What We Believe

Gatherings

Sunday: 10:00 a.m. - Bible Fellowships For All Ages | 11:00 a.m. - The Worship Gathering

Lighthouse Baptist Church Core Beliefs

This list does not contain our full statement of faith, but we believe these core beliefs accurately represents the foundational beliefs of Lighthouse Baptist Church.


The Bible

We believe that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, by which we understand that the whole Bible is inspired in the sense that
"holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" to write the very words of Scripture. We believe that God's divine inspiration extends equally and fully to all parts of the writing - historical, poetical, doctrinal, and prophetical.

This belief is often referred to as verbal plenary inspiration. of the Scripture (Mark 12:24; 13:ll;Acts 1:16; Romans 15:4; I Corinthians 2:13; II Peter 1:20- 21).

We believe that all Scripture centers around the Lord Jesus in His person and work, in His first and second comings, and hence that no portion, even the Old Testament is properly read, or understood until it leads to Him. We believe that all the Scriptures were designed for our rule of faith and practice (Mark 12:36; Luke 24:27, 44; John 5:39; Acts 17:2, 3; 18:28; 26:22, 23; 28:23; I Corinthians 10:11; II Timothy 3:16).

We also believe that all the Scriptures are to be interpreted literally - understanding that figurative passages bear a literal truth of the figure revealed - that there is one interpretation of Scripture, but this one interpretation may have many applications, although the applications should not invalidate the literal interpretation (Matthew 22:41-46; Mark 12;18-27; Luke 4:16-21; 24:44; John 10:6-10; 15:1-5; Galatians 4:22-31).

All issues of interpretation and meaning shall be determined by the King James Bible. The King James Version of the Bible shall be the official and only translation used by the church for preaching and teaching.

The Godhead

We believe in one Triune God, perfect in holiness, infinite in wisdom, and measureless in power, eternally existing in three persons-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We also believe that each is co­ eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and has the same attributes and perfection, each executing distinct but harmonious offices in the work of redemption (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 3:16, 17; 28:19; II Corinthians 13:14; John 14:10, 26; I John 5:7).

God the Father.

We believe that God the Father is the eternal First Person of the Godhead. He demonstrates His Fatherhood in the infinite and eternal relationship He sustains to Jesus Christ, His eternal Son. He also demonstrates such relationship to the repentant, believing sinner, through the merit of the atoning death of Christ. This Fatherhood of God cannot be  known except as revealed in the Sonship of Christ. The Fatherhood cannot be possessed or experienced by man, except through the mediation of Jesus Christ. As God the Father, He maintains a continuous, personal relation with His children. As He is the Author, He is also the Sustainer, the Sustenance of all living creatures (Matthew 11:27; Galatians 3:26: Hebrews 12:5-11; John 1:11-13; Matthew 10:29, 30; Psalm 104:27-30; Matthew 6:26; I Kings 19:5

God the Son.

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. We also believe that He became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6; Luke 1:35; John 1:1, 2, 14; II Corinthians 5:19-21; Galatians 4:4, 5; Philippians 2:5-8).

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, Who lived a sinless life, accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice. We also believe that our justification is made sure by His literal bodily resurrection from the dead (Acts 2:18-36; Romans 3:24, 25; I Peter 2:24; Ephesians 1:7; I Peter 1:3-5).

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Intercessor and Advocate (Acts 1:9, 10; Hebrews 9:24; 7:25; Romans 8:34; I John 2:1, 2).

We believe that on departing this earth, He was accepted of His Father, and that His acceptance is a final assurance to us that His redeeming work is perfectly accomplished. (Hebrews 1:3).

We believe in the imminent, bodily, personal return of Jesus Christ. We believe in the rapture of the Church, in which He shall come for His saints, both living and dead, appearing in the air only at that time, before the seven-year tribulation period. We believe in His personal, visible, return to the earth with His saints to judge the existing nations and to establish His earthly kingdom for 1000 years (Acts 1:11; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Titus 2:13, 16; I Corinthians 15:51, 52; Revelation 19:15; Matthew 25:31).

God, the Holy Spirit.

