Lyamutundwe, Entebbe, Uganda
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Doctrinal Statement

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Open Door Baptist Church

1. BIBLIOLOGY: DOCTRINE OF THE SCRIPTURES

We believe in the Inspiration, Authority, Sufficiency, Infallibility, inerrancy and Preservation of the Scriptures. We believe the Bible as the Supreme and final authority in Faith and practise

1.1 Canonization

We believe that the 66 books contained in our Bible are the only books that form the canon, [39 Old Testament and 27 New Testament Books]

We believe that although books like the Apocrypha exist, they cannot be part of the canon because there is no proof of their Inspiration and thus cannot qualify as the Inspired Word of God which is a key tenet for the Bible We believe.

I. The Old Testament

The Old Testament contains 39 Books Inspired by God using men of Faith who prefaced their work with, “Thus saith the Lord”

The Old Testament had only three divisions, The Law, The Prophets and The Writings. We affirm and believe in these divisions. We however also believe in the “modern” division which simplifies and clarifies the 3 original divisions, this being, The Law, History, Poetry and The Prophets

  • The Law or Pentateuch [5 books]: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy
  • Historical Books [12 books]: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther
  • Poetic Books [5 books]: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon

Prophets: These are sub divided into the Major and Minor Prophets. These divisions were dependent upon the volume of the texts and not because the Major Prophets were considered more important than the Minor Prophets

  • Major Prophets [5 books]- Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel and Daniel.
  • The Minor Prophets [12 books]- Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.

II. The New testament

The New Testament contains 27 books divided along the following sections,

  • The Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
  • History: Acts
  • Epistles: Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, Peter, John, Jude
  • Prophecy: Revelations

1.2 Verbal Inspiration

We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are verbally inspired by God and are inerrant in the original writings and that they are of supreme and final authority in faith and practice. [II Timothy 3:16 – 17]

1.3 Bible Translations

The Bible we use in Open Door Baptist Church is the 1611 King James Version.

1.4 Authority for Doctrine and Statement of Faith

The Bible itself is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice. This excludes all manmade systems of theology, confessions of faith and traditions from being either authoritative or prescriptive for our practice. The King James Version of the Bible is the best preserved Word of God for the English speaking people and is the only acceptable translation to be used for preaching and teaching in this church. The Doctrine and Statement of Faith does not exhaust the extent of our faith. We do believe, however, that the forgoing Doctrine and Statement of Faith accurately represent the teaching of the Bible and, therefore, are binding upon all members.

2. THEOLOGY PROPER: THE DOCTRINE OF GOD

We believe in the existence of One living God, who is the Author of all and Supreme in Authority, worthy of all praise and honor. [1 Corinthians 13:8-10].

2.1 God’s Existence.

We believe that the only way to prove the existence of God is to begin with the assumption of His existence. Because God existed prior to creation, He existed before man’s reasoning and thought processes. Therefore, it is necessary to begin with God as our basic premise, or starting point, for all of our thought processes. We cannot begin with reason and end with God. We must begin with God and build our world view on Him. God has given every man an innate sense of His existence such that even without the philosophical and theological arguments and theories, God’s existence can be seen and reasoned by the most “illogical” and illiterate individual.

There are however several arguments for the existence of God and these include the following

I. The Cosmological Argument

This is simply the argument from the "effect" to the "cause." The universe around us is the effect. The universe is a tremendous effect and our growing knowledge of it makes it more tremendous all the time, and we must have a cause equal to, or greater than, the effect. The only sufficient and satisfying answer is God.

II. The Teleological argument

This argument looks at the universe and the marvel of its plan, order and design and thus the options of such existence could be such thing as blind chance or an even greater Designer. We believe the latter to be true, the marvel of what this universe is can only be explained by the existence of a Marvelous and great Designer. [Psalms 19]

III. Argument from Congruity

Belief in a self-existent, personal God is in harmony with all the facts of our mental and moral nature, as well as with all the phenomena of the natural world. If God exists, a universal belief in his existence is natural enough; the irresistible impulse to ask for a first cause is accounted for; our religious nature has an object; [Romans 1:19-21]

IV. The Anthropological Argument

This argument states that the mental and moral nature of man points him to the existence of an absolute Author, Law Giver and End. Thus man’s intellectual and moral being must have had an Author with both Morality and Intellect.

V. The Ontological Argument

This argument states that man finds the existence of God in the very idea of God itself. Man intuitively has the idea of God and begins looking for proof of His existence in the idea itself

It takes far less Faith to believe the existence of God, an Author and creator than it does to believe most of the theories that contest His existence and their attempts to explain creation, morality, man and the universe.

2.2 God’s Nature

I. God Is A Spirit

Because we live in a materialistic age, We believe it is important to point out the fact that it is not the material things that are Eternal but actually the Spiritual things [Hebrews 1:10-12]. God is immaterial, a Spirit and thus ought to be worshipped in Spirit and truth. [John 4:22-24, John 1:18, 1 Timothy 1:17]

II. God Is Personality

God is a Person and not just an influence or force. "Personality exists where there is intelligence, mind, will, reason, individuality, self-consciousness, and self-determination" (The Great Doctrines of the Bible, p. 22). This does not have to depend on a corporeal body. [Exodus 3:14, Genesis 1:26-27, Matthew 6:28-30]

III. God exists as an Eternal Tri-Unity

We believe that God exists in three distinct persons working in total cohesion, unity, eternity, and equality and thus the name Tri-Unity or Trinity. The three persons of the Godhead are, The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit, [Luke 3:21-22] who are one in essence, a plurality in unity [Deuteronomy 6:4, 1 Timothy 2:5] and equal in their Authority [1 Corinthians 8:6, John 5:21-23, Acts 5:3-4]

Although the three persons of the trinity are equal, they exist in distinct relationship and each in full contentment with their relationship. The Son is eternally begotten of the Father [John 1:18, 3:16, 5:26,] The Spirit eternally proceeds the Father and The Son [John 14:26, 15:26, 16:7]. We believe this has been and will continue to be their relationship throughout Eternity.

