What we believe

Our Statement of Faith

Doctrine matters because what we believe shapes how we live. At First Baptist Church of Leavenworth, our faith is rooted in Scripture and centered on Jesus Christ. God has spoken through His Word, and through it He shows us who He is, what He has done to save sinners, and how we are called to live as His people. These beliefs guide our worship, our teaching, our mission, and our joy in sharing the salvation found in Christ.

I

We believe that the Bible is the inspired, truthful, and authoritative word of God.

II

We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, co-eternal, co-equal, and co-substantial.

III

We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His substitutionary and propitiatory death on the cross, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His bodily return in power and glory.

IV

We believe in the deity of the Holy Spirit, that He indwells all Christians, and that He gifts Christians to serve the body of Christ.

V

We believe that all humanity falls short of God’s righteous standards and is worthy of God’s righteous judgment.

VI

We believe that the Gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ’s birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and return.

VII

We believe that humanity’s response to the Gospel is grounded in the grace of God and is made possible by the work of the Holy Spirit.

VIII

We believe that the salvific benefits of the Gospel are only applied to those who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ alone to save them.

IX

We believe that genuine repentance and faith are characterized by a changed life.

X

We believe that a sinner is justified by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

XI

We believe that all Christians must express their membership in the universal church by joining themselves to a local church where they can submit to church leaders and use their God-given gifts to serve the body of Christ.

XII

We believe that local churches exist where the saints gather, the Gospel is preached, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper are rightly administered, and church membership is practiced.

XIII

We believe that marriage is between one man and one woman, and that sexual activity outside the context of marriage is sinful.

XIV

We believe that the rejection of one’s biological sex at birth is sinful.

XV

We believe that human life is sacred, begins at conception, and that abortion is sinful.

XVI

We believe that the local church’s mission is summarized by the Great Commission.

XVII

We believe that Jesus Christ will return to judge the world in righteousness.

XVIII

We believe that after final judgment, the redeemed will dwell with God forever in the new creation in glorified bodies, and the unredeemed will dwell forever in hell with Satan and his demons.