Our Beliefs

Who we are has everything to do with what we believe.

Doctrine matters to us because it matters to God. Doctrine shapes who we are as a church because what we believe about God, His World, and ourselves determines who we are, how we behave, and what we live for in this life. Because everything we know about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, Salvation (eternal life), Sanctification (living for God in this life), and the Church is revealed in the Holy Scripture, what we believe about the Bible (and the place we give it in our lives) is supremely important.

Jesus took doctrine seriously – He taught it.

Jesus took doctrine seriously – He taught it.

When Jesus spoke to the disciples, He often stressed the importance of knowing and believing His teaching. It was important that they understand His teaching because through it they would find eternal life. “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).

Furthermore, Jesus was very clear that He was teaching under the authority of God the Father. “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works” (John 14:10). 

Jesus said right doctrine would be an identifying mark of those who truly love Him and the Father. “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me” (John 14:24). Because doctrine was so important to Jesus, it must be important to us here at PBC.

Paul and the Apostles took doctrine seriously – they preserved it.

Paul and the Apostles took doctrine seriously – they preserved it.

Jude stated that there was a body of doctrines called “the faith” that had been authoritatively and fully delivered to the Church and for which the Church must embrace, obey, and defend at all cost. “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3).

Paul said we were to stand firmly fixed in this body of doctrine (1 Corinthians 16:13). He said we were to guard the deposit of this body of truth (1 Timothy 6:20), to pass it on to others (2 Timothy 2:2), to test ourselves to make sure we remain true to this body of truth (2 Corinthians 13:5), and to be careful not to depart from the doctrines that make up the faith (1 Timothy 6:20-21).

Our understanding and commitment to the major beliefs of the Christian faith revealed in Scripture are summarized below.

Statements of Faith

We believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. Since the Scriptures are God-breathed in the original autographs, inspiration extends to the very words of the Bible so that the entire Bible, and only the Bible, is the Word of God. As such, the Bible is infallible, inerrant, and our only rule of faith and practice. (II Tim. 3:16; II Pet. 1:21; Mat. 5:18; John 10:35; Rev. 22:18–19)

We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing as one in His essence yet three in His persons. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, and co-equal in power and glory. (Deut. 6:4; Ps. 90:2; Mat. 28:19; II Cor. 13:14; I Cor. 8:6)

He is eternal, immutable, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He is the sovereign God of the universe, the Creator and Preserver of all things. He is perfect in holiness, righteousness, justice, and love. Having extended His grace and mercy to people by sending His Son to die in their place, He desires to have fellowship with them. (Ps. 65:2; 139:1–24; I Chr. 29:11; John 1:12; 3:16; Eph. 1:3–9; Rom. 11:36)

He is the Son of God. He is one Person, with both a divine nature (He is truly God) and a human nature (He is truly man). He existed from everlasting with the Father, was born of a virgin when He took on human flesh, lived a sinless life, and gave Himself willingly on the cross for the sins of people. He arose from the tomb on the third day, ascended to the Father, and will return to earth one day as Judge and King. (John 1:1– 3, 2 18; 5:22–23; 20:28; Rom. 9:5; Heb.1:3, 6, 8; 9:24; Phil. 2:6–11; Col. 1:15–20; II Cor. 5:21; Mat. 25:31; Rev. 19:11–20:6; I John 2:2)

He is a divine Person and not an impersonal force. He is fully God, proceeding from the Father and the Son. The work of the Holy Spirit included creation and the inspiration of the Scriptures. He calls people to salvation through Christ and dwells in the hearts of believers. (Mat. 28:19; John 16:7–14; Tit. 3:5; Eph. 1:13; 5:18; Rom. 8:9–16, 26)

We believe the Genesis account of the creation of the world as a literal, historical record of the direct acts of God, without the involvement of any evolutionary process. (Gen. 1–2; John 1:3–10; Col. 1:16; Heb. 11:3)

We believe that man was created in innocence and in the image of God. However, in Adam’s disobedience, sin entered the world and passed to all mankind, destroying man’s relationship with God and resulting in death. Thus, all are sinners by nature and by choice, and therefore are under just condemnation without defense or excuse, and deserve eternal punishment in hell. (Gen. 1–3; Is. 64:6​; Jer. 17:9​; ​ John 6:44; Rom. 3:10–12, 23; 5:12; 8:7–8; Eph. 2:1–3; I John 4:19)

