What We Believe

Rooted in Scripture. Centered on Christ. Living by Faith.

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Our Foundation

The University Baptist Church is thankful that God has graciously given us the Holy Scriptures as His divinely inspired Word, revealed truth accessible to all who come to God in faith and seek to hear God through the biblical text, as the Holy Spirit illumines and interprets it for us. Since God is a living Person and therefore of one mind, who has given His church the mind of Christ, there has always been a common thread of scriptural interpretation among faithful Bible readers, as exemplified in the written confessions of the early church fathers, the Protestant reformers, and the evangelical free-church tradition from which we descend. Unfortunately, though, Christians have erred at times by substituting the partial truth of creeds, which are written by human beings, for the whole truth of scripture, which is written by God. And by relying on their own doctrinal formulations rather than the living God and His fresh Word in scripture, they have misused creeds as instruments of wrongful exclusion, of persecution, and even death, limiting the freedom of other faithful Christians to interpret scripture for themselves.

Therefore, following the wisdom of our persecuted Baptist forbears, and recognizing our own fallibility, this document should not and never will function as a creed, because we are saved only by faith in Jesus Christ, not by mere mental assent to dogma. This statement should never be used as a litmus test to determine who is or is not a true believer, nor should the signing of a doctrinal statement ever be required for church membership. Our only creed is the Bible, and it is impossible to condense and reduce the richness of scripture to a terse couple of pages. Yet because of the increasingly pluralistic religious environment of our culture and University– and the heterodox opinions of some historically evangelical churches who still claim to follow biblical teaching, but do not actually believe scripture to be divinely inspired according to the normative view of Christians across two millennia–we sense the need to identify ourselves as being Christ-centered, scripturally-based, Word-proclaiming, and communicative of the Good News, in order to aid the understanding of any who would inquire about whether they might seek to be in fellowship with us.

And so, as a community of believers in Jesus, who teaches us humble discipleship through obedience to the truths of scripture, we agree upon the following doctrinal expressions as approximations of our common understanding of some key biblical teachings:

And so, as a community of believers in Jesus, who teaches us humble discipleship through obedience to the truths of scripture, we agree upon the following doctrinal expressions as approximations of our common understanding of some key biblical teachings:

  • God, being one, also exists eternally and simultaneously, as three distinct yet equal persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit (John 10:30).
  • God created the universe and all that is in it (Genesis 1:1, John 1:3, Hebrews 11:3).
  • God loves all people and wants a personal relationship with everyone now, and for eternity in Heaven (John 3:16, 6:40).
  • However, all have sinned and fall short of God’s perfect standard, which prevents us from spending eternity with Him (Romans 3:10-12, 23).
  • Thankfully, God sent Christ, true God and true man, born of a virgin, to die on the cross as a perfect sacrifice for our sins, allowing us to once again be united with God. Christ was physically resurrected from the dead and walked on earth prior to His ascension into Heaven (Matthew 1:23, John 3:16, Romans 1:4, 10:9, Acts 1:10, Isaiah 7:14).
  • We are, therefore, saved by grace, through faith alone, in Christ alone, not by our works or by being a “good person” (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 3:28, Galatians 2:16).
  • God calls each of us personally to repent for our sins and accept Christ as our Lord and Savior (Mark 1:15, Romans 10:9).
  • The only reasonable response to God’s generous gift is giving up our lives and desires to do God’s will (James 2:18-19, 26, Colossians 1:10, Romans 12:1-2).
  • Our actions are also a reflection of what we truly believe about Christ (Matthew 25:31-46).
  • God is not tolerant of sin and calls us to abstain from sinful acts and abide in Him (I John 3).
  • Although we are called to hate sin, we are also called to love and forgive each person in the world, including our enemies (Matthew 6:14-15, Matthew 5:44-46, I Corinthians 13:1-8, I John 4:7-8).
  • We view believer’s baptism as an outward symbol of our commitment to Him (Acts 2:38).
  • We regularly observe the Lord’s Supper in remembrance of Christ (Luke 22:19-22, I Corinthians 11:23-29).
  • The Holy Spirit is truly God; He calls us to faith in Christ, changes our hearts for God, and inspires and empowers us to do good works for Christ’s sake (I Corinthians 12:1-2, Ephesians 1:13-14). He also empowers believers with spiritual gifts to further the work of the Kingdom of God (John 14:26, 16:7ff).
  • The Bible, in its original texts, is the inerrant Word of God, inspired by God and written by the people He chose (II Timothy 3:16-17).
  • God has maintained the integrity of the Word through those who have sought to faithfully translate it (Isaiah 55:11).
  • As the Holy Scripture is the inspired Word of God, and God has the power to have it written as He chooses, we are led to interpret it literally, taking into account the context of other passages of scripture. We are very hesitant to say “God did not mean what He said” (Matthew 5:17ff, Psalm 1).
  • The Bible is our source of doctrine and morality, independent of what culture may teach or think (II Timothy 3:16-17).
  • Christ will return in bodily form to earth in power and glory, to judge every human being who has ever lived (Acts 1:11). Those who have trusted Christ for salvation will enter into eternal life in Heaven, while those who have rejected God’s gift of salvation will spend eternity in hell (Matthew 25:31-46).
  • God desires that none should be apart from Him (II Peter 3:9). Therefore, He has called all believers everywhere to proclaim the good news about Jesus to the world (Matthew 28:18-20).

Sources:
The Holy Bible
William L. Lumpkin, Baptist Confessions of Faith. Valley Forge, PA: The Judson Press, 1989.
Augustus Hopkins Strong, Systematic Theology. Valley Forge, PA: The Judson Press, 1976.