What We Believe
We base everything we believe and do on the teachings we find in God’s Word. What we believe is shared in our Confession of Faith and a summary of how we put those things into practice is found in our Church Covenant.
CONFESSION OF FAITH
1. The Scriptures:
We believe in the plenary, verbal inspiration of the original writing of the sixty-six books of the Bible, the Word of God, and that it is the full and the complete revelation of God to man, the supreme and final authority in all matters of faith and practice. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21)
For continuity, clarity and avoidance of confusion or division, the King James (Authorized Version) of the Holy Bible will be used in all public ministries and services of the Bedford Bible Church as the scriptural text.
2. The True God:
We believe in one God, eternally existing 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. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Exodus 20:2-3; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 1 John 5:7)
3. The Person and Work of Jesus Christ:
We believe in the absolute deity of Jesus Christ; in His virgin birth and in His perfect humanity. He 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 sinful man. (Luke 1:35; Isaiah 7:14; John 1:1, 2, 14; 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 1:8)
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a vicarious representative and substitutionary sacrifice; and, that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead. (Romans 3:24-26; 1 Peter 2:24; Ephesians 1:7; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 1:3-5)
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God the Father where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of representative, intercessor, and advocate. (Acts 1:9-10; Romans 8:34; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 1:3; Hebrews 6:19-20; Hebrews 9:24; 1 John 2:1-2)
4. The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit:
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, possessing all the attributes of deity; and, that in essence, He is equally God. (Acts 5:3-4; 1 Corinthians 3:16)
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the supernatural agent in regeneration and sanctification, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling equally and permanently every believer, and sealing them unto the day of redemption. (Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 6:11; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:13-14)
We believe that every un-regenerated person, the moment he exercises faith in Christ as Savior, immediately possesses the Holy Spirit. (Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 6:19; Galatians 4:6; 1 Thessalonians 4:8)
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the Divine Teacher who guides believers into all truth; that He sovereignly bestows at least one spiritual gift upon each believer; and that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled (controlled) with the Spirit. (John 16:13; 1 Corinthians 12:3-11; Ephesians 5:18)
5. The Fall of Man:
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but by voluntary transgression, Adam sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death, but also spiritual death, which is separation from God; and that all human beings are born with a sinful nature and that man is totally depraved of himself, unable to please God or to remedy his lost condition. (Genesis 1:26-27; 22:7; Romans 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3; Romans 3:22-23; Ephesians 2:8-9)
Therefore, all humanity is guilty before God, condemned already, and doomed to be eternally excluded from heaven and sentenced to hell. (Romans 3:19; John 3:18; Revelation 20:15)
6. Salvation:
We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to sinful man by grace and received solely by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who accomplished complete redemption by His substitutionary death and shedding of His precious blood. (1 Peter 1:18-19; John 10:27-29; Romans 8:38-39; John 3:16)
7. Separation:
We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord; and that separation from all worldly and sinful practices and associations is commanded by God. (Romans 12:1-2; 1 John 2:15-17; Colossians 3:1-5; 1 Peter 1:14-16; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1)
8. The Church:
We believe that the universal church, which is the body of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born again believers of the present age, which began at Pentecost and is terminated at the Rapture. (Ephesians 1:22-23; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; Ephesians 5:25-27)
9. The Ordinances:
We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water, in the name of the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit; to show forth in a solemn emblem our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, with its effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life. (Acts 8:26-39; Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:41)
We believe that the Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of His death, until He comes, and should be preceded always by solemn self-examination. (1 Corinthians 11:23-32)
10. The Personality of Satan:
We believe that Satan is a personal being; that he sinned through pride, thereby becoming the author of sin and the cause of the fall of man; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and that he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire. (Job 1:6-7; Isaiah 14:12-17; Matthew 4:1-11; Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10)
11. The Blessed Hope:
We believe in the blessed hope, the personal, imminent, pre-tribulation return of the Lord in the air to receive to Himself into heaven both His own who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord and also all who have fallen asleep in Him, and that this event is the blessed hope set before us in Scripture, and for this we should constantly be looking. (John 14:1-3; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Titus 2:13-14; 1 Thessalonians 1:10)
12. The Second Coming of Christ:
We believe in the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth with power and great glory; to introduce the millennial age, to bind Satan and place him in the abyss, to restore Israel to her own land and give her the realization of God’s covenant promises. (Isaiah 11:4-11; Ezekiel 37:21-28; Zechariah 14:4; Revelation 20:1-3)
13. The Eternal State:
We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men; the saved to eternal life and bliss, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment. (John 5:28-29; John 11:25-26; Philippians 1:21; Luke 16:19-26; Revelation 20:10-15)
14. The Spiritual Gifts:
We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowment of all His gifts; that every believer possesses at least one spiritual gift for the edification of the body of Christ; that the sign gifts, such as speaking in tongues, ceased with the completion of the Scriptures. (1 Corinthians 12:4-11; Ephesians 4:12; 1 Corinthians 13:8-13)
15. Marriage, Morality, and Human Sexuality:
We believe that God has ordained, from the beginning, that the only legitimate marriage is that between one (1) man (male at birth) and one (1) woman (female at birth). (Genesis 2:24; Romans 7:2; 1 Corinthians 7:10; Ephesians 5:22-23).
We believe that God has blessed the marriage relationship and reserved sex as a gift of marriage. (Hebrews 13:4). We believe God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity should 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, etc., are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex and the sexual relationship. (Genesis 19:5, 13; Genesis 26:8-9; Leviticus 18:1-30; Romans 1:26-29; 1 Corinthians 5:1; 1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-9; Hebrews 13:4)
Church Covenant
Having been led as we believe, by the Spirit of God to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior; and, on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, we do now, in the presence of God, angels, and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another, as one body in Christ.
We engage, therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, to walk together in Christian love; to strive for the advancement of this church in knowledge, holiness, and comfort; to promote its prosperity and spirituality; to sustain its worship, ordinances, doctrines; to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of this ministry, the expenses of this church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the Gospel through all nations.
We also engage to maintain family and secret devotions; to Biblically educate our children; to seek the salvation of our kindred and acquaintances; walk circumspectly in the world, to be faithful in our dealings and engagements, and exemplary in our deportment; to avoid all tattling, backbiting, and excessive anger; to abstain from the sale and use of intoxicating drinks as a beverage and drugs used for recreational purposes and to be zealous in our efforts to advance the Word of our Savior.
We moreover engage that when we remove from this place, we will as soon as possible unite with some other church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God’s Word.
This covenant shall be read by the pastor to the congregation at least once a year and at such times as the pastor may determine.