What We Believe
The following paragraphs give a brief synopsis of what we believe as a church family. We believe the Bible and teach it to be perfectly true. Every belief and teaching of Maranatha Baptist flows from God’s Word.
The Holy Scriptures
We believe the Bible to be the revealed Word of God, fully and verbally inspired of God. We believe the Scriptures to be the inerrant, infallible Word of God, as found within the 66 books from Genesis to Revelation. We believe God not only inspired every word but has also preserved them through the ages. We believe the King James Version is the preserved Word of God for the English-speaking people.
(Psalm 12:6-7; II Timothy 3:15-17; I Peter 1:23-25 & II Peter 1:19-21).
The Triune God
We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three Persons – God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
(Matthew 3:16-17, 28:19-20; John 14:10, 26; II Corinthians 13:14 & I Timothy 2:5).
Jesus Christ
We believe Jesus Christ to be the only begotten Son of God. We believe Jesus Christ to be eternally God and to possess all the attributes of Deity. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was virgin born, that He was God incarnate, and that the purposes of the incarnation were to reveal God, to redeem men, and to rule over God's kingdom. We believe He lived a perfect, sinless life, at the end of which He was offered for all mankind as a substitutionary sacrifice for man's sin. We believe that Jesus Christ died, was buried and rose again three days later.
(Psalm 2:7-9; Isaiah 7:14, 9:6; Micah 5:2; Matthew 1:25; Luke 1:26-35; John 1:1, 3, 14, 29, 14:6; Romans 3:19-25, 5:6-15; I Timothy 2:5 & I Peter 1:19).
Sin and Salvation
We believe all men were born with an inherited sin nature received from our common ancestor, Adam. We believe that because of his nature, man is a sinner by choice. We believe that the Salvation for sinners has been provided by the grace of God through His Son Jesus Christ and is completely separate from any works of righteousness that we may do. We believe that this Salvation is received by repentance toward God and personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and we believe that nothing prevents the greatest sinner from being saved except his own rejection of Jesus Christ. We believe that Jesus Christ is man’s One and Only Way of Salvation and that the blood of Jesus Christ is spotless, sufficient and satisfactory for the cleansing and forgiveness of man’s sin. We believe that all those who reject Jesus Christ as their Saviour are already condemned to an eternity in the Lake of Fire.
(Genesis 5:1-5; Isaiah 64:6; John 3:16, 18, 36, 14:6; Acts 4:19, 16:31, 20:21; Romans 3:10-23, 5:6-12, 6:23, 10:9-13; Ephesians 1:7, 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-6; I Peter 1:18-19 & Revelation 20:11-14).
The New Testament Church
We believe that the local church is a body of believers who have been baptized by immersion in water and assembled together for exaltation, evangelism, and edification as commanded by Christ in the Great Commission. We believe God’s program today is centered in the local New Testament church, which is both independent and missionary minded. Maranatha Baptist Church is an independent, fundamental, Baptist church.
(Matthew 16:16-18; Acts 1:15, 2:41-43, 11:15, 20:28; I Corinthians 15:51-58; Ephesians 1:12-14, 5:25-30 & I Timothy 3:4-15).
The Last Days
We believe in the literal interpretation of the Scriptures in their grammatical and historical context. We believe in the pre-tribulational Rapture of the church saints, followed by the seven-year Tribulation. We believe in the pre-millennial return of Christ to the earth and His literal rule of one thousand years. Following this one thousand year reign, the unbelievers of all the ages will stand at the Great White Throne to be judged and cast into the Lake of Fire, separated from God forever, while believers will spend eternity in Heaven in the very presence of the Lord
(I Corinthians 15:51-58; I Thessalonians 4:13-18, 5:1-9 & Revelation 19-22).