We are a Reformed Baptist Church. The history of Reformed Baptist goes back to the seventeenth century. At that time, the Protestant Reformation had evolved into several traditions including the Anglican, Lutheran, Dutch Reformed, and Presbyterian Churches and Baptist Churches.
The early Baptists were marked by their belief in Baptism only for believers. Likewise, they had congregational churches. Looking back to the Protestant Reformation, we also hold to the Five Solas of Martin Luther. These include Sola scriptura, Sola fide, Sola gratia, Solus Christus, and Soli Deo Gloria.
We also believe in the sufficiency of scripture. Indeed, we are a conservative evangelical church. In general, we have seen many churches today give into false gospels, pragmatism, homosexuality, women ordination, evolution, and ''woke'' beliefs. More and more, American Churches are turning away from orthodox belief and practice. In recent years, we have seen many young people leave the Christian faith, never to return to it. As a body of believers, we wish to return to the commitment of the early Christians. It is also expected that our leaders be faithful to the writings of the Word of God.
Being Reformed Baptist is important to our identity. However, Christianity is our faith.
Our Goals
As a church, our main desire is to be Christ-centered. Currently, we are a new, small church. We have, however, the desire to grow with all those that God sends in our path. We want to show the love of Christ to all people. Likewise, we are a great commission church. Indeed, we are supportive of open-air evangelism, and we endorse this ancient Biblical practice. Additionally, we also appreciate those who take the time to sit down and explain Christianity to others. Finally, we are a family-integrated church. What we mean by ''family integrated'' is that we encourage families to participate in worship together.
Christ The King Reformed Baptist Church Statement of Faith
CTKRB Church is a church under the lordship of Jesus
Christ. Therefore, we are committed to contending for the
faith that was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3).
In unity with the historic Christian church, we believe and
confess the 1689 2nd London Baptist Confession as
accurate representations of Scripture’s teaching. In addition
to these historic formulations, we are situated within the
evangelical, Reformed and Baptist traditions.
The basic doctrines within CTKRB Church Statement
of Faith represent what we believe to be core elements of
biblical teaching. We expect all members of CTKRB
Church to affirm these doctrines.
The theological distinctives within The CTKRB Church
Statement of Faith reflect what distinguishes CTKRB
Church from other churches who would affirm the basic
doctrines. These distinctives shape the way that
CTKRB Church is led and the direction the church is
headed. We do not expect all members to embrace all aspects
of these distinctives, but members should expect that the
distinctives will be maintained in all ministry environments
at CTKRB Church, and members may not teach contrary
to them.
Doctrine of God
We believe in one God eternally existing as one essence and three
distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy
Spirit, each of whom is fully God, yet there is one God.
We believe in one God eternally existing as one essence and
three distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son and God
the Holy Spirit. Each person is fully, equally and eternally
God, yet there is one God. Each person has precisely the
same nature and attributes and is worthy of precisely the
same worship, honor and praise. The entire Christian faith
is bound together with the confession of God’s Trinitarian
nature (Matt. 28:18–20).
We believe in God the Father, the Creator of heaven and
earth. We believe in the Son, God from God, eternally
begotten but not made, who in history assumed to Himself
a human nature for the sake of our salvation (John 1:14;
Heb. 1:3). He is fully God and fully man. Through Him, all
things came into being and were created. He was before
all things, and in Him, all things hold together by the word
of His power (Col.1:15–20). He suffered, died, was buried,
resurrected, ascended and sits at the right hand of the Father
until He returns for the final judgment and consummation
of the Kingdom. We believe in the Holy Spirit who eternally
proceeds from the Father and the Son and is sent by the
Father and Son to give new life (John 15:26–27). The Holy
Spirit unites believers to Jesus Christ in faith, brings about
the new birth and dwells within the regenerate (Eph.
1:13–14). The Holy Spirit has come to glorify the Son who,
in turn, came to glorify the Father. He will lead the Church
into a right understanding and rich application of the
truth of God’s Word. He is to be respected, honored and
worshiped as God, the third person of the Trinity.
