CONFESSION OF FAITH
PIONEER PEAK BAPTIST CHURCH
BUTTE AREA of PALMER, ALASKA
1. The Scriptures
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally inspired Word of God, the sole authority for faith and practice, inerrant in the original writings, infallible, truth, complete, God- breathed, preserved forever, and as such, our only source of the knowledge of God (II Timothy 3:16, 17; II Peter 1:19,20; Matthew 24:35).
We further believe that the King James Version of the Bible is completely dependable and trustworthy having been loved and proven true for many years. We believe that Satan’s major attack today is upon the Word of God; thus the reason for the existence and appearance of many versions and translations in recent years. We therefore state that the King James Version is to be used in public worship services, both for reading and preaching.
2. God the Father – The Trinity
We believe in One Triune God; who is personal, spirit, and sovereign; perfect, infinite, and eternal in His being, holiness and love, wisdom and power; self-existent and self-revealing in three Persons; Father, Son and Holy Spirit, co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory and having the same attributes and perfections (Matthew 3:16, 17; 28:19; John 15:26; II Corinthians 13:14).
3. God the Son
We believe in the absolute deity of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ; being divine as no other man can be, and is God in every sense of the term. He has eternally existed, is the creator of all things and is even now our only High Priest and mediator to God the Father (John 1:1-3, 14; 8:58; 20:28; Colossians 1:15-19; Hebrews 7:17; 23-28; I Timothy 2:5).
4. God the Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, equal with God the Father and God the Son. His ministry to the world is convicting of sin, righteousness, and of judgment. (John 16:8) His ministry to the believer is as the agent in regeneration, bearing witness to truth, guides, teaches, seals, enables, comforts, fills and indwells. We reject the teaching that speaking in tongues is evidence if the filling, indwelling and baptizing by the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 12:13, 6:19, 20; John 3:3; 14:17, 26; 16:13, 14; Ephesians 5:18).
5. Satan
We believe in the distinct personality of Satan, that he is the unholy god of his age, author of all powers of darkness and sin, and is destined to judgment and justice in the lake of fire (Matthew 4:2-11; II Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 20:10). We further reject the teaching that true Christians can be demon invaded or possessed. We, therefore, reject the practice of exorcism from Christians (John 4:4).
6. Creation
We believe that God created the heavens and the earth, including all life, “each after its own kind,” by direct act. This creation took place in six literal twenty-four hour periods (Exodus 20:11; 31:17; Genesis 1:2, 2; Colossians 1:16,17; John 1:3).
7. Depravity of Man
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that, in Adam’s sin, the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and, that man is totally depraved, and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition (Genesis 2:17;Romans 5:12).
8. Virgin Birth
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, in order that He might reveal God and redeem men through His sinless life and shed blood (Matthew 1:18).
9. Redemption from Sin
We believe that the only escape from the condemnation of sin is through the redemption wrought by Jesus Christ, when He voluntarily took upon Him a human body and nature, yet without sin and by His suffering, death and resurrection made full satisfaction to the justice of God for the sin of man; His resurrection being the proof. The blessings of this salvation are given on the grounds of grace to all who believe and therefore confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. It is the immediate duty of all to accept these offers of mercy (John 1:1-3; 14; 3:1-7; Hebrews 10:4-14; Acts 16:30-33; Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 3:18; Romans 10:9).
10. Justification by Faith
We believe that justification is a judicial act of God, whereby a believing sinner is declared righteous. It is a declarative act and not a making righteous. Justification is possible on the grounds that Christ satisfied the moral law of God when He died on the cross. It originates in grace and is appropriated by faith. Justification means the believer bas been in court and though guilty, God’s verdict is “not guilty” (Romans 3:24, 28; 4:1-8; 5:1; I Corinthians 1:30; Acts 13:39).
11. Salvation by Grace
We believe that salivation is a gift of God, brought 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 our sins. We believe that faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation from sin and this salvation is wholly by grace; that no works, however good, make the salvation more secure. Our position is: “saved by grace through faith, plus nothing” (Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:8, 9; Titus 3:5-7; Romans 11:6; Hebrews 9:22).
12. Resurrection
We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men; the saved to eternal life and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (John 5:29).
We believe the order of resurrection is as follows:
A. Jesus Christ the firstfruits (I Corinthians 15:20).
B. The church age will end with the rapture of the body of Christ, also known as the “blessed hope,” which is the resurrection of the dead in Christ and the rapture of living saints (Titus 2:13; I Thessalonians 4:16, 17).
