As a community of Christians who worship Jesus, we believe there are foundational truths in the Bible about God, humanity, and the world that are true for all people at all times.
We’ve compiled these foundational truths in what’s called a Statement of Faith. A Statement of Faith can be helpful in defining and clarifying major biblical beliefs. It’s a way to know how a local church or Christian organization interprets some of the primary truths in the Bible.
Knowing or not knowing these beliefs isn’t necessary for joining us for our worship service. We hope our Statement of Faith serves you and helps you gain an understanding of what we believe.
The Bible
We believe the Bible to be the complete Word of God; that the sixty-six books, as originally written, comprising the Old and New Testaments were verbally inspired by the Spirit of God and were entirely free from error; that the Bible is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice and the true basis of Christian union.
God
We believe in One God, Creator of all, holy, sovereign, eternal, existing in three equal Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ
We believe in the absolute and essential deity of Jesus Christ, in His eternal existence with the Father in pre-incarnate glory, in His virgin birth, sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, triumphant ascension, mediatorial ministry and personal return.
Holy Spirit
We believe in the absolute and essential deity and personality of the Holy Spirit Who convinces of sin, of righteousness and of judgment; Who regenerates, sanctifies, illuminates, empowers and comforts those who believe in Jesus Christ.
Satan
We believe that Satan exists as an evil personality, the originator of sin, the archenemy of God and man.
Man
We believe that man was divinely created in the image of God as male and female; that he sinned, becoming guilty before God, resulting in total depravity, thereby incurring physical and spiritual death.
Salvation
We believe that Jesus Christ, sent by the Father, made full payment of the penalty for sin by shedding his blood, dying on the cross, and that by rising again, he displayed his power over sin and death; and that we, in repenting of our sin and receiving Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord, experience forgiveness for all sin, new birth through the indwelling Holy Spirit, and a permanent position as members of God’s family.
Christian Living
We believe that the Christian, though never perfect in this life, should strive to become like Christ, growing toward His perfection through the power imparted by the Holy Spirit.
Future Things
We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of the Lord Jesus Christ; in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust; in the eternal blessedness of the redeemed and in the judgment and conscious, eternal punishment of the wicked.
The Local Church
We believe that a church is a company of immersed believers, called out from the world, separated unto the Lord Jesus, voluntarily associated for the ministry of the Word, the mutual edification of its members, the propagation of the faith and the observance of the ordinances. We believe it is a sovereign, independent body, exercising its own divinely awarded gifts, precepts and privileges under the Lordship of Christ, the Great Head of the church.
Ordinances
We believe that there are only two ordinances for the church regularly observed in the New Testament in the following order:
Baptism, which is the immersion of the believer in water, whereby he obeys Christ’s command and sets forth his identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.
The Lord’s Supper, which is the memorial wherein the believer partakes of the two elements, bread and wine, which symbolize the Lord’s body and shed blood, proclaiming His death until He comes.
The Church and State
We believe in the entire separation of church and state.
Religious Liberty
We believe in religious liberty; that every man has the right to practise and propagate his beliefs.
The Lord’s Day
We believe that the first day of the week is the Lord’s day and that, in a special sense, it is the divinely appointed day for worship and spiritual exercise.
Civil Government
We believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the interest and good order of society; that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honoured and obeyed, except only in the things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the only Lord of the conscience and Prince of the kings of the earth.
North Valley Baptist Church’s Statement of Faith is based off the Scripturally accurate Affirmation of Faith from the Fellowship.