Declaration of Faith

Section 1. The Holy Scriptures.

We believe that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are verbally and fully the inspired Word of 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 Testaments are the complete, divine revelation of God to man. The Scriptures shall be interpreted according to their normal, grammatical, and historical meaning. The Authorized King James Version shall be the official and only translation used by the Church (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21).

Section 2. Dispensationalism.

We believe that the Scriptures, interpreted in their natural, literal sense, reveal divinely appointed dispensations; these are rules of life that define man's responsibility throughout the ages. These dispensations are not always unto salvation, but are divinely ordained responsibility by which God directs man according to His purpose. Three of these dispensations, the Age of Law, the Age of Church, and the Age of Kingdom, are the subject of detailed revelation in the Scriptures (Gen 1:28; 1 Cor 9:17; 2 Cor 3:9-18; Gal 3:13-25; Eph 1:10; 3:2-10; Col 1:24, 25, 27; Rev 20:2-6).

Section 3. The Trinity.

We believe in one Triune God, perpetually existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; each co-eternal in existence, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and with the same attributes and perfections (Deut 6:4; Mat 28:19; 2 Cor 13:14; John 14:10, 26).

Section 4. The Person and Work of Christ.

a) 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, with the goal of revealing God to men and redeeming the sinner (Isa 7:14, 9:6, Luke 1:35, John 1:1-2, 14, 2 Cor 5:19-21, Gal 4:4-5, Phil 2:5-8).

b) We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, and substitutionary sacrifice; and that our justification is secured by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Acts 2:18-36; Rom 3:24-25; 1 Peter 2:24; Eph 1:7; 1 Peter 1:3-5).

c) We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven, and is now exalted to the right hand of God, where, as High Priest, he fulfills his ministry of Representative, Intercessor and Advocate (Acts 1:9-10, Heb 9:24, 7:25, Rom 8:34, 1 John 2:1-2).

Section 5. The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit

a) We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and who is the supernatural agent of regeneration, baptizing all believers into the Body of Christ, living in them, and sealing them until the day of redemption (John 16:8-11, Rom 8:9, 1 Cor 12:12-14, 2 Cor 3:6, Eph 1:13-14).

b) We believe that He is the Divine Teacher who helps believers to understand and appropriate the Scriptures and that the privilege and responsibility of the saved is to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:17-18, 5:18, 1 John 2:20, 27).

c) We believe that God is sovereign in giving spiritual gifts to each believer. God individually uses evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip believers in the assembly to do the work of ministry (Rom 12:3-8; 1 Cor 12:4-11, 28; Eph 4:7-12).

d) We believe that displays of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues and the gift of healing, were temporary; although God does frequently choose to answer believers' prayers for physical healing. Speaking in tongues was never or is not a common or necessary display of the baptism or infilling of the Holy Spirit. (1 Cor 1:22, 13:8, 14:21-22).

Section 6. The Total Depravity 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, inheriting a sinful nature and becoming separated from God, and that man is totally depraved and utterly incapable of remedying his lost condition (Gen 1:26-27; Rom 3:22-23, 5:12, 6:23; Eph 2:1-3, 4:17-19).

Section 7. Salvation

We believe that Salvation is the gift of God, given to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of sins (John 1:12; Eph 1:7, 2:8-10; 1 Peter 1:18-19).

Section 8. Eternal Security and the Believer's Security

a) We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, remain saved by the power of God and are therefore secure in Christ forever (John 6:37-40, 10:27-30; Rom 8:1, 38, 39; 1 Cor 1:4-8; 1 Peter 1:4-5).

b) We believe that it is the privilege of the believer to enjoy the security of his salvation through the testimony of the Word of God, which, however, clearly prohibits the use of Christian freedom as a permission of the flesh (Rom 13:13-14; Gal 5:13; Titus 2:11-15).

Section 9. The Church

a) We believe that the local church, which is the body and bride of Christ, is composed only of people who have been born again (1 Cor 12:12-14; 2 Cor 11:2; Eph 1:22-23, 5:25-27).

b) We believe that the establishment and continuity of the local church is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:27; 20:17, 28-32; 1 Tim 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11).

c) We believe in the autonomy of the local church, free from all control by external authority (Acts 13:1-4; 15:19-31, 20:28; Rom 16:1, 4; 1 Cor 3:9, 16, 5:4-7, 13; 1 Peter 5:1-4).

d) We recognize water baptism and the Lord's Supper as ordinances of obedience for the church of this age (Mat 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; 18:18; 1 Cor 11:23-26).

Section 10. Separation.

