Statement Of Faith

Pinery Baptist Church is affiliated with the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada and we comply wholeheartedly with their statement of faith.  The following is an elaboration of that statement with biblical references. 

1 – The Bible

We believe the Bible to be the complete Word of God, that the sixty-six books as originally written, comprising the Old and New Testaments were verbally inspired by the Spirit of God and were entirely free from error; that the Bible is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice and the true basis for Christian union.

  • 2 Timothy 3:16;
  • 2 Peter 1:19-21

2 – The True God

We believe there is only one living and true God and infinite Spirit, the maker and supreme sovereign ruler of heaven and earth, inexpressibly glorious in holiness, and worthy of all possible honour, confidence and love, and that in the unity of the Triune Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, equal in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.

  • Exodus 20:2,3;
  • 1 Corinthians 8:6;
  • Revelation 4:11

3 – Jesus Christ

We believe in the absolute and essential deity of Jesus Christ, in His eternal existence with the Father in pre-incarnate glory, in His virgin birth, sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, triumphant ascension, mediatorial ministry and personal return.

  • Virgin Birth – Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1:35
  • Deity – John 1:1; 20:28
  • Sinless Life – John 8:46; Hebrews 4:15
  • Substitutionary Death – 1 Peter 3:18
  • Bodily Resurrection – 1 Peter 3:18
  • His Exaltation-Colossians 3:1 

4 – The Holy Spirit

We believe in the absolute and essential deity and personality of the Holy Spirit, Who convinces of sin, of righteousness and of judgment; Who regenerates, sanctifies, illuminates and comforts those who believe in Jesus Christ.

  • Indwells & Helps – John 14:16,17; Acts 5:32; Romans 8:26
  • Equality – Matthew 28:19
  • Sanctifies – Hebrews 9:14
  • Teaches – John 14:26
  • Creation – Genesis 1:1-3
  • Convicts – John 16:8
  • Guides – John 16:13; Romans 8:14
  • Witness to Truth – Acts 5:32
  • Agent of New Birth – John 3:5,6
  • Seals – Ephesians 1:13, 14
  • Places into the body – Mark 1:8; 1 Corinthians 12:13
  • Endues with Power- Luke 24:49

5 – The Devil or Satan

We believe that Satan exists as an evil personality, the originator of sin, the archenemy of God and man.

  • Matthew 4:1-11;
  • 2 Corinthians 4:4;
  • Revelation 20:10

6 – Creation

We believe in the biblical account of creation of the physical universe, angels and man, that this account is neither allegory nor myth, but a literal, historical account of the direct, immediate creative acts of God, and not from previously existing forms of life, and that all men are descended from the historical Adam and Eve.

  • Genesis 1 & 2;
  • Colossians 1:16,17;
  • John 1:3;
  • Hebrews 11:1-3

7 – Man

We believe that man was divinely created in the image of God; that he sinned, becoming guilty before God, resulting in total depravity, thereby incurring physical and spiritual death.

  • Genesis 3:1-6
  • Romans 3:10-19; 5:12,19; 1:18,32

8 – Salvation

We believe that salvation is by the sovereign, electing grace of God; that by the appointment of the Father, Christ voluntarily suffered a vicarious, expiatory and propitiatory death, that justification is by faith alone in the all-sufficient sacrifice and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and that those whom God has effectually called shall be divinely preserved and finally perfected in the image of the Lord.

  • His death was a propitiation for sin in that it appeased the wrath of God – Romans 3:25; 1 John 2:2
  • His death was redemptive in that it purchased deliverance from bondage to sin – Gal. 3:13; 1 Peter 1:18,19

We believe that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation and is the gift of God.  Repentance is a change of mind and purpose toward God, prompted by the Holy Spirit, and is an integral part of a saving faith.

  • Repentance – Jonah 2:9
  • Faith – Ephesians 2:8,9
  • Grace – Acts 15:11
  • Mediatorial Offices – Romans 3:25
  • Divinely Appointed – John 3:16
  • Voluntarily took our nature – Philippians 2:7,8
  • Took our nature – Hebrews 2:16
  • Substitutionary – Isaiah 53:4-6; 1 Corinthians 15:3
  • Christ without Sin- 2 Corinthians 5:21

9 – Justification

We believe that justification is that judicial act of God whereby He declares the believer righteous upon the basis of the imputed righteousness of Christ, that is bestowed, not in consideration of any works of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in the Redeemer’s (Jesus Christ) shed blood.

