First baptist church ashville, ashivlle ohio // Our Faith

SALVATION:

"Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer.  In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, sanctification, and glorification."  Salvation is not earned by good works but rather given freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  Your salvation can not be taken away or lost.  It is eternal.

GOD:

"There is one and only one living and true God.   The eternal God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, without division of nature, essence, or being."

GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT:

"The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God.  He exalts Christ.  He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgement.  He enlightens and empowers the believers and the church in worship, evangelism, and service."

GOD THE SON:

"Christ is the eternal Son of God.  In His incarnation as Jesus Christ.  He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.  He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His death on the cross.  He made provision for the redemption of men from sin."

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 purposes of His grace.  God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ."

THE SCRIPTURES:

"The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is the record of God's revelation of Himself to man.  It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter.  The criterion by which the Bible is to be interpreted is Jesus Christ."

FAMILY:

"God has ordained the family as the foundatinal institution of human society.  Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime.  The husband and the 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.  Children from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord."

BAPTISM:

"Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water.  It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in the newness of life in Christ Jesus."

STEWARDSHIP:

"God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him.  Christians have a spiritual debtorship to whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel, and a binding stewardship in their possessions.  They are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions."

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...and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth.  this church is an autonomous body.  The New Testament speaks also of the church as the body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages."

LAST THINGS:

"God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end.  Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly.  The dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness.  The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell.  The righteous will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord."

EVANGELISM & MISSIONS:

"It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations.  To seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by personal effort."

MAN:

"Man was created by the special act of God, in His own image, and is the crowning work of His creation.  By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race.  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 man possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian Love."

THE KINGDOM:

"The Kingdom of God includes both His general sovereignty over the universe and His particualr kingship over men who willfully acknowledge Him as King.  Particularly the Kingdom is the realm of salvation into which men enter by trustful, childlike commitment to Jesus Christ.  the full consummation of the Kindgom awaits the return of Jesus Christ and the end of this age."