About Oakdale Baptist Church
-
What We Believe
GOD THE FATHER
We believe that there is one living and true God (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5-7; 1 Corinthians 8:4), who has revealed Himself through creation (Psalm 19:1), through conscience (Romans 1:19-20), and who is an infinite, all-knowing Spirit (John 4:24). He is perfect in all His attributes, eternally existing in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14) – yet one in essence, deserving worship and obedience (John 20:28; cf. John 17:5 with Isaiah 42:8; Revelation 1:17 with Isaiah 42:8).
GOD THE SON
We believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, the one and only Son of God, who was sent by the Father, born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14) into the world in order to live a sinless life (Hebrews 4:15). In that life, He performed authenticating signs (Acts 2:22), was crucified as a substitutionary sacrifice for all mankind (Romans 5:8-9), and rose bodily from the grave on the third day as evidence of His deity and power over death (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). We believe that He ascended to heaven (Acts 1:9-12) and is now seated at the right hand of the Father to be the Head of the church, to intercede for all believers (Ephesians 1:20-23), to be our mediator (Heb. 9:15) and advocate (1 Jn. 2:1) and that He is coming again to this earth, personally and bodily (Revelation 22:12).
GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that God the Holy Spirit is a divine Person (John 14:16) who indwells, sanctifies, instructs, empowers for service, and seals all believers at the time of salvation for eternity (Romans 8:9; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Ephesians 1:13).
THE BIBLE
We believe that the Bible is the uniquely and fully inspired Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17). We believe that the sixty-six books of the Bible are equally inspired in all parts and are God’s written revelation to man
(1 Corinthians 2:7-14; 2 Peter 1:20-21). We believe the scriptures were God-breathed, divinely inspired in every word (2 Timothy 3:16), absolutely inerrant in the original documents, and is authoritative in all matters on which it speaks (2 Peter 1:20-21).
SALVATION
We believe that man is not only born into sin (Romans 5:12), but that all people sin and continually fall short of God’s standard of perfection (Romans 3:23). As a result, all people will face eternal separation from God unless they receive SALVATION by faith in Jesus Christ (John 3:16-17). Man’s salvation comes about by sanctification through Jesus (Hebrews 10:10), is instantaneous, and accomplished solely by the power of the Holy Spirit through the instrumentality of the Word of God. This occurs by grace through faith, on the basis of the redeeming work of Jesus Christ and by the merit of His shed blood, not on the basis of human merit or works (Ephesians 2:8-9). All the redeemed are kept by God’s power and are therefore secure in Christ forever (Romans 8:38-39). Faith in the finished work of Christ will be evidenced by good works in the life of the believer (James 2:14).
CHURCH
We believe that all who put their faith in Jesus Christ are immediately placed by the Holy Spirit into one united spiritual body, the Church, of which Christ is the head (Ephesians 1:22; Colossians 1:18). The Church began on the Day of Pentecost and will endure until the coming of Christ. The purpose of the Church is to glorify God by sharing Christ with those who have not yet believed and teaching those who have believed to obey His commands (Matthew 28:18-20). A church is to be open to and accepting of all people, offering God’s love to every person without prejudice or condemnation (John 3:16-18). However, in our efforts to reach unbelieving people, we must be careful to uphold the Word of God and never engage in moral compromise (Romans 12:2).
CHRISTIANS
We believe that Christians are called to holiness in all aspects of life (Galatians 5:22-25). Though we fully recognize that we will never come close to perfection, we must strive to be conformed to the image of Christ in all ways (Romans 8:29).