  • Romans 3:24; 4:5; 5:1,9;
  • Galatians 2:16;
  • Philippians 3:9

10 – Sanctification

We believe that sanctification is the divine setting apart of the believer unto God, and has a three-fold aspect:

1 – By an act of God, based upon redemption in Christ, the believer is established in a position of holiness at the moment he trusts Christ.

Hebrews 10:10,14; 1 Corinthians 1:30

2 – It is a continuing process in the life of the believer as the Holy Spirit applies the Word of God to his life.

John 17:17; 2 Corinthians 3:18

3 – This process is to be finally accomplished at the Lord’s return.Ephesians 5:25-27; 1 John 3:2

11 – Future Things

We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of the Lord Jesus Christ; in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust; in the eternal blessedness of the redeemed and in the judgment and conscious, eternal punishment of the wicked.

  • Risen – Matthew 28:5,7
  • Bodily – Luke 24:39
  • Ascension – Acts 1:9-11
  • Seated in Heaven – Hebrews 12:2
  • Intercession – 1 John 2:1

12 – Grace and the New Birth

We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be born again, that the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus, that it is instantaneous and not a process, that in the new birth the one dead in trespasses and in sins is made a partaker of the divine nature and receives eternal life, the free gift of God; that the new creation is brought about by our sovereign God in a manner above our comprehension, solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with divine truth, and that its proper evidence appears in the fruits of repentance, faith and newness of life.

  • New Birth – John 3:3
  • New Creation – 2 Corinthians 5:17
  • Instantaneous – Acts 16:30,31
  • Divine Nature – 2 Peter 1:4
  • Gift – Romans 6:23
  • New Life – Colossians 2:13
  • Beyond Comprehension – John 3:8

13 – The Church

We believe that a Baptist church is a company of immersed believers, called out from the world, separated unto the Lord Jesus, voluntarily associated for the ministry of the Word, the mutual edification of its members, the propagation of the faith and the observance of the ordinances.   We believe it is a sovereign, independent body, exercising its own divinely awarded gifts, precepts and privileges under the Lordship of Christ, the Great Head of the church.  We believe that its officers are Pastors and Deacons.

  • Ordinances – 1 Corinthians 11:2; Acts 2:41,42
  • Elders and Decons- 1 Timothy 3:1-13;Titus 1:5-9

14 – Ordinance (Baptism and the Lord’s Supper)

We believe that there are only two ordinances for the church regularly observedin the New Testament in the following order:

Baptism, which is the immersion of the believer in water, whereby he obeys Christ’s command and sets forth his identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.  That baptism is a prerequisite to church membership.

  • Type – Acts 8:36,38,39
  • Reality – Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 12:13

The Lord’s Supper, which is the memorial wherein the believer partakes of the two elements, bread and wine, which symbolize the Lord’s body and shed blood, proclaiming His death until He comes.

  • 1 Corintians 11:23-28
  • Matthew 28:18-20
  • Acts 2:41-42

15 – Separation

We believe that believers are called into a life of separation from all sinful and worldly practices and alliances.

  • 2 Corinthians 6:14;7:1
  • 1 Thessalonians 1:9
  • 1 Timothy 6:3-5
  • Romans 16:17
  • 2 John 9-11

16 – Civil Government

We believe in the entire separation of church and state.  We believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the interest and good order of society; that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honoured and obeyed, except only in the things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the only Lord of conscience and Prince of the Kings of the earth.

  • Romans 13:1-7;
  • Matthew 22:21;
  • Acts 5:29; 4:19;
  • Daniel 3:17-18

17 – Hermeneutical Principles

Our method of interpretation of scripture is to take the plain, normal meaning, determining to understand each word in its grammatical historical sense, not eliminating the obvious figures of speech, relating each verse or passage to the context in which it is found.  We believe it is also necessary to recognize that the method of interpretation is the watershed of understanding much of scripture, particularly in the area of Prophecy and Eschatology.  Old Testament prophecy and typology must be understood according to apostolic and New Testament interpretation and have their primary fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

  • Genesis 22:17;
  • compare Galatians 3:6-9

18 – Marriage

We believe that God intended marriage to be the exclusive lifelong covenant between one man and one woman.

  • Genesis 2:23-24;
  • Matthew 19:6;
  • Ephesians 5:24