The Holy Scriptures
We believe in the verbal and plenary inspiration of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. The Bible does not merely contain or become the Word of God but is the Word of Almighty God. The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible, and God-breathed and, therefore are the final authority for faith and life. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament are the complete and divine revelation of God to man. The Scriptures shall be interpreted according to their normal grammatical-historical meaning. The King James Version of the Bible shall be the only text used for teaching and preaching from the pulpit, in personal work, and in every official function associated with Victory Baptist Church. (II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:20-21; Psalm 12:6)
Dispensationalism
We believe that the Scriptures reveal divinely determined periods in relation to the sequence of God’s revelation. The acceptance of these dispensations is vital to a proper understanding of Scripture. (Luke 16:16; John 1:17; Gal. 3:25; Eph. 3:2; Col. 1:25, 27)
The Godhead
We believe in one true God, eternally existing in three distinct Persons -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – each co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections. (Gen. 1:26; Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; John 14:10, 26; II Cor. 3:14)
The Person and Work of Jesus Christ
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men. (Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-2, 14; II Cor. 5:19-21; Gal. 4:4-5; Phil.2:5-8)
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through the shedding of His blood in 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; Rom. 3:24-25; Eph. 1:7; I Peter 1:3-5; I Peter 2:24; I John 1:7)
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of the God where He is our High Priest, Intercessor, and Advocate. (Acts 1:9-10; Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25; 9:24; I John 2:1-2)
The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and, that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption. (John 16:8-11; Rom. 8:9; I Cor. 12:12-14; II Cor. 3:6; Eph. 1:13-14)
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the divine Teacher who assists the believers to understand and appropriate the Scriptures and will never lead in contradiction to the Scriptures. It is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit depending upon Him for spiritual help in every area. (Eph. 1:17-18; 5:18; I John 2:20, 27)
We believe the Holy Spirit is sovereign in the bestowal of spiritual gifts to every believer. He uniquely uses evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip believers in the assembly in order that they may do the work of the ministry. (Rom. 12:3-8; I Cor. 12:4-11; Eph. 4:7-12)
We believe that the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues and the gift of healing, were temporary and have ceased. Ultimate deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection, though God frequently chooses to answer the prayers of believers for physical healing. (I Cor. 13:8; 14:21-22; II Cor. 12:12; Heb. 2:4; James 5:14-16)
The Universal Sinfulness of Man
We believe that 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. Every man is sinful by nature and by choice. Of himself, man is utterly unable to remedy his lost condition. (Gen. 1:26-27; Isa. 59:2; Rom. 3:22-23; 5:12; 6:23; Eph. 2:1-3; 4:17-19)
Salvation
We believe that salvation is the gift of God offered to all men by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed at Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins. This gift of salvation is by grace totally void of any works by man. To seek to add any aspect of works (e.g. baptism, good works) for salvation is to reject the gift of salvation. There is no man so sinful that the grace of God cannot save him; however, it is possible to reject the knowledge of God to a point of no return. (John 1:12; John 3:3; Rom. 6:23b; Eph. 1:7; 2:8-9; I Peter 1:18-19; Prov. 29:1; Rom. 1:24-28)
We believe that this salvation is only through the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God in human flesh, as revealed in the Word of God. Those who have no knowledge of this Jesus must be taught by the communication of the Word of God to be saved; however, the one seeking to know His Creator will be given sufficient illumination as he continues to receive it. (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Rom. 1:19-20)
We believe that salvation is the result of the communication of the Word of God; the work of God in the sinner’s heart; and the response of the sinner to God’s working through repentance (a turning from sin to God) and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith and repentance are mutually essential. (John 1:13; I Cor. 12:13; Romans 6:4; Titus 3:5; John 5:24; 6:40; I Peter 1:23; Rom. 10:17; John 6:44; 12:32; 16:7-11; I Thess. 1:9; John 3:18; Acts 20:21)
The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers
We believe that all the redeemed are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever. (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Rom. 8:1, 38-39; I Cor. 1:4-8; I Peter 1:4-5)
We believe that it is the privilege of every believer to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word. (John 20:31; Rom. 10:13; I John 5:13)
We believe that at the moment of salvation the Holy Spirit indwells the believer. He is the seal of our salvation, an earnest of our inheritance. He baptizes the believer into the body of Christ, will enable the believer to live in the will of God, and will convict the believer who is living out of the will of God. (Eph. 1:13-14; I Cor. 12:13; Heb. 12:8)
The Church
We believe that the Church is a living body made up of only born-again believers. While the true Church of Jesus Christ is mystical in form, its members are truly known only by God. This group composes the Body of Christ as well as the Bride of Christ. We believe God established the Church on the day of Pentecost and continues to build His church until the rapture of the Church. We believe there is one Church and Christ is the Head. (I Cor. 12:12-14; Acts 2:41, 47; Matt. 16:18; Acts 15:14; Col. 1:18)