2.3 Attributes of God.

We believe that God has several attributes that distinguish Him from man and any other being as well as setting Him apart from all the other gods. God is Holy and morally perfect [1 Peter 1:15-16, Leviticus 11:44-45, 19:2] this is His fundamental characteristic and encompasses each and every one of His attributes.

We believe that the attributes of God can be divided into those that define His Being as peculiar and absent from any other, these are the attributes of Being. And attributes that define God’s character, these are the attributes of Nature

Attributes of Being

I. Omnipotence- This here means that God is all powerful and consistent without limitation to His authority. [Revelations 19:6, Genesis 17:1, Job 38:1-42:2]

II. Omniscience- God is all knowing and not bounded by any anything or diminished in any sense. He knows it all always, the past, present and future. [Romans 11:33, Isaiah 40:28, Psalm 147:5, Proverbs 15:3, Hebrews 4:13]

III. Omnipresence- God is everywhere present at the same time, He is not limited by time, matter or distance. [Psalms 139:7, Jeremiah 23:23-24. Acts 17:27]

IV. Immutability- God is unchanging and unchangeable, He is constant unaffected by the times and trends, thus He’s eternally consistent. [Psalms 102;27, Malachi 3:6, James 1:17]

V. Eternality- God has no beginning or end but abideth forever, He’s preexisted time itself and thus cannot and will never restricted by it [Deuteronomy 33:27, Psalms 90:2, Ephesians 1:4, Revelations 1:8]

VI. Infinity/Immensity- God is not subject to the limitations of time and space. His nature is limitless. [Isaiah 55:8-9, Psalm 77:19, Ephesians 3:19]

Attributes of Nature

I. Holiness- We believe that God is Holy and without any form of Sin, He is wholly pure. This We believe to be the fundamental attribute of God which sets Him apart from the sensuous and unjust gods of the heathens. [Leviticus 11:44-45, Habakkuk 1:13, Joshua 24;19]

II. Truthfulness- We believe that God is the Truth, He declares so [John 14:6], and because He’s the Truth He always manifests truth and there is no lie in Him thus He’s completely reliable. [John 17:3, 1 John 5:20, Titus 1:2]

III. Justice- We believe that God is Just in all His dealings with creation. His execution of judgment and punishment of wrongdoing is unbiased. [Genesis 18:25, Psalm 99:4, Revelations 16:7]

IV. Love- God is Love, [1 John 4:8,16], and He gives Love to His creatures, thus giving Himself and sacrificing for His creation, [John 3:16]

V. Mercy- We believe that God holds back deserved wrath upon mankind as a manifestation of His Love, this He does to give man time to repent. [Nehemiah 9:9, Psalm 23;5, 145:9]

VI. Grace- We believe that God gives unmerited favor to man in His work of Salvation at no cost to His Justice. [Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 11:6]

3. CHRISTOLOGY: THE DOCTRINE OF JESUS CHRIST

We believe that Jesus is the eternal Son of God who became man without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that he might reveal God and redeem sinful men [Isaiah 7:14, 9:6, Matthew 1:8-25, Luke 1:35 2 Corinthians 5:19-21]

3.1. His Person

I. HIS DEITY- We believe that Jesus is fully God and has eternally existed in God, [2 Corinthians 8:9], and in fellowship with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. We believe that Jesus is the Second Person of the Trinity, and that while He is distinct from the Father and the Holy Spirit [John 5:32,37, Galatians 4:4] He is still God [John 1:1, 5:23, 12:41] possessing all the attributes of God both the Attributes of Being and Attributes of Nature as discussed above.

Jesus also claimed to be God, sinless and the fulfillment of the Old testament Scriptures and We believe His Word to be true. [Luke 4:16-21, 7:48-50, John 5:39, 8:46, 14:30]

We reject any teaching that tries to suppose Jesus was only Human or was merely a creature and thus subordinate to God [Sabellianism and Arianism]. We believe that even in His Incarnation, He retained all His Divine attributes.

II. HIS HUMANITY

We believe that Jesus was fully Human just as He was fully God. He was born [Luke 2:7], had a physical body [Hebrew 10;5], grew and developed [Luke 2:52], He hungered and was thirsty [Matthew 4:2, John 19:28] and experienced a wide array of human emotion.

