One of the most often asked questions of Christ Community Baptist Tabernacle is, “What Bible do you use?”
We answer unapologetically, “the King James Version.” More and more individual Christians and unfortunately Bible-believing churches are forsaking the King James Version in favor of the more modern translations.
The SCRIPTURES: We believe that the Holy Scriptures (both Old and New Testaments) are the verbally and plenary inspired Word of God. The Holy Scriptures are the inerrant, infallible, and preserved product of Holy Spirit controlled men, and therefore are the final authority for faith and practice. We believe that the Holy Scriptures are the true center of Christian union and the only infallible rule for all human conduct, creeds, and opinions. The King James Version of the Bible shall be the official and only translation used by the church or any of its ministries. (Psalm 12:6-7; Matthew 24:35; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21)
The TRUE GOD: We believe that there is only one living and true God, infinite in every excellence; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three personal distinctions? The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? Yet one in substance and equal in every divine perfection. (Exodus 20:2-3; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 1 John 5:7)
The DEITY: We believe in the absolute Deity of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ; that He was divine as no other man can be, being very God, existing from all eternity coequal with the Father and the Spirit; that He never ceased to be God for one instant and that His and that His humiliation did not consist in laying aside His deity; that as man He was miraculously begotten of the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary. (John 1:1-2; 1 John 5:20; Luke 1:26-38; Matthew 1:20)
The HOLY SPIRIT: We believe that the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person, equal with the Father and Son and of the same substance and nature; that He convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment, bears witness to the truth, is the Agent of the New Birth, and that He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses to, sanctifies, and helps the believer, indwelling every true Child of God. (2 Corinthians 13:14; John 14:16-17; Romans 8:14-27)
The DEVIL: We believe in the distinct personality of Satan, that he is the unholy god of this age, author of all powers of darkness and sin, and is destined to the judgment of an eternal justice in the lake of fire. (Matthew 4:1-3; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 20:10)
CREATION: We believe that God created the heavens and the earth, including all life, “each after its own kind”, by direct act, and not by the process of evolution. (Genesis 1-2; Colossians 1:16-17; John 1:3)
The FALL OF MAN: We believe that man, in the person of the first Adam, was created in innocence but by voluntary transgression fell into sin thus plunging the whole race into condemnation and death, so that now all mankind is born in sin and shaped in iniquity and become willful sinners with the first expression of personal choice, and so are without excuse before God. (Genesis 3; Romans 5:10-19)
The REDEMPTION FROM SIN: We believe that the only escape from the condemnation of sin is through the redemption wrought by Jesus Christ, when He voluntarily took upon Him a human body and nature, yet without sin, and by His suffering, death, and resurrection made full satisfaction to the justice of God for the sin of man; that the blessings of this salvation are given on the grounds of grace to all who believe and confess and that it is the immediate duty of all to accept these offers of mercy. (John 1:1-2,14; 3:1-7; Hebrews 10:4-14; Acts 16:30-33)
SALVATION BY GRACE: We believe that faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation from sin and this salvation is wholly by grace; that no works, however good make that salvation more secure. (Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7; Romans 10:9-13)
We believe that all who take Christ as their Saviour are born from above and are eternally secure in Christ. (John 10:28-29; Romans 8:35-39; Philippians 1:6)
The CHURCH: We believe that the Church is a New Testament institution; unknown to the Old Testament prophets; established by Jesus Christ, Who is its sole Head; revealed through the holy Apostles; empowered and perpetuated by the Holy Spirit; His “body” for service and His “bride” for glory. It began with the New Testament saints and will be consummated at the coming of Christ in the Rapture. (Matthew 16:18; Acts 1:8, 2:1-13, 41-47, 15:14; Romans 16:26; 1 Corinthians 12:12-28; Ephesians 1:22-23, 3:21, 5:23-33; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
We believe that the Church (the body of Jesus Christ) is manifest through the local Church which is a congregation of immersed believers, associated by covenant of faith and fellowship of the Gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws; exercising the gifts, rights and privileges invested in it by His Word; that its officers are bishops (or pastors) and deacons; that it has the absolute right of self-government directed by the Holy Spirit and it is answerable only to Christ, and that in all matters of membership, policy, government, discipline, and benevolence the will of the local church is final. (Matthew 18:15-17; 1 Corinthians 1:2, 6:4-5, 7:17,11:16; 1 Timothy 3:1-16)
