What Free Will Baptists Believe

1.God--We believe that God is the Creator, Sustainer, and Righteous

Ruler of the universe. He has revealed Himself in nature, and in the

Scriptures of the Holy Bible as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: yet as

one God.

2.Jesus Christ-He is God's unique Son; the only one of a kind. The

Scripture teaches that He is God revealed in flesh. In His Divine

nature He is truly God and in His human nature truly man. He is the

One once crucified for man's sin, the now risen and glorified Savior

and Lord who mediates between God and man and who gives us

access to the Father through His intercession. None can come to the

Father unless they come through Him.

3.Holy Spirit--All of the attributes of God are ascribed to the Holy

Spirit by the Scriptures. It is He who convicts and convinces men of

their sin. He also convinces man of that which is right, and that a final

day of judgment will come. He, it is, who comes to live in us at

conversion, to open our understanding to the Scripture, and to lead

us into the truth.

4.The Bible--God used holy men to write the Scriptures. They are, in

both the Old and New Testaments, the very words God intended us

to have. They are, as given by God, without error and are our only

rule of faith and practice. We profit from them by learning the truth

about many things: they also speak to us about wrong doing; they

even correct us and get us back on course as well as instructing us

in right living.

5.Man--God created man in a state of innocence. Man, being tempted

by Satan, yielded and willfully disobeyed God, becoming a sinner and

incurring God's judgment upon sin. All of Adam's descendants inherit

his fallen nature and thus have a natural inclination to sin. When one

comes to an age of accountability, he is guilty of sinning before God

and in need of salvation.

6.God's Relationship to His Creatures and Creation-God exercises a

wise and benevolent providence over all beings and things. He

maintains the laws of nature and performs special acts as the highest

welfare of mankind and His created order of things require.

7.Salvation--Man receives pardon and forgiveness for his sins when

he admits to God that he is a sinner, when in godly sorrow he turns

from them and trusts in the work of Christ as redemption for his sin.

This acceptance of God's great salvation involves belief in Christ's

death on the cross as man's substitute and the fact of God's raising

Him from the dead as predicted. It is a salvation by grace alone and

not of works.

8.Who Can be Saved?--It is God's will that all be saved, but since man

has the power of choice, God saves only those who repent of their

sin and believe in the work of Christ on the cross. Those who refuse

in this life to repent and believe have no later chance to be save and

thus condemn themselves to eternal damnation by their unbelief.

9.Perseverance--We believe that there are strong grounds to hope that

the saved will persevere unto the end. and be saved because of the

power of divine grace pledged for their support. We believe that any

saved person who has sinned (whether we call him a backslider or

sinner), but has a desire to repent, may do so and be restored to

God's favor and fellowship. Since man, however, continues to have

free choice, it is possible because of temptations and the weakness

of human flesh for him to fall into the practice of sin and to make

shipwreck of his faith and be lost.

10.Gospel Ordinances--Free Will Baptists believe the Bible teaches

three ordinances for the church to practice: Baptism in water by

immersion, the Lord's Supper, to be perpetuated until His return,

and the Washing of the Saints' feet, an ordinance teaching humility.

11.Resurrection--Free Will Baptists believe the Scriptures teach the

resurrection of the bodies of all men, each in its own order; they that

have done good will come forth to the resurrection of life, and they

that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation.

12.Church Government--Free Will Baptist churches enjoy local church

autonomy (self-governing). The local church is the highest authority

in the denomination. Local churches voluntarily organize themselves

into quarterly meetings, district, state, and national associations for

the purpose of promoting the cause of Christ on the local, state,

district, national, and world-wide level.

13.Christ's Second Coming--The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ, who

ascended on high and sits at the right hand of God, will come again to

close the Gospel dispensation, glorify His saints, and judge the world.

14.Missions--Free Will Baptists believe that Jesus commanded the

church to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every

creature. For an in-depth study of Free Will Baptist beliefs and

practices, ask for a copy of the Free Will Baptist Treatise.