I. THE VIRGIN CONCEPTION AND BIRTH- We believe in the Virgin conception and birth of Jesus Christ as recorded by the scriptures [Luke 1:27,35; Matthew 1:18,21]. We believe this to be what enables the Hypostatic union of Christ [i.e the existence of both the divine and human nature in one person], We also believe this is what renders Him impeccable to sin [unable to sin] although He was in the human body because the sin nature was absent in Him since He was conceived of the Holy Spirit [John 14:30, Hebrews 4:15]

II. WHY HE BECAME A MAN- We believe Jesus became man for several reasons as listed below,

  • God became man that He might be known to us We believe that Jesus clearly revealed for the first time just what God is like. [John 1:14; 14:9; Hebrews 1:1-3, 2 Corinthians 4:6]. Jesus said, .. he that hath seen me hath seen the Father . . . [John 14:9]. God is knowable in Jesus Christ.
  • God became man to save man’s soul [Luke 19:10]. God cannot die, and yet only God could offer a sacrifice sufficient for man’s sin. So God became man that He might die for men [Hebrews 10:4-10].
  • God became man that He might nullify the power of the devil over man [Hebrews 2:10; 1 John 3:8]. This He did by defeating Satan [Matthew 4:1-11; Colossians 2:15].
  • God became man that He might recapture man’s lost dominion over creation [1 Corinthians 15:25, Hebrews 2:5-9; Colossians 1:15] It is through Christ, born of the seed of Abraham after the flesh, that God will perform the promise that Abraham’s Seed should be heir of the world [Romans 4:13]. He will make all things new and we will then reign with Him
  • God became man that He might sympathize with our trials and temptations [Hebrews 2:17-18]; God cannot be tired, nor can He be hungry. So God became man that He might share our limitations and be able to sympathize with our needs

3.2. His Offices

We believe that the name Christ means "Messiah or Anointed One." In the Old Testament, an anointing always preceded the acceptance of a certain office which carried certain responsibilities The anointing signified not only God’s appointment of the person to the office, but God's enablement upon that person for the particular service to which he was called. In Israel's history, three offices were conferred by the ceremony of anointing:

I. Prophet [1 Kings 19:16].

We believe Jesus Christ is that prophet promised in the Old Testament who is above all of the prophets [Deuteronomy 18:15-19]. The New Testament declares Jesus to be that prophet [Matthew 12:41; Luke 4:17-21; John 1:19-23; Acts 3:22-24].

II. Priest [Exodus 30:30].

The Aaronic priesthood of the Old Testament was associated with the Mosaic Law and, just as the Law itself was ineffectual and superseded by Christ, so the Aaronic priesthood and all of its sacrifices were done away in Christ. [Hebrews 4:14-8:6]. God had foreseen the setting aside of the old priesthood of Aaron and declared that His Son should serve after the "order of the Melchizedek" priesthood. These are the pertinent things We believe about the priesthood of Christ

III. King [1 Samuel 15:1].

Jesus has the right of kingship under the Davidic Covenant [2 Samuel 7:8-16]. Jesus Christ is the ultimate fulfiller of this covenant and has the kingly rights to the throne of Israel.

He has this right by birth, because:

  1. (1) He is the Son of David after the flesh [Matthew 1:20; 2:2], and
  2. (2) He has the right by divine appointment [Psalm 2:6-9].

Scripture teaches that Jesus, as Messiah, was anointed by God to all three of these offices. Jesus bears upon Himself the three fold office of Prophet, Priest and King, these three offices constitute Jesus’ Messianic Work.

3.3. His Work

I. HIS DEATH (ATONEMENT)- We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our Redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, Vicarious(substitutionary) [Isaiah 53:4-6, John 10:11] and His death was Voluntary (sacrificial) [Isaiah 52:4-6, Hebrews 9:26, 10:10-14] and Vicious (Propitiatory) [Romans 3:25-26, Acts 20:28, 1 John 2:2]. We thus reject any teaching or theory that goes against these Biblical Truths.

We believe in the shed blood of Jesus Christ as the only ground of atonement for sins. [Romans 3:25; Hebrews 9:14]

II. HIS RESURRECTION- We believe in the literal, physical resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and We believe that our Justification is made sure by this resurrection [Acts 2:24-36, 1 Peter 1:3-5, 2:24] We also believe that He presented Himself physically and bodily alive to His disciples as proof of His resurrection [Acts 1:3, 1 Corinthians 15:3-8] and after forty days He ascended bodily into Heaven and sits at the right hand of God [Luke 24:50-51, Acts 1:6-11, 2:33]

III. We furthermore believe that Jesus is presently in Heaven with God Interceding for us [Romans 8:34, Hebrews 7:24-25], Preparing rooms for those that believe Him [John 14:2] and Sustaining Creation [Colossians 1:17, Hebrews 1:3]

4. PNEUMATOLOGY: THE DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

4.1. His Person

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a Person, a Divine Person and one third of the Trinity. He is not just an influence, a force, or some supernatural spirit, but God equal with God the Father and the Son and of the same nature possessing all the attributes accorded God. [Acts 15:28, Romans 8:26-27]

Because the Holy Spirit is God, He deserves reverence, Worship, Glory and Honor as God [Matthew 28:19]

4.2. His Work

I. In Creation- We believe the Holy the Holy Spirit was active in Creation. [Genesis 1:2] tells of the Spirit's moving upon the waters to bring forth life. Job said that the Spirit garnished the heavens. Then the Holy Spirit also made man [Job 33:4]. So the Holy Spirit was active in Creation

II. The Holy Spirit Inspired the Biblical Writers- This He did in each of throughout the dispensations until the sacred canon was complete. In [2 Samuel 23:2], He inspired David. Isaiah said that the Holy Spirit was the source of his messages [Isaiah 59:21; 61:1]. Other passages are [Acts 1:16; 28:25; Hebrews 3:7; 2 Peter 1:21].

III. His Work Concerning the Church

The Holy Spirit indwells the Church corporately. That is, not only is He present in each believer individually, but because He is in each, He is, therefore, in all and can be said to be indwelling the Church. It is His presence in the Church which makes it a holy temple in the Lord . . . a habitation of God through the Spirit [Ephesians 2:21-22].

