What We Believe

Faith Arlington is associated with the Southern Baptist Convention, and our doctrine is consistent with the statements found in The Baptist Faith and Message.  Below is a summary of our core beliefs.  

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.

2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12; Psalm 119:9; Isaiah 40:8; Matthew 24:35; Matthew 4:4

There is one and only one living and true God. …The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

Deuteronomy 4:35, 39; Deuteronomy 6:4; 2 Samuel 7:22; 1 Chronicles 17:20; Psalm 86:10; Isaiah43:10,11; Mark 12:29-34; John 17:3

Matthew 28:19; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Genesis 1:1-2; Romans 14:17-18; Isaiah 44:6

God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. …God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 4:6; Matthew 23:9; Psalm 68:5; Isaiah 63:16; 2 Corinthians 1:3-4; John 14:10; Deuteronomy 32:6; Isaiah 9:6

Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ, He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. …He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross, He made provision for the redemption of men from sin.

1 Corinthians 15:28; Psalm 2:7; Matthew 3:17; 1 John 4:10; John 14:13; Hebrews 5:5; Romans 1:4; Luke 9:35

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. …He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. …He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.

Matthew 1:18; John 14:26; Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:19; Romans 5:5; Romans 8:26-27; Acts 2:38

Man is the special creation of God, in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. …By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. … The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore every person of every race possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.

Genesis 1:6; Genesis 9:6; Genesis 5:2; Genesis 3; Romans 5:8;Matthew 28:19-20; Matthew 16:15

Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification.

Luke 19:10; Romans 3:23; Romans 5:8-9; Romans 10:9-10; Romans 10:13; John 3:16; Acts 2:38; Acts 4:12; Acts 16:31; Psalms 62:1; Acts 2:21; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 Peter 1:8-9; Mark 16:16; Matthew 7:13-14; Hebrews 9:28; Psalm 62:7; Ephesians 2:8-9; 1 John 5:12; John 10:10

Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water. …It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus.

Acts 10:48; Acts 22:16; Luke 3:16; Galatians 3:27; Mark 1:4-5; Acts 16:31-33

The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members … memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.

Acts 2:42; 1 Corinthians 11:26; 1 Corinthians 11:23-25

It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations… to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle, and by other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ.

Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Matthew 24:14; Psalm 96:3; Revelation 14:6-7; Isaiah 6:8; Romans 1:16; Acts 1:8