Lighthouse Baptist Church
Articles of Faith
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What We Believe
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1. We believe in the Scriptures of the Old & New Testaments as verbally inspired of God and inerrant in the original writings, and that they are of supreme and final authority in faith and life.
2. We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
3. We believe in God's direct creation of the universe, without the use of pre-existent material, and apart from any process of evolution whatever, according to the Genesis account.
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4. We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit, and born of Mary, a virgin, and is both true God and true man.
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5. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice, and that all who believe in Him are justified on the ground of His shed blood.
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6. We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord, in His ascension into heaven, and in His present life there as High Priest and Advocate.
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7. We believe that the Holy Spirit baptizes, seals, and indwells every believer at the moment of salvation and that the Holy Spirit empowers every believer for holy living. We believe that the Holy Spirit today bestows service gifts upon believers and that sign gifts were restricted to the Apostolic period.
8. We believe that man was created in the image of God, that he sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death but also that spiritual death which is separation from God, that all human beings are born with a sinful nature and are sinners in thought, word and deed.
9. We believe that all who receive by faith the Lord Jesus Christ are born again of the Holy Spirit and thereby become children of God.
10. We believe in the "Eternal Security" of the believer, that it is impossible for one born into the family of God ever to be lost.
11. We believe in “that blessed hope”: the personal, pre-tribulational; pre-millennial, and imminent return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, when His church will be gathered unto Him.
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12. We believe in the literal fulfillment of the prophecies and promises of the Scriptures which foretell and assure the future regeneration and restoration of Israel as a nation.
13. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, the everlasting blessedness of the saved, and the everlasting punishment of the lost.
Baptist Distinctives
The Baptist church was born out of adversity and persecution. Early Baptists believed that only believers were to be baptized (Acts 2:41; 8:36-38); therefore, they rejected infant baptism and required that all believers be re-baptized after conversion. Along with believers baptism, Baptist have held to other distinctive doctrines that Lighthouse Baptist holds dear. Lighthouse Baptist Church exists as a traditional, independent, fundamental, Baptist, church.
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B - Biblical Authority. The belief that the Bible and the Bible alone is our only authority for our faith and our practice. (2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:20-21)
A - The Autonomy of the Local Church. We believe that the church, as a congregation, is responsible for all decisions pertaining to our leadership (Acts 6:1-5), our doctrine (Acts 15), and the support of our church and our missionaries (Acts 13, 16). As an autonomous church, we are self-governing, self-propagating, and self-supporting. We are truly independent, free from the oversight of any denomination.
P - The Priesthood of the Believers. Every born again believer has the right and the access to come to the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16) which was granted to us by the “one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).
T - Two Ordinances. We believe that the Bible teaches two and only two ordinances to be practiced by the church.
Believers Baptism by immersion (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41; 8:36-38)
The Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
I - Individual Soul Liberty. We believe that every believer will one day stand and give a personal account for his or her life (2 Corinthians 5:10). We also believe that we must respect that right of every believer to study the Scripture for himself or herself and determine for themselves how they will practice their faith in light of their liberty in Christ.
S - Saved Church Membership. All members of Lighthouse Baptist Church must profess Jesus Christ as their Savior (Romans 10:9-13).
T - Two Offices. We believe the Bible teaches two offices that are to be respected by the congregation: pastor and deacon (1 Timothy 3; Philippians 1:1). We believe that the terms pastor, elder and bishop speak of the same office (Acts 20:17, 28-30; 1 Peter 5:1-4). The term pastor refers to the care of and relationship between the pastor and congregation (Acts 20:28-30), while the term elder speaks of the authority of and respect of the office. The term bishop is used with respect to the administrative duties, the pastor being the overseer of the church (1 Timothy 3:1). Deacons are to be men of high spiritual character who minister to the needs of men. They are called to serve under the oversight of the pastor and are elected by the congregation (Acts 6:1-7).