What We Believe
Victory Baptist Church holds the following statement of faith to be a summary of its doctrine, whose authority consists only in its agreement with the Word of God.
I. THE SCRIPTURES
We believe in the authority and sufficiency of the Holy Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments. We believe that the Bible is divinely inspired by God, and therefore is infallible and inerrant in all matters of which it speaks. We believe that the very God of whom the Scripture speaks is the same Almighty God who preserved and protected His Word for us. We believe that the Word of God is the sole authority for faith and practice.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 ; 2 Peter 1:19-21 ; Matthew 24:35 ; Isaiah 8:20
Note: We believe that the King James or Authorized Version of 1611 is the very Bible or Word that God has promised to preserve.
II. THE TRUE GOD
We believe there is one and only one living and true God, an infinite Spirit, the Maker and Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth; inexpressibly glorious in holiness, and worthy of all possible honor, confidence and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, equal in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.
Exodus 20:2-3 ; 1 Corinthians 8:6 ; Revelation 4:11 ; John 4:24 ; John 10:30 ; Matthew 28:19
III. THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature; that He was active in the creation; that in His relation to the unbelieving world He restrains the Evil One until God’s purpose is fulfilled. He convicts of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; He bears witness to the truth of the gospel in preaching and testimony; He is the Agent in the new birth; He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies, and helps the believer.
John 14:16-17,26 ; Heb. 9:14 ; Luke 1:35 ; Romans 8:14,16; Romans 8:26-27 ; Ephesians 1:13
IV. CREATION
We believe the Biblical account of the creation of the physical universe, angels and man; that this account is neither allegory nor myth, but a literal, historical account of the direct, immediate creative acts of God without any evolutionary process; that man was created by a direct work of God and not from previously existing forms of life; and that all men are descended from the historical Adam and Eve, first parents of the entire human race.
Genesis 1-2 ; Colossians 1:16-17 ; John 1:3
V. THE FALL OF MAN
We believe that man was created in innocence under the law of His Maker, but by voluntary transgression Adam fell from his sinless and happy state, and all men sinned in him, in consequence of which all men are totally depraved, are partakers of Adam’s fallen nature, and are sinners by nature and by conduct, and therefore are under just condemnation without defense or excuse.
Genesis 3:1-6 ; Romans 3:10-19 ; Romans 5:8-10,12 ; Romans 5:19
VI. THE VIRGIN BIRTH
We believe that Jesus was begotten of the Holy Spirit in a miraculous manner, born of Mary, a virgin, as no other man was ever born or can be born of woman, and that He is both the Son of God and God the Son.
Genesis 3:15 ; Isaiah 7:14 ; Matthew 1:18-25 ; Luke 1:35 ; John 1:14
VII. THE DEVIL, OR SATAN
We believe in the reality and personality of Satan, the Devil, and that he was created by God as an angel but through pride and rebellion became the enemy of His Creator; that he became the unholy god of this age and is destined to the judgment of an eternal justice in the Lake of Fire.
Matthew 4:1-11 ; 2 Corinthians 4:4 ; Revelation 20:10
VIII. SALVATION
We believe that the salvation of sinners is divinely initiated and wholly of grace though the mediatory offices of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who, by the appointment of the Father, voluntarily took upon Himself our nature, yet without sin, and honored the divine law by His personal obedience, thus qualifying Himself to be our Savior; that by the shedding of His blood in His death, He fully satisfied the just demands of a holy and righteous God regarding sin; that His sacrifice consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was a voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner’s place, the just dying for the unjust, Christ the Lord bearing our sins in His own body on the tree; that having risen from the dead He is now enthroned in heaven, and uniting in His wonderful person the tenderest sympathies with divine perfecting, He is in every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate and an all-sufficient Savior.
Jonah 2:9 ; Ephesians 2:8-9 ; Romans 3:24-25 ; John 3:16 ; Hebrews 2:14-17 ; 1 Peter 2:24 ; 2 Corinthians 5:21
IX. THE RESURRECTION AND PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST
We believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ and in His ascension into heaven, where He now sits at the right hand of the Father as our High Priest, interceding for us.
