STATEMENT OF FAITH
1. 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. (Matthew 5:17-18; John 16:12-15; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
2. 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. (Genesis 1-2; Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Matthew 28:19-20; 2 Corinthians 13:14)
3. 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. (Matthew 1:18-23; John 1:1-18; Romans 5:12-19; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8)
4. The 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 and comforts those who believe in Jesus Christ. (John 7:37-39; 14:16-17; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:13)
5. Satan
We believe that Satan exists as an evil personality, the originator of sin, the archenemy of God and man. (Genesis 3:1-15; Job 1:6-12; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15; 1 Peter 5:8-9)
6. Man
We believe that man was divinely created in the image of God; that he sinned, becoming guilty before God, resulting in total depravity, thereby incurring physical and spiritual death. (Genesis 1:26-27; 3:1-24; Romans 5:12-19; Ephesians 2:1-3)
7. Salvation
We believe that salvation is by the sovereign, electing grace of God; that by the appointment of the Father, Christ voluntarily suffered a vicarious, expiatory and propitiatory death; that justification is by faith alone in the all-sufficient sacrifice and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and that those whom God has effectually called shall be divinely preserved and finally perfected in the image of the Lord. (John 6:35-40; Romans 3:19-26; 8:28-30; 1 Peter 1:18-23)
8. 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. (Matthew 25:31-46; John 5:28-29; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 20-22)
9. The Local Church
We believe that a church is a company of 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. We believe that its officers are pastors and deacons. (Romans 12:3-8; Ephesians 4:1-16; 1 Timothy 3:1-15; 1 Peter 2:9-10)
10. Ordinances
We believe that there are only two ordinances for the church regularly observed in the New Testament in the following order:
a. Baptism which is the immersion of the believer in water, whereby he or she obeys Christ’s command and sets forth his or her identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. (Matthew 28:19-20; Romans 6:3-4)
b. 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. (Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-34)
11. The Church and State
We believe in the entire separation of church and state. (Matthew 22:21)
12. Religious Liberty
We believe in religious liberty; that every man has the right to practise and propagate his beliefs. (Romans 14:11-12)
13. 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. (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2)
14. 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. (Acts 5:29; Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-17)
Baptism at Hope Community Church
What is Baptism?
The purpose of baptism is to publicly identify a new believer in Jesus Christ. Christian baptism, which has the form of ceremonial washing, is a sign from God that shows:
1) Inward cleansing and remission of sins
Acts 22:16 And now, why delay? Get up and be baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on the name of the Lord.’
1 Cor. 6:11 There was a time when some of you were just like that, but now your sins have been washed away, and you have been set apart for God. You have been made right with God because of what the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of our God have done for you.
Ephes. 5:25-27 And you husbands must love your wives with the same love Christ showed the church. He gave up his life for her [26] to make her holy and clean, washed by baptism and God’s word. [27] He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.
2) Spirit made rebirth and new life
Titus 3:5 He saved us, not because of the good things we did, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins and gave us a new life through the Holy Spirit.
3) The presence of the Holy Spirit as God’s seal testifying and guaranteeing that one will be kept safe in Christ forever
1 Cor. 12:13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into Christ’s body by one Spirit, and we have all received the same Spirit.
Ephes. 1:13-14 And now you also have heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. [14] The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us everything he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God.
Why Should I be baptised? (or, why is baptism important?)
1) To follow the example set by Jesus
Mark 1:9 “At that time Jesus came from Nazareth and was baptised by John in the river.”
2) Because Jesus Commands it
Matthew 28:19-20 “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. [20] Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
3) It demonstrates and illustrates my new life as a Christian
Acts 18:8 “…many of the people who heard Him believed and were baptised.”
1 John 2:3 “We know that we have come to know Him, if we obey His commands.”
Col. 2:12 “For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to a new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.”
2 Cor. 5:17 What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!
Baptism is the means by which disciples of Christ are identified. And because Christ Himself commanded it, Christ followers should willingly submit to it. It shows control and direction by God of a fully surrendered and therefore fully devoted follower of Christ.
Does it make you special?
It makes you obedient.
It makes your salvation clear to yourself and others.
Does it save?
No. We are saved by grace and through faith. It does however show that we are saved. It is the outward symbol of the inward reality.
Romans 6:4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.
When should someone be baptised?
