What we believe.
BELIEFS
Periodically, someone will ask, “What do Primitive
Baptists believe?” If we were asked what single
feature distinguishes us from most other
fellowships, we would answer, “We emphasize the
doctrines of grace.” To say “We believe in the
doctrines of grace” is to say, “We believe that the
work of saving sinners is God’s from start to
finish.” This work has not been given to the
individual, the government, educational
institutions, the home, or even the church. Without
qualification, we say that the major distinguishing
factor is this emphasis on God’s sovereign grace.
Sovereign grace refers to God’s initiative in
salvation, moving toward man to bestow this gift,
not because He is obligated to bless, but because
it is His sovereign pleasure to bless. It also
means that God is in absolute control of the work
of salvation. Nothing can thwart His purpose. There
are no external limitations upon His power. The
doctrines of grace include the following truths:
- Total Depravity.
- Election and Predestination.
- Substitutionary Atonement.
- The New Birth.
- Eternal Security.
These five principles are part of our heritage.
They form the rock solid foundation of who we are.
We find our identity in these truths. We are a
people who emphasize God’s sovereign saving
initiative, God’s successful saving work, and God’s
certain saving consummation. God, not man, is the
focal point of the gospel we preach. He does not
owe anyone salvation, but in His mercy, He has
provided the means by which a multitude will be
rescued from destruction. For this, we owe Him
eternal praise and adoration.
Total Depravity
We believe that all men are born with a sinful
nature. This in ward, twisted character motivates
people to do wrong, not right. It produces a
hostility to God and godliness which frequently
manifests itself in rebellion against His laws,
unconcern about His glory, and unthankfulness for
His blessings. Because of this sinful tendency in
the heart, the potential to commit the most heinous
sins is present in every person.
By nature, man is incapable of loving God, desiring
God, or pleasing God. He does not care about the
Bible, the church, or the spiritual dimension of
life. He is “dead in trespasses and sins.” Unless
he is born again, he cannot function in the
spiritual realm. He is corrupt, vile, and ungodly.
He is, furthermore, under the sentence of God’s
wrath, condemned to separation from God
(Rom 3:10-13; 1Cor 2:14).
Election and Predestination
We believe that God, in His wisdom, foresaw the
ruined condition of mankind in sin, and made
provision for the salvation of a portion of
humanity before the world began. He purposed to
save them by sending His son to die for their sins
upon the cross. This purpose, or agreement within
the Trinity, is called the everlasting covenant.
Election and predestination are two parts of that
covenant.
Election means that God chose, or selected, a
people out of the human family for His own glory.
He did not choose every person to be saved, for
that would negate the very meaning of the term
“election.” But He did choose a vast multitude, a
people out of every nation, kindred, language, and
family (Rev 5:9). He did not choose them because
they were better than someone else, for all were
sinners. He made His choice based upon His own
right to do as He pleases, because He is God. He
chose those whom He loved, and prearranged their
final destiny. This predetermination of the final
destiny of the elect is predestination.
Predestination means that God made all of the
necessary plans and provisions for the final
salvation of all His people, and decreed that every
last one of them, without the loss of one, will one
day be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ,
living forever with Him in heaven. Because man is
totally depraved and incapable of saving himself,
had God not made these provisions, every human
being would have been lost for eternity. Can you
see how the Doctrines of Grace take salvation out
of man’s hands and put it into God’s hands? Though
this is not a popular doctrine, we cannot afford to
compromise here. The alternative substitutes a
man-centered message for a God-centered one (Eph
1:4; Rom 9:11-16 ; 2Ti 1:9).
Substitutionary Atonement
We believe that Jesus was God incarnate, i.e. in
human flesh, and that He came to earth for the
express purpose of saving the elect from their
sins. He died on the cross in order to accomplish
that goal; dying, in a very real sense in our
place, a substitutionary death. He took our sins
and gave us His righteousness. It is only by virtue
of the work of Jesus upon the cross that anyone has
eternal life.
Because man is totally depraved, he cannot save
himself. Grace means, however, that God did for His
people what they themselves were unable to do for
themselves. The supreme demonstration of grace,
then, is the cross of Christ. You and I are
righteous, i.e. right with God, solely by virtue of
what Jesus Christ has done for us at Calvary.
We believe the extent of the atonement is
particular and definite, not general and universal.
Jesus died for only the elect and His death
actually accomplished salvation for them, not
merely making them savable, but actually securing
salvation. We frequently call this “particular
redemption” (Mat 1:21; 1Pe 2:24-25; 2Co 5:21).
The New Birth
We believe that all for whom Jesus died will be
born again by the direct and immediate work of the
Holy Spirit in the heart. What Jesus did for the
sinner on the cross is applied to the sinner in his
heart. In other words, the cross is the legal side
of redemption and the new birth is the personal
side. Though a person is born with a sinful nature
which is only capable of sin, yet, at the moment of
regeneration, i.e. when he is born again, he is
given a new nature: spiritual capacity that desires
God, loves God, and longs to learn about God. In a
word, he is made alive to God.
The Holy Spirit is the agent in this work and He
works without the assistance of preachers, soul
winners, mothers, fathers, or neighbors. When He
speaks to the dead sinner, like Lazarus, he awakens
into new life. It is God’s work; consequently, only
He gets the glory for salvation (Jon 3:3; Eph
2:1-5; Jon 6:37).
Eternal Security
We believe that all who were loved and chosen by
the Father, redeemed by the Son, and called into
new life by the Spirit, will be preserved in grace
forever. Salvation cannot be forfeited or lost. The
child of God will never cease to belong to the
Father. This relationship cannot be severed.
Nothing will separate one of the objects of God’s
grace from His everlasting love. The heir of grace
will never be disqualified from the eternal
inheritance that awaits him. The sheep are kept
securely in the hand of the Great Shepherd, Jesus
Christ (Joh 10:28; Jude 24; Romans 8:35-39).