Matthew 28:6-7 ; Luke 24:39 ; John 20:27 ; 1 Corinthians 15:4 ; Acts 1:9-11 ; Hebrews 8:6 ; 1 Timothy 2:5
X. JUSTIFICATION
We believe that the great gospel blessing which Christ secures to those who receive His salvation by grace through faith, is justification. That justification includes the pardon of sin and the promise of eternal life realized as a present possession; that justification is that judicial act of God whereby He declares the believer righteous upon the basis of the imputed righteousness of Christ; that it is bestowed, not in consideration of any works of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in the Redeemer’s shed blood.
Romans 3:24 ; Romans 4:5 ; Romans 5:1,9 ; Galatians 2:16 ; Philippians 3:9
XI. REPENTANCE AND FAITH
We believe that repentance and faith are sacred duties, and also inseparable graces, wrought in our souls by the regenerating Spirit of God, whereby, being deeply convinced of our guilt, danger, and helplessness, and of the way of salvation by Christ, we turn to God with unfeigned contrition, confession and supplication for mercy and at the same time we heartily receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Prophet, Priest and King and rely on Him alone as the only and all-sufficient Savior.
Acts 11:18 ; Acts 20:21{/bible}; Romans 10:9 ; 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10
XII. THE SECURITY OF THE SAINTS
We believe “once saved, always saved”, that all who are truly born again are kept by the power of God for all of time and eternity.
Philippians 1:6 ; John 10:28-29 ; Romans 8:35-39 ; 1 Peter 1:5
XIII. THE CHURCH
We believe the church to be the New Testament organization founded by Christ for the purpose of carrying out the great commission: that it has Christ for its Head, the Holy Spirit for its Administrator; that it is a called out assembly of baptized believers organized in the fellowship of the gospel, observing the ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, and exercising the gifts, rights and privileges invested in them by His Word; that its only scriptural officers are bishops or pastors and deacons, whose qualifications, claims and duties are defined in the Word of God.
Acts 2:41-42,47 ; Matthew 28:19-20 ; Matthew 18:17 ; 1 Timothy 3:1-13 ; Titus 1:5-9
XIV. BAPTISM AND THE LORD’S SUPPER
- Baptism:
We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion in water of a believer in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our identification with the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, through whom we died to sin and rose to a new life. - The Lord’s Supper:
We believe that the Lord’s Supper is a memorial supper in which the members of the church commemorate together the dying love of Christ until He comes, always to be preceded by solemn self-examination.
Note: Baptism does not save a person, but is an outward sign of an inward experience; therefore, we reject "baptismal regeneration", and "infant baptism".
Acts 8:36-39 ; Acts 2:41-42 ; 1 Corinthians 11:23-28 ; Romans 6:3-5
XV. MARRIAGE AND THE HOME
We believe that the home was the first institution God provided for man; and that marriage is a sacred relationship and is used as an emblem of the union of Christ and His Church. "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."
Mark 10:9 ; Genesis 2:12-24 ; Hebrews 13:4 ; Ephesians 5:21-23
Note: We believe that the marriage of a believer to an unbeliever is forbidden in Scripture.
2 Corinthians 6:14 ; Deuteronomy 7:3-4 ; Exodus 34:16
XVI. GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT
We believe that God has given "gifts" to all of His blood bought children; that God is sovereign in the bestowing of all His gifts, and that the gifts of evangelists, pastors, and teachers are God’s provision for the edification of the saints today.
Ephesians 4:7-12 ; Romans 12:6-8 ; 1 Corinthians 12:4-31
Note: We believe that the “working of sign miracles” and "speaking in tongues" does not exist in the church today. We believe that they “ceased” as the New Testament Scriptures were completed, and Its authority became established.
1 Corinthians 13:8-11 ; Hebrews 2:3-4
XVII. THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED
We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that only those who are justified by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and sanctified by the Spirit of God are truly righteous in His esteem; while all such as continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked and under the curse; and this distinction holds among men both in and after death.
1 John 5:19 ; Revelation 20:14-15 ; Matthew 25:34-41 ; John 14:1-4 ; Romans 6:17-18
XVIII. LAST THINGS
We believe that the Scriptures teach that the end of this age is approaching (1 Peter 4;7 ). We believe in the "Blessed Hope", the personal, visible, imminent, pre-tribulation return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Acts 1:11 ; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 ). We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and of the unjust; the everlasting blessedness of the saved, and the everlasting punishment of the lost.
Daniel 12:2-3 ; Acts 24:15 ; Revelation 22:11