Grace of Calvary Baptist Church is a King James, independent, fundamental, Baptist Church
The Scriptures
We believe the Bible to be the inerrant, immutable, preserved, infallible Word of God in the original writings and preserved in the King James Bible, that it was verbally inspired and produced by the Holy Spirit through holy men of old. It is the only complete and final revelation of God’s will to man and the only rule of faith and practice. (II Timothy 3:16; II Timothy 3:17; II Peter 1:19-21, Psalm 12:6-8)
God
We believe there is one and only one living and true God, and Infinite Spirit, the Maker and Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth; eternally existent, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, equal in every divine perfection, essence, and power. (Genesis 1:1; Exodus 3:14; Exodus 20:2; Exodus 20:3; I Corinthians 8:6; Revelation 4:1; Matthew 28:19; I John 5:7)
Person and Work of Jesus Christ
We believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ; that He was the creator and sustainer of all things, that He was begotten of the Holy Spirit in a miraculous manner, born of the virgin Mary, and that He is both the Son of God and God the Son. We believe that He was tempted, yet without sin in His life; in His substitutionary death on the cross for our sin, His bodily resurrection, His ascension to the right hand of the Majesty on high, Uniting in His wonderful person the tenderest sympathy with divine perfection. He is in every way qualified to be the suitable and compassionate intercessor for believers and His premillinnial, personal, visible return for His own. (John 1:1; Hebrews 1:1-3; Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:35; John 1:14; I Corinthians 15:3-8; Hebrews 4:14; Hebrews 4:15; Acts 1:11; I Thessalonians 4:13-18)
The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is deity, and a person, co-equal with the Father and the Son, the administrator of the things of God through believers in the world. He convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment; is the agent of the new birth; baptizes, seals, endues the believer with spiritual gifts, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies, empowers and helps the believer and restrains the Evil One until He is taken away at the time of the rapture. (John 14:16; John 14:17; John 14:26; John 16:8-11; John 3:5; John 3:6; Matthew 28:19; Genesis 1:1-3; Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 1:14; Ephesians 4:30; Luke 24:49; Luke 24:49; Romans 8:14; Romans 8:16; Romans 8:26; II Thessalonians 2:7; Acts 5:1-4; I Corinthians 12:1-11)
Creation and Man
We believe that God created the heavens and the earth, including all life, each after its own kind by direct act and not by a process of evolution. We believe that God created man in innocence and in His own image as a separate and distinct act; but by voluntary trangression, man fell from his sinless estate in consequence of which all mankind are now sinners, not only by nature, but by choice; therefore they are under just condemnation without defense or excuse. (Genesis 1; Genesis 2; Genesis 3:1-6; Romans 5:10-19; Romans 1:18; Romans 1:32; Colossians 1:16; Colossians 1:17; John 1:3)
Salvation
We believe salvation to be by grace through faith, wholly apart from human works and merit, and that each individual must exercise personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His redeeming work in order to be saved. He must be born again; the new birth is instantaneous and not a process; we believe that by the new birth an individual becomes a new creature in Christ Jesus and is baptized into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. We believe that all who are truly born again are eternally kept by God the Father for Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 2:8; Ephesians 2:9; Titus 3:5; Acts 16:31; Romans 6:23; Romans 10-9; Romans 10:10; John 3:3-7; II Corinthians 5:17; Philipians 1:6; John 2:28; John 2:29; Romans 8:35-39; I Peter 1:5; I Corinthians 12:12-14)
Satan
We believe in the reality and personality of Satan as a created being, that through pride he fell from his exalted place as the “anointed cherub that covereth”; that he is the unholy god of this age, the author of all the powers of darkness, and is destined to judgment by God to an eternal place in the lake of fire. (Ezekiel 28:12-19; Isaiah 14:12-15; II Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2; Revelation 20:10)
Heaven and Hell
We believe in a heaven of everlasting blessedness for all who, through faith in Jesus Christ, have been saved, and the everlasting, conscious suffering of the lost (those who have not believed in the only begotten Son of God) in the lake of fire. (Revelation 21:1-8; John 3:36)
Future Things
We believe in the imminent, pre-tribulation rapture of the saints, which is followed in heaven by the judgment of the believer’s works and the marriage supper of the Lamb. Simultaneously on earth seven years of tribulation ensue, to be climaxed with the visible and glorious return of Christ with His saints, at which time Christ judges the nations and establishes a literal kingdom on earth for one thousand years. Thereafter, the unbelieving dead are raised to judgment at the Great White Throne for eternal punishment in the lake of fire. After the judgment of heaven and earth by fire, God makes a new heaven and a new earth and reveals a New Jerusalem for the eternal abode of the redeemed. (I Thessalonians 4:13-16; I Corinthians 3:11-15; II Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 19:7-10; Matthew 24:4-28; Revelation 19:11-21; I Thessalonians 3:13; Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 20:4-6; Revelation 20:11-15; II Peter 3:10-12; Revelation 21:1-4)
The Local Church
We believe that a local church is a congregation of the immersed believers, equal in rank and privilege, subject to the Word of God, and independent of any external, ecclesiastical control whatsoever. They are gathered together for fellowship in the gospel, for the observance of the ordinances, and for the carrying out of the Great Commission. We believe that its officers are pastors and deacons, whose qualification, claims, and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures. We believe that in all matter of polity, government, discipline, and benevolence, the will of the local church is final. (Matthew 18:15-17; I Corinthians 1:2; I Corinthians 6:4-5; I Corinthians 7:17; I Corinthians 11:16; I Timothy 3:1-15; Acts 2:41-44; Acts 20:17-28; I Corintians 11:1; Ephesians 4:11; Acts 15:13-18; Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:16)
Ordinances
- We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer (and only a believer) in water to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior; our death to sin; and resurrection to a new life. It is a prerequisite to the privileges of a church relationship. (Acts 8:36-39; Romans 6:3-5; Matthew 3:16; Colossians 2:12; I Peter 3:20; I Peter 3:21)
- We believe that the Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of His death until He come, should always be preceded by a solemn self-examination, and that it has no sacramental value. The element being only a symbol representing the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. (I Corinthians 11:23-33)
The Civil Government
We believe that civil Government is of divine appointment for the interests and good order of human society; that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed, except in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the only Lord of conscience and the coming Prince of the kings of the earth. We believe in separation of church and state in that the church is to influence the state but not the state the church, God and His Word being sovereign over both. (Romans 13:1-7; II Samuel 23:3; Exodus 18:21; Exodus 18:22; Acts 23:5; Matthew 22:21; Acts 5:29; Acts 4:19; Acts 4:20; Daniel 3:17; Daniel 3:18)
Evangelization
We believe it is the obligation and responsibility, as well as the privilege, of every believer to be a personal soulwinner and to do his utmost to carry out the Savior’s command to give the gospel to the whole world. (Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:18-20) We do not agree with or advance new-evangelicalism, ecumenicalism, interdenominationalism, the charismatic movement, or any other compromising alliance and/or practice.
Music
We believe that the congregational singing and specials are to edify the saints and help prepare the hearts of the congregation for the sermon that the Lord our God has given to the preacher. (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16) Singing Conservative songs and hymns is our way of keeping with the scripture and ensuring we are not ministering to the flesh, but to the Spirit that God has put in us.