We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly by grace through faith alone in the shed blood of Jesus Christ, and that all who receive Him as Savior are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and become children of God. (Eph. 2:8–9; John 1:29; I John 2:2; Is. 53:4–12)

  1. Regeneration—When an individual responds in faith to the Gospel, repents of his sin and turns to Christ for salvation, the Holy Spirit causes a spiritual change in which he is freed from the guilt of his inherently sinful nature, receives the imputation of Christ’s righteousness, and thus is born again into God’s family. Regeneration involves an illumination of the mind, a change in the will, and a renewed nature. (John 3:3–7, 16; 1:12; II Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:8–9; Rom. 3:22–28; I Pet. 1:23; Tit. 3:5; Acts 2:38; 17:30)
  2. Justification—This is the act of God whereby He declares the sinner to be righteous in His sight. On the basis of the work of Christ, God does not impute sin to the individual, imputing instead the righteousness of Christ. (Rom. 3:22–28; 4:1–8; 5:1–2; Gal. 2:16)
  3. Sanctification—Whereas regeneration is a one-time event in the life of the believer, sanctification is a continuing process by which God gradually transforms him into the image of Christ. This process will be completed when believers join Christ in heaven, perfected in holiness. (John 17:17; II Cor. 3:18; Eph. 5:26; I John 3:2; Acts 20:32)
  4. Preservation—Since salvation is based solely upon the grace of God and not on the merit of the individual, everyone who truly accepts Christ as Savior is eternally secure in his salvation and is kept by God’s power. Scripture, however, gives a solemn warning to those who profess salvation but whose lives give no evidence of change because of the willful, continual practice of sin. (John 6:37, 39; 10:27–30; Rom. 8:38–39; I Pet. 1:5; II Pet. 1:10; I John 3:7– 10; James 2:14–26)

We believe that the church, composed of all who have trusted Christ as Savior since Pentecost, is the body of Christ. Christ Himself is the Head of the Church. This spiritual organism is the universal aspect of the church. (Mat. 16:18; Eph. 1:23)

  1. Organization—The local church is an organized assembly of baptized believers voluntarily associated together in the faith in order to exalt the Lord in worship, evangelize the lost through witness, and edify the saints through teaching, fellowship, and service. The local church has the absolute right of self-government and should be free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations, religious or governmental. Jesus Christ is the Head and Chief Shepherd. (Eph. 4:11–16; Col. 1:15–20; I Pet. 5:4)
  2. Ordinances—Christ instructed the church to observe two ordinances, both of which are symbolical rather than sacramental or efficacious.
    1. Baptism—All who profess faith in Jesus Christ should be baptized by immersion in water as a symbol of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord. (Mat. 28:19; Rom. 6:3–4)
    2. The Lord’s Supper—The Lord’s Supper is a memorial service in which the bread and juice represent the body and blood of Christ. (Mat. 26:26–29; I Cor. 10:16; 11:23–34)

We believe that Scripture commands God’s people to be holy and separate from all polluting influences, including sin, disobedient brethren, and false teachers.

  1. Personal—Individual believers are the temple of the Holy Spirit and so must be pure from sin. They are not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers nor found to be friends of the world. (II Cor. 6:14–7:1; I John 2:15–17; James 4:4)
  2. Ecclesiastical—The church as a whole must separate from those who teach false doctrine and attempt to subvert the saints. (Rom. 16:17; II Thes. 3:6–15; II John 9–11; II Cor. 6:14–18)

We believe in the personal, bodily return of Jesus Christ; His literal, physical reign on earth for a thousand years; the eternal punishment of unbelievers in hell; and the eternal blessings for believers in heaven. (Mat. 25:1–13; I Thes. 4:14–18; I Cor. 15:24–28; Rev. 19:11–20:15; 21–22)

We believe in the God-ordained institution of marriage between one man and one woman, and that all moral sexual relations are exercised solely within the God ordained institution of marriage. (Gen. 1:27; Gen. 2:24–25; Mat. 19:4–6)

Constitution

A constitution is essentially a commitment, a covenant towards each other in the church and how we will operate as a church. We can’t do everything as a church, but we are committed to these important things.

Constitution



Our Core Values

Core Beliefs