BASIC BELIEFS
Carmel Baptist Church

CARMEL'S MISSION STATEMENT
We exist to glorify God by reaching out to the un-churched of the world while equipping and challenging the Carmel family to grow in relationship with Christ and others and to communicate Him through lifestyle and witness.

WHAT WE BELIEVE
- The Scriptures
- God
- Salvation
- Baptism and the Lord's Supper
- Evangelism and Missions

THE SCRIPTURES
- We believe the Bible was written by men who were divinely inspired.  It is God’s written revelation of Himself to man.
- We believe the Bible is a perfect treasure of divine instruction.  It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth,  without any mixture of error, for its matter.
- We believe all Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.
- We believe that the Bible alone is the written word of God.

GOD
- We believe there is only one living and true God.
- We believe He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being; the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe.
-We believe God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

SALVATION
- We believe salvation involves the redemption of the whole man.  It is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
- We believe that regeneration, the new birth, is a work of God’s grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ.
- We believe mankind is free to accept or reject God’s free gift of salvation.
- We believe all true believers endure to the end.  Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from a state of grace, but shall persevere to the end.  All believers are secure in their salvation.

BAPTISM AND THE LORD’S SUPPER
- We believe baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
- We believe only believers should be baptized.
- We believe baptism is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior.  We believe it is a symbol.  No grace is imparted in the act of baptism.
- We believe the Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church memorialize Christ’s death and His anticipated return.
- We believe that baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the two ordinances of the church.  They are acts of obedience.

EVANGELISM AND MISSIONS
- We believe it is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and every local church to endeavor to make disciples of all nations.  We believe evangelism is a primary task of the church (Matthew 28:19-20).
- We believe Jesus commanded His people to take the message of salvation, beginning in our own Jerusalem and extending to the ends of the earth.  We believe missions is the process of taking Christ to a hurting and broken world.
- We believe it is the duty and responsibility of every child of God to develop a life-style that gladly and frequently shares the message of redemption through Christ Jesus.

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