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What We Believe We are a diverse congregation at Southcrest, strengthened by our great variety of experience and giftedness, and bound together by the work of God and our common conviction. This conviction is expressed in our official statement of faith, The Baptist Faith and Message (2000), and in the life and ministry that we share. We understand the beliefs we hold to be “the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints” (Jude 3) and so we value our Biblical heritage and those historic statements that it has produced. One collection of statements, sometimes called the Solas (the Latin word for “alone” or “only”), has been affirmed by Christians around the world since the Protestant Reformation and serves well as a summary of our own core beliefs. Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone) – We believe that “the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament were given by the inspiration of God and are the only sufficient, certain, and authoritative rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience” (The Abstract of Principles of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary,1858). We believe that the Scriptures are essential for both our coming to faith and our growth in grace. Psalm 19:7-10 &119:9-16/33-40; Romans 10:17; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-2 & 4:12 Solus Christus (Christ Alone) – We further believe that “all Scripture is a testimony to Christ” and that “He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man” (The Baptist Faith and Message, 2000). We believe that Jesus Christ is the living head of His church and that salvation is found in no other name under heaven. Isaiah 7:14 & 53; John 1:1-18 & 10:30; Acts 4:12; Colossians 1:15-22; 1 Timothy 2:5-6 Sola Gratia (Grace Alone) – We believe that all have sinned and are completely unable to save themselves. We believe that Christ has borne the wrath of God for those who belong to Him so that He may freely give them life. “Inasmuch as He was given by the Father for them, and His obedience and satisfaction accepted in their stead, and both freely, not for anything in them, their justification is only of free grace, that both the exact justice and rich grace of God might be glorified in the justification of sinners” (The London Confession of Baptist Faith, 1689). Micah 7:18-20; Romans 3:23 & 5:6-9; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 2:1-3; Titus 3:5-7
Sola Fide (Faith Alone) – We believe that we receive the salvation Christ has purchased when “the Holy Spirit kindles in our hearts an upright faith, which embraces Jesus Christ with all His merits, appropriates Him, and seeks nothing more besides Him” (The Belgic Confession of Faith, 1561). We believe that faith itself is the gift of God and that by it He saves and keeps us so that He alone receives the glory for our redemption. Genesis 15:6; John 6:44 & 10:28-29; Romans 1:17 & 5:1; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; 1 John 5:18
Soli Deo Gloria (For the Glory of God Alone) – We believe that God has gathered us with His own from every tribe and language and people and nation to be His possession and that through us He is gathering others. Our highest aspiration, indeed the purpose for which we were made and redeemed and commissioned to serve, “is to glorify God, and enjoy him forever” (The Westminster Shorter Catechism, 1647). 1 Chronicles 16:23-36; Psalm 29 & 100; Romans 11:33-36; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Revelation 5:9-14 |
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