WHAT WE BELIEVE:

The Scriptures

We believe that all Scripture is given by the inspiration of God, by which we understand that the whole Bible (the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments) is inspired in the sense that the Holy Spirit moved holy men of God to write the very words of Scripture. We believe that this divine inspiration extends equally and fully to all parts of the Scripture in the original manuscripts. We believe that the whole Bible, in its original languages, is without error. (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21)

The Godhead

We believe that there is only one God, but in the unity of the Godhead, there are three eternal and coequal persons — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, known as the Trinity. These three are the same in essence, having precisely the same nature, attributes, and perfections, and are worthy of the same glory, confidence, and obedience. (Mat. 28:18-19; Mk. 12:29; Jn. 1:14; Acts 5:3-4; 2 Cor. 13:14)

God the Father

We believe that God the Father is the Creator of all things through Jesus Christ, and He continues to sustain and preserve all things. In His nature, God the Father is completely holy, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, eternal, just, loving, and good. He is totally sovereign in all things past, present, and future. As such, God, by His own choosing, elected a people for Himself. He sent His only Son as the atonement for our sin. He is the Father of His people and is their provider and disciplinarian. (Psa. 139:1-18; Mat. 3:1, 6:30-32; Acts 17:29; Gal. 3:26; Eph. 1:3-6; Col. 1:16; 1 Jn. 1:5)

God the Son

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God, became wholly man without ceasing to be wholly God. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary so that he might reveal God to man and redeem sinful man. We believe that He accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice. We believe that our salvation is guaranteed by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is now in heaven, exalted at the right hand of God, where, as High Priest, He is Intercessor and Advocate for all believers. (Lk. 1:35; Jn. 1:1, 14, 18; Rom. 3:24-26, 4:25; Heb. 1:3; 1 Jn. 2:1, 2)

God the Holy Spirit

We believe that God the Holy Spirit is that Person of the Trinity who restrains evil in the world and convict’s men of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He also regenerates those who would receive Christ as Savior and baptizes them at the moment of salvation into the Body of Christ, which is the Church. He indwells them permanently and seals them unto the day of redemption. The Holy Spirit bestows upon the believer spiritual gifts and empowers those yielded to Him. The Holy Spirit leads, instructs, and fills believers as they are yielded to Him and are steadfast in the study of the Scriptures and in prayer. In all these, it is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to give the glory to Jesus Christ. We believe that enabling gifts for service are bestowed according to God's own will upon all believers by the Holy Spirit to be exercised for the glory of God and the edification of the Church. These gifts are sovereignly bestowed by God to fulfill specific purposes in His program. We believe that, as a sign to unbelievers, the biblical gift of speaking in tongues was speaking in existing languages which the speaker had never learned, and that it was never the common or necessary sign of the baptism or filling of the Spirit. We further believe that while God may choose to heal supernaturally, the healing of the temporal body is not assured by Christ's atoning work on the cross, and that the complete deliverance of the body from sickness awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection. (Gen. 6:3; Jn. 3:8, 14:16-17, 16:7-11; Rom. 8:23; 1 Cor. 12:4-11, 27-31, 14:21-22; Eph. 4:7-13, 30, 5:18; 2 Thes. 2:7; Titus 3:5)

The Angels and Satan

We believe that angels are spiritual beings who were created in a sinless state. We believe that Satan, the Devil, is a fallen angel who, by his own choice, is an enemy of God and introduced sin into the world. We believe that he tempted Adam and Eve to sin and rules as the god of this world. Satan was judged guilty at the cross and will ultimately be cast into the lake of fire for eternity. (Gen. 3:1-19; Isa. 14:12-14; Heb. 2:13-14, 2:14; 2 Pet. 2:4; Rev. 7:12, 20:10)

The Creation and Fall of Man

We believe that man was created in the image and after the likeness of God, free from sin. He subsequently fell into sin by a voluntary act of personal disobedience to the revealed will of God, lost his spiritual life, and became dead in sins and corrupt in nature. These effects of sin have been transmitted to the entire human race, Jesus Christ excepted, and thus every person born into the world is alienated from the life of God and incapable of remedying his lost and depraved condition apart from divine grace. (Gen. 1:26, 2:17, 3:1-24, 6:5; Psa. 51:5; Rom. 3:10-19, 5:12-19; Eph. 2:1-3)

