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.  He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise.  God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

(Genesis 1:1, 26, 27, 3:22; Psalm 90:2; Matthew 28:19; 1 Peter 1:2; 2 Corinthians 13:14)

God the Son - Jesus Christ

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.  Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself human nature with its demand and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind, yet without sin.  He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross.  He made provision for the redemption of men from sin.  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.  He ascended into Heaven and is now exalted  at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man.  He will return in power and glory to judge the world and consummate His redemption mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord.

(Matthew 1:22-23 Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1-5; Hebrews 4:14; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Romans 1:3-4; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Timothy 6:14-15; Titus 2:13)

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine.  He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures.  Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ.  He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.  He calls men to the Savior, and effects regeneration.  At the moment of regeneration, He baptizes every believer into the body of Christ.  He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church.  He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption.  His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ.  He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.

(2 Corinthians 3:17; John 16:7-13, 14:16, 17; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 2:12, 3:16, Ephesians 1:13, Galatians 5:25)

The Bible

The Holy Bible was written by man divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man.  It is a 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.  Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy.

(2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20, 21; 2 Timothy 1:13; Psalm 19:105, 160, 12:6; Proverbs 30:5)

Man or Human Beings

Man is a special creation of God, made in His own image.  He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation.  The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God’s creation.  In the beginning, man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his creator with freedom of choice.  By his free choice, man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race.  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 toward sin.  Therefore, as soon as they are capable of moral action, they become transgressors and are under condemnation.  Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God.  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 of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.

(Genesis 1:27; Psalm 8:3-6, Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:23; Isaiah 59:1-2)

Salvation

Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered free 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, justification, sanctification, and glorification.  There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

(Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8, 9; John 14:6, 1:12; Titus 3:5)

Eternal Life

Because God gives us eternal life through Jesus Christ, the true believer is secure in that salvation for eternity.  If you have been genuinely saved, you cannot “lose” it.  Salvation is maintained by the grace and power of God, not by the self-effort of the Christian.  It is the grace and keeping power of God that gives us this security. 

(John 10:29; 2 Timothy 1:12; Hebrews 7:25, 10:10, 14; 1 Peter 1:3-5; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8,9; John 14:6, 1:12; Titus 3:5; Galatians 3:26; Romans 5:1)

Eternity

People were created to exist forever.  We will either exist eternally separated from God by sin, or eternally with God through forgiveness and salvation by Jesus Christ.  To be eternally separated from God is Hell.  To be eternally in union with Him is eternal life.  Heaven and Hell are real places of eternal existence.

(John 3:16; John 14:17; Romans 6:23; Romans 8:17-18; Revelation 20:15; 1 Corinthians 2:7-9)

Northside Baptist Church affirms the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 in its entirety. This summary includes selected highlights from that larger statement of faith. The entire statement, including the Scripture references for each section, is available here.