While it would be impossible to share all our beliefs in this document, with no apologies we would refer you to the inspired Word of God. We want to be just as broad and as narrow as the Will of God as provided to us in His Word. While we learn from all of that Word, since Christ’s death, all men are under His will (Heb. 9:15-17). In that light, the following is a summary for your consideration.
WHAT WE BELIEVE AT LBC
OUR CORE VALUES
1. Bringing glory to God through personal and
corporate worship and Christian lifestyle.
2. Loving each other as Christ loves the Church.
3. Praying plays an important part in our Church
4. Preaching & teaching the Word of God to make
and grow disciples.
5. Reaching the community with the good news of
Jesus Christ.
STATEMENT OF FAITH
1. GOD'S WORD - THE BIBLE
We believe the 66 books of the Old & New Testament Scripture to be the inspired & inerrant word of God. That is, the fact they are God-breathed has guaranteed the full truthfulness of the very language of the original writers & so the Scriptures are without error in the original documents. These scriptures are a full & complete revelation of His will for the salvation of man and the final, divine authority on all matters that they affirm (and not just on faith & doctrine).
[ John 17:7; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21 ]
2. GOD
We believe in one God, creator of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son & Holy Spirit - these being the same in substance, equal in power & glory.
[ Genesis 1:26; Isaiah 6:8; John 15:26; Mark 1:10-11; Matthew 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14 ]
3. JESUS CHRIST
We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal son of God who became a man (flesh) when conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. According to the Scriptures He died on the cross in our place and for our sins (i.e. those of the whole world and not just the elect) a perfect and complete sacrifice for all people. He rose bodily from the dead and ascended into heaven where, now at the right hand of Majesty on High, He is the Lord of all things and our Great High Priest & Advocate. Having thus been made Lord, He sent the Holy Spirit from His & the Father's presence to represent Him as His only true vicar or representative on earth. A person trusting Christ as saviour receives the Holy Spirit who comes into the soul & spirit of that individual to effect the indwelling of Christ and administer His rule. Thus the work of the Holy Spirit within the Christian is the work of the exalted Christ.
[ Luke 1:26-35; John 1:1, 15:26, 16:7-15; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 Cor. 15:20; Hebrews 9:11-12; 1 John 2:1 ]
4. HOLY SPIRIT
We believe the ministry of the Holy Spirit is therefore to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, and during this age to convict the world of sin, of righteousness & judgement. Those regenerated are baptised by the Holy Spirit into one body, of which the Lord Jesus is the head, at the moment of their conversion. This is what the Bible means by the term 'baptism in the Spirit'.
[ Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33; Acts 1:5, 11:16; 1 Cor. 12:13; Galatians 1:9, 3:2 ]
5. SIN
We believe that Adam & Eve were directly created by God in His own image, but fell into sin when they chose to disobey. Through Adam's sin the entire human race is lost and this is evidenced through the fact that all people sin. Only through repentance & faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, can salvation & spiritual life be obtained. The atoning death & resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ provide the only ground for justification & salvation and only those who believe on Him as saviour - receiving Him by faith - are born of the Holy Spirit and so become the children of God.
[ Romans 3:23, 5:12; Galatians 3:22; John 3:3, 18; John 1:11-12 ]
6. REDEMPTION
We believe in the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ and that this blessed hope purifies & enlivens true Christian faith. We believe the balance of Scripture supports an imminent rapture of the Church and a millennial reign of Christ on earth. But while we desire that we receive positive teaching on eschatology we do not want to divide over it or infer that others with vary interpretations of orders of events can not also be Spirit-led Christians who love the Word of God.
[ Matthew 24:42-44; Mark 13:27-36, 14:32-37; Luke 12:37-40; 1 Cor. 1:7-8, 11:26; Phil. 3:20; 1 Thess. 2:19, 3:13; 4:13-18, 5:1-11; Titus 2:13; 1 Peter 3:11-12; 1 John 2:28; Revelation 3:11, 20:6 ]
7. ETERNITY
We believe in the bodily resurrection of all the dead - the believer to everlasting blessedness and joy with the Lord, the unbeliever eventually to judgement and everlasting conscious punishment.
[ Daniel 12:2; John 5:21-29 ]
8. THE CHURCH
We believe the universal Church is composed of all persons who have been saved by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, having been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and united together in the body of Christ of which He is the head. While maintaining our own distinctives, we believe we have a spiritual unity with all other truly converted Christians and therefore can join with them in joint activities. However, we do not believe in having organisational unity or being identified with groups that do not believe in the essentials of the Gospel (the deity of Christ, His atoning death, His bodily resurrection, & His final return to earth) or who do not allow the foundations of these in historical fact & in the full truthfulness of the Scriptures.
[ 1 Cor. 15:1-8; Matthew 16:18; Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 3:10; Mark 9:38-40; 2 Cor. 6:17; Acts 20:29-30; Romans 16:17; 2 Cor. 11:3-4; 1 Timothy 6: 3-5; 2 Timothy 2:14-18; Titus 3:10; Hebrews 13:9; 2 John 7-11 ]
9. BAPTISM & LORD'S SUPPER
We believe that the baptism of believers & the Lord's Supper are ordinances to be observed by believers as signs of salvation. By baptism we mean the immersion of believers on confession of their faith in Christ, which act as a symbol of identification with His death, burial & resurrection. Baptism in water is the outward portrayal of the baptism in the Spirit which has already occurred at the person's conversion.
By the Lord's Supper we mean a memorial of the sacrifice of the body & blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The two ordinances are not to be regarded as necessary to salvation or the means of receiving it, but rather as the way the Bible commands that this salvation should be outwardly declared & remembered.
[ Acts 2:42; 1 Cor. 10:16, 11:23-30; Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:16; Acts 8:36-38, 10:46-48, 18:8; Romans 6:3-4 ]
10. ISRAEL
We believe that Israel is God’s chosen national people (Genesis 28:13). In God’s sovereign will, Israel serves as a channel of His blessing to the entire world (Genesis 12:3) for His glory (Isaiah 43:7), and His witness to the nations (Isaiah 43:10). God’s election of Israel for this unique relationship is irrevocable (Romans 11:28-29).
We believe Israel is distinct from the church and central to God’s plan, past, present, and future. The unfulfilled prophecies given to Israel in the Old Testament will find their literal fulfilment in Israel at a future time (Psalm 105:6-10).
Important Note: The beliefs above are some that we as Christians in the Laidley Baptist Church hold. However, this is not intended to be an exclusive/exhaustive list. The “short answer” could be put this way…we strive to “speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent.” Another slogan that speaks to our beliefs and effort is, “In matters of faith, unity; in matters of opinion, liberty; and in all things love.”
May God’s blessings be yours…and may you be always His!