full penalty of divine wrath in our stead; that He arose bodily from the grave and was glorified; that as our great High Priest He ascended into Heaven, there to appear before the face of God as our advocate and Intercessor. (John 1:1-3, 14-18; John 3:16; Matthew 1:20-23; Luke 1:34-35; Philippians 2:6-8; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 4:15; John 1:29; 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 3:24,25; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8; Acts 1:9-11; Hebrews 4:14-16; 7:25-27)

4. The Holy Spirit

We believe in the Holy Spirit who is the third Person in the Trinity; equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature; that He was active in the creation; that He convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment; that He regenerates, indwells, baptizes, and seals all who become children of God through Christ; that He further empowers, guides, teaches, sanctifies and fills believers who daily surrender to Him. (Acts 5:3-4; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Genesis 1:2; John 16:8; John 3:5; Titus 3:5; 1 Corinthian 6:19; 12:13; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:11,14,16; Ephesians 5:18; Galatians 5:22,23; Romans 6:13; 12:1-2)

5. The Devil or Satan

We believe in the existence of Satan who originally was created holy and perfect being, but through pride and wicked ambition rebelled against God, this becoming utterly depraved in character, the great adversary of God and Hid people, leader of all other evil angels and spirits, the deceiver and god of this present world; that his powers are vast, yet strictly limited by the permissive will of God who overrules all his wicked devices for good; that he was defeated and judged t the cross, and therefore his final doom is certain; that we are able to resist and overcome him only in the armor of God, by the blood of the Lamb and through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Isaiah 14:1 -15; Ezekiel 28:12-19; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Job 1-2; John 12:31; Ephesians 6:10-1 ; Revelation 20:10)

6. Man

We believe all men are by nature and choice sinful and lost; that an was the direct creation of God, made in His image and likeness, and not from any previously existing forms of life; that by personal disobedience to the revealed will of God, man became a sinful creature, the father of a fallen race which is universally sinful in both nature and practice, thus alienated from the life and family of God, under the righteous judgment and wrath of God, and has himself no possible means of salvation. (Ephesians 2: 1­3; Romans 3:9-19; Psalm 51:5; Genesis 1:26-28; 2:7; 3:1-19; Romans 5:12,14, 17-19; John 3:18,36; Ephesians 2:8,9)

7. Salvation

8. Godly Living

We believe in righteous living and godly works, not as a means salvation in any sense, but as its proper evidence and fruit; and therefore as Christians we should obey the Word of our Lord, seek the things which are above, walk as He walked, accept as our sole responsibility the duty and privileges of bearing the Gospel to a lost world; remembering that a victorious and fruitful Christian life is possible only for those who in gratitude for the infinite and undeserved mercies of God have presented themselves wholly to Christ. We believe, as an important part of righteous living, to obey the Biblical commands to separate ourselves unto God from worldliness and ecclesiastical apostasy. (Ephesians 2:10; John 14:15; 15:5,6; Colossians 3:1-2; 1 John 2:6; Matthew 8:19,20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 12:1,2, Ephesians 4:17 - 5:21; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1; 1 Timothy 6:3-5; Romans 16:17; 1 John 2:15; 2 John 9-11)

9. The Church

We believe in the Lordship of Jesus Christ, that He alone is Head of the Body of Christ, into which all true believers are immediately baptized by the Holy Spirit: that all members of this one spiritual body should assemble and identify themselves in local churches. (Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:11,12; 5:23; Colossians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 12:12,13; Acts 15:13-18; Hebrews 10:24,25)

We believe in the importance of the local church, that a New Testament church is a local assembly of born again baptized believers united in organization to practice New Testament ordinances, to meet together for worship, prayer, fellowship, teaching, and a united testimony, and to actively engage in carrying out the Great Commission; that its officers are pastors and deacons, whose qualifications, claims and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures. (Acts 2:41,42,46,47; 16:14,15,30-33; Philippians 1:1; 1 Corinthians 11:2; Acts 20:7,17-21,27-28; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9)

We believe in the independence and autonomy of the local church that each New Testament church is free to govern itself without ecclesiastical interference, and should cooperate with other New Testament churches in contending for the faith and the furtherance of the Gospel; that it is reasonable to follow the pattern of the New Testament church and is directly accountable to God. (Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 5:23,24; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Acts 15:22; Jude 3; 2 Corinthians 8:23,24 1 Corinthians 16:1,2; 5:11-6:3)

10. The Ordinances

We believe that the ordinances given to the local church are two: baptism and the Lord's Supper.

