I. GOD

There is one living and true God, the creator of the universe (Exod. 15:11; Isa 45:11; Jer. 27:5). He is revealed in the unity of the Godhead as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, who are equal in every divine perfection (Exod. 15:11; Matt. 28:19; II Cor. 13:14).

• God the Father is the supreme ruler of the universe. He providentially directs the affairs of history according to the purposes of His grace (Gen. 1; Ps. 19:1; Ps 104; Heb. 1:1-3).
• God the Son is the Savior of the world. Born of the virgin Mary (Matt. 1:18; Luke 1:26 – 35), He declared His deity among men (John 1:14, 18; Matt. 9:6), died on the cross as the only sacrifice for sin (Phil. 2: 6 -11). arose bodily from the grave (Luke 24: 6,7,24-26; I Cor. 15:3-6), and ascended back to the Father (Acts 1:9-11; Mark 16:19). He is at the right hand of the Father, interceding for believers (Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25) until He returns to rapture them from the world (Acts 1:11; I Thess. 4:16-18).
• God the Holy Spirit is the manifest presence of deity. He convicts of sin (John 16:8-11), teaches spiritual truths according to the written word (John 16: 12-15), permanently indwells believers (Acts 5:32;John 14:16,17,20,23), and confers on every believer at conversion the ability to render effective spiritual service (I Peter 4:10,11).

II. THE SCRIPTURES

• The Scriptures are God’s inerrant revelation, complete in the Old and New Testaments, written by divinely inspired men as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (II Tim. 3:16; II Peter 1:21). Those Men wrote not in words of human wisdom but in words taught by the Holy Spirit (I Cor. 2:13).
• The Scriptures provide the standard for the believers faith and practice (II Tim. 3:16, 17), reveal the principles by which God will judge all (Heb. 4:12; John 12:48), and express the true basis of Christian fellowship (Gal. 1:8,9; II John 9-11).
• At Benville Baptist Church we use the King James Version for ALL Teaching and Preaching.

III. CREATION

• The World – God created all things for His own pleasure and glory, as revealed in the biblical account of creation (Gen.1; Rev. 4:11; John 1:2, 3; Col. 1:16).
• The Angels – God created an innumerable host of spirit beings called angels. Holy angels worship God and execute His will; while fallen angels serve Satan, seeking to hinder God’s purposes (Col. 1:16; Luke 20:35,36; Matt. 22:29, 30; Ps. 103:20; Jude 6).
• Man – God created man in his own image. As the crowning work of His creation, every person is of dignity and worth and merits the respect of all other persons ( Ps. 8; Gen. 1:27; 2:7; Matt. 10:28-31).

IV. Satan

• Satan is a person rather than a personification of evil (John 8:44), and he with his demons opposes all that is true and godly by blinding the world to the gospel ( II Cor. 4:3,4), tempting saints to do evil ( Eph. 6:11; I Peter 5:8), and warring against the Son of God (Gen. 3:15; Rev. 20: 1-10).

V. DEPRAVITY

• Although man was created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26; 2:17), he fell through sin and that image was marred (Rom. 5:12; James 3:9). In his unregenerated state, he is void of spiritual life, is under the influence of the devil, and lacks any power to save himself (Eph. 2:1-3; John 1:13). The sin nature has been transmitted to every member of the human race, the man Jesus Christ alone being excepted (Rom. 3:23; I Peter 2:22). Because of the sin nature, man possesses no divine life and is essentially and unchangeably depraved apart from divine grace (Rom. 3:10-19; Jer. 17:9).

VI. SALVATION

• A. The Meaning of Salvation – Salvation is the gracious work of God whereby He delivers undeserving sinners from sin and its results (Matt. 1:21; Eph. 2:8,9). In Justification He declares righteous all who put faith in Christ as savior (Rom. 3:20-22), giving them freedom from condemnation, peace with God, and full assurance of future glorification (Rom. 3:24-26).
• B. The Way of Salvation – Salvation is based wholly on the grace of God apart from works (Titus 3:5; Eph. 2:9). Anyone who will exercise repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved (Acts 16:30-32; Luke 24:47; Rom. 10:17).
• C. The Provision of Salvation – Christ died for the whole world (John 1:29; 3:16; I John 2:1,2). Through His Blood, atonement is made without respect of persons (I Tim. 2:4-6). All sinners can be saved by this gracious provision (Heb. 2:9; John 3:18).

VII. SECURITY

• All believers are eternally secure in Jesus Christ (John 10:24-30; Rom. 8;35-39). They are born again (John 3:3-5; I John 5:1; I Peter 1:23), made new creatures in Christ (II Cor. 5:17; II Peter 1:4). and indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Rom.8:9; I John 4:4), enabling their perseverance in good works (Eph. 2:10). A special providence watches over them (Rom. 8:28; I Cor. 10:13), and they are kept by the power of God (Phil. 1:6; 2:12, 13; I Peter 1:3-5; Heb. 13:5).

VIII. CHURCH

• The Nature of the Church – A New Testament church is a local congregation (Acts 16:5; I Cor. 4:17) of baptized believers in Jesus Christ (Acts 2:41) who are united by covenant in belief of what God has revealed and in obedience to what He has commanded (Acts 2:41,42).
• The Autonomy of the Church – She acknowledges Jesus as her only Head (Eph. 5:23; Col. 1:18) and the Holy Bible as her only rule of faith and practice (Isa. 8:20; II Tim 3:16,17), governing herself by democratic principles (Acts 6:1-6; I Cor. 5:1-5) under the oversight of her pastors (Acts 20:28; Heb. 13:7,17,24).
• The Perpetuity of the Church – Instituted by Jesus during His personal ministry on earth (Matt. 16:18; Mark 3:13-19; John 1:35-51), true churches have continued to the present and will continue until Jesus returns (Matt. 16:18; 28:20).