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Its Doctrines of Grace

1.  We believe in the one true and living God, in three Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, who is invisible, personal, omnipresent, eternal, dependent on none, unchanging, truthful, trustworthy, almighty, sovereign, omniscient, righteous, holy, good, loving, merciful, long-suffering and gracious.

2.  We believe that Almighty God has revealed all that is necessary to life and salvation in the sixty six books of Holy Scripture which are the Word of God.   All Scripture was given by inspiration of God, is infallible and inerrant, and is the final arbiter in all disputes.   Its authority is derived from its Author and not from the opinions of men.

3. We believe that God made our first father Adam perfect, holy and upright.   He was appointed representative and head of the human race thereby exposing all his offspring to the effects of his obedience or disobedience to God’s commands.

4.  We believe that Adam fell from his original righteousness into sin and brought upon himself and all his offspring death, condemnation and sinnership.

5.  We believe it is utterly beyond the power of fallen man to love God, to keep his laws, to understand the gospel, to repent of sin or trust in Christ.

6. We believe that God, before the foundation of the world, for his own glory did elect an innumerable host of men and women to eternal life as an act of free and sovereign grace.   This election was in no way dependent upon his foresight of human faith, decision, works or merit.

7.  We believe that God sent his Son into the world, conceived of the virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit, unchangeably sinless, both God and man, born under the Law, to live a perfect life of righteousness, on behalf of his elect people.

8. We believe that God’s Son died at Calvary to effect propitiation, reconciliation, redemption and atonement for his elect people.   God bore testimony to his acceptance of his Son’s work by raising him from the dead.

9. We believe that God’s Son ascended to the right hand of his Father and is enthroned in glory, where he intercedes on behalf of his people and rules over all things for their sake.

10. We believe that God the Son has poured out the Holy Spirit to work alongside the preached Word. The Spirit of God regenerates the elect sinner and draws him irresistibly to faith in Christ the Saviour.

11. We believe the elect, who are called by grace, are justified in the sight of God on account of the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ which is received by faith alone.

12.  We believe that such as are regenerated, called and justified shall persevere in holiness and never finally fall away.

13. We believe that baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper are gospel ordinances belonging only to regenerated believers.

14. We believe that the local church is under the authority of Christ alone.   The communion of saints, however, requires recognition of and fellowship with other churches.

15. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ shall come again to raise the dead, both righteous and unrighteous, and that the righteous shall enjoy everlasting life and the wicked endure everlasting punishment.

                                                 International Fellowship of Reformed Baptists

Reformation Today Erroll Hulse

The Reformed Faith: A Brief and Simple Statement

By Dr. Benjamin Breckenridge Warfield

[This is one of the most useful and succinct summaries of the Reformed faith available..]

The Bible   I believe that my one aim in life and death should be to glorify God and enjoy him forever; and that God teaches me how to glorify him and enjoy him in his holy word, that is,  the Bible, which he has given by the infallible inspiration of his Holy Spirit in order that I may certainly know what I am to believe concerning him and what duly he requires of me.

God   I believe that God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal and incomparable in all that he is; one God but three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—my Creator, my Redeemer, and my Sanctifier: in whose power and wisdom, righteousness, goodness and truth I may safely put my trust.

Creation   I believe that the heavens and earth, and all that is in them is the work of God’s hands; and that all that he has made he directs and governs in all their actions; so that they fulfill the end for which they were created, and I who trust in him shall not be put to shame but may rest securely in the protection of his almighty love.

Man   I believe that God created man after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness and holiness, and entered into a covenant of life with him upon the sole condition of the obedience that was his due: so that it was by willfully sinning against God that man fell into the sin and misery in which I have been born.

The Fall   I believe that, being fallen in Adam, my first father, I am by nature a child of wrath, under the condemnation of God and corrupted in body and soul, prone to evil and liable to eternal death; from which dreadful state I cannot be delivered.

Christ   I believe that God has redeemed his people unto himself through Jesus Christ our Lord; who, though he was and ever continues to be the eternal Son of God, yet was born of a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem them that are under the law: I believe that he bore the penalty due to my sins in his own body on the tree, and fulfilled in his own person the obedience I owe to the righteousness of God, and now presents me to his Father as his purchased possession, to the praise of the glory of his grace forever: wherefore renouncing all merit of my own, I put all my trust only in the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ my redeemer.

The Lord   I believe that Jesus Christ my redeemer, who died for my offences was raised again for my justification, and ascended into the heavens, where he sits at the right hand of the Father Almighty, continually making intercession for his people, and governing the whole world as head over all things for his Church: so that I need fear no evil and may surely know that nothing can snatch me out of his hands and nothing can separate me from his love.

The Holy Spirit  I believe that the redemption wrought by the Lord Jesus Christ is effectually applied to all his people by the Holy Spirit, who works faith in me and thereby unites me to Christ, renews me in the whole man after the image of God, and enables me more and more to die unto sin and to live unto righteousness; until this gracious work having been completed in me, I shall be received into glory: in which great hope abiding, I must ever strive to perfect holiness in the fear of God.

The Gospel   I believe that God requires of me under the gospel, first of all, out of a true sense of my sin and misery and apprehension of his mercy in Christ, I should turn with grief and hatred from sin and receive and rest upon Jesus Christ alone for Salvation; that, so being united to him, I may receive pardon from my sins and be accepted as righteous in God’s sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to me and received by faith alone: and thus only do I believe I may be received into the number and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God.

Good Works   I believe that, having been pardoned and accepted for Christ’s sake, it is further required of me that I walk in the Spirit whom he has purchased for me, and by whom love is shed abroad in my heart; fulfilling the obedience I owe to Christ my king; faithfully performing all the duties laid upon me by the holy law of God my heavenly Father; and ever reflecting in my life and conduct the perfect example that has been set me by Christ my leader, who has died for me and granted to me his Holy Spirit just that I may do the good works which God has prepared before that I should walk in them.

The Church   I believe that God has established his Church in the world and endowed it with the ministry of the Word and the holy ordinances of Baptism, the Lord’s Supper and Prayer; in order that, through these as means, the riches of grace in the   gospel may be  made known to the world, and, by the blessing   of Christ and the working of this spirit in them that by faith receive them, the benefits of redemption may be communicated to his people: wherefore also it is required of me that I attend on these means of grace with diligence, preparation, and prayer, so that through them I may be instructed and strengthened in  faith, and in holiness of life and in love; and that I use my best endeavors to carry this gospel and convey these means of grace to the whole world.

The Future   I believe that as Jesus Christ has once come in grace, so also he is to come a second time in glory, to judge the world in righteousness and assign to each his eternal award: and I believe that if I die in Christ, my soul shall be at death made perfect in holiness and go home to the Lord; and when he shall return in his majesty I shall be raised in glory and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoyment of God to all eternity: encouraged by which blessed hope it is required of me willingly to take part in suffering hardship here as a good soldier of Christ Jesus, being assured that if I die with him I shall also reign with him.