The triune God, Father, Son and Spirit, is the Creator of all
things, visible and invisible. As the immortal and eternal
Creator, He sovereignly rules over all of His creation (Ps.
24:1).
Doctrine of Revelation
God has made Himself known to the world in Jesus Christ, the
Scriptures and creation.
We believe that God has made Himself known to His
creation. He has revealed Himself to us in His Son, the
incarnate Word (Heb. 1:1–2), in Scripture, the inspired Word
(2 Tim. 3:16), and in creation (Ps. 8; Rom. 1:20)
We believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the perfect
revelation of who God is. Jesus Christ is the “image of the
invisible God” (Col. 1:15), “the exact imprint of his nature”
(Heb. 1:3) and a perfect reflection of God the Father (John
5:19).
We believe the Scriptures, the 66 books of the Old and New
Testaments, are the inspired Word of God and are therefore
without error in their original writings. These writings
alone constitute the verbally inspired Word of God, which
is utterly authoritative and free from error. The Scripture
is sufficient for all that God requires for us to believe and
do and is therefore to be believed, as God’s instruction,
in all that it teaches; obeyed, as God’s command, in all
that it requires; and trusted, as God’s pledge, in all that it
promises (Is. 40:6–8). As God’s people hear, believe and
obey the Word, they are equipped as disciples of Christ and
witnesses to the gospel (Rom. 10:14–17).
Doctrine of Creation and Providence
We believe that God created the world from nothing and governs all
things at all times in all places.
God created the whole world from nothing (Gen. 1:1–2; Ps.
24:1). God’s creative work is the overflow of the love present
within the Trinitarian fellowship. Creation, according to the
design of God, was good (Gen. 1:3–31).
God doesn’t let the world exist, He makes the world exist. He
upholds the universe by the word of His power, and He holds
the world together in Himself (Col. 1:17).
Doctrine of Humanity
We believe that all humanity is created in the image of God and
possess intrinsic dignity and worth.
God made humanity—male and female—in His own image
(Gen. 1:27–30). Set apart as His image bearers, every human
being is sacred. All men and all women, bearing the image
of God, are meant to represent God in His creation (1 Cor.
10:31). God declares the created order to be very good,
distinguishing men and women as His agents to care for,
manage and govern over it. They enjoy equal access to God
by faith in Christ Jesus and are both called to move beyond
passive self-indulgence to significant private and public
engagement in family, church and civic life. Adam and Eve
were made to complement each other in a one-flesh union
in the covenant of marriage that establishes the only God
ordained pattern of sexual relations for men and women.
In God’s wise purposes, men and women are not simply
interchangeable, but rather they complement each other in
mutually enriching ways.
Distinctive || Complementarianism
Men and women are absolutely equal in essence, dignity
and value but are distinct by divine design. As part of God’s good, created order, men and women are to have different yet
complementary roles and responsibilities in the home and
church. As it relates to the church, men are
expected to lead as the office of elder is reserved for
qualified men (1 Tim. 3; Titus 1).
Doctrine of Sin
We believe that sin has fractured all things, leaving the world in
desperate need for salvation.
Through the temptation of Satan, humanity transgressed
the command of God and fell from their original holiness
and righteousness (Gen. 3). Now the entire human race
inherits a corrupt nature that is opposed to God and
His law (Rom. 3:9–20). Therefore, all humans are under
condemnation. This depravity is radical and pervasive.
It extends to the mind, will, body and affections.
Unregenerate humanity lives under the dominion of sin
and Satan (Eph. 2:1–3). He is at enmity with God, hostile
toward and hateful of God.
Doctrine of Salvation
We believe that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in
Christ alone.
We believe that, due to universal death through sin, no
one can enter the kingdom of God unless born again (John
3:5–8); that salvation is only by grace through faith in the
shed blood of Jesus Christ; and that all who receive the Lord
Jesus Christ through faith are declared righteous by God
and become children of God (Heb. 10:19–25).
