The Bible

We believe the Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God in its entirety, written by men as they were moved by the Holy Spirit and that it is the sole authority for the Christian’s faith and conduct.

The Godhead

We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons:  The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  We believe that they are equal in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.

(Matthew 3:16-17; Genesis 1:26)

God the Son

We believe that Jesus Christ was conceived off the Holy Spirit and born of Mary, a virgin, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men; that He is both the son of God and God, the Son.

(Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1:26-28; II Corinthians 5:21)

God the Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature.  It is He who convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment.  He is the restrainer of the Evil One until God’s purpose is fulfilled.  He bears witness to the truth of the Gospel and is the agent in the new birth, baptizing all true believers into the body of Christ.

(I Corinthians 12:12-13)

Man

We believe that man was created in the image and after the likeness of God, but he, by voluntary transgression, fell from his sinless and happy estate.  The resulting consequences are that all men are now sinners, and are therefore under the just condemnation of God, without excuse or defense.

(Genesis 1:26, 3:6; Romans 5:12)

Atonement

We believe that Lord Jesus Christ died for the sins of all mankind, according to the Scriptures, as a representative and Substitutionary sacrifice and that ALL who believe in Him are justified on the merits of His shed blood at Calvary.

(I Corinthians 15:3-4)

Salvation

We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace through faith and that Jesus is the only way of salvation.  We believe that the blessings of salvation are made free by the Gospel and that nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner but his own inherent depravity and voluntary rejection of the Gospel.

(Acts 16:30-31; Ephesians 2:8-9)

Security

We believe that those who receive Jesus Christ as Savior are eternally secure.  Their security rests in the finished work of Jesus Christ and all of the redeemed are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever.

(John 3:16; I John 5:13)

Christ’s Resurrection

We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord, in His ascension into heaven and in His present life there as High Priest and Advocate of the believer.

(Acts 1:9; I Corinthians 15:3-4)

Bodily Resurrection

We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, the everlasting blessedness of the saved and the everlasting damnation of the lost.

(I Corinthians 15:52; Revelations 20:11-15)

The Church

We believe that the visible church is a congregation of baptized believers practicing the New Testament principles, believing its doctrines, observing its ordinances and exercising its autonomy.  We believe it is the responsibility of the local church to propagate the Gospel to the world.

(Acts 2:41-47)

Scriptural Ordinances

We believe that the scriptural ordinances of the church are Baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper.  We believe that these should only be administered to believers as a symbol of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and as a testimony of their identifying themselves with Him.

(Acts 2:41; I Corinthians 11:23-26)

The Rapture

We believe in the blessed hope of the believer, that it is the personal, pre-tribulational, pre-millennial, and imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ.  It is at this event that the church will be gathered to meet the Lord in the air.

(I Thessalonians 4:13-18)

Marshall Baptist Church is an Independent Baptist church that is fundamental in doctrine and dedicated to the local churches’ responsibility of proclaiming not only the inspiration and infallibility of Scripture, but also the absolute sufficiency of God’s word in the believer’s life.

Marshall Baptist Church opposes recent trends in doctrine and practices brought on by Neo-Orthodoxy, Neo-Evangelicalism, and the Ecumenical Movement and believe these to be unscriptural.