The Congregational Affirmation of Faith

The congregational affirmation of faith is considered our theological foundation. They are, we believe, the essence of the gospel and therefore minimum requirements for membership at Piqua Baptist Church.

The Scripture

We believe the Holy Scriptures contained in the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament to be the Word of God. They are the final authority of faith and life, the complete and divine revelation of God to Man. We believe it is verbally inspired, infallible, without error in the original manuscripts, totally sufficient and trustworthy. Scripture is the sole authority for the church. (Numbers 23:19; Psalm 12:6; Proverbs 30:5; Matthew 24:35; John 14:26, 17:17; Romans 1:18-32; 1Thessalonians 2:13; 2Timothy 3:16; 2Peter 1:21; Hebrews 6:18; Titus 1:2; 2 Peter 3:16; 1 Corinthians 14:37; 1 Corinthians 2:13)

God

We believe in one true and living God, eternal and self-existent, who is to be worshipped, adored, and obeyed. He is the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe. He has eternally existed in three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who know, love, and glorify one another. All that God does He does for Himself and for His glory. God is supremely joyful in the fellowship of the Trinity, each Person beholding and expressing His eternal and unsurpassed delight in the all-satisfying perfections of the triune God. (Deuteronomy 4:35, 39; 6:4; Ephesians 4:6; John 1:1, 3; 1Corinthians 8:6; 2Corinthians 3:17; Proverbs 8:27-30; 1 Timothy 1:11; Matthew 12:18 ; 25:23; John 15:11; John 17:26; 1Corinthians 10:31; Colossians 3:17; 1Peter 4:11; Colossians 1:16)

God the Father

We believe and teach that God the Father, the first Person of the Trinity, orders and administrates all things according to His gracious purpose. As the holy, absolute, and omnipotent Ruler of the universe, He is sovereign in creation, history, and redemption. Within the Trinity, the Father directs the work and ministries of the Son and Spirit to accomplish that glory. (1Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 4:6; Matthew 23:9; Numbers 23:19; Isaiah 46:10; Ephesians 1:11; Ephesians 4:27-28; John 5:23-24; 6:38; 14:16-17)

God the Son

We believe and teach that the Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, is the Son of God, equal with the Father in essence and subordinate to Him in purpose. All things were created by Him and for Him, and He is supreme over all things visible and invisible. He is the God-Man with two natures, truly God and truly Man. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. He lived a sinless life, died on the cross as a substitute for sinners bearing the judgment of their sins, and was raised bodily from the dead as a testimony to the sufficiency of His sacrifice and as a guarantee of His people’s future resurrection. Upon His resurrection and ascension, the Father seated Him at His right hand and put all things in subjection under Him. There He sits making intercession for His church. He will come again to judge mankind. (John 1:1,14; 10:30; Luke 1:35; Ephesians 1:20; Isaiah 7:14; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:3; 4:15; 1Peter 2:22; 1John 3:5)

God the Holy Spirit

We believe and teach that the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, is a divine Person, co-equal with God the Father and God the Son. The Holy Spirit convicts of sin and convinces of the gospel of Christ. He regenerates, sanctifies, and imparts spiritual gifts to believers. He provides assurance of salvation, and intercedes in prayer for them. (Acts 1:8; 2Thessalonians 2:13; 1Peter 1:2; 1Corinthians 12:4, 11; 1John 3:24; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:27; Ezekiel 36:26-27; John 3:5-8; Titus 3:5-6)

Man

We believe man was created in the image and likeness of God; but that in Adam’s sin the human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God.  Man is totally depraved and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition. Although God created humans morally upright, our first parents lost their righteousness and forfeited their standing with God when they sinned against Him. Since Adam represented all mankind, his sin brought the imputation of guilt upon all of his offspring, and consequently his offspring are born in sin and corrupted in all faculties of his whole being. Humans are slaves to iniquity, unable to delight in God, and unable to overcome their own preference for self-rule. (Genesis 1:27; 2:15-17; 3:1-24; 6:5-7; Psalm 14:1-3; Jeremiah 17:9-10; Romans 3:9-20; 5:12-21; 8:7-8; Ephesians 2:3; Colossians 1:21; 1Corinthians 2:14; Titus 1:15-16))

Salvation

We believe salvation is the gift of God brought to man, received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on the cross in the place of sinners for the forgiveness of their sins. It is man’s responsibility to repent of his sin and accept the free offer of God’s grace through Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 2:8; 2Corinthians 9:15; Romans 8:32; 2Corinthians 5:21; 1Peter 2:24)

