What We Believe
BELIEFS & FAITH TRADITIONS
Like most Christian evangelical churches, Second Missionary Baptist Church (hereinafter SMBC) believes in two essential ordinances of the church, Baptism and Communion. Specifically, SMBC believes that baptism is an extremely important outward sign of the inward change of a person regenerated by repentance and the trusting, believing, and accepting of Jesus Christ as his/her Lord and Savior. The rationale for the practice is that Jesus commanded the Disciples, at Matthew 28:19, to “Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.” Nevertheless, it must be emphasized that it is the baptism of the Holy Spirit rather than water baptism that produces salvation and eternal life even though it is almost universally agreed that baptism is connected to the beginning of one’s Christian life in the following ways: (1) it is a public indication of one’s commitment and surrender to Christ; (2) it is a representation of one’s renewal through the power of the Holy Spirit and symbolic participation in and with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ; and (3) it is a powerful proclamation of the Holy Spirit’s regenerating work on the mind and heart of a lost person who was “Dead in his/her trespasses and sins,” Ephesians 2:1
SMBC believes that the celebration of Communion/the Lord’s Supper is an almost universal observance in Christendom, and that it is the visual embodiment of the truth of Jesus’ ultimate act of love and sacrifice for each of us. In fact, SMBC accepts the truth of the Bible when it provides that Jesus told his Disciples and Christians throughout the ages during His final Passover Celebration on earthand before He paid our sin debt on Calvary’s Cross-to take the Bread and the Cup in remembrance of Him. However, since Jesus was betrayed and denied by His own Disciples, SMBC believes that communion or the Lord’s Supper calls Christians to soul searching self- examination recognizing that we too are capable of denying and betraying Him by our words, thoughts, and deeds whether by Acts of Omission or Commission. Therefore, SMBC believes that Christians must approach communion service with divine Reverence, Introspection, (that is, looking backward at the Cross, inward at their spiritual conscience, and forward to the future crown of glory) and Prayer to ensure that we heed God’s word not to take of the Bread and Cup Unworthily. For example, one should not take communion when he/she has failed to confess and seek forgiven for a sin, has not sought to resolve a conflict with a brother or sister, or is planning to sin immediately following the communion service, etc. Moreover, SMBC also believes in the following non-negotiable theological dogma of the Christian faith:
THE DOCTRINE AND DEITY OF GOD:
The most fundamental teaching of the Bible and Christianity is that God exists and is ultimately in control of the universe. In fact, Genesis 1:1 provides, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,” and accepting this fact in faith is critical to possessing a Christian rather than a Naturalist worldview and believing in creationism over evolutionism. In other words, to have a Christian worldview, one must believe that the sovereign God created the world, universe, and mankind, has ultimate power over his creation, and impacts the created through the use of miracles and the leading of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Christian must believe that the universe is an open system constantly impacted by the sovereign almighty God.
THE DEITY OF CHRIST:
SMBC believes that the deity of Christ sits at the center of controversy and belief concerning the Christian faith because among other matters, it is the significant distinction that separates Christianity from Judaism, the Muslim faith, Jehovah Witnesses, and many other religions/faiths. Specifically, Jews rejected Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah, and the Muslims assert that it dishonors God to suggest that he had a son while acknowledging, like other religious sects, that Jesus was a great man, prophet, or teacher. However, to the Christian, the deity of Christ is critical to gaining knowledge of God, a new life, personal relationship with God, and the ability to worship him for who he is and the role he played in the personal salvation of each Christian. For instance, the Bible provides, at John 1:1, 14, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.
THE DEITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIt:
SMBC believes the Holy Spirit is the third person of the God head and serves the critical role of making the Christian’s relationship with the Godhead personal to each believer. Specifically, SMBC believes that the Bible teaches that God, the Holy Spirit, is used to draw one to personal faith; and thereafter, serving as the source of comfort, encouragement, instruction, guidance, recall of the Word and Jesus, John 15:26, conviction, and empowerment for the challenges of ministry and evangelism, Acts 1:8. Specifically, Jesus said, at John 6:44, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
THE TRINITY:
SMBC believes that the doctrine of the Trinity denotes that God is one in being or essence who exists eternally in three distinct co-equal “Persons,” and this theological truth is critical to the Christian faith for a number of reasons.