We believe that all who are saved should so live as not to bring reproach upon their Lord and Savior; and that it is God's command to separate them from all religious apostasy, and from all worldly or sinful pleasures, practices, and associations.
We believe that all saved people should abstain from all alcoholic beverages and illegal narcotics (cocaine, crack, marijuana, etc.) (Rom. 12:1-2, 14:13; 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; 1 John 2:15-17; 2 John 9-11).

Section 11. The Second Coming of Christ

We believe in the “blessed hope,” the imminent, personal return of Christ who will rapture His Church before the seven-year Tribulation period. At the end of the Tribulation, Christ will personally and visibly return with His saints to establish His Messianic Kingdom on this earth as promised to the nation of Israel (Ps. 89:3-4; Dan. 2:31-45; Zech. 14:4-11; 1 Thess. 1:10; 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; Rev. 3:10, 19:11-16, 20:1).

Section 12. Eternal State

a) We believe in the bodily resurrection of every man, the saved to eternal life, and the lost to judgment and eternal punishment (Mat 25:46; John 5:28-29, 11:25-26; Rev. 20:5-6,12,13).

b) We believe that the souls of the redeemed, at the moment of death, separate from the body and go to the presence of the Lord, where, in conscious joy, they await the first resurrection, when the spirit, soul and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord (Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23, 3:21; 1 Thess. 4:16-17; Rev. 20:4-6).

c) We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious punishment and torment until the second resurrection, when soul and body are reunited to appear before the Great White Throne of Judgment, to then be thrown into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to consciously suffer eternal punishment and torment. (Mat 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; 2 Thes 1:7-9; Jude 6, 7; Rev. 20:11-15).

Section 13. The Personality of Satan

We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the cause of the Fall of Man; that he is openly declared the enemy of God and man; and that he will be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire (Job 1:6-7; Isa 14:12-17; Mat 4:2-11, 25:41; Rev. 20:10).

Section 14. The Creation

We believe that God created the universe in six literal 24-hour periods. We reject evolution, the Day=Epoch theory, and Theistic Evolution as theories of origin that do not conform to the Scriptures (Genesis 1-2; Exodus 20:11).

Section 15. Civil Government

We believe that God has ordained and created all authority to consist of three basic institutions: 1) The Home; 2) The Church; and 3) The State. All persons are subject to these authorities, but all (including the authorities themselves) answer to God and are governed by His Word. God has given each institution specific biblical responsibilities; this is balanced by the understanding that no authority has the right to infringe on another. The Home, Church, and State are equal and sovereign and govern their respective spheres of responsibility under God as assigned in Scripture (Rom. 13:1-7; Eph. 5:22-24; Heb. 13:17; 1 Pet. 2:13-14).

Section 16. Human Sexuality

We believe that the identity of human sexuality is found in the Scriptures, “The life is in the Blood” (Lev 17:11). Therefore, human blood defines sexuality. We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, transgenderism, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of sex, which is the gift of God, and are to be rejected (Gen 2:24; Gen 19:5, 13; Gen 26:8-9; Lev 18:1-30; Rom 1:26-29; 1 Cor 5:1, 6:9; 1 Thes 4:1-8; Heb 13:4).

Marriage is the sacred covenant union between a man and a woman, formed when both men promise before God lifelong loyalty and love for one another. Therefore, cohabitation or free union must be avoided in order to protect personal testimony and that of the church (1 Thess 5:22).

Section 17. Divorce and remarriage

We believe that God hates divorce and that He intends for marriage to continue until one of the partners dies. Persons who have been divorced and then married someone else may take up ministries of service in the Church and may be greatly used of God for such service, but they cannot be considered for the Pastorate or for Deaconship (Mal 2:14-17; Matt 19:3-12; Rom 7:1-3; 1 Tim 3:2, 12; Titus 1:6).

Section 18. Abortion

We believe that human life begins at conception and that an unborn child is a human being. Abortion constitutes the taking of the life of an unborn child without justification or excuse. Abortion is murder. We reject any teaching that abortion is acceptable because of rape, incest, defects, gender selection, population control, or the mental well-being of the mother (Job 3:16; Psalm 51:5, 139:14-16; Isa. 44:24, 49:1, 5; Jer. 1:5, 20:15-18; Luke 1:44).

Section 19. Missions

The mission of Trinity Baptist Church is to glorify God in obedience to the Great Commission by proclaiming the Gospel to all corners of the earth, beginning with our own “Jerusalem,” Indian Land, and Fort Mill, South Carolina—preserving the Biblical legacy for future generations and providing a place of worship, training, and service (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; 2 Cor. 5:20).