The Holy Spirit gives unity to the Body (the Church). Because the Holy Spirit is the life of the Church, the Church thus shares a common life and has become a Body (an organism, rather than an organization). The Holy Spirit functions as the blood functions in a mortal body. That is, He keeps the Body clean and well and preserves its health as a functioning unit [Ephesians 4:3; 2 Corinthians 13:14]. A body that is not functioning as a unit is a sick body, and the Scripture makes it clear that this comes from an unwillingness among the members of the Body to let the Holy Spirit have His way.

The Holy Spirit also instructs the Church. Seven times in the second and third chapters of Revelation it is said, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches [compare Acts 13:2, 4; 20:28].

IV. His Work Concerning the Individual Believer

The Holy Spirit Regenerates the Believer- The moment a sinner places his faith and hope in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit performs a miracle. He regenerates him, which simply means that the sinner is born again. We become spiritually alive from the dead [Ephesians 2:1]. We receive a new life, which is a spiritual life, and this new spirit, or life in us, is one with the Holy Spirit [1 Corinthians 6:17].

The Holy Spirit Baptizes the Believer- On the day of Pentecost, believers were baptized by the Holy Ghost for the very first time, [1 Corinthians 12:13] where Paul tells the Corinthians that they were all baptized by the Holy Spirit and what that baptism accomplished For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body . . . We are placed by the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ, the Church. This event also takes place at the very moment that we are saved. It is therefore wrong to teach that the baptism of the Spirit is a "second work of grace," etc. It is the initial work which places us into Christ and into His grace dependent only upon our faith [Romans 5:2].

The Holy Spirit Indwells the Believer- The Holy Spirit is received at the point of faith, which is also the point of salvation [Romans 5:1, Galatians 3:14] He comes and makes permanent residence within the believer, this indwelling is a permanent relationship between a believer and the Holy Spirit which cannot be reversed. [Acts 2:38; 15:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:8; 1 John 4:13]

The Holy Spirit Seals the Believer- At the moment of conversion the Spirit seals the believer into Christ. He gives the believer assurance that they belong to God and are of the family of God. It is this sealing that assures us and should assure every believer that they cannot lose their salvation. [Romans 8:14-16, 1 John 3:24, 4:13 2 Corinthians 1:22, 5:5]

The works discussed above are also referred to as the Sovereign Works of the Holy Spirit, because they fully depend upon Him and His power with no contribution of man.

There Is however a conditional work of the Holy Spirit and that is

The Filling Of the Holy Spirit- Unlike all the previous works which are unconditional and are as a result of Faith in Jesus Christ, the Filling of The Holy Spirit Happens as a believer yields or surrenders to the working of the Holy Spirit. [1 Thessalonians 5:19] By being filled, the believer gives the Spirit control over their life so that He empowers them in practical Christian living [Ephesians 5:18-19, Galatians 5:19]

4.3 His Work Concerning the World

We believe that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. [John 16:8]

5. ANTHROPOLOGY: DOCTRINE OF HUMANS

5.1 How man came into being

We believe that the first two people were created directly and expressly by the hand of God as the culmination of His creation plan on the sixth day, this is a literal twenty four hour day. Adam was created from the dust and God breathed life into him, while Eve was created from Adam’s rib as a companion and help meet for Adam. [Genesis 1:26-31, 2:7, 21-22] We believe that the rest of the human race descends from these two humans through procreation. [Genesis 1:28, 3:20, Acts] We reject any and all theories and teachings that attribute man’s origin to any other source apart from God’s creation for example The Evolution Theory.

We believe that the Lord created the universe in six literal, 24-hour periods. We reject the gap theory, the day-age theory and theistic evolution as unscriptural theories of origin. [Genesis 1 – 2; Exodus 20:11; John 1:3; Colossians 1:16]

5.2 Anatomy- The question of gender

We believe that God created man in two defined sexes, Male and Female [Genesis 1:27] God in His infinite wisdom saw the need to clearly define the sex of Adam as male (man) [Genesis 2:15,18] and Eve as a female (Woman) [Genesis 2:22-23]. Gender roles and relations are also defined along these two. Therefore God created a Man and a Woman. Any deviation from this natural order as given in creation is contrary to God’s plan and will for mankind and thus We abhor any philosophy that insinuates more than the two genders. Such things as Transgender, Bisexual and Queer are unbiblical and We don’t believe them

5.3 Composition- The essence of man

I. The Image Of God In Man

We believe that man is created in the image and likeness of God [Genesis 1:26-27]. Of what does this "image and likeness" consist? We believe it does not consist in a physical likeness, since God is not corporeal, i.e. does not possess a body. Therefore "image and likeness", refer to the immaterial part of man, and specifically to the character of that part. [Colossians 3:10], we read, and (we) have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. In other words, when we are saved, we are renewed to a former condition of knowledge which we once had, but subsequently lost. This knowledge is said to be, after the image of him that created us. In like manner, [Ephesians 4:23-24] says that we are renewed in righteousness and true holiness which is after God. Therefore, We believe that the image and likeness of God which man had by virtue of the original creation consisted in a moral nature of a true holiness (or purity) which was just like God's.

5.4 Man and Sin- The Fall

We believe that God created man pure and perfect, however because of a choice made by Adam, he transgressed God’s law [Genesis 2:15-17] and man fell into sin [Genesis 3]. We believe that Adam being the head (Father) of the rest of mankind, we all inherited the sin nature from him for we were in him when he sinned [Roams 5:12]

There were five drastic changes that happened,

Man's Nature After the Fall

We believe that man's sin effected a change in his moral nature, as well as in other areas already discussed. Man, who was created in the image and likeness of God (i.e. was like God in nature), died spiritually in the fall and thus lost his relationship with God [1 Corinthians 2:14; Colossians 3:10]. With this loss, man's nature took on a wholly different character, and he became like the one to whom he had yielded himself to obey, that is, the devil.

