What We Believe
The Bible - The Holy Scriptures
- We believe in the Bible as the verbally (every word) and plenary (complete) inspired Word of God as contained in the original manuscripts; that all portions of Scripture are equally inspired and contain no contradictions (II Timothy 3:16; II Peter 1:20, 21). God’s Word is to be the only rule of faith and practice for the believer in Jesus Christ; and that the Canon, the sixty-six books of the Bible is complete. We further believe that God has supernaturally and providentially preserved His inspired Word for every generation (Psalm 12:6-7).
- By inspiration we mean that the books of the Bible were written by holy men of God as they were moved by the Holy Ghost in such a definite way that their writings were supernaturally and verbally inspired and free from error, as no other writings have ever been or ever will be. This was a one-time event in which God, once for all, delivered His truth to the church (Jude, v. 3).
- By providential preservation we mean that God, through the ages, has, in His divine presence, preserved the very words He inspired. We further believe that the Hebrew Old Testament text, as found in the Traditional Masoretic Text, and the Greek New Testament text, as found in the Textus Receptus, are the true texts of Scripture and therefore are the complete, preserved, inerrant, infallible Word of God.
- We therefore believe that the King James Version is an accurate and faithful translation of the original manuscripts and constitutes the preserved, inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God for the English-speaking people of the world. The King James Version of the Bible is the only translation to be used by Beacon Baptist Church, and is the only acceptable translation to be used in any of its ministries. (Psalm 12:6-7; II Timothy 3:15-17; I Peter 1:23-25; II Peter 1:19-21)
God
We believe in one God; Who is eternal, self-existent, infinite, and immutable. We believe He has one nature, one essence, and one substance; yet manifests Himself to man in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Deuteronomy 6:4; I Timothy 1:17; James 1:17; I John 4:4)
Jesus Christ
We believe Jesus Christ to be the one and only Saviour of mankind. We believe Jesus Christ to be eternally God and to possess all the attributes of Deity. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was virgin-born, that He was God incarnate, and that the purposes of the incarnation were to reveal God, to redeem men, and to rule over God’s kingdom. We believe Jesus Christ never relinquished any attributes of His Deity, but merely veiled them. We believe He lived a perfect, sinless life, at the end of which He was offered for all mankind as a sacrifice for man’s sin. This sacrifice was a just payment to God for the forgiveness of sin. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death by the shedding of his blood on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and, that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead. We believe He ascended into Heaven after His resurrection to be seated at the right hand of the Father and is now waiting for the time of receiving His church at the rapture, which is followed by His return seven years later to earth to rule and reign as King for 1,000 years. (Psalm 2:7-9; Isaiah 7:14, 9:6, 43:11; Micah 5:2; Matthew 1:25; Luke 1:26-35; John 1:1, 3, 14, 18, 29; Acts 2:18-36; Romans 3:19-25; Romans 5:6-15; Ephesians 1:7; Philippians 2:5-11; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Timothy 2:5; I Timothy 3:16; Titus 2:10-15; Hebrews 7:26, 9:24-28; I Peter 1:19, 2:2, 24; I John 1:3; Revelation 20:1-6)
The Holy Spirit
- We believe the Holy Spirit of God is a divine person having personality and all the attributes of Deity. We believe that the Holy Spirit was active in the creation of the universe and has always been involved in the affairs of mankind; that he moved holy men of God to write the Bible; and that He has a special ministry that began at Pentecost and will continue until the rapture. This ministry includes reproving the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and regenerating, sealing, sanctifying, and comforting all who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. (John 16:8-11; Romans 8:9; I Cor. 12:12-14; II Cor. 3:6; Eph. 1:13-14)
- We believe that He is the divine Teacher who assists believers to understand and appropriate the Scriptures and that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit. (Eph. 1:17-18; 5:18; I John 2:20, 27)
- We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowal of spiritual gifts to every believer. God uniquely uses evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip believers in the assembly in order that they can do the work of the ministry. (Rom. 12:3-8; I Cor. 12:4-11, 28; 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. Speaking in tongues was never the common or necessary sign of the filling of the Holy Spirit. 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. 1:22; 13:8; 14:21-22; James 5:14-15)
Sin
We believe all men were born with an inherited sin nature received from our common ancestor, Adam. We believe that because of his nature, man is a sinner by choice, and he is totally incapable of reforming himself or ceasing from his sin by his own power. We believe the only hope of deliverance for man is a total change of mind concerning his sinful condition and inability to change it, and a turning to Jesus Christ as the only Saviour. We believe that only through the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ on the cross can a man be delivered from his sin. We believe that all those who reject Jesus Christ as their Saviour are already condemned to an eternity in the lake of fire. (Genesis 5:1-5; Acts 4:19; Acts 16:31; Romans 3:10-23; Romans 5:6-12; Romans 6:23; Romans 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-6; Revelation 20:11-14)
Salvation
- We believe that a person is saved when he repents of his sin and exercises faith by accepting Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. The believer is kept by the power of God and is eternally secure in Christ.
