THE SCRIPTURES

We believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration, and the consequent divine authenticity and authority of the Old and New Testaments - 66 books in all. We hold to the inspiration of each book, of every word and every letter, of the original Scriptures. We believe that absolute perfection is stamped upon the original writings., and that the Holy Spirit has preserved the Word of God sufficiently for our use, so that we may rely solely upon it as our authority in all matters of faith and practice. The Holy Spirit gave the very words of the sacred writings to holy men of old, and we have in the original manuscripts a Divine Revelation that is accurate and all sufficient for both faith and practice

(Jer 36:2-6, 17-18; Matt 5:18; Mark 12:26, 36; Luke 24:25-27, 44; Acts 1:16; 2 Tim 3:16-17; 2 Pet 1:21).

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GOD

We believe that there is only one true God, eternally existing as a Trinity: Father, Son and the Holy Spirit; these Three are one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes and perfections, and are worthy of the same homage, confidence and obedience

(Gen 1:1, 26-27; 3:22; 11:6-8; Ex 20:3-6; Deu 6:4; Isa 63:8-10; Matt 28:19-20; John 1:1-4; Acts 5:3-4; 1 Cor 8:4-7; 2 Cor 13:14; Heb 1:1-3).

We believe that he Lord Jesus Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, that He had no human father, that He was God “manifest in the flesh”. He is set forth in the Scripture as the Son of God and the Son of man, thus showing His deity and His humanity. We believe that He was raised from the dead on the third day, and that He ascended into Heaven itself to sit on the right hand of the Majesty on high.

We believe that Jesus Christ our Lord was impeccable as to sin; that there was no sin in Him, nor was He capable of sinning, because He was and is God. and that He was not born under the curse of a broken law, nor was His body mortal or subject to death - He was absolutely holy in birth and nature, as well as in life, and service, and death for our sins, the only human Being ever exempted from the curse of Adam’s fall and the sinfulness of the race. We believe that neither death nor judgment had any claim upon our Lord Jesus Christ, but that He voluntarily offered Himself to God as the fore-ordained Lamb to bear away the sin of the world; His death was penal, and vicarious (substitutionary)

(Isa 7:14; Matt 1:18-25; Luke 1:35; John 1:29; 8:46; 14:30; 1 Tim 3:16; 1 Cor 15:3-4; 2 Cor 5:21; 1 Pet 1:22-24; 1 John 3:5; Heb 1:3).

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a Divine Personality, co-equal with the Father and the Son in power, position, and glory. We believe that He came down from Heaven on the day of Pentecost to dwell permanently in the church; that He indwells each believer, and is the efficient power for godly living, Christian service, and spiritual worship. We believe that the Holy Spirit effects the new birth through the Word of the Lord by working in the heart repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We further believe that all this is accomplished by the sovereign will of God

(John 1:12-13; 3:5; 6:37, 39, 44; 14:16-17; Matt 28:19; Rom 9:8-29; 1 Cor 3:16; 6:11,19; Eph 1:4-12; Jas 1:18; 1 Pet 1:2, 23).

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THE DEVIL OR SATAN

We believe that Satan, the open avowed enemy of God and Man, was created a sinless being; he fell through pride and insubordination and is the author of moral evil and false religions. In his fall he dragged down with him into moral ruin a host of the angels of God. Satan is a real person – a veritable being. His appointed doom is the Lake of Fire. His present spheres of activity are the heavens, the air and the earth. Satan will be involved in deceiving the world through the antichrist and the false prophet during the tribulation. He will be allowed certain miraculous powers to bring about this deception (Job 1:6-12; Ezek 28: 11-19; Isa 14:12-15; John 8:44; 2 Cor 4:4; 11:13-15; Eph 2:2; 6:12-16; 2 The 2:7-12; 1 Tim 4:1; 1 Pet 5:8; Rev 12:9; 13:11-18; 20:2-3, 10).

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CREATION

“In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth”. We believe that the vast scene of creation – the heavens and the earth and all that is in them – angels and man, the visible and unseen, from the greatest archangel down to the smallest insect or least atom of nature – all the animate and the inanimate, were created by the command of Almighty God in six literal days, and that He is the source and sustainer of all creation as well as the framer of the ages of time and the dispensations of administrations (Gen 1 & 2; Acts 17: 24-29; Col 1:15-17; Heb 1:2-3; 11:3).