We believe that the Holy Spirit is the eternal third person of the Godhead Who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Though omnipresent from eternity, He took up His abode in the world in a special sense on the Day of Pentecost following the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We also believe that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption. We believe that He never takes His departure from the church, but from the feeblest of the saints, is ever present to testify of Christ, seeking to occupy believers with Him, and not with themselves nor their experiences (John 14:16, 17; 16:8-11; Romans 8:9; I Corinthians 6:19; 12:12-14; II Corinthians 3:6; Ephesians 1: 13, 14; 2:22, 2 Thessalonians 2:7, 1 John 2:20-27).

We believe that the Holy Spirit, as the Chief Agent of inspiration, illumination, and revelation, is the Divine Teacher. As such, He assists believers to understand and appropriate the Scriptures and that it is the privilege and duty of the saved to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 1:17, 18; 5:18; I John 2:20, 27).

We believe that God the Holy Spirit is sovereign in the bestowal of spiritual ministry gifts to every believer. God uniquely uses evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip believers in the assembly, in order that they can do the work of the ministry (Romans 12:3-8; I Corinthians 12:4-11, 28; Ephesians 4:7-12).

We believe that the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues and the gift of healing, were temporary. Speaking in tongues was never the common or necessary sign of the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit. Ultimate deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection, though God frequently chooses to answer the prayers of believers for physical healing. (1 Cor. 1:22; 13:8-10; 14:21-22)

Man

We believe that man was created a free moral agent in the image and likeness of God, by a direct act of God, but that in Adam's sin, the human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God. We also believe that man is totally depraved, and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition or please God in any way apart from faith in Jesus Christ on the basis of His shed blood (Genesis 1:26, 27; Romans 3:22, 23; 5:12; 6:23; Ephesians 2:1-3;

Dispensationalism

We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense reveal divinely determined dispensations in which God defined man's responsibilities in successive ages. These dispensations are not ways of salvation, but rather are divinely ordered stewardships by which God directs man according to His purpose. Key among these  dispensations, three-the  age of law, the age of the Church, and the age of the kingdom-are the subjects of detailed revelation in Scripture (Genesis 1:28; I Corinthians 9: 17; II Corinthians 3:9-18; Galatians 3:13-25; Ephesians 1:10; 3:2-10; Colossians 1:24, 25, 27; Revelation 20:2-6).

Salvation

We believe that owing to universal death through sin, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless born again; and that no degree of reformation, however great, no attainments in morality, however high, no culture, however attractive, no baptism or other ordinance, however administered, can help the sinner to take even one step toward heaven; but a new nature imparted from above, new life implanted by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God, is absolutely essential to salvation and only those thus saved are sons of God (Leviticus 17:11; Isaiah 64:6; Matthew 26:25, John 3:5, 18; Romans 5:6-9; 2 Corinthians 5:21).

We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith, without works, in the Lord Jesus Christ. His precious blood was shed on the cross as the only payment for our sins (John 1:12; Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9-13; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-10; Titus 3:5-7; I Peter 1:18, 19).

We believe that Jesus Christ freely gave His life on Calvary for all, and that all persons after they have reached the age of accountability, the understanding of sin and its guilt, can choose of their own free will either to accept or reject the blood Sacrifice made for sin, and that no one is predestined to Heaven or Hell (Joel 2:32; Isaiah 53:4-6, 11; John 3:15-17; Romans 10:13; Acts 2:21; 10;34, 35, 43).

Extent of Salvation

We believe that when an unregenerate person exercises faith in Christ, which is illustrated and described as such in the New Testament, he passes immediately out of spiritual death into spiritual life, and from the old creation into the new, being justified from all things, accepted before the Father according to Christ His Son is accepted, loves as Christ is loved. having his place and portion linked to Christ and one with Him forever (John 5:24, 17:23; Acts 13:39; Romans 5:1, 1 Corinthians 3:21, 23; II Corinthians 5:17).

