Harvest Baptist Church
The following statements we believe to be a summary of those doctrines,
which are essential to the practice and propagation of true Biblical
Christianity, and therefore are held by this church.
The Scriptures
The Bible, both Old Testament and New Testament, is the written Word of
God, and the supreme and sole authority of Christian faith and practice.
The Scriptures were originally given through the Holy Spirit by plenary,
verbal inspiration, infallibly true and free of error. No other writings,
experiences, or traditions of any kind are inspired in this sense.
Furthermore, since the Bible was written to be understood by all, it is
to be interpreted in a straightforward literal manner; where symbols and
figures of speech are used, these are made obvious from the contest and
are to be interpreted in a manner consistent with their use throughout
the Bible.
The Nature of God
The only true and living God is a Triune God, eternally existing in three
persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father is omnipotent,
omniscient, and omnipresent, the Creator and Ruler of all things. He has
been revealed to man only through the Son, the Word made flesh. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the Son of God, equally divine and eternal with the
Father, and is also the Son of Man, truly human but without sin.
The Holy Spirit is a person, one with the Father and Son in the Godhead,
whose work it is to glorify God in Christ through convicting men of sin
and regenerating those who believe on Him.
The Nature of Man
All things were created and are sustained by God; man in particular was
created for the purpose of mutual love and fellowship between him and his
creator. The Genesis account of creation is a true and historical record,
revealing that man came by direct creation of God, not be a process of
evolution. Though created in the image of God, man willfully sinned
against God, bringing sin and death into the world. Through Adam,
all men have inherited a sin-nature, upon reaching an age of
accountability; this nature evidences itself in willful acts of sin.
Therefore, all men are guilty sinners, under the just condemnation of a
Holy God.
The Work of Christ
The eternal Son became flesh in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, who was
born of the virgin Mary by miraculous conception and virgin birth. He
lived a sinless human life, perfectly fulfilling the divine law, and then
offered Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of every man. He died on the
cross, shedding His precious blood, in full substitution and atonement for
the sins of all men everywhere. He was buried and on the third day He
arose bodily from the dead, alive forevermore. He later ascended bodily
into heaven where, at the right hand of the Father, He now continually
intercedes for those who put their trust in Him.
Salvation
Man is utterly unable to save himself from the power and penalty of sin.
Each man must be saved wholly on the basis of the work Christ has done
in dying for his sins and rising for his justification. This salvation
is received and appropriated by simple faith in Jesus Christ as Son of
God and personal Saviour. A true Christian is one who has been saved or
"born again," regenerated by the Holy Spirit when he truly believed in
Christ. The reality of this experience, as well as one's personal
assurance of salvation, will be evidenced by a genuine love for Christ
and His Word and by a life characterized by Christ-like motives and
standards. Salvation thus includes deliverance from the penalty of sin,
from the power of sin in one's life, and ultimately from the presence of
sin in heaven with Christ.
The Church
In the ultimate sense, the Church of Christ is composed of all who have
been saved and will be with Him in heaven. A local church, therefore,
should likewise be composed only of members who are genuinely saved;
trusting only in the Lord Jesus Christ and His atoning death for their
salvation. Each local church should be organized for the purpose of
effective witness to the unsaved; for baptizing, teaching, exhorting and
edifying those who are saved, for Christian fellowship among the brethren;
and for united praise and worship of God, through song, testimony, prayer,
and frequent observance of the Lord's Supper, as ordained by Christ.
Spiritual Gifts and the Ministry
For the purposes of winning the lost and strengthening believers, the
Holy Spirit bestows His spiritual gifts on members of the body according
to His own will (I Corinthians 12:4-11, 28-30). Initially, some of these
gifts were for use as sings for confirmation of the spoken word of the
disciples (Mark 16:20; Hebrews 2:4). With the completion of the written
Word of God in the New Testament Scriptures, these miraculous gifts
(such as the ability to speak in other languages without having learned
those languages, the power to receive and communicate divine revelations,
and the ability to perform supernatural healings and other miracles) were
no longer necessary and were gradually replaced (I Corinthians 13:8-10;
Revelation 22:18-19) by permanently needed gifts such as those of pastoral
guidance, evangelism, teaching the written Word, and others (Romans 12:6-8;
Ephesians 4:11-12). This does not imply that God can no longer answer
prayer in miraculous ways, when in accordance with His own will, nor that
He is not sovereign in the use of means for the accomplishing of His
purposes. However, such occurrences are not to be considered as specific
gifts or powers to be possessed by individuals, nor are they to be
considered as evidences of spirituality on the part of those experiencing
them, nor are they to be considered as signs supporting the testimony of
believers. Therefore, seeking after such signs or other sensory
experiences in the services or ministries of the church can lead only to
confusion and divisions and should be avoided.
The Promised Return of Christ
When the present age is consummated, the Lord Jesus will
return to the earth to establish His millennial kingdom. It is not
possible to know the date of His coming; nevertheless, every Christian
should live in earnest expectation of His coming at any time. When He
comes in the air, both dead and living believers will be caught up to meet
Him, receiving their resurrection bodies, and will appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, to be judged not for salvation, but for rewards.
The coming of Christ will also be associated with a period of judgment and
great tribulation on the earth, in which the warth of God will be poured
out on unsaved man because of their rejection of God and His Christ.
Then, Christ will come to the earth in power and glory to reign for a
thousand years.
The Last Things
Following the millennium, the unsaved dead will be raised, judged
according to their works, and separated forever from God in the lake of
fire. Satan, who is a real personality and the source of all evil in the
universe, will also be consigned forever to the lake of fire. Those who
are saved will live forever in the presence of Christ, enjoying the
fellowship for which they were created and which was secured for them
through the reconciling work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Other Teachings
With respect to doctrines and practices of Scripture not specifically
referred to in the foregoing, the individual is at liberty to believe
and practice in accordance with his own conscience and understanding of
Scripture, at the same time allowing to others in the church the same
liberty, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace.