Shenandoah Baptist Church

Our Beliefs

God

There is one and only one true and living God. Deuteronomy 6:4 He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Nehemiah 9:6 Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being. II Corinthians 13:14; Matthew 28:18-19; I Chronicles 29:11; Acts 17:24

Election is the gracious purpose of God, Romans 8:29; Romans 9:11; Romans 11:5; Matthew 13:20 according to which He regenerate sanctifies and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of man, and comprehends all the means in connection with the end. It is a glorious display of God's sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise, holy, and unchangeable. It excludes boasting and promotes humility. James 4:6; I Peter 5:5-6

All true believers endure to the end, those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall preserve to the end. Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, Ephesians 4:30 impair their graces and comforts, bring reproach on the cause of Christ, and temporal judgments on themselves, yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

God the Father

God as Father reigns with providential care over His Universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purpose of His Grace. He is all-powerful, Genesis 1:1; Psalm 93:1-2; Psalm 95:3-5 all loving, John 3:16 and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men. Matthew 6:9

God the Son

Christ is the eternal Son of God. I John 1:1-2 In His incarnation as Jesus Christ, He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Luke 2:26-33; Matthew 1:23 Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself the demands and necessities of human nature and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. John 12:45; John 14:9 He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His death on the cross. He made provisions for the redemption of man from sin. I Corinthians 15:3-4 He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. John 20:11-29; I Corinthians 15:5-9 He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God Acts 1:9-11; Matthew 28:18 where He is the One Mediator, I Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 4:14-16; I John 2:1 partaking the nature of God and man, and in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord. John 17:21-23

God the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. John 15:26; John 16:7 He inspired men of old to write the scriptures. II Peter 1:21 Through illumination, He enables men to understand truth. John 16:13 He exalts Christ. John 16:14 He convicts of Sin, of righteousness and of judgment. John 16:8-11 He calls men to the Saviour, and effects regenerations. He cultivates Christian character comfort believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. Ephesians 1:13; II Corinthians 1:22 His presence in the Christian is the assurance of God to bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. Ephesians 4:13; Colossians 2:9 He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service. I Thessalonians 2:7, 13

Man

Man was created by the special act of God, in His own image, Genesis 1:27 and is the crowning work of His creation. Genesis 1:26 In the beginning, man was innocent of sin and was endowed by His Creator with freedom of choice. Genesis 2:16-17 By his free choice, man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Genesis 3:1-6; Romans 5:12; Romans 5:78 Through the temptation of Satan, man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original innocence; whereby his posterity inherits a nature and an environment inclined toward sin, and as soon as they are capable of moral action, become transgressors and are under condemnation. Only the Grace of God can bring men into His Holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God. Ephesians 2:8-10 The sacredness of human personality is evident in the God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for men; therefore every man possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love. John 3:16; I John 1:8; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23

Salvation

Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption of the believers. In its broadest sense, salvation includes regeneration, sanctification, and glorification. Titus 3:5; Matthew 11:28-30; I Corinthians 15:3-4; Revelation 1:5

Regeneration - Regeneration, or new birth, is a work of God's grace, whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:8-10 It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. John 1:12; John 3:3; John 3:7; John 10:27-29 Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace. Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Matthew 4:17 Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Saviour. Justification is God's gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. Justification brings the believer into a relationship of peace and favor with God. Titus 2:14
Sanctification - Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God's purpose, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual perfection through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate person's life. I Corinthians 6:11; I Corinthians 1:2; I Corinthians 1:30; II Thessalonians 2:13
Glorification - Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed. I Corinthians 13:8-13; Romans 8:30; I Corinthians 6:20; John 17:10; II Thessalonians 1:10

Scripture

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is the record of God's revelation of Himself to man. II Timothy 3:16-17 It is the perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture of error for its matter. It reveals the principles by which God judges us; and therefore is and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian unions and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. The criterion by which the Bible is to be interpreted is Jesus Christ. II Peter 1:19-21; Psalm 19:7-8

Baptism and the Lord's Supper

Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19 It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believers faith in a crucified, buried and risen Saviour, the believers death to sin, the burial of the old life and resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is a prerequisite to the privilege of church membership and to the Lord's supper. Acts 2:41-42; Acts 2:46-47

The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipates His second coming. I Corinthians 11:23-34

It's Institution: Christian Baptism was instituted by Jesus Christ when He submitted to John the Baptist's baptism in the Jordan River. He adopted its form but with a change of meaning. Matthew 3:13-17; Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 1:4-11; Luke 3:16
It's Administration: Immersion in water - Greek word "Baptismo" means "to dip, to plunge under, to submerge". Matthew 3:6; Acts 8:38-39; Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12
It's Subjects: No place in the New Testament speaks of "pedo baptism" (children). Always of Believers. Mark 16:16; Acts 2:41; Acts 8:12; Acts 8:36-37; Acts 16:15-33
It's Obligation: All are to believe - Repent for Salvation. Acts 2:38; Romans 6:3-5
It's Commemorative: In retrospect - points back to Christ's humiliation (Death, Burial, & Resurrection). Romans 6:4-8; Colossians 2:12; Ephesians 4:5; I Corinthians 12:13
It's Predictive: Looking forward - anticipation - prefigures the resurrection of our body from the grave. Romans 6:4,5,8,11
It's Emblematic: A confession of Faith - Christ's death and burial for sin. Luke 12:50; Matthew 20:22-23 The resurrection of Saints. Romans 6:5 Outward sign of inward cleansing and change.

It's Institution: At the conclusion of the Passover Feast. (When? Where?) Matthew 26:20-29; Mark 14:12-25; Luke 22:7-20; I Corinthians 11:23-26
It's Administration: A loaf of bread (broken), a cup poured out "In Remembrance of Me". Luke 22:19-20; Matthew 26:26-27; I Corinthians 11:24-25
It's Subjects: Believers in Christ, the Redeemed. I Corinthians 11:24-30
It's Obligation: It is a sacred privilege for every Christian to remember his or her Lord in the observance of the Supper, and it is a solemn duty as well. Matthew 26:26-28; Luke 22:19
It's Commemorative: Pascal feast leaving Egyptian bondages. Lamb without spot or blemish. Exodus 12; I Corinthians 11:24-26
It's Predictive: Not only looking back to His suffering but onward to the triumph and glory of Christ's second coming. Matthew 26:29; I Corinthians 11:26
It's Emblematic: Designed to commemorate the death of Christ for human redemption and to be a perpetual memorial in His churches and to His people of His sacrifice for men. Matthew 26:29; I Corinthians 5:7-8; I Corinthians 10:16-17; I Corinthians 11:26

The Church

A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a local body of baptized believers who are associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the two ordinances of Christ, committed to His teachings, exercising the gifts, rights and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:6

This church is an autonomous body, operating through democratic processes under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In such a congregation, members are equally responsible. Its Scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. I Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9; Acts 14:23; Acts 20:28

The New Testament speaks also of the church as the body of Christ, which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages. Colossians 1:18; Colossians 1:24