Sound doctrine is important to the life and health of our health. Here are some of the important things that we believe:
THE BIBLE
We believe the Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is the record of God’s revelation of Himself in history to men. As such, the Bible is the reliable, sufficient, inerrant, and authoritative guide for Christian faith and practice.
The basis from which the Bible is to be interpreted is the life and spirit of Jesus Christ.
Exodus 14:4; Deuteronomy 4:12; 17:19; Joshua 8:34; Psalms 19:7-10; 119:1-8: Isaiah 34:16; 40:8; Jeremiah 15:16; Matthew 5:17-18; 22:29; Luke 21:33; 24:44-46; John 5:39; 16:13-15; 17:17; Acts 2:16ff.; 17:11; Romans 15:5; 16:25-26; 2Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-2; 4:12; 1 Peter 1:25; 2 Peter 1:19-21
GOD
We believe there is but one eternal, true, and living God. He is the maker, ruler, and preserver of all things, having in and of Himself all perfections, and is spiritual, intelligent, and personal in His being. To Him men owe their highest love, reverence, and obedience.
God reveals Himself in history to men as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but is without division in His being.
2a. God the Father
As God the Father, God reigns with providential care over all His creation, participates in the stream of human history according to His gracious will, accepts men as His children as they commit themselves to His Son, Jesus Christ, and is fatherly in His attitude toward all men.
The Father is essentially the creative, directing, and loving being behind all created beings.
Genesis 1:1; 2:7; Exodus 3:14; 6:2-3; 15:11ff.; 20:1ff; Leviticus 22:2; Deuteronomy 6:4; 32:6; 1 Chronicles 29:10; Psalms 19:1-3; Isaiah 43:3, 15: 64:8; Jeremiah 10:10; 17:13; Matthew 6:9ff.; 7:11; 23:9; 28:19; Mark 1: 9-11; John 4:24; 5:26; 14:6-13; 17: 1-8; Acts 1:7; Romans 8: 14-15; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 4:6; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 11:6; 12:9; 1 Peter 1:17; 1 John 5 :7
2b. God the Son
As God the Son, God became man, Jesus of Nazareth, conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, thus, identifying Himself completely with men, yet living without sin- the goal toward which His followers by His help and by the prayers and loving counsel of each other are to strive in their living. He died upon the cross to make provision for the saving relationship of men to the Father. He was raised from the dead by the Father and appeared with a glorified body to his followers as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended unto the Father and is now the mediator through whom men pray to the Father. He also dwells with His followers as the living and ever-present Lord to direct, inspire, and judge their lives. He shall finally, in His own time and way with power and glory, judge the whole world and consummate His redemptive mission.
The Son, is essentially God exercising His redemptive will in the nature and history of men.
Genesis 18:1ff; Psalms 1:7ff; 110:1ff; Isaiah. 7:14; 53; Matthew 1:18-23; 3:17; 8:29; 11:27; 14:33; 16:16; 17:5, 27; 28:1-6, 19; Mark 1:1; 3:11; Luke 1:35; 4:41; 22:70; 24:46; John 1:1-18, 29; 20:30,38; 11:25-27; 12:44-50; 14:7-11;
16:15-16, 28; 17:1-5, 21-22; 20:1-20, 28; Acts 1:9; 2:22-24; 7:55-56; 9:4-5, 20; Romans 1: 3-4; 3:23-26; 5:6-21; 8:1-3, 34; 10:4; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2:2; 8:6; 15:1-8, 24-28; 2 Corinthians 5:10-21; Galatians 4: 4-5; Ephesians 1:20; 3:11; 4: 7-10; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1: 13-22; 2:9; 1 Thessalonians 4: 14-18; 1 Timothy 2: 5-6; 3:16; Titus 2: 13-14; Hebrews 1:1-3; 4:14-15; 7:14-28; 9:12-15, 24-28; 12:2; 13:8; 1 Peter 2:21-25; 3:22; 1 John 1: 7-9; 3:2; 4:14-15; 5:9-10; 2 John 7-9; Revelation 1:13-16; 5:9 -14; 12:10-11; 13:8; 19:16
2c. God the Holy Spirit
As God the Holy Spirit, God inspired men of old to write the Scriptures. He enables His people through illumination to recognize and understand spiritual truth so far as is humanly possible and according to individual gifts. He convicts men of sin, woos them toward Christ, and effects their salvation. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and also He awakens spiritual gifts with which His followers serve the Father through His church. He arouses assurance of salvation in His people and secures them into final redemption and the fullness of being like Christ as they faithfully serve Him. He enlightens and empowers His children as they join together in worship, service, and government.
The Holy Spirit is essentially God moving in the hearts of men to win them to Himself and to perform His will through their lives.