THE INERRANCY OF THE BIBLE:
SMBC believes that Christians must accept as true that the Bible, in its original autographs, when correctly interpreted in light of the history, culture, communications, and original purpose, etc., is fully and entirely true and never false in all that the Bible affirms within the words of scripture. It must be noted that this view of the Bible is consistent with what Paul said, at 2 Timothy 3:16, which provides, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness.”
THE VIRGIN BIRTH:
SMBC believes that Christians must accept the words of scripture that support the Virgin Birth because to suggest that Jesus came from the seed of man would mean that Jesus was born like every other human being with the “Adamic Curse.” In so doing, the foundational basis for the “Deity of Christ” would be lost along with the theological rationale for Christianity. On the other hand, the Bible clearly supports the Virgin Birth; that is, the birth of Jesus resulted from a miraculous conception by the power of God, the Holy Spirit. In fact, Isaiah 7:14 provides, “Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, bear a son, and call his name Immanuel.”
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST INCLUDING HIS BODILY RESURRECTION:
SMBC believes, like most Christians, that the Resurrection of Christ is the central doctrine of Christian theology, the major fact in a defense of Christian teaching, and the overall essence of the Christian Faith. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 15:3-7, Paul notes the Resurrection of Christ as the integral part of the gospel message coupled with the reports of eyewitnesses who saw Jesus after he rose from the dead. On the other hand, 1 Corinthians 15:14-18, provides, in pertinent part, that absent the Resurrection of Christ, the Christian faith, preaching, and testimony are vain, false, and ineffective without the forgiveness of sin; and thereby, leaving believers with no hope.
This is true because the truth of the resurrection demonstrates Jesus Christ’s victory over Satan, Sin and Death, and it was the Resurrection of Christ that transformed the defeated and withdrawn Disci- ples to historic missionaries who were willing to die for the cause of Christ. As a result, the Disciples led thousands to repentance and acceptance of Christ as their savior; and thereby, “turned the world upside down,” Acts 17:6.
The Second Coming of Christ:
SMBC believes that the Second Coming of Jesus is part of the ultimate hope of experiencing the promised eternal life with the Lord which is clearly supported by the Words of Scripture. While debated by some, SMBC believes 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and Revelation 4:1 supports the position that Christians will avoid the horror of the Great Tribulation and spend that time with the Lord and return with Jesus during the Second Coming of Christ. Moreover, Jesus spoke of his Second Coming in the Olivet Discourse, Matthew 24-25, and he promised his Disciples that he was going to prepare a place for them and all Christians but will one day come again to receive his followers to himself, John 14:2-3.
Salvation by Faith:
SMBC believes, like most Christians, that salvation is received by one having a trusting faith in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life rather than by the accomplishment of a series of good works or other matters. It should be added that the process to salvation may be expressed by the acrostic KAT which means one must have, K, knowledge about Jesus, then A, agree with the knowledge; and thereafter, T, trust in the knowledge to believe in and accept Jesus as one’s Lord and Savior. In fact, in Genesis 15:6, Moses writes that Abraham “believed in the Lord and God counted it to him for righteous.” In the New Testament, this same principle of salvation by faith/belief is expressed in perhaps the best known scripture in the Bible, John 3:16 (an supported by John 6:47), which provides, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
The Doctrine of Atonement:
Simply put, SMBC believes that the historic sinfulness of man proves the words of Romans 3:23 which provides, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” and triggered the wrath of God, and man’s damnation in hell. However, unlike the insufficient atonement/covering of sin by the blood of animal in the Old Testament, God, out of loving grace, gave his Son, Jesus, who made the great sacrifice through his atoning blood and death on Calvary’s Cross for the sins of all mankind. As a result, believers are justified/declared righteous or pardoned based on the “Propitiation” of Christ; that is, the appeasement and satisfaction of God’s wrath and offended holiness by Christ’s death on the cross.