We believe baptism is the believers immersion in water into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; that it shows forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem, our faith in and our identification with the crucified, buried and risen Savior; that in Scriptural order baptism precedes the privileges of church membership and is the public recognition of the Lordship of Jesus Christ in the life of the believer. (Acts 8:36-39; John 3:23; Romans 6:3-5; Colossians 2:12; Acts 21:41, 42; Matthew 28:19,20)

We believe that the Lord's Supper is the partaking of the bread and cup by the believer as a continuing memorial of the broken body and shed blood of Christ; that it is to be observed in anticipation of His coming and preceded by solemn self-examination; that partaking of the Lord's Supper does not convey saving grace. (Matthew 26:26-29; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32)

11. Church and State

We believe in the separation of Church and State, with each having a definite and distinct sphere of responsibility. (Romans 13:1-7; 2 Samuel 23:3; Matthew 22:21; Acts 5:29; 4:19-20)

12. Life After Death and Future Events

We believe that the spirits of the saved at death go immediately to be with Christ in Heaven, that their works shall be brought before the Bema Seat of Christ for the determination of rewards which will take place at the time when Christ comes for His own. (2 Corinthians 5:6-8,10; Philippians 1:23; Romans 14:9-12; 1 Corinthians 3:12-15)

We believe that the spirits of the unsaved at death descend immediately into Hades where they are kept under punishment until the final day of judgment, at which time their bodies shall be raised from the grave; that they shall be judged and cast into Hell, the place of final and everlasting punishment. (Luke 16: 19-31; Matthew 10:28; John 5:28-29; Mark 9:43-48: Revelation 20: 11-15)

We believe in the pre-millennial return of Christ, an event which may occur at any moment, and that at that moment, the dead in Christ shall be raised in glorified bodies and the living in Christ shall be given glorified bodies without tasting death, and shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air before the seven years of tribulation. (Acts 1:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:42-44,51-54; Philippians 3:20,21; Revelation 3:10; Matthew 13:19,32,33; Daniel 9:27, Revelation 12:6,14; 13:5; 11:2-3)

We believe that the Tribulation, which follows the Rapture of the Church, will be culminated by the revelation of Christ in power and great glory to sit upon the throne of David and to establish the millennial kingdom on this earth. (Daniel 9:25-27; Matthew 24: -31; Luke 1:30-33; Isaiah 9:6,7; 11:1-10; Revelation 20: 1-4, 6)

13. The Charismatic Movement

While believing in the special gifts and miracles of the early church, we reject the ecstatic speech (''tongues'') and so-called gifts of prophecy and healing currently displayed by "charismatic" and "Pentecostal" believers as being unscriptural and harmful to the body of Christ. We affirm that God, according to His good will, may perform miracles in answer to the prayers of believers. (Acts 2:8-11; Hebrews 2:2, 4; 1 John 5:14; James 5:14-15)

14. Marriage

We believe that marriage as designed by God is an exclusive, lifelong, covenantal relationship between man and a woman. God designed marriage for companionship, support, procreation, and happiness, a well as to glorify Himself by depicting the sacred union of Christ and His church. In keeping with the biblical principle of separation, a Christian should not marry a non-believer. We reject as unscriptural and sinful fornication (sexual intimacy outside of marriage), co-habitation (men and women living together in intimacy without the benefit of marriage), bigamy, polygamy, adultery, homosexuality, and same sex unions. (Genesis 1:27,28; 2:18, 24; Matthew 19:4-6; Mark 10 6-9; Romans 7:1-3; Eph. 5:22-33; IT CO] 6:14; Ephesians 5:3; 1 Thessalonians4:3; 1 Corinthians 6:18; 7:1-5; Exodus 20:14; 1 Corinthians 6 9; Romans 1:24-27)