We also believe that the Scriptures teach us that God created mankind as two distinct sexes, male and female (Gen 1:27). Accordingly, when God established His pattern for marriage, it is to be only between a man and a woman (Gen 2:22-24, Matt 19:4-5, and Eph 5:31). Homosexuality is a sin that once a person is saved, is to be forsaken (1 Cor 6:9-11). We do not believe homosexuality is the product of heredity, but rather is a choice of the unsaved mind (Rom 1:24-32).

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THE FALL OF MAN

We believe that Adam, the seminal head and representative of the human race, was created in a state of innocence, but by voluntary transgression he sinned, and thus the whole human race fell under the penalty of condemnation and spiritual death – the Lord Jesus alone excepted – so as to totally lose all spiritual life, becoming dead in trespasses and sins, and subject to the power of the Devil and fleshly evil; and that the ruin of the race is universal, total and irremediable by any human effort whatsoever (Gen 3; Rom 1:18, 32; 3:10-23; 5:10-19; 1 Tim 2:14; 1 John 3:8).

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SALVATION

We believe that the only escape from the condemnation of sin is through the redemption wrought by the Lord Jesus Christ when He voluntarily made full satisfaction to the justice of God for the sin of Man. We believe that faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation from sin, and this salvation is wholly by grace; no works, however good, make this salvation more secure (John 1:1-3, 14; 3:1-7; Heb 10:4-14; Eph 2:8-9; Acts 16:30-33; Tit 3:5-7; 1 John 3:2).

We believe that the saved are the elect of God, chosen in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4; 1 Pet 5:13; Rom 8:29), and in a mystery beyond our comprehension, that God’s sovereignty does not violate man’s freedom or responsibility, so that all men are genuinely invited to believe and be saved and that unsaved people must bear the responsibility for their lost condition and condemnation (John 3:16; 5:40; Rev 22:17).

We believe that all who take Christ as their Savior are born from above and are eternally secure in Christ (John 3; 10:27-29; Rom 8:35-39; Phil 1:6; Heb 5:9).

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THE CHURCH

We believe that the universal church “which is His body” is a New Testament institution; unknown to the Old Testament prophets; established by Jesus Christ, Who is its sole Head; revealed through the holy apostles; empowered and perpetuated by the Holy Spirit. It began with the New Testament saints at Pentecost with the advent of the Holy Spirit and will be consummated at the Rapture (Matt 16:18; Acts 1:8; 2; 15:14; Rom 16:26; 1 Cor 12:12-28; Eph 1:22-23; 3:21; 5:23-33; 1 The 4:13-18).

We believe that the universal church is manifested through the local church, which is a congregation of immersed believers, associated by a covenant of faith and fellowship of the Gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws; exercising the gifts, rights and privileges invested in it by His Word; that its spiritual officers are bishops (pastors, elders) and deacons; that it has the absolute right of self-government directed by the Holy Spirit, and it is answerable only to Christ, and that in all matters of membership, policy, government, discipline and benevolence the will of the local church if final (Matt 18:15-17; 1 Cor 1:2; 6:4-5; 11:16; 1 Tim 3:1-15).

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THE ORDINANCES

We believe that there are but two ordinances: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water and is properly called “Believer’s Baptism”. It sets forth in a beautiful and solemn way our faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, with the effects of that faith in our lives. Baptism is a prerequisite to the privileges of church membership.

The Lord’s Supper is a commemoration of our Lord’s death until He comes, and of our continual fellowship with Him, therefore only believers may partake thereof, and it should be preceded by baptism and always by self-examination (Acts 2:41-42; 8:36-39; Rom 6:3-5; 1 Cor 11:23-32).

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THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED

We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that only such as through faith are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and sanctified by the Spirit of God, are truly righteous in God’s esteem; while all such who remain unrepentant and in unbelief are wicked in His sight and are under the curse; and that this distinction holds among men during life and after death, in the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost in the Lake of Fire; and in the everlasting conscious joy of the saved with the Lord (Mal 3:19; Rom 6:17-23; Matt 23:34-41; Luke 6:25; John 8:21; Rev 20:15; 1 The 4:17).

