GOD THE FATHER
We believe that God the Father, the first Person of the Trinity, orders and disposes all things according to His own purpose and grace. He is the Creator of all things. As the only absolute and ²omnipotent Ruler in the universe, He is sovereign in creation, providence, and redemption.
Psalm 145:8-9; 1 Corinthians 8:6, Genesis 1:1-31; Ephesians 3:9, Psalm 103:19; Romans 11:36

JESUS CHRIST
We believe in the absolute and essential deity of Jesus Christ, in His eternal existence with the Father in ³pre-incarnate glory, in His virgin birth, sinless life, in His ⁴substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, triumphant ascension, ⁵mediatorial ministry, and personal return.
Luke 1:35, Hebrews 4:15, John 1:1, Isaiah 53:5, Matthew 28:6, Acts 1:9-11, Philippians 3:20-21

GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe in the absolute and essential deity and personality of the Holy Spirit who convinces of sin, righteousness, and of judgment; who ⁶regenerates, sanctifies, illuminates and comforts those who believe in Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 4:3-6, Acts 5:32, Titus 3:5, Acts 5:3-4, John 16:7-11

SATAN
We believe that Satan is a created being who through his own pride fell from grace, stood at the origin of man�s sin and was excluded from heaven by God.
We further believe that today, Satan exists as an evil personality and that he is the arch-enemy of God and man.
Matthew 4:3, James 4:7, Ephesians 2:2, I Peter 5:8, II Corinthians 4:4, Genesis 3:1-4, Revelation 12:9-11

MAN
We believe that man was divinely created in the image of God; that he sinned, becoming guilty before God, resulting in ⁷total depravity, thereby incurring physical and spiritual death.
Genesis 1:26-27, Romans 3:10, Romans 5:12, 19, Isaiah 53:6, I Corinthians 2:14

SALVATION
We believe that salvation is by the sovereign, electing grace of God; that by the appointment of the Father, Christ voluntarily suffered a ⁸vicarious ⁹expiatory and ¹⁰propitiatory death; that justification is by faith alone and in the all-sufficient sacrifice and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that those whom God has effectually called shall be divinely preserved and finally perfected in the image of the Lord. The congregation of Morinville Baptist Church holds the DOCTRINES of GRACE in high regard.
Romans Chapter 9, John 3:16, Ephesians 2:8-9, I Timothy 2:5-6, Colossians 1:23, Acts 13:38-39, John 6:37, 44, I Peter 1:5, Philippians 1:6

FUTURE THINGS
We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of the Lord Jesus Christ; in the resurrection of the just and unjust; in the eternal blessedness of the ¹¹redeemed and in the judgment and conscious, eternal punishment of the wicked.
I Thessalonians 4:13-18, John 14:2-3, Acts 24:15, Matthew 25:31-46

THE LOCAL CHURCH
We believe that a local church is a company of immersed believers, called out from the world, separated unto the Lord Jesus Christ, voluntarily associated for the ministry of His Word, the mutual edification of its members, the propagation of the faith and the observance of ordinances.
Acts 8:38; 2:39-40; 10:36-42; 11:22; 20:7; Matthews 18:18-20, Ephesians 4:11-16, 1 John 1:3-5

CHURCH LEADERSHIP
We believe church leadership to be a sovereign, independent body, exercising its own divinely awarded gifts, precepts and privileges under the Lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Great Head of the church. We believe that church leadership consists of a plurality of elders.
Acts 2:41-42, I Corinthians 11:2, Ephesians 4:11-16, I Corinthians 14:12, I Timothy 3:1-13, Philippians 1:27, II Corinthians 6:16, Hebrews 13:17, Matthew 18:18-19

CHURCH ORDINANCES
We believe that there are only two ordinances for the church, regularly observed in the New Testament in the following order:
a) BAPTISM - Is the immersion of the believer in water, whereby he obeys Christ�s command and sets his identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.
     Mark 1:5, 9, Matthew 28:19, Matthew 3:15-16, Romans 6:3-4, Colossians 2:12
b) THE LORD�S SUPPER � Is the memorial wherein the believer partakes of the two elements, bread and wine, which symbolizes the Lord�s body and shed blood, proclaiming His death until His glorious return at the end of the ages.
    Acts 2:41-42, I Corinthians 11:23-28

CHURCH AND STATE
We believe in the entire separation of church and state.
Matthew 22:21

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 honored 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.
Romans 13:1-7, I Peter 2:13-14, 17, I Timothy 2:1-2; Acts 5:29

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
We believe in the right of every individual to personally approach God apart from human intervention or mediation, recognizing that each individual is personally responsible to God for the exercise of the privilege.
Matthew 6:6, I Peter 2:16, Daniel 6:10, Daniel 3:16-18

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 day for worship and spiritual exercise as practiced by the early New Testament churches.
Mark 16:9, Acts 20:7, I Corinthians 16:2, John 20:19

GLOSSARY OF TERMS
¹Essence (The Divine): From Latin �esse - To Be�; that which a person (here God) is in himself apart from all that is accidental.
²Omnipotence: Exclusively an attribute of God, essential to the perfection of His Being; by ascribing absolute power to God, it is not meant that God is free from all restraints of reason and morality, but that He is able to do everything that is in harmony with His wise and holy perfect nature.
³Pre-incarnate (pre = before): Incarnation: The act of assuming �flesh�. Theologically speaking, the gracious, voluntary act of the Son of God in assuming a human body and human nature
⁴Substitutionary (adverb): Substitute: A person who takes the place of another
⁵Mediator (Christ the): In theology, defines the (go-between) role of the Lord Jesus Christ in His intercession between His Holy Father and sinful man.
⁶Regenerates: Act of God when He provides second birth to His elects. In theology, to experience regeneration amounts to be �born again�
⁷Depravity (human): The sinfulness of man�s nature
⁸Vicarious: Serving instead of someone else; performed or suffered by one person as a substitute for another or to the benefit of another (vicarious
    sacrifice)
⁹Expiate (to): To pay the penalty for
¹⁰Propitiatory: The Divine side of the work of Christ on the cross
¹¹Redeemed: Bought back from bondage

(December 2011)