We believe the Scriptures teach that regeneration, or the
new birth, is that act of God by which the Holy Spirit
imparts a new nature and a new spiritual life, not before
possessed, and the person becomes a new creation in Christ
Jesus (Gal. 2:20). The mind is given a holy disposition and a
new desire to serve God, the dominion of sin is broken, and
the heart is transformed from a love of sin and self to a love
of holiness and God.
Distinctive || Sovereignty of God in Salvation
The salvation of humanity is fundamentally the work of
God. Before the foundation of the world, God elected His
people, setting His affection and grace upon them (Rom.
8:29–30). In love God predestined His people for adoption
(Eph. 1:4–6). Faith is a gift of grace that is given by the
mercy and pleasure of God, so that no one may boast. Apart
from the intervention of God, humanity cannot choose of
his own accord to worship God and pursue righteousness
(Rom. 3; Eph. 2:1–3). God’s sovereignty in salvation is
comprehensive: from first to last, all of salvation is the work
of God. Doctrine of the Church
We believe that the Church is the body of Christ sent into the world
to shine forth the glory of God.
God, by His Word and Spirit, creates the Church, calling
sinful humanity into the fellowship of Christ’s body (1
Cor. 12:12–31). By the same Word and Spirit, He guides and
preserves that newly redeemed humanity. The Church is
made up of those who have become genuine followers of
Jesus Christ and have personally appropriated the gospel.
The Church exists to worship and glorify God as Father, Son
and Holy Spirit. The ministry of the Church is an extension
of the ministry of Jesus in the power of the Spirit.
The ultimate mission of the Church is to bring glory to
God by making disciples (Matt. 28:18–20). The Church is
called to make disciples through worship, prayer, teaching
of the Word, observance of the ordinances, fellowship, the
exercise of our gifts and talents, and the proclamation of
the gospel both in our community and throughout the
world.
We believe there are two ordinances of the Church. One is
that of believer’s baptism in the name of the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit, and the other is the Lord’s Supper.
Water baptism is only intended for those who have received
the saving benefits of Christ through the new birth of
the Holy Spirit. In obedience to Christ’s command and as
a testimony to God, the Church, oneself and the world,
believers are baptized by water in the name of the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit. Water baptism is a visual and symbolic
demonstration of a person’s union with Christ in the
likeness of His death and resurrection. It signifies that a
former way of life has been put to death and vividly depicts
the release from the mastery of Satan, sin and death.
As with water baptism, the Lord’s Supper is to be observed
only by those who have become genuine followers of
Christ. This ordinance symbolizes the breaking of Christ’s
body and the shedding of His blood on our behalf and is to
be observed repeatedly throughout the Christian life as a
sign of continued participation in the atoning benefits of
Christ’s death. As we come to the table with an attitude of
faith and self-examination, we remember and proclaim the
death of Christ, receive spiritual nourishment for our souls
and signify our unity with other members of Christ’s body.
Distinctive || Baptism by Immersion
The precedent we find in the New Testament is baptism
following conversion by immersion into water. Baptism by
immersion is meant to symbolically depict the believer’s
real union to Christ in His death and resurrection (Rom.
6:1–14).
Doctrine of Resurrection and Consummation of the
Kingdom of God
We believe that Jesus Christ is returning to the world in the future
to judge the living and the dead.
The consummation of all things includes the future,
physical, visible, personal and glorious return of Jesus
Christ, the resurrection of the dead and the glorification
of those alive in Christ, the judgment of the just and the
unjust, and the fulfillment of Christ’s kingdom in the
new heavens and the new earth. In the consummation,
Satan, with his hosts and all those outside Christ, is finally
separated from the benevolent presence of God, enduring
eternal punishment (Rev. 20:7–15), but the righteous, in
glorious bodies, will live and reign with Him forever,
serving Him and giving Him unending praise and glory.
Then the eager expectation of creation will be fulfilled, and
the whole earth shall proclaim the glory of God, who makes
all things new (Rev. 21:1–5). |