We believe that the local church is the visible representation of the Church and is composed of the assembly of mortal born-again, baptized believers. While it is possible for Satan to disrupt a local church, Jesus promised the gates of Hell would never prevail against the Church. This assembly literally observes the ordinance and exercises the rights and privileges duly invested in them by the direct authority and command of Jesus Christ the Head of the Church Universal. (I Cor. 1:1-2; Gal. 1:2; Acts 5:11; Acts 2:41; 20:29-30; Matt. 16:18)
We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority or control. (Acts 20:28; I Peter 5:1-4)
We believe that Jesus Christ commanded the observance of two ordinances by the church before He ascended unto His Father in Heaven: namely baptism and Lord’s Supper. (Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:41-42; 8:36-38; I Cor. 11:23-26)
Baptism
We believe that the church is to baptize in obedience to the command of Christ. Although salvation is not contingent upon baptism, we believe that every born-again believer will gladly follow the Lord in Scriptural baptism as soon after conversion as possible as a public confession of the salvation experience. We believe the Scriptural mode of baptism is immersion – picturing the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Matt. 3:16; 28:19; Acts 2:38-41; 8:36-37; 10:47-48; I Peter 3:21)
The Lord’s Supper
We believe the Lord’s Supper was instituted by Christ as a memorial for the church to remember the death, resurrection, and soon coming again of Christ. The Lord’s Supper consists of the eating of bread, which is a symbolic reminder of the physical body of Christ which was broken for us, and the drinking of the fruit of the vine (unfermented grape juice), which is a symbolic reminder of the blood of Christ which was shed for us. At no time does the bread become the actual body of Christ nor does the juice become the blood of Christ. The fellowship of this table belongs to all truly born-again children of God. This ordinance will be observed by Victory Baptist Church on a regular basis determined by the Pastor. Before partaking, a careful examination of the heart should have been made by each believer, for the unworthy partaking of the Lord’s Supper brings judgment upon himself. (Matt. 26:27-28; John 6:48-63; I Cor. 11:24-30)
Separation
We believe that all of the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord. We believe in ecclesiastical separation from unbelievers and thus reject the ecumenical movement. We believe in separation from this world system as God would have believers live a life separate from all worldly and sinful practices, pleasures, dress, and ideals. We believe in separation from disobedient believers, including false teachers, and reject the charismatic movement as unscriptural. We also take a strong stand against modernism, liberalism, neo-orthodoxy, neo-evangelism, and easy-believism. While we seek to be obedient to Scripture in this area of separation, we understand the need to associate with unbelievers that we might lead them to Christ. (Rom. 12:1-2; 16:17; I Cor. 5:9-10; II Cor. 6:14-17; Gal. 1:8-9; II Tim. 3:1-5; I John 2:15-17; II John 9-11)
The Return of Christ
We believe in the “blessed hope,” the personal, imminent return of Christ, Who will rapture His church prior to the seven-year tribulation period. At the end of the Tribulation, Christ will personally and visibly return with His saints, to establish His earthly Messianic Kingdom which was promised to the nation of Israel. We are both Pre-Tribulational and Pre-Millennial. (Ps. 89:1-4; Dan. 2:31-45; Zech. 14:4-11; I Thess. 1:10; 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; Rev. 3:10; 19:11-16; 20:1-6)
The Eternal State
We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to everlasting life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment. (Matt. 25:46; John 5:28-29; 11:25-26; Rev. 20:5-6, 12-13)
We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord. (Luke 23:43; II Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; 3:31; I Thess. 4:16-17; Rev. 20:4-6)
We believe that souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious punishment and torment until the second resurrection, when with soul and body reunited, they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment, and torment. (Matt. 25:41-46; Mark 9:46-48; Luke 16:19-26; II Thess. 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Rev. 20:11-15)
Heaven
We believe, according to Scripture, that heaven is a literal reality; that it is the abode of God; that all born-again believers shall, at God’s appointed time, ascend to this perfect, blissful paradise of God to abide there for eternity with God and Christ. Heaven is the present site of the New Jerusalem, the Holy City of God, that Christ is preparing now for all those who possess Him as personal Savior. (Isa. 66:1; John 14:3; Rev. 21:2; Rev. 21, 22)
Hell
We believe, according to Scripture, that Hell is a physical place of literal misery, fire and torment. It was created to be the final abode of Satan and the unrighteous associated of this archfiend. We believe that all Christ-rejecting mankind will spend eternity there as the penalty for sin and the result of God’s judgment against all sin and unrighteousness. (Luke 16:23-24; Rev. 21:8; Matt. 23:33; Heb. 10:26-29)
Satan
We believe, according to Scripture, that the Devil, or Satan, is a real, personal being; he is the author of sin and the cause of the Fall of Man; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and that he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire. (Job 1:6-11; Isa. 14:12-17; Matt. 4:2-11; 25:41; Rev. 20:10)
Creation
We believe God created the universe in six literal, 24-hour periods. We reject evolution, the Gap Theory, the Day-Age Theory, and Theistic Evolution as unscriptural theories of origin. (Gen. 1-2; Ex. 20:11)