We believe that, because of his sin nature, man is a sinner by choice and is totally incapable of reforming himself or ceasing from sin by his own power. [Romans 3:10 – 26; Romans 7:23]

5.5 Man And Sin (Harmartiology)

We believe that sin relates directly to man, his relationships with both God and fellow man and thus his entire life, this is the reason We will handle this doctrine here and not in an entirely different section.

I. What Is Sin?- We believe sin directly addresses man’s transgression of his relationship with God, several words are used to define sin, these include

Hamar’tia is the primary word for sin in the New Testament and is so translated 158 times. It’s from this word that we get Hamartiology. It implies that God has set a mark or a goal for man and that man has failed to attain it. This failure is sin and is punishable by death and hell. God's mark is, of course, perfection, and thus all have come short... for all have sinned. "[Romans 3:23] is the key verse. Its literal meaning is "missing the mark."

Disobedience. [Hebrews 2:2] This word literally means "a failure to hear." The thought involved is illustrated in [Acts 7:57; Jeremiah 35:17]. It is a willful, stubborn, refusal to hear what God has to say. Refusing to hear leads to disobedience, which is sin. In [Romans 5:19], we see that by Adam’s disobedience, sin entered into the world

Iniquity. The word usually translated iniquity is Anomia. It refers to man’s refusal to neither obey nor let God have control over their life, it is a state “lawlessness” [2 Thessalonian 2:7, Matthew 7:23, Romans 4:1-8].

Transgression. This word means to step over a recognized line. [1 Timothy 2:14]. Both Adam and Eve stepped over a recognized line and disobeyed God’s command, however Eve was deceived but Adam willfully disobeyed

Trespass. This word means a lapse or deviation from a set course. [Matthew 6:14] The word reflects the idea of neglecting to do what we are told to do [Matthew 21:28-32]

Fault –This word means "falling short of duty." It implies a negative sin of not reaching the expectations that might be held for one. [1 Corinthians 6:7] Here it expresses Paul's disappointment that the Corinthians were not living up to expectations . . . they were falling short of duty

II. WHAT IS THE RESULT OF SIN?

We believe that sin fractured the relationship between man and God, and ultimately led to Death, this is as a result of God’s condemnation [Genesis 2:17, John 3:18-19, Romans 1:18, 6:23]

Types of death- There are three types of death shown in the Bible

  • Physical death- This is the separation of the Spirit from the body, every man shall have a part of this. [Romans 5:21, Hebrews 9:27, James 2:26]
  • Spiritual death- This is the state we are born into, it is the separation of man from God. It was the first death Adam and Eve suffered the instant they disobeyed God. [Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:1-3, Colossians 2:13]
  • Eternal death- This is the fate reserved for the unbeliever, believers won’t have a part in this death. This is the eternal separation of man from God in the Lake of Fire. [Matthew 25:24-26, Revelations 20:11-15, 21:8]

5.6 Personality of Satan

We believe that Satan is a real personality, that he was created perfect but fell through pride, that he is the author of the fall and arch enemy of God and the souls of men. [Job 1:6 – 7; Ezekiel 28:14 – 15; Isaiah 14:12 – 13]

6. SOTERIOLOGY: THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION

We believe salvation means God’s deliverance of man from the penalty of His (God’s) wrath executed against man because of his sin [Matthew 1:21; Luke 19:10; John 3:17; 10:9; 12:47; Acts 2:21; 4:12; 11:14; 15:11; 16:30-31; Romans 5:9; 10:9; 1 Corinthians 1:18, 21; 3:15; 15:2; Ephesians 2:5, 8; 1 Timothy 1:15; Hebrews 7:25; James 1:21] We believe that Jesus Christ has paid the price through His work on the cross to satisfy the wrath of God for sin. [John 3:16]

We believe that man’s only role in this salvation is accepting the payment made on his behalf by Jesus Christ, other than that, there is no other work or contribution man can make to earn this salvation, it’s a work of God’s Grace. [Ephesians 2:4-9]

We reject any teaching that man has to do some sort of work to earn Salvation.

6.1 The Scope of Salvation’s Effect—Which Sins does Salvation

Salvation Deals with Man’s Past- The moment that anyone truly believes on Jesus Christ as his personal all-sufficient Savior, the Bible says that he is immediately and completely saved from the penalty of sin because of the perfect work of Christ on his behalf [1 Corinthians 1:18, 21; 2 Corinthians 2:15; 1 Thessalonians 2:15; 1 Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5]. Furthermore, they are not "being saved"; they are already saved [John 5:24].

Salvation Deals with Man’s Present- Salvation daily deals with the sin man’s life. Once we are saved our sins are subject to the cleansing power of God. [Philippians 2:12-13]. Man is delivered from the power of sin because of the indwelling of The Holy Spirit and thus man can show an outpouring of this salvation by letting the Spirit deal with sin and produce fruit. [Galatians 5]

Salvation Deals With Man’s Future- We believe that man HAS BEEN SAVED from the penalty of sin, and IS BEING SAVED from the daily power of sin, We also believe that the full benefits and blessings of salvation are not ours yet and that we WILL BE SAVED from the very presence of sin and be made perfect - spirit, soul and body. [Romans 8:18-25] looks ahead to the time when our bodies themselves will be changed and all that God has planned for us will become ours forever [Philippians 1:6; 1 Peter 1:3-5; 1 John 3:1-3].