- We believe that the scope of salvation includes forgiveness of all our sins past, present, and future: a perfect standing before God as in Jesus Christ; and the changing of our earthly body to be conformed like unto the body of our Lord at his return for his own.
- We believe that the attitude either of reconciliation or enmity toward God is eternally fixed at death.
- We further believe that there is an appointed day for the judgment of the wicked when they will be cast into the Lake of Fire, there to remain in everlasting conscious punishment and torment. (John 1:12; John 5:24; John 10:28, 29; Romans 6:23; II Corinthians 5:21; Eph. 2:8, 10; I John 5:17; Romans 8:19-23; I John 3:2; II Thessalonians 1:7-9; Hebrews 9:27; II Peter 2:8, 9; Revelation 20:12-15; Revelation 21:8)
The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers
- We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, 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 Pet. 1:4-5)
- We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh. (Rom. 13:13-14; Gal. 5:13; Titus 2:11-15)
The New Testament Church
- We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures. (Acts 14:27, 20:17, 28-32; I Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11)
- We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority or control. (Acts 13:1-4; 15:19-31; 20:28; Rom. 16:1, 4; I Cor. 3:9, 16; 5:4-7, 13; I Pet. 5:1-4)
- We believe the local church is composed of members who have been saved and baptized according to the command of Christ, and have voluntarily united together for the purposes of worship, fellowship, service, and observance of the ordinances of baptism by immersion and communion. Beacon Baptist Church practices closed communion, meaning that it is open only to the members of Beacon Baptist Church. (I Corinthians 11:23-28)
- We believe all true believers will carry out the Great Commission, and will be taken up at the rapture, just prior to the tribulation. (Matthew 16:16-18; Acts 1:15; Acts 2:41-43; Acts 11:15, 20:28; I Corinthians 15:51-58; Ephesians 1:12-14, 5:25-30; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Timothy 3:4-15)
The Last Days
We believe in the literal interpretation of the Scriptures in their grammatical and historical context. We believe in the pre-tribulational rapture of the church saints, followed by the seven-year tribulation. We believe in the pre-millennial return of Christ to the earth and His literal rule of 1,000 years. Following this one-thousand-year reign is the Great White Throne judgment and then the new heaven and new earth. (I Corinthians 15:51-58; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Thessalonians 5:1-9; Revelation 19-22)
The Eternal State
- We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgement 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; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; 3:21; 1 Thess. 4:16-17; Rev. 20:4-6)
- We believe that the 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 Judgement, 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 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; 2 Thess. 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Rev. 20:11-15)
Creation
We believe that God created the universe in six literal, 24-hour periods. We reject evolution, the gap theory, the day-age theory, theistic evolution, and intelligent design not attributed to God as unscriptural theories of origin. (Genesis 1-2; Exodus 20:11)