A Statement of Faith of   
  Hickory Rock Baptist Church

We believe in God the Father the almighty maker of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ his only begotten Son true God who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilot was crucified, dead, and buried:  He descended into hell; The third day he rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, And sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from which he shall come to judge the living and the dead.  We believe in the Holy Ghost; The holy Christian Church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.

We believe the sixty six books of the Old and New Testament are scripture.  They are sacred and authoritative for determining beliefs and practices of the church.  It has God for its author and salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error for its matter.  It is the supreme standard by which all human conduct, beliefs, and opinions should be reformed.  The criterion by which the Bible is to be interpreted is Jesus Christ.

We believe there is only one living and true God.  The eternal God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

We believe that humans were created by the special act of God in his own image male and female.  By free choice humankind sinned against God and brought sin into the human race.  Only the grace of God can bring humans into His holy fellowship and redeem His purposes. 

We believe salvation is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer.  Salvation includes regeneration, sanctification, and glorification. 

We believe that election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which he regenerates, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners.  It is consistent with the free agency of people.  Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end.

We believe the church is a local body of baptized believers who are associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel observing the two ordinances of Christ.  The church is an autonomous body, operating through democratic processes under the lordship of Jesus Christ.  Its scriptural offices are pastors and deacons.  The church denotes the redeemed of all the ages.

We believe Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and The Holy Spirit.  It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus.  Baptism is a prerequisite to church membership and communion.  The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine symbolizing the death of the Jesus and the proclamation of the resurrection.

We believe God in His own time and in His own way will bring the world to its appropriate end.  Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness.  The unrighteous will be consigned to hell, the place of everlasting punishment.  The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell in heaven with the Lord.

We believe it is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations.

We believe the cause of education in the Kingdom of Christ is to coordinate with the cause of missions and general benevolence, and should receive along with these the liberal support of the churches.  In Christian education there should be a proper balance between academic freedom and academic responsibility.

We believe God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him.  Christians have a responsibility to be good stewards of their possessions.  They are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions; and should recognize all these as entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for helping others.

We believe Christ’s people should organize such associations and conventions as may best secure cooperation for the great objects of the Kingdom of God.  They are voluntary and advisory bodies designed to elicit, combine, and direct the energies of our people in the most effective manner.

We believe every Christian is under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in his own life and in human society.  Means and methods used for the improvement of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can be truly and permanently helpful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the saving grace of God in Christ.

We believe it is the duty of Christians to seek peace with all men on principles of righteousness.  In accordance with the spirit and teachings of Christ they should do all in their power to put an end to war.

God alone is Lord of the conscience, and He has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are contrary to His Word or not contained in it.  Church and state should be separate.  The state owes to every church protection and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends.  In providing for such freedom no ecclesiastical group or denomination should be favored by the state more than others.  A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal, and this implies the right of free and unhindered access to God on the part of all men, and the right to form and propagate opinions in the sphere of religion without interference by the civil power.

Other Statements of Belief:

The Apostles Creed

The Nicene Creed

The Baptist Faith and Message - Comparison of 1925, 1963, and 2000 Baptist Faith and Message confession.