Civil Government
We believe that God has ordained and created all authority consisting of three basic institutions: 1) the home; 2) the church; 3) the state. Every person is subject to these authorities, but all (including the authorities themselves) are answerable to God and governed by His Word. God has given each institution specific Biblical responsibilities and balanced those responsibilities with the understanding that no institution has the right to infringe upon the other. The home, the church, and the state are equal and sovereign in their Biblically assigned spheres of responsibility under God. (Rom. 13:1-7; Eph. 5:22-24; Titus 3:1-2; Heb. 13:17; I Peter 2:13-14)
Human Sexuality
We believe God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between one naturally-born man and one naturally-born woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. (Gen. 2:24; 19:5, 13; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom. 1:26-29; I Cor. 5:1; 6:9; I Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4)
We believe that God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one’s gender by surgery or appearance. (Deut. 22:5)
We believe that the only Scriptural marriage is the joining of one biological man and one biological woman for life. (Gen. 2:24; Rom. 7:2; I Cor. 7:10; Eph. 5:22-23)
Family Relationships
We believe that men and women are spiritually equal in position before God but that God has ordained distinct and separate spiritual functions for men and women in the home and in the church. The husband is to be the leader of the home and men are to be the leaders (pastors and deacons) of the church. Accordingly, only men are eligible for licensure and ordination by the church. (Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:18; I Tim. 2:8-15; 3:4-5, 12)
We believe that God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. The husband is to love his wife as Christ loves the church. The wife is to submit herself to the Scriptural leadership of her husband as the church submits to the headship of Christ. Children are an heritage of the Lord. Parents are responsible for teaching their children spiritual and moral values through consistent lifestyle example and appropriate discipline, including Scriptural corporal correction. (Gen. 1:26-28; Ex. 20:12; Deut. 6:4-9; Ps. 127:3-5; Prov. 19:18; 22:15; 23:13-14; Mk. 10:6-12; I Cor. 7:1-16; Eph. 5:21-33; 6:1-4; Col. 3:18-21; Heb. 13:4; I Peter 3:1-7)
Divorce and Remarriage
We believe that God disapproves of and forbids divorce and intends for marriage to last until one of the spouses dies. Although divorced and remarried persons or divorced persons may hold positions of service in the church and be greatly used by God for Christian service, they may not be considered for the offices of pastor or deacon. (Mal. 2:14-17; Matt. 19:3-12; Mark 10:6-12; Rom. 7:1-3; I Tim. 3:2, 12; Titus 1:6)
Abortion
We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused taking of unborn human life. Abortion is murder. We reject any teaching that abortions of pregnancies due to rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, birth or population control, or the physical or mental well being of the mother are acceptable. (Job 3:16; Ps. 51:5; 139:14-16; Isa. 44:24; 49:1, 5; Jer. 1:5; Luke 1:44)
Euthanasia
We believe that the direct taking of an innocent human life is a moral evil, regardless of the intention. Life is a gift of God and must be respected from conception until natural death. Thus, we believe that an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder contrary to the will of God. Discontinuing medical procedures that are extraordinary or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate refusal of over-zealous treatment. (Ex. 20:13; 23:7; Matt. 5:21; Acts 17:28)
Love
We believe that we should demonstrate love for others, not only toward fellow believers, but also toward those who are not believers, those who oppose us, and those who engage in sinful actions. We are to deal with those who oppose us graciously, gently, patiently, and humbly. God forbids the stirring up of strife, the taking of revenge, or the threat or use of violence as a means of resolving personal conflict or obtaining personal justice. Although God commands us to abhor sinful actions, we are to love and pray for any person who engages in such sinful actions. (Lev. 19:18; Matt. 5:44-48; Luke 6:31; John 13:34-35; Rom. 12:9-10; 17-21; 13:8-10; Phil. 2:2-4; II Tim. 2:24-26; Titus 3:2; I John 3:17-18)
Lawsuits Between Believers
We believe that Christians are prohibited from bringing civil lawsuits against other Christians or the church to resolve personal disputes. We believe the church possesses all the resources necessary to resolve personal disputes between members. We do believe, however, that a Christian may seek compensation for injuries from another Christian’s insurance company as long as the claim is pursued without malice or slander. (I Cor. 6:1-8; Eph. 4:31-32)
Missions
We believe that God has given the church a great commission to proclaim the Gospel to all nations so that there might be a great multitude from every nation, tribe, ethnic group, and language group who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As ambassadors of Christ, we must use all available means to go to the foreign nations and not wait for them to come to us. (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; II Cor. 5:20)
Giving
We believe that every Christian, as a steward of that portion of God’s wealth entrusted to him, is obligated to financially support his local church. We believe that God has established the tithe as a basis for giving, but that every Christian should also give other offerings sacrificially and cheerfully to the support of the church, the relief of those in need, and the spread of the Gospel. We believe that a Christian relinquishes all rights to direct the use of his tithe or offering once the gift has been made. (Gen. 14:20; Prov. 3:9-10; Acts 4:34-37; I Cor. 16:2; II Cor. 9:6-7; Gal. 6:6; Eph. 4:28; I Tim. 5:17-18; I John 3:17)