Connecting Lives To Christ
We believe that God has given FFWBC a unique ministry for our city and community. Part of that ministry is to make where we live, work, and play a better place. We care about individuals and families, and we desire to be a family to those who have none. Each opportunity we offer emphasizes growth in our relationship with God and with others. At First Free Will Baptist, we’re here to meet your needs of Christian fellowship, friendship, and spiritual encouragement.
Summary of Major Beliefs
God. We believe that there is but one living, true, and eternal God, the Father, of whom are all things from everlasting to everlasting, glorious and unchangeable in all His attributes. We believe that God is the only proper object of worship. He is the source of all existence, and the Scriptures teach that He is everywhere, all knowing, all powerful, independent, good, wise, holy, just, merciful, Redeemer, Savior, Sanctifier, the Judge of mankind, and all other attributes ascribed to Him in the Scriptures.
Jesus Christ. We believe that there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, the only begotten Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, who was truly God and truly man, whom God freely sent into this world because of the great love wherewith He loved the world; and Christ as freely gave Himself a ransom for all, tasting death for every man; who was buried and rose again the third day, and ascended into Heaven from whence we look for Him the second time, in the clouds of Heaven, at the last day to judge both the living and the dead. We believe that the Scriptures ascribe to Christ all the attributes of God.
Holy Spirit. We believe that there is one Holy Spirit, the precious gift of the Father through His dear Son, who is the divine presence in our lives, who regenerates and sanctifies us, and whereby we are kept in perpetual remembrance of the truth of Christ, and in whom we find our strength and help. We believe that the Scriptures ascribe to the Holy Spirit all the attributes of God.
The Trinity. We believe God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are one God, without beginning or end, who is indivisible in His nature or being.
Creation and Divine Government. We believe that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and all things therein, visible and invisible, and that God is continually working through His creation to sustain it and to nurture His creatures.
Man. We believe that in the beginning God created man in His own image and placed him in a state of glory, from which he voluntarily by transgression fell and brought on himself a mortal state subject to death. We believe that the human will is always active and may rebel or respond to the call of Christ in His redemptive offer that through the grace of God mankind may be saved.
The Church. We believe that the Church is the body of Christ, all Christians everywhere. We believe that the local church is an organized body of believers in Christ who statedly assemble to worship God and who sustain the ordinances of the Gospel.
The Holy Scriptures. We believe that these are the Old and the New Testaments, that they were written by holy men inspired by the Holy Spirit and are God’s revealed Word to man. We believe that they are a sufficient and infallibly true rule and guide to salvation and all Christian worship and service. We must be diligent to read, study, and rightly divide the Word of truth.
Salvation. We believe that salvation is the restoration of man to his right relationship with God and involves:
- General Provision. We believe in the doctrine of General Provision, made of God in Christ, for the benefit of all mankind who repents and believes the Gospel.
- Faith. We believe that faith is the response of an individual in total trust and commitment to God’s provision in Christ.
- Repentance. We believe that the repentance which the Gospel requires includes a deep conviction, a penitential sorrow, an open confession, and a hatred and forsaking of sin. Without repentance in this life, the sinner will perish eternally.
- Regeneration. We believe that regeneration is an instantaneous renewal of the heart by the Holy Spirit, whereby the penitent sinner receives new life and becomes a child of God. (This is called in Scripture, being “born again”.)
- Justification. We believe that justification means that persons who accept by faith the atonement of Christ are pardoned and absolved from the guilt of sin and restored to divine favor where once they stood guilty before God.
Ordinances of the Gospel.
- Christian Baptism. We believe that this is the immersion of believers in water, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in which are represented the burial and resurrection of Christ, the death of Christians to the world, the washing of their souls from the pollution of sin, their rising to newness of life, their commitment to serve God, and their resurrection at the last day.
- The Lord’s Supper. We believe that this is a commemoration of the death of Christ for our sins, in the use of bread which He made the emblem of His broken body, and the cup, the emblem of His shed blood, and by it the believer expresses his love for Christ, his faith and hope in Him, and pledges to Him perpetual fidelity.
- Washing the Saints’ Feet. We believe that this is a sacred ordinance, which teaches humility, the necessity of the servanthood of every believer, and reminds the believer of the necessity of a daily cleansing from all sin. It was instituted by the Lord.
* Beliefs summarized from The Articles of Faith and Principles of Church Government for Original Free Will Baptists. First Free Will Baptist Church is a member of the Convention of Original Free Will Baptist Churches.