The Church

The universal church of Jesus Christ, consisting of all believers everywhere, finds its expression in the local church. The local church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is solely made up of born-again persons, who organize under godly leadership, gather regularly for preaching, worship and prayer, observe the biblical ordinances of baptism and communion, and hold one another accountable to obedience to the faith through church discipline. Members of the local church are empowered by the Holy Spirit to fulfill the Great Commission. The local church is autonomous, free of any external authority or control. (Matthew 28:19; John 17:6-25; Romans 12:6-8; 1Corinthians 5:7-13; 11:23-26; 12:4-7; 14:26; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 4:11-12; 6:18; 2Timothy 4:1-2; Ephesians 5:18-20; Colossians 3:15-16; 2Thessalonians 3:14-15; James 5:19-20)

Ordinances of the Church

The Lord gave two perpetual ordinances to His church: baptism and communion. The ordinances are outward, visible signs of an inner, spiritual grace.

Baptism is the church’s act of affirming a believer’s union with Christ by immersing them in water, and a believer’s public act of committing themselves to Christ and His people, thereby marking them off from the world. Faith in Jesus Christ and repentance for sin are prerequisites for Baptism. It signifies believers’ fellowship with Christ in his death and resurrection and their being engrafted into Christ; it portrays to them the remission of their sins because of Christ’s sacrifice on their behalf. Believers are to be immersed in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Communion, or the Lord’s Supper, is a church’s act of communing with Christ and each other, commemorating Christ’s death by partaking in bread and wine, and a believers act of receiving Christ’s benefits and renewing his commitment to Christ and His people, thereby making the church one body and marking it off from the world. All who desire to receive the Lord’s Supper must examine themselves, so that they express proper reverence for the Lord and his sacrament, lest they sin against his body and blood and bring judgment upon themselves. The Supper is the gift of Christ for his own people, so unbelievers, and Christians who live with the knowledge of unconfessed sin must refrain from participating. (Matthew 26:17-30; 28:18-20; 3:16-17; Acts 2:14-41; 8:12-40; 16:25-40; 18:7-8; Romans 6:1-4; 2Corinthians 10:14-17; 11:17-34)

Sanctification

Having been made new and set free from the bondage to sin, God enables His elect to progressively die to all worldly and sinful pleasures and live to righteousness in the service of Christ. In the lives of the saints, the Holy Spirit produces a love of Christ and works to progressively conform each believer into the image of Christ. Through faith, God’s divine power enables a transformation of a soul’s deepest desires, taking on the likeness of Christ, creating a hatred of sin, and a desire for God-honoring holiness. Sanctification is throughout the whole person, yet incomplete in this life. There remains some remnants of corruption in every part, which causes a continual and irreconcilable war—the flesh warring against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. The believer lives in anticipation of God’s finalization of the sanctification process, that is, the glorification of his body, which will take place either at the believer’s death or when Christ comes for His own. (John 17:3-19; Acts 20:32; Romans 6:5-14; 1Corinthians 15:53; Galatians 5:22-24; Ephesians 3:14-19; Colossians 1:9-14; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; Hebrews 12:14)

Empowered By the Spirit

Believers are filled with the Holy Spirit at the moment of conversion. (Baptism in/with the Holy Spirit is a metaphor that describes our experience of being immersed into the Holy Spirit at conversion.) Subsequent to conversion, God is pleased to move upon His people empowering them for joyful and fruitful service of the gospel, power to overcome sin, and boldness for Christian witness. The evidence of the Spirit’s indwelling presence is a believer’s testimony to God’s glory in word and deed. (Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33; Acts 1:5; 2:1-11; 10:44-48; 19:1-7; 1Corinthians 12:12-13; Ephesians 1:13; 5:18-21)

Good Works

The desire and ability to do good works does not arise from human nature but from impartation of saving grace. Good works are the fruits and evidences of genuine, living faith, but are of no account toward justification. On the contrary, justification is the root of good works, for without it men would do nothing for the love of God, but only self-love or fear of damnation. By means of good works believers demonstrate their gratitude, strengthen their assurance of salvation, and improve their Christian witness. They glorify God, who has made them new creatures in Christ. Although the works of believers are never perfect, God accepts them and rewards them because they are performed in faith and express love for him. (Psalm 116:12-14; Matthew 5:13-16; John 15:1-8; Ephesians 2:8-10; Philippians 2:12-13; Hebrews 6:11-12; James 2:14-26; Matthew 25:14-30; 25:31-46)