The ORDINANCES: We believe that there are two church ordinances; Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water and is properly called “Believer’s Baptism”. It sets froth in a beautiful and solemn way our faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, with the effects of that faith in our lives as it produces death to sin and resurrection to a new life. Baptism is a prerequisite of the privileges of church relation. The Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of our Lord’s death until He comes and our continual fellowship with Him should be preceded by Baptism and always by careful self-examination. (Acts 8:36-39; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32)
The RIGHTEOUS AND WICKED: We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that only such as through faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and sanctified by the Spirit of God, are truly righteous in God’s esteem; while all such who continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked, under the curse; and that this distinction holds among men both during life and after death, in the everlasting conscious felicity of the saved and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost. (Malachi 3:18; Romans 6:17-23; Matthew 25:34-46; Luke 6:25; John 8:21)
The RETURN OF CHRIST: We believe in the bodily, personal, premillenial return of Jesus Christ; that He will come before the seven year tribulation period to catch away His church, coming only into the air, and that He will come this His church at the close of the tribulation to judge the living nations and to set up His kingdom on earth. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:31- 46; Revelation 19:11-21)
The RESURRECTION: We believe in the resurrection of the bodies of the dead; that believers who sleep in Jesus will be raised at the coming of Christ for His church and caught up with transformed living saints to meet the Lord in the air, and that the wicked dead will be raised at the close of the Millennial kingdom and stand in their bodies at the Great White Throne of judgment to receive to receive their final doom. (John 5:21-30; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Revelation 7:9-17, 20:11-15)
The BLOOD ATONEMENT: We believe in the blood atonement, that is the vicarious, propitiatory death of the Lord Jesus Christ for our sins. (Romans 3:25; Ephesians 2:8-9; Acts 15:11; John 3:16; Isaiah 53:4-7)
The RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST: We believe in the resurrection of the physical body and the ascension into heaven of our Saviour and Lord, Jesus Christ. (Acts 1:9-11, 2:32-36; Luke 24:2-6; Mark 16:6)
The JUSTIFICATION OF THE SAVED: We believe that men are justified by grace on the single ground of faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. (Acts 13:38-39, 16:31; Isaiah 53:11; Romans 8:1)
The SANCTIFICATION OF THE BELIEVER: We believe that Sanctification is presented in the Scriptures with a threefold aspect:
1. Positional Sanctification which is true of every believer (1 Corinthians 1:2), the result of the sacrifice of Christ (Hebrews 10:10), is perfect in its extent and character (Hebrews 10:14), and is through exercise of faith (Acts 26:18).
2. Progressive Sanctification begins with salvation until it is brought to completion in the glorified body. It is a result of “growth in Grace” (2 Peter 3:18). Every believer is sanctified by the reading of the Word of God, by God, Christ, and the Spirit. (John 17:17; Ephesians 5:25-26; 2 Corinthians 3:18)
3. Ultimate Sanctification is attained when the spirit, soul, and body are freed completely from sin when the believer is brought into the presence of Jesus Christ. (Romans 8:29; 1 John 3:2 – “…we shall be like Him”)
ADOPTION: We believe that adoption is a gracious act, by which the Father, for the sake of Christ, accepts believers to the estate and condition of the children, and a new and spiritual birth; and entitles them to all the rights, privileges, and promises of God’s family. (Romans 8:14-15; Galatians 3:26, 4:6-7)
GIFTS TO THE CHURCH: We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowment of all His gifts; and, that the gifts of evangelist, pastors, and teachers are sufficient for the perfecting of the saints today; and, that speaking in tongues and the working of sign miracles (such as healings, restoration of hearing, sight, etc., and raising from the dead) gradually ceased as the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their authority became established. (1 Corinthians 13:8-12; 2 Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 4:7-12; 1 Corinthians 14) Note: We do believe in divine healing without a subsequent belief in “divine healers per se.”
CIVIL GOVERNMENT: We believe that Civil Government is of divine appointment for the interests and good order of human society; that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored, and obeyed; except in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 13:1-7; Acts 5:20, 4:19-20; Matthew 22:21)
CONCLUSION
Christ Community Baptist Tabernacle is a church that uses the King James Version of the Bible by conviction. We cannot see any reason to use another translation in worship or personal study. If you have any questions or comments that you would like to share with us, please contact us.