Elkmont Baptist Church

There is one living and true God, the creator of the universe (Exod. 15:11; Isa. 45:11; Jer. 27:5). He is three equal parts: Father, Son, Spirit (Exod. 15:11; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14).

1. God the Father is the supreme ruler of the universe. (Gen 1; Ps. 19: I; Ps. 104; Heb. 1:1-3).
2. God the Son is the Savior of the world. (Matt. 1:18; Luke 1:26-35), He declared His deity among men (John 1:14, 18; Matt. 9:6), died on the cross as the only sacrifice for sin (Phil. 2:6-11), arose bodily from the grave (Luke 24:6-7; 24-26; I Cor. 15:3-6), and ascended back to the Father (Acts 1:9-11; Mark 16:19). He is at the right hand of the Father, interceding for believers (Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25).
3. God the Holy Spirit convicts of sin (John 16:8-11), teaches spiritual truths according to the written Word (John 16:12-15), permanently indwells believers (Acts 5:32; John 14:16-17, 20,23), and confers on every believer at conversion the ability to render effective spiritual service (1 Pet. 4:10-11).

Are God's inerrant revelation, complete in the Old and New Testaments, written by divinely inspired men as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Tim. 3:16;2 Pet. I :21). The Scriptures provide the standard for the believer’s faith and practice (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

1. God created all things for His own pleasure and glory, as revealed in the biblical account of creation (Gen. 1; Rev. 4:11; John 1:2-3; Col. 1:16) (Col.1:16; Luke 20:35-36; Matt. 22:29-30; Ps. 103:20; Jude 6).
2. God created man in His own image. As the crowning work of creation, every person is of dignity and worth and merits the respect of all other persons (Ps. 8; Gen. 1:27; 2:7; Matt. 10:28- 31).

Satan is a person rather than a personification of evil (John 8:44), and he with his demons opposes all that is true and godly by blinding the world to the gospel (2 Cor. 4:3-4), tempting saints to do evil (Eph. 6:11; I Pet. 5:8), and warring against the Son of God (Gen. 3:15; Rev.20: 1-10).

Although man was created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26; 2:17), he fell through sin and that image was marred (Rom. 5:12; James 3:9). In his unregenerate state, he is void of spiritual life, is under the influence of the devil, and lacks any power to save himself (Eph. 2:1-3; John I :13).

A. Salvation is the gracious work of God whereby He delivers undeserving sinners from sin and its results (Matt. 1:21; Eph. 2:8-9). In justification He declares righteous all who put faith in Christ as Savior (Rom. 3:20-22), giving them freedom from condemnation, peace with God, and full assurance of future glorification (Rom. 3:24-26).

1. Salvation is based wholly on the grace of God apart from works (Titus 3:5; Eph. 2:9).Anyone who will exercise repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved (Acts 16:30-32; Luke 24:47; Rom. 10:17).
2. Christ died for the sins of the whole world (John 1:29; 3:16; I John 2:1-2). Atonement is made without respect of persons (1 Tim. 2:4-6). All sinners can be saved by this gracious provision (Heb. 2:9; John 3:18).
3. God's sovereignty and man's freedom are two inseparable factors in the salvation experience (Eph. 2:4-6). The two Bible truths are in no way contradictory in the great salvation so freely provided. God, in His sovereignty purposed, planned, and executed salvation in eternity while man's freedom enables him to make a personal choice in time, either to receive this salvation and be saved, or to reject it and be damned (Eph. 1:9-12; 1:13-14; John I :12-13).

All believers should grow in grace (2 Pet. 1:5-8) by allowing the Holy spirit to apply God's Word to their lives (1 Pet. 2:2), conforming them to the principles of divine righteousness (Rom. 12:1- 2; 1 Thess. 4:3-7) and making them partakers of the holiness of God (2 Cor. 7:1; 1 Pet. 1:15- 16).