6.2 The Believer’s Standing And State

The Believer’s Standing- Before Salvation, man’s standing before God is that of a rebel, a stranger and a criminal, guilty and already condemned to the ultimate punishment, death. [Luke 20:9-16; Romans 8:7-8; Ephesians 2:1-3, 11-13; Galatians 3:10]. However at the moment of Salvation, man’s standing before God changes without compromising God’s justice. This how God does that

JUSTIFICATION- Justification is a word that denotes a legal pronouncement by God that one, formerly guilty and under the sentence of death, is now recognized as righteous and free from condemnation. It says nothing concerning man's character or conduct, but deals entirely with his legal relationship to God, that is, his standing before the law of God. This is fully upon the imputed righteousness of Christ. It is given not upon any work or righteousness of man. [Romans 3:24, 4:4-5, 5:19, Galatians 2:16, Philippians 3:9]

ETERNAL SECURITY- We believe that once one is Justified, and Regenerated, they are adopted of God and become Sons. They cannot be unborn and are kept of God. [Philippians 1:6, John 10:28,29, Romans 8:35-39, Jude 1] We reject any doctrine that suggests that a believer can lose their salvation

The Believer’s State- The believer’s standing before God is changed through Justification however the believer’s state changes upon the moment of Salvation.

REGENARATION

Regeneration is just another word for being born again. We believe when we are regenerated by the Holy Spirit, an actual spiritual birth takes place. We are literally born of God [John 1:13]. It is this birth that makes us sons of God [John 1:12; Romans 8:14-17; 1 John 3:1-2]. Now, just as we received a fallen sinful nature when we were born of the flesh, so when we are born of the Spirit, we receive the very nature of God [2 Peter 1:4]. We have been born into the family of God, and we will never be "unborn". We believe that after our regeneration, the next step expected of us as believers is Growth; we are to be transformed from the babes we are at birth to adulthood.

Growth- We believe that after our regeneration we are new creatures [2 Corinthians 5:17] and a new work, a good work is begun in us [Philippians 1:6] God promises to bring this work to fruition. However we also need to grow [Philippians 3:12-14]. We attain growth by casting off the old things and work to let all things become new. It is precisely because of this fact that the Christian is faced with conflict. The Apostle Paul expressed this conflict in [Romans 7:15-25] and tells us the reason for it in [Galatians 5:17]. Even though we are sons of God, there is frequently a large gap between our calling and our conduct, between our standing and our state. We believe the Growth process to be different for every individual believer and often times not an easy process and yet it is expected and necessary. [Hebrews 5:11-14, 1 Corinthians 3:1-3]

SANCTIFICATION

This refers to the “setting apart” of the believers from sin to God. We believe this to be a “positional” attribute of Salvation. Sanctification begins with Redemption when a believer is bought back from bondage to Sin and Adopted by God. However, this setting apart continues in daily living and is a process where the believer has to yield to the Spirit and let Him apply the Word of God in his life. We believe because we are not perfect while still clothed in the mortal flesh, Sanctification won’t be completed here on earth until The Lord’s return, when He will Perfect His Saints. [Hebrews 10:10-14, 3:1, John 17:17, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Ephesians 5:25-27, 1 John 3:2 Revelation 22:11]

6.3 Repentance and Faith

We believe that salvation is received individually through repentance and personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Here, repentance means a change of mind about the sin of unbelief: turning from unbelief and reliance on one’s own way of salvation to faith in Jesus Christ alone. Salvation is God’s gift, received by faith, not earned by works. [John 1:12; John 16:9; John 14:6; Ephesians 2:8 – 9; I Peter 1:18 – 19]

6.4 Two Natures

We believe that those who are born again posses two natures and that they may be victorious over the old through the power of the new, but eradication of the old nature (before death or the rapture) is unscriptural. [Romans 6:13; 8:12 – 13; Galatians 5:16 – 25; Ephesians 4:22 – 24; Colossians 3:10; I Peter 1:14 – 16; I John 3:5 – 9]

7. ECCLESIOLOGY: THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH

What is the Church?

The church is a collection of “called out ones” (ekklesia). We believe that the church is constituted by those who have trusted Christ and have been immersed in baptism [Acts 2:38-47, 1 Corinthians 1:2].

The Church is divided into two parts, the Universal Church and the Local Church.

7.1 The Universal Church

We believe that the Universal Church is the collection of all the believers of Jesus Christ in the world from the day of Pentecost [Matthew 16:8, Galatians 1:13, Hebrews 13:23]

We believe that the Universal Church has no physical address and has for its direct head the Lord Jesus Christ

We believe that Jesus Christ foretold the formation of the Universal Church –[Matthew 16:18]

We believe that not everyone who claims “Christ” and not all who claim to be a “Christian church” are part of the Universal Church [Matthew 7:15-23]

We believe that the Universal Church is composed of a conglomerate of Local Churches around the world.