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THE RETURN OF CHRIST

We believe in the bodily, personal, pre-millennial, imminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ; that He will come before the seven year Tribulation period – also called “The Day of the Lord” – to catch away His church, coming only into the air, and that He will come with His own at the close of the Tribulation to judge the living nations and to set up His kingdom on the earth; that He will reign on “the throne of his father David” in Jerusalem for the thousand years (Isa 9:6-7; 13:9-13; Dan 9:24-27; 12:1; Joel 1:15; 2:1-11; Psalm 132:11; 1 The 4:13-18; Matt 25:31-46; Luke 1:32; Rev 19:11-21; Rev 20).

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THE RESURRECTION

We believe in the resurrection of the bodies of the dead, “for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation”. We believe that those which “sleep” in Jesus – the physical death of the believers’ body (2 Cor 5:5-8) – will, at the coming of Christ for His church, be raised and caught up with the transformed living saints to meet the Lord in the air, and that the wicked dead will be raised up at the close of the millennial kingdom and stand in their bodies at the Great White Throne of judgment to receive their final doom (John 5:21-30; 1 The 4:16; Rev 7:9-17; 20:11-15).

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CIVIL GOVERNMENT

We believe that civil government is of Divine appointment for the interests and good order of human society; that we are to pray for magistrates and conscientiously honor and obey them except in things opposed to the Word of God, even the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the only “King of kings and Lord of lords”, and to Whom all authority in heaven and earth has been given. We believe in the separation of church and state; that each in its own realm is sovereign (Ex 18:21-2; 2 Sam 23:3; Dan 3:17-18; Matt 22:21; 28:18; Acts 4:19-20; 5:29; 23:5; Rom 13:1-7; 1 Tim 6:14-15).

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SEPARATION

We believe in obedience to the Biblical commands to separate ourselves unto God from worldliness, ecclesiastical apostasy and ecumenicalism (Rom 16:17; 2 Cor 6:14-7:1; 1 The 1:9-10; 2The 3:6-7; 1 Tim 6:3-5; 2 John 9-11).

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SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE

We believe, the scriptures clearly teach the sanctity of human life; that God not only created human life, but has the sole authority over all human life in its beginning and in its ending. We believe that abortion for the purpose of contraception, euthanasia, suicide and assisted suicide, are a violation of God’s authority over human life. Human beings are created in the image of God and, as such, are to be protected. All human life is sacred from fertilization throughout the human life continuum. We believe the weak, vulnerable, infirm, handicapped, pre-born and needy deserve our respect and our care. Therefore, we oppose those practices, policies or procedures, which undermine or deny the God-given right to life of every human being. We reject the notion that there are some lives not worthy of living and embrace the belief that we should graciously receive and protect all human life God gives. We also believe that God’s establishment of capital punishment, under the proper institution of civil government upholds the sanctity of human life, in that, when human life is taken, it must be severely punished (Gen 1:26-27; 2:7; 9:6; 20:13; 25:21; Ex 21:22-23; Ps 82:3-4; 139:13, 16; Jer 1:5; Luke 1:34-44).

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SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND BEHAVIOR

All forms of sexual activity outside of marriage including pornography, homosexuality, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, sexual abuse and lewd behavior is contrary to God’s Word and His design for human sexuality. We believe that marriage is defined by God as being the legal union of only one man and one woman in a covenant relationship with one another intended for one lifetime (Gen.2:23-24). Therefore, those who choose to live or promote such lifestyles outside of God’s definition of sexual behavior shall not be eligible for membership and therefore ineligible to hold any position of service or responsibility associated with Faith Baptist Church and its ministries. The church shall also reserve the right to perform legal background checks on all personnel working with children according to Maine state law. The nursery and all classes and activities involving children of minor age shall be monitored by two or more adults (Gen 2:18, 21-25; Ex 20:14; Lev.18:1-30; Lev 20:7;, 10-21; Matt 5:27-28; John 4:17-18; Rom 1:24-32; 1 Cor 6:9-11; 2 Cor 12:21; Gal 5:19; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3; Col 3:5; 1Thess.4:1-8; 1 John 2:15-17).