Second Advent of Christ

Jesus Christ will return to earth in the same manner He ascended into Heaven. At His return, Christians on earth will not die but will be changed into the likeness of their Savior. The dead in Christ will arise bodily from their graves to receive a blessed immortality, as their souls reunite with their bodies to enjoy the consumption of salvation with Christ for eternity. God has kept the time of Christ’s return secret, and his Word forbids speculation about it. Believers are to watch and ever be prepared to meet their returning Savior, no matter how soon or how distant his advent will be. (Job 19:25-27; Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:1-4; Mark 13:32-37; Luke 12:35-40; Acts 1:11; 1Corinthians 15:35-56; 1Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2Timothy 4:1-8; 1Peter 1:3-9; Revelation 22:12-21)

Eternal State

After physical death human bodies return to dust, but spirits return to God who gave them. The souls of the redeemed are perfected in holiness and received into paradise, where they dwell with Christ and await the resurrection of their bodies. The souls of lost sinners are confined to hell, where they endure just punishment while they await final judgment at the return of Christ to earth. The Scripture acknowledges only these two places for souls separated from their bodies. (Genesis 3:19; Luke 23:43; 2Corinthians 5:1-8; 15:42-43; Job 19:26-27; Matthew 25:46; Revelation 20:10-15; Philippians 1:23; Luke 16:23-24)

Final Judgement

God has appointed a day in which he will judge humanity in righteousness by Jesus Christ, to whom the Father has given all authority to judge. At that time apostate angels and all human beings will appear before the Lord to account for their thoughts, words, and deeds, there to receive in accordance with what they have done while on earth, whether good or evil. God’s purpose in judgment is to display the glory of his mercy in the eternal salvation of his elect, and to show the glory of his justice in the damnation of the lost. (Acts 17:31; 24:15; Revelation 20:13; John 5:22-27; 1Corinthians 6:3; Jude 6; 2Corinthians 5:10; Ecclesiastes 12:14; Matthew 12:36; Romans 9:22-23; 14:10-12; 2Timothy 4:8; Matthew 25:32-46)

Human Sexuality

Marriage involves the covenant union of one man and one woman in permanent sacred fidelity. Sexual intimacy is only properly exercised and pursued within the confines of marital relationship. Sexual immorality, defined as any sexual activity outside of the boundaries of the sacred marital relationship between one man and one woman, is clearly and expressly prohibited by the Lord. All forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, pornography or even lustful intent toward such, is sinful. Since the body is a creation of God, gender is biologically determined and associated gender norms are to be observed appropriate to biblical standards. Human identity, as male and female persons, is given by God and is not determined by sexual preferences. Human wholeness and flourishing comes through union with Christ and is not dependent upon sexual fulfillment. (Genesis2:24; Matthew 5:27-28; 15:19; 19:1-9; Mark 10:1-12; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; Hebrews 13:4)

Family Relationships

Men and women are created by God equal in essence, dignity, and value. Men and women serve complimentary roles and responsibilities in the home and in the church. God ordains that they assume distinctive roles which reflect the loving relationship between Christ and the church, the husband exercising headship in a way that displays the caring, sacrificial love of Christ, and the wife submitting to her husband in a way that models the love of the church for her Lord. In the ministry of the church, both men and women are encouraged to serve in the ministry of the people of God. The distinctive role of Elder/Pastor is given to qualified men. Children are a heritage of the Lord.  Parents are responsible for teaching their children spiritual and moral values and leading them, through consistent lifestyle example and appropriate discipline, including Scriptural correction. (Genesis 1:27-30; Ephesians 5:22-33; 1Timothy 2:11-12; 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9; 1Peter 3:1-7; Psalm 127:3; Deuteronomy 6:6-7)

Missions

The commission given by the Lord Jesus to make disciples of all nations is binding on every member of His Church to the end of the age. The ultimate aim of global missions is that God would create, by His Word, worshippers from every tribe and language and people and nation who glorify His name through faith and obedience. Elders of the local church will actively seek to equip and encourage her members to engage in local and global mission initiatives and affirm those discerning God’s call to cross-cultural missions work. The church shall support with finances, personnel and prayer, missionaries from other organizations who adhere to our Statement of Faith. (Matthew 28:18-20; John 4:23; Romans 1:5; 15:8-11; Psalm 67:1-5; Revelation 5:9