We believe that the Universal Church has been given a common mission and goal and that is to carry out the work of its Master here on earth. [Matthew 28:18-20]

Terms Used For The Church

7.2 The Local Church

We believe that the Local Church is a group of believers who having been called out of sin and unbelief to Faith in Christ, have given witness to that Faith through believers’ baptism and bonded themselves together into voluntary fellowship

I. Membership In The Local Church – We believe that every believer should be a member of a local congregation. Although scriptures do not explicitly command one to be a member of a local church, We believe this is implied because of the following functions found only in the local church;

  • Regular fellowship- Believers are exhorted to fellowship regularly and this We believe is an aspect of the local church [Acts 2:46-47, Hebrews 10:24-25]
  • Church Discipline- We believe one can only be subject to discipline if they subscribe to a particular local congregation and are held accountable by it. [1 Timothy 5:20] One cannot be put away from the number who was never taken into the number [1 Corinthians 5:13]; neither can a decision be arrived at by the Church unless we know of whom the Church is composed [Acts 15:22, Matthew 18:15-20]
  • Commissions for New Ministry- We see the early church sending out men to carry out ministry. They can only send out those who are theirs. [Acts 15:22]
  • Ministering to the brethren- Paul gives pastoral duties in [1 Timothy 5:1-20], these duties and ministries can only be carried out for those within the local church (members).

II. Basis for membership

We believe that the local church has a right to decide upon who can join their numbers, however We believe three pre-requisites are uncompromisable in deciding this,

  • Salvation- Only Saved believers should be admitted into membership, the local church should not knowingly admit an unsaved person into membership. We believe that since we cannot examine hearts an unsaved person may slip through our scrutiny, but we should do our due diligence nonetheless.
  • Baptism- One should be willing to undergo believers’ baptism (immersion) in order to become a church member. We believe that baptism is the first physical testimony of one’s regeneration and their willingness to be part of the Body of Christ. [Acts 2:41]
  • Willingness to Grow- A believer to should be willing to grow and walk steadfast in the doctrines. [Acts 2:42]. We believe who shows an unwillingness to heed truth and teaching may end up becoming a liability to the local body. [Hebrews 5:11-6:8]. We believe that in the local church, brothers will stumble and will need restoration and that is the duty of the local church.

For the unity of the local assembly, only those who can subscribe to this doctrinal statement shall be admitted as members. [Amos 3:3]

III. THE OFFICES

We believe that there are two offices given in the Scriptures as pertaining to the Local Church, Pastors and Deacons.

The Pastor- We believe this is office is given to guide, teach and govern the flock of God. Pastors are not to be lords over God’s people [1 Peter 5:3]; they are servants whose burden is to be lead as examples to the flock. Other words are used to in scripture to mean the Pastor, a) Elders–meaning oversees and thus an administrator [1 Peter 5:2] c) Shepherd (Pastor)- pertaining to the care and wellbeing of the flock [1 Peter 5:1-4]

We believe that a Pastor is the custodian of God’s flock and will be held accountable for it [Hebrews 13:17]

Deacons- We believe the second office given in the Bible is that of Deacons instituted in [Acts 6]. The Deacons are given to help Pastors bear their load and We believe that to still be their role today. Their qualifications are given in [1 Timothy 5:17-18]

We believe that the qualifications and duties of Pastors and deacons are defined in the Scriptures. [I Timothy 3:1 – 13; Titus 1:5 – 11]

IV. THE ORDINANCES

We believe that there are only two ordinances given to the local church, Baptism and The Lord’s Table.

Baptism- We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of the believer in water to show their identification with Christ and the Church. Baptism symbolizes the death, burial and resurrection of Christ and a believers’ identification with it. [Galatians 3:27, Romans 6:1-4, Colossians 2:10-14]

We believe that Christian baptism is performed in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and that baptism after salvation is an act of obedience. [Matthew 28:19 – 20]

The Lord’s Table- We believe this ordinance to be a memorial feast as set forth by our Lord [Matthew 26:26-30, Mark 14:22-26, 1 Corinthians 11:23-34] We believe the Lord’s Table sets forth our communion with our Lord. We believe that no definite time period is given as to the regularity of observance of this ordinance and thus each local church can do it …as oft as they deem fit, however We believe that the church should not slack in observing the ordinance.

We believe that the ordinance is a memorial feast and not a sacrament and thus it cannot add to or remove anything from our Salvation as Jesus paid it all. It should be carried out with the full awareness that the elements used (Bread and Wine) possess no supernatural ingredient that offers some sort of salvation. We thus reject the teachings of Transubstantiation and Consubstantiation.

We believe that observance of the Lord’s Supper should be preceded by solemn heart searching and self judgment. [I Corinthians 11:17 – 34]

We believe in no other ordinance as given to the church but these two.

7.3 Local Church Government

We believe that the local church has the absolute right of self government, free from interference by a hierarchy of individuals or organizations, religious or governmental; that it is scriptural for true churches to cooperate in contending for the faith and furthering the Gospel. On matters of membership, policy, government, discipline and benevolence, the will of the local church is final. [Acts 14:27; II Corinthians 1:1; Galatians 1:2]

7.4 Missions

Open Door Baptist Church shall establish and oversee its own missions programme, supporting Independent Baptist churches and cooperating only with missions and missionaries that follow New Testament doctrine and methods.

7.5 Stewardship

We believe that every Christian, as a steward of that portion of the Lord’s wealth entrusted to him, is obligated to support his local church – in tithes and offerings, in talents and in time;

7.6 Music

We believe that the purpose of music in the church is to honor and glorify the Lord and to edify Christians [Ephesians 5:18 – 19; Colossians 3:16; I Corinthians 10:31]; that the Lord is holy and all music and lyrics used in the church must deliver a message that is in keeping with His holy character [Ephesians 5:10 – 11; I Peter 1:14 – 16; I John 2:15 – 17]. We reject contemporary Christian music (CCM) and Christian rock music. All church services shall be conducted using traditional Christian hymns.