Genesis 1:2; Judges 14:6; Job 26:13; Psalms 51:11; 139:7ff; Isaiah 61: 1-3; Joel 2:28 -32; Matthew 1:18; 3:16; 4:1, 18-19; 11:13; 12:12; . 24:49; John 4:24; 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16: 7-14; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4, 38; 4:31; 5:3; 6:3; 7:55; 8:17,39; 10: ff .: 13:2; 15: 28; 4:6; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; 1 Timothy 3:16; 4:1; 2 Timothy 1:14; 3:16; Hebrew 9:8, 14; 2 Peter 1:21: 1 John 4:13; 5:6-7; Revelation 1:10; 22:17
MAN
We believe man was created by the special act of God in His own image and is the crowning work of His creation. In his beginning, man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his maker with freedom of choice. By the misuse of his freedom of choice, man rebelled in pride against God and brought sin into the human race; and his posterity inherits a nature and an environment inclined toward sin. Only the grace of God can bring men into a saving relationship with Him and enable men to fulfill His divine purpose in and through their lives. The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore, every person possesses dignity and worth, demanding respect and Christian love.
Genesis 1:26-30; 2:5,7, 18-22; 3; 9:6; Psalms 1; 8:3-6; 32:1-5; Isaiah 6:5; Jeremiah 17:5; Matthew 16:26; Acts 17:26-31; Romans 1:19-32; 3:10-18,23; 5:6, 12, 19; 6:6; 7: 14-25; 8:14-18,29; 1 Corinthians 1:21-31; 15:19; 21-22; Ephesians 2: 1-22; Colossians 1:21-22; 3:9-11
SALVATION
We believe salvation, in its broadest sense, involves the lifelong pilgrimage of faith of the followers of Christ whereby they grow in the likeness of Jesus Christ. Salvation involves the continuous commitment of the whole person, every facet of his life, for as long as he may live, in penitent response to God’s love revealed in His Son.
Salvation in this broad sense includes regeneration, sanctification, and glorification. Regeneration is the work of God’s grace whereby men who penitently turn from their sins and faithfully commit themselves to Christ as the Lord of their lives, become new creatures in Him, the beginning in regeneration, whereby the believer is progressively set apart from sin, and should continue throughout the blessed state of the followers of Christ with God in heaven.
Salvation is God’s deliverance of penitent men committed to Christ from the penalty of sin (regeneration), from the power of sin (sanctification), and finally from the very presence of sin (glorification).
Genesis 3:15; Exodus 3:14-17; 6:2-8; Matthew 1:21; 4:17; 16:21-26; 27:22; 28:6; Luke 1: 68-69; 2:28-32; John 1:11-14, 29; 3:3-21, 36; 5:24; 10:9, 28-29; 15:-16; 17:17; Acts2:21 ; 4:12; 15:11; 16:30-31; 17:30-31 ; 20:32; Romans 1:16-18; 2:4; 3:23-25 ; 4:3ff.; 5:8-10; 6:1-23; 8:1-18; 8:29-39; 9:24-28 ; 10:9-10,13; 13:11-14 ; 1 Corinthians 1:18,30; 6: 19-29; 15:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17-20; Galatians 2:20; 3:13; 4:22-25 ; 6:15; Ephesians 1:7; Ephesians 2:8-22; Hebrews 2:1-3; 11:1-12,14; 4:11-16; Philemon 2:12-13; Colossians 1:9-22; 3:1ff .; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 2 Timothy 1:12; Titus 2:11-14; James 2:14-26 ; 1 Peter 1:2-23; 1 John 1:6, 2:11; Revelation 3:20; 21:1; 22:5
THE CHURCH
The Church is the body of Christ- all Christians everywhere, in whom God dwells, through whom God continues to reveal Himself to the world, and to whom God has given the ministry of reconciliation of men unto Himself.
We also believe this church, Calvary Heights Baptist, is a local body of baptized believers in Christ associated by covenant with God and one another to be used of God for His purposes. This church is an autonomous body, governing itself through democratic processes in the spirit of Christ, with its members being equally responsible and privileged. Although an autonomous body, the local church may covenant with other Christian bodies for counsel, fellowship, and concentrated endeavors. The scriptural officers of the local church are the pastor and deacons. Its ordinances are baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
Matthew 16:15-19; 18:15-20; Acts 2:41-42,47; 5:11-14; 6:3-36; 13:1-3; 14:23,27; 15:1-30; 16:5; 20:28; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 3:16; 5:4-5; 7:17; 9:13-14; 12: 2 Corinthians 5:17-20; Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:19-22; 3:8-11; Ephesians 3:20-21; 5:22-23; Philemon 1:1; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 3:1-15; 1 Timothy 4:14; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Revelation 21:2-3
THE FAMILY
God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption.
Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God’s unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.
The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God’s image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.
Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God’s pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.
Genesis 1:26-28; 2:15-25; 3:1-20; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Joshua 24:15; 1 Samuel 1:26-28; Psalms 51:5; 78:1-8; 127; 128; 139:13-16; Proverbs 1:8; 5:15-20; 6:20-22; 12:4; 13:24; 14:1; 17:6; 18:22; 22:6,15; 23:13-14; 24:3; 29:15,17; 31:10-31; Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; 9:9; Malachi 2:14-16; Matthew 5:31-32; 18:2-5; 19:3-9; Mark 10:6-12; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 7:1-16; Ephesians 5:21-33; 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Timothy 5:8,14; 2 Timothy 1:3-5; Titus 2:3-5; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 3:1-7