Statement of Faith
Living Hope Baptist Church of North Charleston

 

The Holy Scriptures

  1. The Bible (66 books of the Old and New Testaments) is the basis for our Statement of Faith and the final Authority in all matters of faith and practice. We believe the Bible is the very Word of God, and that it was written down by men who were moved by the Holy Spirit so that their writings, in the original manuscripts, were supernaturally and verbally inspired by God and free from error.  (II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:19-21; Revelation 22:18-19)

 

  1. To avoid confusion, all public readings, preaching, and group Scripture memorization at our church should be from the King James Version, as we believe it has been faithfully translated from the preserved Word of God (the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Scriptures and the Received Text of the Greek New Testament) and is the best English translation of these texts presently available. (Psalm 12:6-7; Isaiah 40:8; Matthew 24:35; I Peter 1:23-25)

 

The Triune God

  1. We believe there is one God, eternally existing in three coequal persons, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (Genesis 1:26; Matthew 3:16-17; 28:19; Mark 9:7; Luke 1:35; I Peter 1:2)

 

  1. We believe God the Father is perfect in holiness, boundless in love, infinite in wisdom, measureless in power. He mercifully superintends the affairs of men, while hearing and answering prayers.  He is the object of our worship and praise, saving from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ, His Son.  (Genesis 1:1; 17:1; Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Isaiah 43:10-11; Matthew 28:19; John 4:24; 14:6; Ephesians 1:2-3)

 

  1. We believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God, Creator and Sustainer of all creation. He was pre-existent with the Father, and His incarnation was by means of the virgin birth.  He is sinless in His nature and life, and infallible in His teaching, making atonement for the sins of the world by His substitutionary death on the cross.  We believe in His bodily resurrection, His ascension into Heaven, His perpetual intercession for His people, and His glorious second advent according to His promise.  (Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6-7; 53:6; John 1:1-3, 14; 8:58; 10:30; Romans 9:5; Philippians 2:5-11; I Timothy 3:16; Revelation 1:7, 17-18)

 

  1. We believe in the deity and personality of the Holy Spirit. We believe that He came from God to convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and to regenerate, sanctify, indwell, comfort, and empower those who are believers in Jesus Christ.  We believe that the Holy Spirit is the Divine Teacher Who guides believers into truth.  (Genesis 1:2, 26; Luke 1:35; John 14:16-17, 26; 15:26-27; 16:8-11, 13; Acts 5:3-4; Romans 8:14, 16, 26-27; I Corinthians 2:10-11; Ephesians 1:13-14; I Peter 1:2)

 

Creation

We believe that God created the universe in six literal, 24-hour periods and then rested on the seventh day.  (Genesis 1-2; Exodus 20:11)

 

Satan

We believe in the reality and personality of Satan, a created angelic being who rebelled against God, became His declared enemy, and will be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire.  (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:14-17; Matthew 4:1-3; 25:41; Revelation 12:9-10; 20:1-3, 7-10)

 

Mankind

  1. We believe that man was created in the image of God, but he sinned against God and thereby incurred not only physical death, but also spiritual death, which is separation from God. We believe that all human beings are born with the inclination to disobey God, which results in acts of sin against Him.  We believe that because of man’s sin nature, he is utterly unable to remedy his lost condition by his own efforts.  God commands all men everywhere to repent.  The Lord does not desire for anyone to perish in his sins, but for all to come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved.  (Genesis 3:1-6; Psalm 51:6; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Isaiah 53:6; Jeremiah 17:9; Ezekiel 18:19-20; Acts 17:23-26, 30; Romans 3:10, 23; Ephesians 2:1-3; I Timothy 2:4-6; II Peter 3:9)

 

  1. We see in the Scriptures that God began the human race by creating Adam and Eve as male and female. Their gender identities were a gift from God to them, as part of the goodness of His creation.  We are reminded in the Psalms that all of us are God’s handiwork and are “wonderfully made.”  We believe that human life begins at conception and that unborn children are living human beings.  Life is a gift from God and must be respected from the time of conception until natural death.  (Genesis 1:27, 31; Exodus 20:13; Psalm 139:14-16; Isaiah 44:24; 49:1, 5; Jeremiah 1:5; 20:15-18; Luke 1:44)

 