8. ESCHATOLOGY: DOCTRINE OF LAST THINGS

Why Should we Study Eschatology?

We believe we should study eschatology;

  • To purify ourselves now, understanding we are living in the end times
  • To prepare ourselves for the future
  • To place our focus on eternal things
  • To prepare ourselves for the global ministry
  • To prove God’s faithfulness

8.1 The Rapture

We believe that according to the dispensations, the Rapture is the next event after the Age of Grace (Church Age). We believe that Jesus Christ will come back to claim the believers.

We believe that the Rapture will happen before the Tribulation and before the millennial Kingdom (Pre-Tribulation/Pre-millennial) and that the church will have no part in the tribulation [Revelation 3:10]

We believe the events of the rapture will occur in this wise; The Lord will descend with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: [1 Thessalonians 4:16a], The dead in Christ shall rise first with glorifies bodies [1 Thessalonians 4:16b], Then those alive at the time will be given glorified bodies without tasting death and will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. [1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 51-54] The Lord will not step foot on the earth during the rapture but will remain in the air where the believers are to meet Him.

We believe that this Rapture is ever so close and imminent [John 14:2-3, Acts 1:11, 1 Corinthians 15:51-52]

8.2 The Tribulation

We believe the tribulation is going to happen after the rapture of the church, it is going to be a period where God pours out His wrath towards the apostate world and Israel for rejecting Him. [Matthew 24:21-51]

We believe that the tribulation will last seven literal years, of weeping and gnashing of teeth, and We believe the rapture is God’s way of showing mercy to His church by saving them from this period of suffering

We believe that God will have 144000 men from the twelve tribes of Israel given the job of spreading His Word during this period and We believe there will be souls saved during this period. [Revelation 7:1-8]

We believe that Satan will have domineer over the earth using the False Prophet and the Anti-Christ to run his agenda of blasphemy and destruction [Daniel 7:7-8]

We believe during this period the Anti-Christ will reign on the earth and will have control over the world’s governments and systems [Revelations 6:2]

8.3 The Millennial Reign

We believe the millennial reign to be an actual period of a thousand years when the Lord Jesus Christ will return to earth to establish a Kingdom and rule on earth.

We believe during this period Satan will be locked away in the bottomless pit [Revelation 20:1-3] and Christ will establish a perfect kingdom where the saints will rule with Him [Revelation 20:6]

8.4 The Battle Of Gog and Magog

After the thousand years, Satan will be loosed from the bottomless pit and he will again seek to deceive the world and overthrow the rule of Christ, he will gather a multitude of followers from all corners of the earth to battle against God’s city and people [Ezekiel 38-39, Revelation 20:7-9]

We believe that Satan and his followers won’t prevail and God will send fire from heaven to decimate them and Satan will be cast into the lake of fire to suffer eternal torment [Revelation 20:9-10]

8.5 The Great White Throne Judgment

The final defeat of Satan will be followed by the bodily resurrection of unbelievers from all ages to face Judgment for their works according to the records of heaven, before the Great White Throne [Revelation 20:11-13] Whoever was not found in the Lamb’s Book Of Life will be cast into the Lake of Fire to face eternal damnation for their sin [Revelation 20:14-15]

8.6 The New Jerusalem

After the millennium, the final defeat of Satan and the Great White Throne Judgment, God will create a new city, a new Jerusalem, a city designed and built by God with unimaginable beauty [Revelation 21:9-27] which will be perfect in every sense and this will be the place for the believers to spend eternity reigning together with the Lord. [Revelation 21]

We believe here the believers will be in eternal fellowship with God [Revelation 21:3] and all things will be made new [Revelation 21:5].

The New Jerusalem will be reserved for only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of Life [Revelation 21:7]

9. CHRISTIAN LIVING

9.1 Separation from the World

We believe that all saved are called into a life of separation from all worldly and sinful practices. [Romans 12:1; James 4:4; I John 2:16; II Corinthians 6:14]

9.2 Family Relationships

We believe that men and women are spiritually equal in position before the Lord but that the Lord has ordained distinct and separate spiritual functions for men and women in the home and in the church;

9.3 Divorce and Remarriage

We believe that the Lord disapproves of divorce and intends marriage to last until one of the spouses dies. Although divorced persons, including those who have remarried, may serve in the church and be greatly used of the Lord in Christian service, they may not hold any position of leadership, including the offices of pastor or deacon. [Malachi 2:14 – 17; Matthew 19:3 – 12; Romans 7:1 – 3; I Timothy 3:2, 12; Titus 1:5 – 6]

9.4 Human Sexuality

We believe that the Lord has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of marriage;

9.5 Abortion

We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being; that abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused taking of unborn human life; that abortion is murder [Job 3:16; Psalm 51:5; 139:14 – 16; Isaiah 44:24; 49:1, 5; Jeremiah 1:5; 20:15 – 18; Luke 1:44].

9.6 Government

We believe that the Lord has ordained and created all authority consisting of three basic institutions: 1) the home, 2) the church and 3) the state;

  • that every person is subject to these authorities, but all (including the authorities themselves) are answerable unto the Lord and governed by His Word;
  • that the Lord has given each institution specific Biblical responsibilities and balanced these responsibilities with the understanding that no institution has the right to infringe upon the other;
  • that the home, the church and the state are equal and sovereign in their respective biblically-assigned spheres of responsibility under the Lord [Romans 13:1- 7; Ephesians 5:22 – 24; Hebrews 13:17; I Peter 2:13 – 14].

King James Version

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