What We Believe

THE HOLY SCRIPTURES

We fully accept the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments as the very Word of God, the complete and final revelation to man, verbally inspired in all parts, and therefore, wholly without error as originally given of God, altogether sufficient in themselves as the only infallible and authoritative rule of faith and practice. (Matthew 5:18; 2Timothy 3:16-17; 2Peter 1:19-21)

GOD

We believe that there is one God eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; equal in power and glory, whose attributes are the same, whose purposes are one and whose offices and actions are completely harmonious. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; 1Corinthians 8:6; 2Corinthians 13:14)

THE PERSON AND WORK OF JESUS CHRIST

We believe that Jesus is the second person of the Trinity, the eternal Word; that being Jehovah God, He was begotten by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary without any change in His divine Person; that as Man, He was tempted in all points as man, yet without sin; that as the perfect Lamb of God, He shed His blood upon the cross, dying for sinful man, suffering the full penalty of divine wrath as man’s substitute; that He arose bodily from the grave and ascended into Heaven and is now the great High Priest, Advocate and only Intercessor for those who receive Him. (Matthew 1:20; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-2; Romans 8:34; Colossians 1:16,17; 1Timothy 2:5; 1John 2:1; 5:20)

THE HOLY SPIRIT

We believe in the personality of the Holy Spirit who, as the third person of the Trinity, convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment; that at the moment of salvation, He regenerates, baptizes (placing the believer in the body of Christ), indwells and seals all who become children of God through faith in Christ. He further empowers, guides, teaches, sanctifies and fills believers who daily surrender to Him. (John 14:16-17, 26; 16:8; Romans 8:14-16; 1Corinthians 12:13; 2Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 1:13-14)

TOTAL DEPRAVITY OF MAN

We believe all men are by nature sinful and lost; that God created the world in six literal days, Adam being a historical person and the direct creation of God, made in His image and likeness; that Adam, through his free will, personally disobeyed the revealed will of God, and became a sinful creature, that as the father of the human race, he passed on his sinful nature and its resulting spiritual death and separation from God to all his descendants. Man in his sinful state is condemned by God’s justice and unable to change his lost condition on his own. (Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 3:23, 5:12, 6:23; Ephesians 2:1-4)

SALVATION BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH

We believe that salvation is the free gift of God, neither deserved nor obtained in part or in whole by any merit or work of man but received only by personal faith in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ in His life, death, burial, and resurrection. The Holy Spirit convicts man to turn (repent) from sin and look to Christ alone for salvation. Upon so doing, man is born again and becomes a new creature. His sins are forgiven and Christ’s righteousness is given to him. Apart from Christ there is no possible salvation. Since salvation is a divine work, is it eternal and cannot be lost. (John 1:12-13; 10:27-30; Acts 4:12; Romans 6:23, 10:9-13; 2Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8,9; Titus 3:5)

THE ETERNAL STATE

We believe in the bodily resurrection of all people, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment. Those who have been made righteous by faith in Jesus will spend eternity in Heaven, while those who die unrepentant in their sins will remain after death in conscious suffering until the resurrection, when with soul, body and spirit reunited, they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, and be condemned to suffer everlasting conscious punishment in the Lake of Fire. (Matt 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-31; John 5:28-29, 14:1-6; II Corinthians 5:10; Philippians 3:20-21; I Thessalonians 4:14-17; Revelation 20:5, 6, 11-15)

THE LOCAL CHURCH

We believe that Jesus Christ is the Head of the body of Christ, and that a New Testament church is a local, autonomous assembly of baptized believers united by covenant in the faith and fellowship in the gospel who meet together to worship by the practice of the ordinances and spiritual gifts, prayer, fellowship, teaching, singing and a united testimony; and to actively engage in carrying out the Great Commission. New Testament congregations are free to govern themselves without ecclesiastical interference and are directly accountable to God. We believe the biblical offices of the church are pastors (also called elders or bishops) and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture. (Matthew 26:26-30, 28:19-20; Acts 2:41, 4:32; Ephesians 5:23; Philippians 1:1; 1Timothy 2:12-14, 3:2; Hebrews 10:25)

CHURCH ORDINANCES

We believe the ordinances given to the local church are two: Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Baptism by immersion is practiced by those who profess faith in Jesus and portrays the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and gives public testimony of the believer’s identification with Christ as dead to sin and spiritually alive with resurrection power to walk in new life. The Lord's Supper is the partaking of the bread and cup by the believers as a continuing memorial of the broken body and shed blood of Christ. (Matthew 3:13-17, 26:26-29, 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-47, 8:36-39; I Corinthians 11:23-32)

THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE BELIEVER

We believe that when God saves people, He makes them holy, and as evidence of their conversion, the believer—a new creature in Christ—begins growing in faith, submitting to the Word of God and advancing in the process of sanctification, sinning less and resembling Jesus Christ more and more. This process will continue until Christ returns for His people. (Matthew 5:16; Romans 6:1-10; Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 1:6; Titus 2:11-14)

THE SANCTITY OF MARRIAGE

We believe that marriage is ordained by God as a covenant exclusively between one man and one woman. Because God has ordained marriage and defined it so, Madison Avenue Baptist Church and their pastors will only participate in, host on their properties, and celebrate weddings or marriage celebrations between one man and one woman. (Genesis 1:27, 2:24, 3:21; Matthew 19:4-6; Ephesians 5:22-25, 33)