About New Union
Statement of Belief
New Union Baptist Church heartily endorses and embraces the doctrines and beliefs adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention found in The Baptist Faith and Message - 2000 Tract. For a more detailed statement of these doctrines and beliefs you may purchase a copy from Lifeway Christian Bookstore.
1. Scriptures
The Holy Bible is divinely inspired by God and written by men. It is infallible and inerrant, meaning it is ultimate, absolute truth with no errors theologically, historically or scientifically. ALL scripture is a testimony of Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.
2. God
There is one and only one loving and true God. He is the Lord God Almighty who is infinite and eternal in holiness and all other perfections. He is an intelligent, spiritual and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is all powerful, all knowing, and everywhere present. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.
3. Jesus Christ
Christ is the eternal Son of God from eternity past to future. In His incarnation He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived an absolute and completely perfect, sinless life in His human body. He was crucified on the cross as a substitutionary death for all mankind, making provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, fully God and fully man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and receive those who have repented and placed complete faith in Him unto Himself. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord.
4. The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand the truth of the Bible, namely the Lord Christ Jesus. He exalts Christ. He calls and draws men to repentance and faith in Christ as Lord and Savior. He cultivates christian character, comforts believers and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve Christ through His Church. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, discipleship and service.
5. Man
Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image. God created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. The gift of gender is part of the goodness of God's creation. In the beginning man was innocent, with no sin. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan, man sinned against the command of God and fell from his original innocence, whereby those who have been born since have inherited a nature and environment totally inclined toward sin. Man ever since has been born in sin and under the condemnation of God's perfect holiness. Only by the grace of God in Christ Jesus can man be brought into His holy fellowship and be enabled to fulfill God's purpose for him.
6. Salvation
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man and is offered freely to all who accept Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Christ Jesus as Lord. The new birth is a work of God's grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart brought about by the conviction of the Holy Spirit of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Christ Jesus Repentance and faith are inseperable experiences of God's grace. Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Savior.
7. The Church
A New Testament Church of the Lord Christ Jesus is an autonomous or independent local congregation of baptized believers, observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His Word, exercising the gifts and privileges invested in them by the Word of God, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation is to operate under the Lordship of Christ according to the Word of God. The scriptural officers of the local New Testament Church are pastors and deacons. While both men and woman are gifted for service in the Church, the office of pastor and deacon is limited to men as qualified by Spripture.
8. Baptism and The Lord's Supper
Christian baptism is the immersion of a born again christian into water in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Christ Jesus. Being a church ordinance it is a prerequisite to becoming a member of the Church and partaking of the Lord's Supper.
The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the Church through partaking of the bread and fruit of the vine memorialize the death of Christ and anticipate His second coming.
9. Last Things
God in His infinite wisdom, time and way will bring all time to an end. According to the promise in Scripture, Christ Jesus will return personally and visibly in glory. The dead will be raised and judged by Christ in supreme righteousness. Those who rejected Christ as Lord will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting torment. On the other hand, those who repented and trusted Christ as Lord will be resurrected in their glorified bodies and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.
10. Evangelism and Missions
The Great Commission of the Lord Christ Jesus has commanded the preaching of the gospel to all nations. It is the expressed duty and privilege of every christian by God's grace to constantly seek to win lost people to Christ. It is also just as important to disciple these new Christians to walk in Christlikeness according to God's Word. Because of Christ's Great Commission, the local church must extend the reach of the gospel to the ends of the earth through missions and missionary enterprise. All of these parts of the Great Commission must be underguided by a christian lifestyle that is blameless and above reproach.
11. The Family
God has ordained the family as the foundational institution for human society It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood or adoption.
Marriage is the unity of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His Church. The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God's image. A husband is to love this wife as Christ loved the Church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide, protect and lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband as the Church willingly submits to the headship of Christ.
Children are indeed a blessing from the Lord from the moment of conception. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God's pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them through a consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline. Children are to honor and obey their parents.