C. The tribulation martyrs are resurrected at the end of the seven year tribulation.
D. The unsaved of all time are resurrected at the end of the thousand years for the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:5; 11-15).
13. The Priesthood of the Believer
We believe that Christ is our Great High Priest and through Him every born-again person has direct access into God’s pence without the need of a human priest. The believer has the right and responsibility to go directly to God by prayer and to personally study and interpret the Scriptures guided by the Holy Spirit. Every believer is a priest (Hebrews 4:14-16; I Peter 2:5, 9; Revelation 1: 5, 6).
14. 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; Romans 8:1,38, 39; I Peter 1:5; Jude 1).
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 (Romans 13:13, 14; Galatians 5:13).
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; II Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23, 3:21; I Thessalonians 4:16, 17).
15. The Church
We believe that the local New Testament Church is a divine institution established by Jesus Christ and is God’s primary tool for all ministries today. The church was unknown to the Old Testament saints and is not revealed in the Old Testament. It began with New Testament saints on the day of Pentecost and will be consummated at the coming of Christ in the rapture (Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 1:22, 23; 3:21; 5:23-33).
We believe that a true New Testament local Church is a body of immersed believers who are organized by covenant, confession of faith and constitution for the purpose of worship, carrying out the “great commission,” fellowship, edification, education, and observing the ordinances. A New Testament Church takes the Bible as its only rule of faith and practice, Christ as its only head, pastor and deacons as its only officers. A New Testament local Church has the absolute right of self-government directed by the Holy Spirit and it is answerable only to Christ. In all matters of membership, policy, government and discipline, the will of the membership is final (Matthew 18:15-17; Acts 2:41-47).
We also believe in the aspect of the Church commonly referred to as an organism, invisible and universal. This is the BODY of Christ made up of all true believers from Pentecost to the rapture (Ephesians I:22, 23; Hebrews 12:23). This aspect of the church is also referred to as the BRIDE of Christ, (Ephesians 5:30, 31) and a BUILDING of living stones (Ephesians 2:19-21; I Peter 2:5).
We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowment of all His gifts, and that the gifts of evangelists, pastors, and teachers, with the Word of God is sufficient for the perfecting of the saints today; and that the office of apostles and prophets, with the sign miracles, such as speaking in tongues, gradually ceased as the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their authority became established. We believe that God does hear and answer the prayer of faith, in accord with His own will, for the sick and afflicted (I Corinthians 13:8-10; Ephesians 4:11).
16. The Ordinances
We believe that there are two church ordinances; Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water and is properly called “believer’s baptism.” It sets forth in a beautiful and solemn way our faith in a crucified, buried and risen Saviour. The effect of that faith in our lives produces a symbolic death to sin and resurrection to a new life. Baptism is a prerequisite to the privileges of church relations. The Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of our Lord’s death until He comes, and our continual fellowship with Him, and should be preceded by baptism and always careful spiritual self-examination (Acts 8:36-39; Romans 6:3-5; I Corinthians 11:23-32).
17. The Return of Christ
We believe in the bodily, personal, imminent, pretribulational and pre-millennial coming of Jesus Christ to catch away His saints. This coming, referred to as the rapture, will only be in the air. After the seven year tribulation period, He will come with His saints to judge the nations and to set up His Kingdom on earth (I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 19:11-21).
18. Ecclesiastical Separation
In this day of apostasy, worldliness, confusion and indifference, we do not hesitate to say that the Pioneer Peak Baptist Church is different from many other churches. This church is separate from all forms of apostasy, liberalism, and modernism, including the ecumenical, charismatic and new-evangelical movements (II Thessalonians 3:6; Romans 16:17; I Timothy 6:5; II Timothy 3:1-5).
19. Human Sexuality
We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. We believe that God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one’s gender·by surgery or appearance (Genesis 2:24; 19:5, 13; 26:8-10; Leviticus 18:1-30; Deuteronomy 23:17, 18; I Kings 14:21-24; Romans 1:26-29. 32; I Corinthians 5:1; 6:9; I Thessalonians 4:1-8; I Timothy 1:10; Hebrews 13:4; II Peter 2:6-9; Jude 7).
We believe that the only legitimate and biblical marriage is the joining of one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24; Romans 7:2; I Corinthians 7:10; Ephesians 5:22-33).
20. Civil Government
We believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the interest and good order of human society; and that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed; except in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ as plainly commanded and taught in the Scriptures (Romans 13:17; Matthew 22:21; I Peter 2:13-17).
