WHAT WE BELIEVE

 

The beliefs and teachings of Westfield Baptist are in harmony with the Baptist Faith and Message of 2000 which is the doctrinal statement of the Southern Baptist Convention. The major emphases of that statement are printed below. 

Click here to view the full statement.

 

God:  There is one God. He is the Creator and Ruler of the universe. He eternally exists in three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. These three are co-equal and one. God is perfect in His attributes of holiness, love, mercy, power and knowledge.

 

Jesus Christ:  Jesus Christ is God’s Son. He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on the cross as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world, rose again after three days, ascended to Heaven and will return again someday to earth to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

 

The Holy Spirit:  The Holy Spirit lives in every believer from the moment of salvation providing power for living, guidance and understanding of spiritual truth. He exalts Christ and convicts man of sin and righteousness and judgment. He enlightens and empowers the believer.

 

The Scriptures:  The Bible is God’s written revelation of Himself to man. It was written by human authors under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Bible is the sole source of truth, is inerrant and is divinely inspired by God.

 

Salvation:  Salvation is a gift from God to man. Man is sinful. Sin has separated us from God and made us unacceptable to Him. Because of his sinfulness, Man cannot earn or deserve eternal life. But Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross paid the price for sin and God desires to freely give salvation to all who trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Faith in Jesus is the only way we can have eternal life. Salvation is maintained by the grace and power of God, not by the efforts or merits of the believer.

 

The Church:  The New Testament speaks of the Church as the Body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed from every age, every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. Westfield Baptist is a local congregation of baptized believers that is representative of the full Body of Christ, autonomously operating under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. The Scripture teaches that the two offices of Pastor and Deacon are to be carried out by men that meet the Scriptural qualifications of sound character and doctrine.

Our congregation observes the two New Testament church ordinances: Baptism (the immersion of a believer in water as a public testimony of salvation in Christ); and the Lord’s Supper (a symbolic partaking of the bread and juice to memorialize the death of Christ and anticipate His second coming).

 

End Times:  God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.

 

Marriage & Family:  God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society.
Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. Both men and women equally bear the image of God; but God has ordained differing, yet complementary roles for men and women in society and the family. A husband has the God-given responsibility to sacrificially provide for, protect, and lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband, to respect her husband, and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.

Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord and are to be cherished as such. The responsibility of discipling children belongs to the parents; the Church assists parents by equipping and encouraging them to disciple their children. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.