  1. It is the belief of Living Hope Baptist Church that the only marriage bond sanctioned by God, as shown in the Scriptures, is the union of a man (natural born male) and a woman (natural born female). Therefore, Living Hope Baptist Church sanctions only ceremonies that are compatible with this Biblical standard.  We also believe that God intends a marriage to last until one spouse dies, and that He allows for – but does not require – divorce only on the grounds of fornication.  (Genesis 2:18-25; Leviticus 18:22; Malachi 2:14-17; Matthew 19:3-9; Romans 1:18-27; 7:1-3; Ephesians 5:22-33; Hebrews 13:4)

 

Sin

We believe that sin is the transgression of the law of God.  We believe that sin separates man from a holy, sinless God.  The wages of sin is death, which is separation from God in this life and throughout eternity, and there is no remission of sin apart from the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.  (Genesis 3:14, 18; Isaiah 53:13; Matthew 7:23; Romans 1:18-32; 5:12; 6:23; Hebrews 9:22, 27; James 4:17; I John 3:4; Revelation 20:15)

 

Salvation

We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace.  It is the free gift of God to anyone who receives the Lord Jesus Christ through faith.  Though without sin, Jesus Christ freely took upon Himself a human form, and, by the shedding of His blood and death on the cross, He made atonement for the sins of the whole world.  All those who believe on Jesus for salvation are justified and born again, thereby becoming the children of God and experiencing eternal life with Him.  (John 3:16; 6:47; Acts 16:31; Romans 3:24; 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9; Philippians 2:5-8; Titus 3:5; Hebrews 4:15; I John 2:2; 5:12-13)

 

Security of the Believer

We believe that all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation receive the gift of everlasting life and are kept by God’s power, being secure in Christ forever.  (John 1:12; 3:16; 6:39; 10:28-29; Romans 8:28-39; Philippians 1:6; I Peter 1:5; Jude 24-25)

 

The Church

  1. We believe that the Church is the body and the espoused bride of Christ. It is a spiritual organism consisting of born-again believers in Jesus Christ.  We believe that the local church is clearly taught in the New Testament, being described as a “called-out assembly” of believers in Jesus Christ, who have been baptized after a confession of faith, and who associate with one another for worship, fellowship, and equipping to carry out the Great Commission.  We believe that God has laid upon these churches the task of presenting the Gospel to all men, baptizing those who believe on Christ, and edifying the individual members with instruction in the Lord’s teachings.  (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:15; John 3:3; Acts 2:41-42, 47; Ephesians 5:23-24)

 

  1. We believe that men and women are spiritually equal in position before God, but that God has ordained separate and distinct functions for men and women, both within the home and in the church. The husband is to be the loving leader of the home, and men are to serve as pastors and deacons of the church.  (Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 5:22-33; I Timothy 2:8-3:13)

 

  1. We believe that we should demonstrate love and compassion for those around us. Although God commands us to abhor sinful actions, we are to love and pray for any person who engages in such sinful activity.  As such, all are welcome at Living Hope Baptist Church, but the church cannot affirm the choices made by those whose lifestyle contradicts the Bible’s clear teachings on issues including – but not limited to – morality, marriage, personal responsibility, and God-given identity.  (Genesis 1:27-28; 2:24; 19; Leviticus 18:22; Romans 1:18-32; I Corinthians 5:1; 6:9-20; Colossians 3:18-21; I Thessalonians 4:1-8; I Timothy 5:8; Hebrews 13:4)

 

  1. We believe the church possesses all the resources necessary to resolve personal disputes between members, and that Christians should not bring lawsuits against fellow believers. However, we understand this does not prohibit a Christian from seeking compensation for injuries paid by another Christian’s insurance company, provided the claim is pursued without malice or slander.  (I Corinthians 6:1-8; Ephesians 4:31-32)

 

Civil Government

We believe the Scriptures teach that civil government is of divine appointment, for the interest and good of human society.  All those in authority are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed, except only in things opposed to the clear directives of the Bible.  (Exodus 18:21-22; Daniel 3:15-18; 6:7, 10; Matthew 22:21; Acts 4:18-20; 5:29; Romans 13:1-7; I Timothy 2:1-8; Titus 3:1; I Peter 2:13-17)

 

Last Things

We believe in the promise of the imminent personal, pre-tribulation, pre-millennial return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to rapture His church and after the Tribulation set up His millennial reign on earth.  We believe in the bodily resurrection of all the dead, the saved to eternal life and blessedness in Heaven, and the unsaved to eternal torment and separation from God in the Lake of Fire.  (Daniel 12:2; John 5:28-29; 11:25-26; 14:1-3; Acts 1:9-11; I Corinthians 15:25, 42-44, 51-53; I Thessalonians 4:16-17; 5:9; Revelation 20:11-15)

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