We believe that though the saved may have occasion to grow in the realization of his blessings and to know a fuller measure of divine power through the yielding of his life more fully to God, he is, as soon s he is saved, in possession of every spiritual blessing and absolutely complete in Christ, and is therefore in no way required by God to seek a so-called 'second blessing', or a "second work of grace" ( Ephesians 1:3; Colossians 2:10; I John 4:17; 5:11, 12)

Eternal Security of Believers

We believe that because of the eternal purpose of God toward the objects of His love; because of His freedom to exercise grace toward the meritless on the ground of the propitiatory blood of Christ; because of the very nature of the divine gift of eternal life; because of the present and unending intercession and advocacy of Jesus Christ in Heaven; because of the immutability of the unchangeable covenants· of God; because of the regenerating, abiding presence of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of all who are saved; we and all true believers once saved all the redeemed are kept by God's power and are thus secure in Christ forever (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Romans 8:1, 8, 39; I Corinthians 1:4-8; I Peter 1:4-5).

We believe that it is the privilege and responsibility of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God's Word (Romans 13:13, 14; Titus 2:11-15).

We believe, however, that God is a holy and righteous Father and since He cannot overlook the sin of His children, He will, when they persistently sin, chasten them and correct them in infinite love. Having undertaken to save them and keep them forever, apart from all human merit, He, who cannot fail, will in the end present everyone of them faultless before the presence of His glory, conformed to the image of His Son (Hebrews 7:25; I John 2:1, 2; 5:13; Jude 1:25)

The Church

We believe that the Church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is made up solely of born-again persons (I Corinthians 12:12-14; II Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 1:22, 23; 5:25-27). This church will be called home during the Rapture prior to the Tribulation and will be united as one body in Glory.

We believe that the establishment and continuance of local Churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:27; 20:17, 28-32; I Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11).

We believe in the autonomy of the local Church being free of any external authority or control (Acts 13:1-4; 15:19-31; 20:28; Romans 16:4; I Corinthians 3:9; 16:5:4-7, 13; I Peter 5:1-4).

We believe that the basic responsibility of the local church is to do the will of God which broadly speaking is three-fold; a) seeking by the guidance, leading, and power of the Holy Spirit of God the salvation of all men from all nations, kindred, people, and tongues; b) the edification of the saints, and c) the assembling of the believers for worship, praise fellowship, and mutual exhortation and encouragement unto good works in love (Matthew 28:19, 20; Acts 11:26; 14:23; Ephesians 2:10; 4:3; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9; Hebrews 10:24, 25).

We believe that water baptism (immersion) and the Lord's Supper are the only Scriptural ordinances of obedience for the Church in this dispensation (Matthew 28:19, 20; Acts 2:41, 42; 18:8; I Corinthians 11:23-26).

Human Sexuality

We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between one natural-born man and one woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God's gift of sex. We believe that God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one's gender by surgery or appearance (Gen. 2:24; Gen. 19:5, 13; Gen. 26:8-9; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom. 1:26-29; 1 Cor. 5:1; 6:9; 1 Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4).

We believe that the only Scriptural marriage is the joining of one natural-born man and one natural-born woman. (Gen. 2:24; Rom. 7:2; I Cor. 7:10; Eph. 5:22-23).

Family Relationships

We believe that men and women are spiritually equal in positions before God but that God has ordained distinct and separate spiritual functions for men and women in the home and the church. The husband is to be the leader of the home, and men are to be the leaders (pastors and deacons) of the church. Accordingly, only men are eligible for licensure and ordination by the church (Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:18; 1 Tim. 2:8-15; 4:4-5, 12).

We believe that God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. The husband is to love his wife as Christ loves the church. The wife is to submit herself to the Scriptural leadership of her husband as the church submits to the headship of Christ. Children are a heritage from the Lord. Parents are responsible for teaching their children spiritual and moral values and leading them, through consistent lifestyle example and appropriate discipline, including Scriptural corporal correction (Gen. 1:26-28; Ex. 20:12; Deut. 6:4-9; Ps. 127:3-5; Prov. 19:18, 22:15; 23:13-14; Mk. 10:6-12; 1 Cor. 7:1-16; Eph. 5:21-33; 6:1-4; Col. 3:18-21; Heb. 13:4; 1 Peter 3:1-7).