What We Believe

Buffalo Ridge Baptist Church is built on the foundation of the Word of God.
II Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” Therefore it is our desire here at Buffalo Ridge Baptist Church to be a Biblical ministry. In everything that is preached, taught, and done at our Church we endeavor to follow the Word of God. Below you will find some of the things we believe as a Church.

The Holy Scriptures

We believe in the verbal (every word) and plenary (complete) inspiration of the Old and New Testaments; that they are the final authority for faith and life, inerrant, infallible and God-breathed, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions shall be tried. (II Timothy 3:16,17; Proverbs 30:5) We believe in the verbal (every word) and plenary (complete) inspiration of the Old and New Testaments; that they are the final authority for faith and life, inerrant, infallible and God-breathed, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions shall be tried. (II Timothy 3:16,17; Proverbs 30:5) 

We believe the King James Version is the preserved Word of God for English-speaking people and is the only acceptable version to be used at this church. (Psalm 119:160; Romans 15:4; II Peter 1:19-21; Revelation 22:18-19; Psalm  12:6,7) 

The Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ

We believe in the deity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, perfect God and perfect man; that He is God manifested in the flesh, conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary; that He lived a sinless life on earth; that He died on Calvary’s cross and shed His precious blood as a satisfactory sacrifice for sinners; that His body was buried in and arose the third day from Joseph’s tomb; that He ascended to Heaven and was glorified at God’s right hand; and that He is coming again for His own. (Isaiah 7:14; II Corinthians 5:21; Matthew 1:18-25; I Peter 1:18,19)

The Creation and Fall of Man

We believe that man was created by a direct act of God and not by any evolutionary process. (Genesis 2:7)

We believe that man was created in God’s own image and in a state of innocence; that through his transgression sin entered into the world, and death by sin—not only physical death—but spiritual death, which is conscious and eternal separation from God; and that consequently, his posterity inherit a corrupt nature, being born in sin under its condemnation, and utterly unable to remedy his lost condition. (Genesis 1:26,27; 3:6-19; Romans 5:12; Psalm 51:5; Jeremiah 17:9; Ephesians 2:1-3)

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The Church

We believe that the local New Testament church is to be composed of regenerated, baptized believers, voluntarily united together for the purpose of worship, edification, ordinances, fellowship, and service; that the officers of the local church are Pastors and Deacons whose qualifications and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures; that the mission of the church is the faithful witnessing of Christ to all men as we have opportunity, in the local community, and to the uttermost part of the earth; that the local church has the absolute right to self-government, free from the interference of any individuals or organizations, religious or political; that the one and only Superintendent is Christ, through the Holy Spirit; that it is scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the Gospel; that each local church is the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation; that on matters of membership, policy of government, discipline, benevolence, etc., the will of the local church is final. (Acts 2:41-47; Romans 1:7; Ephesians 1:15-23; Acts 20:28-31; I Peter 5:1-5; Ephesians 3:21)

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The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers

We believe that once a person is saved, he is kept by God’s power and remains secure in Christ forever. (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Romans 8:1; 38-39; I Corinthians 1:4-8; I Peter 1:4-5)

We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word; which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh. In other words, the liberty we have received in Christ does not release us to do our own thing. Instead, it should cause us to live in accordance to His will. If we live in disobedience, we will not lose our salvation, but we will lose our fellowship and be chastened by our heavenly Father. (Romans 13:13,14; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11-15; Hebrews 12:5-11)

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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 Ghost, equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption. (Exodus 20:2,3; l Corinthians 8:6; I John 5:7; Revelation 4:11)

The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, 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; that He convicts of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; that He bears witness to the Truth of the Gospel in preaching and testimony; that He is the agent in the New Birth; that He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies and helps the believer, and that the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance) is the evidence of His indwelling rather than the speaking in tongues and other spectacular demonstrations. (Galatians 5:22,23; Genesis 1:1-3; Matthew 28:19; Mark 1:8; Luke 24:49; John 1:33; John 3:5,6; John 14:16,17; John 14:26; John 16:7-11; Acts 11:16; Romans 8:14,16, 26, 27; Ephesians 1: 13,14; Hebrews 9:14; Acts 5:30-32)

Salvation

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ “died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures;” that a person is saved when he repents of his sin and exercises faith by accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour; that salvation is a gift of eternal life wholly by the grace of God without any merit or works; and that the atonement of Christ is not limited, but that God desires all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth; that it is not His will that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (I Corinthians 15: 3,4; Romans 6:23; Romans 10:9, 10; Acts 16:31; II Peter 3:9; Ephesians 2:8, 9; Ephesians 1:7; Mark 1:15)

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Baptism and the Lord’s Supper

We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion in water of a believer, in the name of the Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost, to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Saviour. Our submission to Christian baptism symbolizes our death to sin and resurrection to a new life.

We believe that the Lord’s Supper, in which God’s children by the sacred use of the bread and the cup, is to commemorate together the broken body and shed blood of Christ and is to be preceded always with solemn self-examination. (Acts 8:36, 39; John 3:22, 23; Matthew 28:19; Romans 6:4; Acts 2:41, 42; I Corinthians 11:23-28)

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Hell

We believe in a literal, burning Hell, and that the Lake of Fire and Brimstone shall be the place of eternal punishment for Satan, fallen angels, demons, and the unbelieving dead. (Mark 9:42-48; Luke 16:22-26; Revelation 20:10-15; Revelation 21:8)

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Heaven

We believe in an actual place called Heaven where God’s immediate presence is manifested, where the angels dwell, and where the redeemed who are justified through faith in Jesus Christ shall ultimately dwell; it is from Heaven that Christ descended and to which, after the completion of His earthly ministry, He ascended and it is in Heaven that He makes intercession for the saints, and from whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. (John 14:1-3; Revelation 21-22:6)

The Second Coming of Christ

We believe in the bodily, personal, pre-tribulational, premillennial, and imminent coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into the air to catch away all believers unto Himself before the tribulation period; and in the personal, visible, and glorious return of Christ to the earth, with believers, at the close of the tribulation period to judge the nations and to set up His millennial Kingdom on earth. (Acts 1:11; John 14:3; I Thessalonians 4:1318; Matthew 24:42-44)