All believers are eternally secure in Jesus Christ (John 10:24-30; Rom. 8:35-39). They are born again (John 3:3-5; I John 5: I; 1 Pet. 1:23), made new creatures in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17; 2 Pet. 1:4), and indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:9; 1 John 4:4), enabling their perseverance in good works (Eph. 2:10).

1. A New Testament Church is a local congregation (Acts 16:5; 1 Cor. 4:17) of baptized believers in Jesus Christ (Acts 2:41) who are united by covenant in belief of what God has revealed and in obedience to what He has commanded (Acts 2:41-42).
2. She acknowledges Jesus as her only Head (Eph. 5:23; Col. 1:18) and the Holy Bible as her only rule of faith and practice (Isa 8:20;2 Tim. 3:16-17), governing herself by democratic principles (Acts 6:1-6; 1 Cor. 5:1-5) under the oversight of her pastors (Acts 20:28; Heb. 13:7, 17, 24).
3. Instituted by Jesus, true churches have continued to the present and will continue until Jesus returns (Matt. 16:18; 28:20).
4. Her two ordinances are baptism and the Lord's Supper.

Baptism is the immersion in water of a believer as a confession of his faith in Jesus Christ (Matt.28:19; Rom.6:4) and is prerequisite to church membership and participation in the Lord's Supper (Acts. 2:41-42).

The Lord's Supper is the sacred sharing of the bread of communion and the cup of blessing by the assembled church (Acts 20:7) as a memorial to the crucified body and shed blood of Jesus Christ (Luke 22: 19-20; I Cor. 11:23-26).

The Fellowship of the Church--She is free to associate with true churches in furthering the faith (2 Cor.1 1:8; Phil. 4:10, 15-16) but is responsible to keep herself from those who hold doctrines or practices contrary to Holy Scripture (Gal. I:8-9; I John 2:19).

A. God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption.

1. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God’s unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for joyful intimate companionship, and the means for procreation of the human race.

B. The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God's image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people.

1. Children, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God’s pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth.
2. Children are to honor and obey their parents.

Human government was instituted by God to protect the innocent and punish the guilty. It is separate from the church, though both church and state exercise complementary ministries for the benefit of society (Matt. 22:21).

1. Christians should submit to the authority of the government under which they live, obeying all laws which do not contradict the laws of God, respecting officers of government, paying taxes, rendering military service, and praying for the welfare of the nation and its leaders (Rom. 13:1-7; 1 Pet. 2: 13, 17:1; 1 Tim. 2:1-2). They should vote, hold office, and exercise influence to direct the nation after the principles of Holy Scripture.
2. Civil authority is not to interfere in matters of conscience or disturb the institutions of religion (Acts 4: 18-20), but it should preserve for every citizen the free exercise of his religious convictions.
   C. Churches should receive no subsidy from the government, but they should be exempt from taxation on property and money used for the common good through worship, education, or benevolence.

A. Our Risen Lord will return personally to receive His redeemed unto Himself. (1 Thess. 4:13- 17; Rev. 22:20)

1. Prior to the eternal state, God will judge everyone to confer rewards or to consign to punishment (Matt. 25:31-46; 2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 20: 11- 15).
2. Eternal States:
   Heaven is the eternal home of the redeemed (John 14:1-3)
   Hell is the place of eternal punishment and suffering (Luke 16:19-31) for the devil, his angels (Matt. 25:41), and the unredeemed (Rev. 20:10-15).

This is a sovereign and democratic Christian church under the lordship of Jesus Christ. The membership retains unto itself the right of exclusive self-government on all phases of the spiritual and temporal life of the church. Elkmont Baptist Church is subject to the control of no other ecclesiastical body, but it recognizes and sustains the obligations of mutual counsel and cooperation, which are common among Christian churches. This church will cooperate with and support the local associations, the state association and the national convention affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, and CrossNet Baptist Network.

We affirm the Baptist Faith & Message 2000.