Salvation by Grace and Eternal Security

We believe that salvation, the gracious gift of God, is freely offered to all, but individually received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. His shed blood provides for the forgiveness of sin and satisfies all of God's righteous demands for our salvation. Salvation by grace through faith, of necessity, excludes all of man's attempts to procure salvation by good works of any kind, including baptism, partaking of the communion meal, or any other church ordinance. We believe that a Christian, also called a believer, is any person who has placed their faith solely and completely in the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross on their behalf, embracing the doctrine of salvation by grace. All the redeemed, having been born again, are retained in that state by the power of God and are, therefore, secure in Christ forever, without interruption. The believer's assurance of salvation is based upon the declared Word of God and is reassured by the Holy Spirit. (Jn. 3:16-18, 10:26-30; Rom. 3:24-26, 6:23, 8:1, 16, 38-39; Eph. 2:8-10; 1 Jn. 5:11-13)

Sanctification

We believe that having been justified once and for all through the death and resurrection of Christ, the believer is counted righteous before God, and in Christ is set apart unto God. However, since the believer remains in this world, influenced by the world, the flesh, and Satan, there is a need for progressive sanctification (spiritual growth) whereby the believer matures in grace by the power of the Holy Spirit. Ultimately, the child of God will be wholly sanctified when he is taken to be with Christ and becomes like Him. (Jn. 17:17; 2 Cor. 3:18; Eph. 5:25-26, 6;13-17; 1 Thes. 5:23; Heb. 10:10, 14; 2 Pet. 3:18; 1 Jn. 3:2-3)

The Church

We believe that the universal Church, the body and bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism comprised of all born-again persons from Pentecost to the rapture and is distinct from Israel. Every individual believer is made a part of the Church at the moment of salvation. We believe that the local church is an assembly of born-again believers in Jesus Christ who are voluntarily joined together in submission to the spiritual leaders in one locality, and as such, Parkview Baptist Church is a local, visible manifestation of His global, invisible Body. We believe that God has established elders to oversee and govern the local church and charged them with guiding and protecting His flock. In addition, God has called all believers to be part of a local congregation and to submit to their local elders and be accountable to one another. (Mat. 16:16-18; Acts 2:42-47, 20:28; 1 Cor. 12:12-27; Eph. 4:3-10; 1 Thes. 5:12-13; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11; Heb. 13:17; I Pet. 5:1-3)

The Ordinances

We believe that Christ instituted the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper to be observed by believers until He returns. We believe in baptism by immersion for those who have professed faith in Jesus Christ. We believe that by water baptism, a believer is publicly identified with our Savior in His death, burial, and resurrection, and that it is not a condition of salvation. We believe that the Lord's Supper is a memorial of Christ's death by which He established the new covenant. The elements of the Lord's supper are symbols of His body and blood. After solemn self-examination, every believer has a right to celebrate the Lord's Supper. (Mat. 28:19,20; Lk. 22:7-20; Acts 2:41, 8:36-39; 1 Cor. 11:23-26; Jas. 3:23)

The Dispensations

We believe that the Scriptures recognize various dispensations as periods of time that demonstrate God's relationship with His people. Three of these dispensations are extensively revealed in the Scriptures: the past dispensation of Mosaic Law, the present dispensation of Grace (the Church Age), and the future dispensation of the Millennial Kingdom. In every age, salvation is the gift of God by grace, which is received by faith and based upon the shed blood of Jesus Christ. (Gen. 12:1-5; 15:6; 1 Cor. 9:17; Eph. 1:10, 3:2-11; Col. 1:25; Heb. 11:6)

The Second Coming

We believe in the personal, imminent coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to receive to Himself all those, alive and dead, who belong to Him. This blessed hope is the rapture of the Church, for which all believers should be constantly looking. Scripture also teaches that a period of great tribulation is coming. This time will end with the Lord Jesus Christ and His saints establishing His millennial kingdom on the earth. (1 Thes. 4:13-18; 2 Thes. 1:7-9; Titus 2:11-14; Rev. 20: 11-15)

The Eternal State

We believe that at death the souls of believers pass immediately into the presence of Jesus Christ. When Christ returns for the Church, they will be reunited with their glorified bodies and associated with Him forever in glory. At death, the souls of unbelievers pass immediately into conscious torment in Hades. At the close of the millennium, they will be reunited with their bodies, judged before the great white throne, then cast into the lake of fire, not to be destroyed but to be punished with everlasting separation from the presence of the Lord. (Lk. 16:19-26; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; 2 Thes. 1:7-9; Rev. 20:11-15)