What We Believe

We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the verbally and plenarily inspired Word of God.  The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible, preserved, and God-breathed, and therefore are the final authority for faith and life.  The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are the complete and divine revelation of God to man.  The Scriptures shall be interpreted literally according to their normal, grammatical, and historical meaning.  The King James Version of the Bible is the official translation used by the church. (II Timothy 3:16-17, II Peter 1:20-21, Psalm 12:6-7, Matthew 4:4, Hebrews 4:12)

1.  The Godhead.  We believe in the Trinity, one triune God, eternally existing in three Persons:  the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  (Deuteronomy 6:4,  Matthew 28:19, I John 5:7-8, John 14:10 and 26, Luke 3:21-22, Mark 12:29, I Timothy 2:5)
2.  The Character of God.  We believe the one God of the Bible is eternally existent, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and unchanging.  We believe He is eternally good, loving, kind, merciful, just, and does all things well.  The Lord is perfect in every way.  (Psalms 41:3,  86:5,  90:2, 103:17, 118:1, 119:68 and 119:142, Malachi 3:6, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 7:37, Romans 9:14-16, Colossians 1:16-17)

1. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, (God in the flesh) having been conceived by the Holy Spirit born of a virgin, Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men.  (Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6, Luke 1:35, John 1:1-2, John 1:14, II Corinthians 5:19-21, Galatians 4:4-5, Philippians 2:5-8)
2.  We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and that our justification is made sure by His literal physical resurrection from the dead.  (Acts 2:18-36,  Romans 3:24-25,  I Peter 2:24,  Ephesians 1:7, I Peter 1:3-5)
3.  We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended into Heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of the Father, where,  as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministries of Representative,  Intercessor, and Advocate.  (Acts 1:9-10, Hebrews 7:25, Hebrews 9:24, Romans 8:34,   I John 2:1-2)

We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third person in the Trinity.   He is the person who does the work of God on earth, including convicting the world and Christians,  giving of gifts, teaching the Scriptures, comforting believers, baptizing believers into the body of Christ, and guiding God’s people. (John 14:26, John 16:8-11, Acts 16:6-10, Romans 8:9, I Corinthians 12:4-12, II Corinthians 3:6, Ephesians 1:13-14, Ephesians 4:7-12, I John 2:20 and 27)

We believe that God created man uniquely in His image and likeness to have a special relationship with Him, but that at the time of Adam’s sin, the human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God.  We believe that man is depraved, and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition and can only be restored to God through Jesus Christ.  (Genesis 1:26-27,  Romans 3:22-23,  Romans 5:1 and 12,  Romans 6:23,

Ephesians 2:1-3,  Ephesians 4:17-19)

1.  Way of salvation.  We believe that salvation is a gift of God brought to man by God’s grace and received by personal faith in Jesus Christ as  Saviour.  Jesus died, was buried, and rose again to complete our salvation and there is nothing that we can do to earn salvation.  We must repent and receive God’s gift of eternal life.  At that moment, we are saved and are on our way to Heaven.  (Ephesians 2:8-10, I Peter 1:18-19, John 3:16, I John 5:12-13, Romans 6:23)
2.  Security of the believer.  We believe that a person trusting Christ can know absolutely that they are going to Heaven for eternity.  I John 5:12-13, John 3:15-18, I Peter 1:3-5)

We believe that the local church belongs to Christ and is His chosen tool to reach the world and build up believers.  The church is made up solely of born-again believers.  (I Corinthians 12:12-14, II Corinthians 11:2, Ephesians 1:22-23, Ephesians 5:25-27)

We believe that all born-again Christians should live in such a manner as to not bring reproach upon their Saviour and Lord, and that separation from all religious apostasy,

worldly and sinful pleasures, practices, and associations is commanded of God.  (Romans 12:1-2,  Romans 14:13, II Corinthians 6:14-7:1, II Timothy 3:1-5, I John 2:15-17, II John verses 9-11)

We believe in that “blessed hope”, the personal, imminent return of Christ, who will rapture His church prior to pouring out His wrath during the seven-year tribulation.  At the end of the tribulation, Christ will personally and visibly return with His saints to establish His thousand-year-long Messianic kingdom on earth.  (Psalm 89:3-4,  Daniel 2:31-45,  Zechariah 14:4-11,  I Thessalonians 1:10 and 4:13-18, Titus 2:13,  Revelation 3:10 and 19:11-16 and 20:1-6)

We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the cause of the fall of man; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and mankind; and that he shall be eternally punished in the lake of fire. (Job 1:6-7, Isaiah 14:12-17, Matthew 4:2-11 and 25:41, Revelation 20:10)

We believe that God created the universe in six days.  We reject evolution and theistic evolution as unscriptural theories of origin.  (Genesis 1:1 – 2:25,  Exodus 20:11)

This statement represents the beliefs of Open Door Baptist Church in these areas, but does not represent all that we believe.  Any further questions can be answered by the pastor or the church constitution.   To get in contact with the pastor, call 206.851.8640 or 253-529-0922.