What We Believe

The following are the core beliefs of Friendship Baptist Church based on the foundational truths taught in the Bible. All of our teaching and ministry is rooted in and flows out of these biblical doctrines.

We believe the Holy Scriptures to be the verbal, inspired words of God, authoritative, and without error in the original manuscripts. (Deuteronomy 4:1-2; II Timothy 2:15, 3:16-17; II Peter 1:20-21)

We believe that the Godhead eternally exists in three persons: The Father, The Son, & The Holy Spirit; and that these three are one God. (Genesis 1:1; Deuteronomy 6:4; John 4:24; John 14:6-13; Galatians 4:6; 2 Peter 1:17; Psalm 2:7; Isaiah 7:14; John 1:1-18; Hebrews 1:8; Psalm 51:11; 1 John 4:13; Acts 5:3,4)

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, came into the world that He might manifest God to men, fulfill prophecy, and become the Redeemer of a lost world. He was born of the Virgin Mary, received a human body and a sinless human nature without ceasing to be God.

We believe He resurrected from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He had lived and died and that His resurrected body is the pattern of the body which ultimately will be given to all believers. (Hebrews 1:1-3, 4:14‑15; John 1:1-3,14)

We believe that the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, dwells in every believer immediately after they place their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and that God provides, through the Holy Spirit, power to live the Christian life.
(Gen 1:2; Ps 139:7-9; John 14:16-17, 26; 16:7-14; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4, 38; 19:1-6; Romans 8:9-11, 14-16, 26-27; 1 Cor 2:10-14; 6:19; 12:3-13; Gal 4:6; Eph 1:13-14; 4:30; 5:18; 2 Tim 3:16; 1 John 4:13; 5:6-7; Rev 22:17.)

We believe that Satan, the devil, is the prince of demons and the declared adversary of God and man. However, when the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, He limited the power of the devil and guaranteed the ultimate triumph of God.
(Job 1:6-12; Mark 8:32)

We believe that no one can enter the kingdom of God unless born again spiritually, and that the new birth of the believer comes only through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We believe, also, that our redemption has been accomplished by the grace of God, an unmerited gift, given in love by God and not the result of any human works.

We believe that the explicit message of our Lord Jesus Christ to those whom He has saved is to make Christ known to the whole world and that this is the purpose of the church through the individuals within it.  Our common spiritual goal is to grow toward Christ’s likeness.
(John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8; Romans 8:38-39; Isaiah 53:4-5; Isaiah 55:1; Hebrews 7:25; Romans 5:1-2)

We believe that a future period of great tribulation on the earth will be climaxed by the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth as He went in person in the clouds with power and great glory to establish His millennial kingdom. But prior to this tribulation, we believe there will be the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in the air to receive to Himself into Heaven both His own who are alive and remain until His coming and also all who have died in Jesus Christ.
(Acts 1:11; 24:15; Matthew 13:49; 25:31-46)

We believe that all believers should seek to walk by the Spirit, separating themselves from worldly practices and witnessing through their lives (words and actions) the truths of the Holy Scripture.  We believe that all believers will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ and rewarded based on their faithful obedience to Him in this life.

Because we are all wounded and broken people in need of the healing power of God’s grace in Christ Jesus, and being aware of the confusion of voices pertaining to human sexuality, the following statement defines our common understanding for sexual behavior:

We believe the church is the community of all true believers for all time. Believers:  all those whom Christ died to redeem, all those who are saved by the death of Christ.  “Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her,” (Ephesians 5:25). Jesus Christ Himself builds the church by calling His people to Himself, (Matthew 16:18). We believe the purposes of the church are:

• Ministry to God:  Worship.  In relationship to God, the church’s purpose is to worship Him.  God has destined us and appointed believers in Christ “to live for the praise of His Glory,”            (Ephesians 1:12).