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Our Essential Beliefs
Listed below are the essential Biblical beliefs that we hold to. If you have questions about any of these or need further explanation, we would love to have a conversation with you.
The Trinity
We believe in one God existing eternally in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; equal in nature, power, and glory. We believe in the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Spirit, a Divine Person distinct from the Father and Son. Matthew 28:18-19, I Timothy 3:16, John 1:14, Hebrews 1:1-3, Revelation 1:4-6, Matthew 3:16-17
Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is the eternally begotten Son, conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary; that He is truly God and truly Man, the only mediator between God and Man. John 1:1,14, John 10:30, Luke 1:30-31, Philippians 2:5-7, Hebrews 9:11-15
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Christ died for the sins of the whole world, His death was a substitutionary atonement for our sins, and all who believe in Him are accounted righteous before God, justified, and given eternal life, solely through the merit of Christ on the ground of His shed blood. Romans 5:8, I Peter 2:21-24, II Corinthians 5:21, I John 2:2, Hebrews 2:9, Galatians 3:13
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We believe that Jesus Christ rose bodily from the dead on the third day; that He ascended into Heaven and now sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, as our High Priest and Advocate. Acts 1:10-11, Ephesians 4:10, Hebrews 1:3, 8:1-2, I John 2:1, Luke 24:39
Word of God
We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the Word of God; that these Holy Scriptures are verbally inspired of God and inerrant in the original writings; and that they are the final and supreme authority in faith and life. II Timothy 3:16, II Peter 1:21, Acts 1:16, Luke 24:27
Salvation
We believe that man was originally created in the image of God, but that through sin he brought upon himself and his posterity not only physical death, but also spiritual death, which is separation from God, that all human beings by physical birth possess a sinful nature and are, therefore, sinners in thought, word and deed; that in order to be restored to fellowship with God they must be born again of the Spirit of God. Genesis 1:26-27, Romans 5:12, I Timothy 5:6, Ephesians 2:1-3, John 3:3,6,7, John 5:24, Titus 3:5
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We believe that salvation is by grace through faith, and all who receive by faith the Lord Jesus Christ are born again into the family of God, made alive by the Spirit, and given a new life from God, and are thus eternally secure in Him. Hebrews 9:15, John 3:15-16, Romans 3:28, 4:3, 23-25, Ephesians 1:3, 12, 14, 4:30, John 17:23, Acts 1:8
The Church
The Church is a living spiritual body with Christ as the Head, and of which all regenerated people are members. We believe that the local church is a company of believers in Jesus Christ, immersed on a credible confession of faith, and associated for worship, the work of the ministry, and fellowship. We believe that to these local churches are committed for perpetual observance the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s supper. We believe that every believer has received a spiritual gift and is to minister to the members of the Body through the exercise of that gift. We also believe that God has laid upon the church the task of proclaiming to a lost world the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and upon receiving Him as Savior the necessity of enthroning Him as Lord and Master. Ephesians 1:22-23, 2:19-22, 5:25-27,31,32, I Corinthians 12:12-27, Romans 12:4-5, Ephesians 4:1-3, I Corinthians 1:10, Matthew 10:16-18, Acts 2:42-47, Colossians 3:14-15, I Corinthians 11:26, Acts 10:47-48, 16:32-33
Marriage
God has ordained marriage and defined it as the covenant relationship between a biological man and a biological woman, under God. Genesis 2:24, Matthew 5:32, Matthew 19:9, 1 Corinthians 7:2, 1 Corinthians 7:10-16, Hebrews 13:4
Life
All human life is sacred and created by God in His image. Human life is of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including pre-born babies, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death. We are therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life. Genesis 1:27, Genesis 9:6, Psalm 139, Isaiah 44:2, Isaiah 49:5, Jeremiah 1:5, Galatians 1:15
End of Time
We believe in the pretribulational rapture of the church and the personal, visible, premillennial return of our Lord Jesus Christ seven years later. Philippians 3:20-21, Acts 1:9-11, I Thessalonians 4:16-17, John 14:1-3, Titus 14:1-3, Titus 2:13, Matthew 24: 29-31.
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We believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead, both lost and saved; the everlasting blessedness of the saved, and the eternal damnation of the lost. Luke 23:43, II Corinthians 5:8, Luke 16:22-25, I Corinthians 15:22-25, Hebrews 9:27, Revelation 20:5, 11-15, Philippians 1:23, I Thessalonians 4:15-18, II Thessalonians 1:7-9.
Government
Every human being is responsible to God alone in all matters of faith; that each church is independent and autonomous and must be free from interference by any ecclesiastical or political authority, that, therefore, Church and State must be kept separate as having different functions, each fulfilling its duties free from the dictates or patronage of the other. Deuteronomy 24:16, Ezekiel 18:5, 20-21
Christian Life
We believe that all believers are called into a life of separation from worldly and sinful practices. That we are called with a holy calling, to walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, and so to live in the power of the indwelling Spirit, that we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. We are to live in such a manner so as not to cause others to stumble or bring reproach upon the name of Christ. I John 2:15, 16, Romans 14:13, 13:14, I Corinthians 10:31, Ephesians 2:10, Ephesians 4:22-24, Colossians 2:1-1, I Peter 1:14-15, Galatians 5:16-23
Extra
The doctrinal statement does not exhaust the extent of our beliefs. The Bible itself, as the inspired and infallible Word of God that speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality, and the proper conduct of mankind, is the ultimate and final source of all that we believe. For the purposes of First Baptist Church of Collingdale’s faith, doctrine, practice, policy, and discipline, our pastor and board of elders are the church’s final interpretive authority on the Bible’s meaning and application.
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