In passages such as Acts 2:41, 8:12, and 10:47-48 it is evident that the act of baptism came after an individual’s decision to trust Christ for salvation. It was an outward sign of something that had occurred in the person’s life (usually quite recently). No one would dream of being baptised unless they had made a decision to identify with Christ. And no one could make that decision for them. The New Testament records the baptisms of adults who are believers, but never of infants. Baptism can’t give a person anything, spiritually speaking. It can only signify something that has already happened.
Acts 2:41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church…”
Acts 8:13 “ Then Simon himself believed and was baptized.”
Acts 8:12 “But now the people believed Philip’s message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized.”
Acts 8:35-38 So Philip began with this same Scripture and then used many others to tell him the Good News about Jesus. [36] As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?” [37] [38] He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
There is no reason to delay. As soon as you have decided to receive Christ into your life, you can and should be baptised. If you wait until you are ‘perfect’ you’ll never feel good enough.
“If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.” – Eccl. 11:4
How should someone be baptised?
Since baptism shows the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, the clearest way to show this is by going under the water (death and burial) and them coming up again (resurrection) from the water to a new life, cleansed from sin
In Romans 6:1-11, the apostle Paul explains how the immersion mode of baptism identifies the believer with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Going under the water pictures Christ’s death. Coming out of the water illustrates His resurrection. “For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to a new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.” Col. 2:12
We practice baptism by immersion because it best symbolises a burial and resurrection, because Jesus was baptised that way, and because baptisms in the Bible appear to have been done that way.
Matthew 3:16 “As soon as Jesus was baptised, He went up out of the water.(example) Acts 8:38-39 “…then both Philip and the man went down into the water and Philip baptised him. When they came up out of the water…”
The Founders of Denominations Agree:
Martin Luther: “I would have those who are to be baptised to be entirely immersed, as the word imports and the mystery signifies.”
John Calvin: “The word ‘baptise’ signifies to immerse. It is certain that immersion was the practice of the ancient church.”
John Wesley: “Buried with Him alludes to baptising by immersion according to the custom of the first church
What if I was Baptised as an infant?
If the purpose of baptism is to publicly identify a new believer in Jesus Christ, the question may be asked, “Why are so many people baptised as babies?”
In the Bible, we find parents bringing their children to Jesus. He held them, prayed for them, and told his disciples to welcome them. But He did not baptise them, and He did not tell anyone else to baptise them. Baptism is appropriate only for those who have made a personal decision to trust Christ alone for their salvation.
If you were baptised as a child, it was no doubt the intent of your parents that you would one day be a follower of Christ. Your baptism as an adult can be viewed as the fulfillment of your parents’ wishes. It does not repudiate the baptism you received as a child.
Summary Statement:
While recognising other church’s right to practice infant baptism if it conforms to their theologies, the congregation of Hope Community Church understands the Scripture to teach that only professing believers qualify for baptism.
Scriptural teaching on baptism may be summarised as follows:
Baptism is an act of obedience to the command of Christ, fulfilled by individuals who have subjected themselves to His sovereignty.
Baptism symbolises the spiritual cleansing through divine forgiveness and newness of life experienced by believers by virtue of their identification with Christ in His death and resurrection.
Baptism provides an opportunity for believers to make a formal, public profession of their faith before the church.
As a biblical rite of initiation into the body of Christ, baptism of believers is considered a prerequisite for joining the membership of the church.
Although the old covenant practice of infant circumcision is sometimes used as a rationale for infant baptism, the biblical definition of the functions of circumcision and of baptism shows that those two institutions fulfilled different purposes in their respective covenants. The equation is never made in the Bible between the circumcision of male infants in the old covenant and the baptism of born again believers, much less of infants, in the new covenant. However, Hope Community Church encourages Christian parents to present their children for the ceremony of dedication, whereby God’s blessing is formally invoked upon the children, and the parents publicly commit themselves to raise the children in accordance with the teachings of Scripture.
Can my family be baptised together?
Yes! If each member understands fully the meaning of baptism, and each one has personally placed his/her trust in Christ for salvation, we encourage families to be baptised at the same time. It is a wonderful expression of commitment.
However, it is important to remember that baptism is a personal statement of faith, not a family tradition. It is not usually wise to delay your baptism while waiting on other family members to accept Christ, particularly children. This puts undue pressure on them and delays your obedience.
Concluding thoughts:
I believe that Jesus commands believers to be baptised (Matthew 28:19-20)
I believe baptism doesn’t save me since I am “saved by grace, through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
I believe that baptism is a step of obedience that identifies me and other Believers with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection (Romans 6:3-4)