1.
Having been led by the Holy Spirit of God and
brought by Divine grace to embrace the Lord Jesus Christ and to give myself
wholly to Him by receiving Him as Savior and confessing Him as Lord in baptism
and testimony, I, a member of Westford Bible Church, do solemnly and joyfully
covenant with God to promise by the aid of the Holy Spirit to forsake the ways
of sin and to walk in Christian love in the paths of righteousness.
2.
I will endeavor as empowered by the Holy Spirit:
to exercise mutual care, as a member of the Body of Christ, toward other
members; to strive with others for both the peace and purity of this Church as
a portion of His Body, the Church of Christ; to sustain the worship of the
Church; to cherish and hold steadfastly Christ's ordinances, discipline, and
the doctrines of His Word; to contribute, as a faithful steward, my spiritual
gifts, time, talent, and money to discharge the responsibility of the Church
locally and worldwide in spreading the Gospel.
3.
I also engage: to maintain family and private
devotions; to teach the Bible to my children; to seek the salvation of my
family and acquaintances; to walk circumspectly in the world; and to witness
and to pray that souls will accept the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ. I
will endeavor to be a Christian example in speech, conduct, love, faith and
purity in life. I will remember that God has not given us, as Christians a
spirit of fear, but of power, love, humility and a sound mind. We are the light
of the world and the salt of the earth.
1.
The
Holy Scriptures
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the verbally inspired word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible and God-breathed (References: Matt 5:18; John 16:12,13; II Peter 1:20,21; II Tim 3:16,17)
2.
The
Godhead
We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit - co-eternal in being, co-eternal in nature, co-equal in power and glory, having the same attributes and perfections. (Deut 6:4; II Cor. 13:14)
3.
The
Person and work of Christ
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God became man without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful man. (John 1:1,2,14; Luke 1:35)
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His obedient life and passive death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead.(Rom 3:24,25; I Peter 2:24; Eph 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 Representative, Intercessor and
Advocate. (Acts 1:9,10; Heb.7:25,
4.
The
Person and work of the Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and 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. (John 16:8-11; II Cor. 3:6; I Cor. 12:12-14; Rom. 8:9; Eph. 5:18)
We believe that He is the Divine Teacher who guides all believers into truth; also, that it is the privilege and duty of all saved to be yielded to the spirit. (John 16:13; Eph. 5:18; I John 2:20,27)
5.
The
Condition of Man
We believe that man was created
in the image and likeness of God, but that through Adam's sin the race fell,
inherited a sinful nature and became alienated from God; and that without
Christ, man is lost and of himself, absolutely unable to remedy his lost condition.
(Gen. 1:26,27;
6.
Salvation
We believe that salvation is
the gift of God brought to man by grace and received solely by personal faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on
When we believe, put our total
trust in Jesus Christ and His finished work on
7.
The
Believer's Assurance of Eternal Life
We believe that all the
redeemed, once saved, are kept by God's power and are thus secure in Christ
forever. (John
We believe that it is the
privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through
the testimony of God's Work; which however, clearly forbids the use of
Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh. (Rom.
8.
Separation
We believe that all the saved
should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and
Lord; and that separation from the world and worldly pleasure; separation from
doctrinal apostasy; and separation from the erring believer who refuses restoration
are three levels of separation in which God directs the
Christian believer. (
9.
Missions
We believe that it is the obligation of the saved to witness by life and by word to the truths of the Holy Scripture and to seek to proclaim the Gospel to all mankind. (Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; II Cor. 5:19,20)
10.The Ministry and Spiritual Gifts
We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowing of His gifts. He divinely selected the times as well as the recipients of His gifts, which were either signs, prophesies, or revelations. They were used to authenticate both the message and messenger to the unbelieving. (Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:14-22; Rev. 11:3-6)
We believe that the church, the
body of believers, is given gifts for the present age. These gifts are of God
and are distributed by God to each Christian to use for perfecting the saints,
edifying the church and ministering to unbelievers. (
11.The Church Universal
We believe that the Church,
which is the body and espoused bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up
of all born again persons of this present age. (Eph. l:22,23;
We believe that the
establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined
in the New Testament Scriptures. (Acts
We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority or control. (Acts 13:1-3; 15:19-31; 20:28; Rom. 16:1-4; I Cor. 3:9,16, 5:4-7,13; 1 Peter 5:1-4)
12.Ordinances
We recognize two ordinances of the church for this age: The Lord's Supper and Water Baptism. That they are not to be regarded, however, as a means of salvation, nor as a means of grace by which special merit is obtained.
The Lord's Supper
This ordinance shall be observed monthly and as often as the pastor and elders shall decide on special occasion. All who have accepted Jesus Christ as personal Savior and are walking in fellowship with the Lord shall be welcome to join in this service. (I Cor. ll:17-32)
Water Baptism
When administered by this
Church, baptism shall be by immersion at the request of those who have
personally acknowledged Christ as Savior thus making the individual a prospect
for church membership. (Acts
13.The Personality of Satan
We believe that Satan is a
spirit being, real, the author of sin and the cause of the fall; that he is the
open and declared enemy of God and man; and, that he shall be eternally
punished in the
14.The Rapture of the Church
We believe that the second
coming of Christ begins with the rapture of the Church, which includes:
a. Christ
coming for the Church and the first resurrection. (I Thes. 4:13-18;
Rev. 19:11-16, 20:4-6)
b. The
Judgment Seat of Christ. (II Cor. 5:10)
c. The
presentation of the Church. (Eph. 5:22-33)
d. The marriage supper of the Lamb. (Rev. 19:6-10)
15.The Tribulation Period
We believe the Tribulation period follows the rapture of the Church. (Dan. 9:27; Joel 2:28-32; Matt. 24:14-28; Rev. 19:17-21)
16.The Second Coming of Christ
We believe that following the Tribulation Period Christ will come to earth to set up His Kingdom. Satan will be bound for 1000 years during the millennial reign of Christ on earth. (Isa. 11:1-16; Zech. 14:4-11; Matt. 24:20-31; Luke 1:31-32; Acts 15:15-18; I Cor. 15:51-53; Rev. 20:1-3)
17.The Release of Satan
We believe that Satan will be released for a period of time and then he will organize a worldwide rebellion against God's people, but God will destroy them and cast Satan into the lake of fire to be tormented forever. (Rev. 20:7-10)
18.The Great White Throne Judgment
We believe that at the second resurrection; death, hades and all those whose names are not written in the book of life (unbelievers in Christ as their Savior) will be cast in the lake of fire. (Rev. 20:11-15)
19.
We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved, to eternal life in the first resurrection, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment at the second resurrection of the wicked dead. (Matt 25:31-46; John 5:25-29; I Cor. 15:51-58; Rev. 20:11-15)
We believe that at death the souls of the redeemed are absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in constant bliss they await the first resurrection that reunites the spirit, soul and body to be glorified forever with the Lord. (Luke 23:42-43; II Cor. 5:6-8; Philip. 1:23, 3:20-21; I Thess. 4:3-18)
We believe that at death the
souls of unbelievers remain in conscious misery in hell where they await the
second resurrection that unites the spirit, soul and body to appear at the
Great White Throne Judgment. At that judgment they shall be cast into the lake
of fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment.
(Matt. 25:41-46; Luke 16:19-26; Mark
20.The Creation of the New Heaven and the New Earth
We believe that the New Heaven and the New Earth will be created after the Great White Throne Judgment for God's people. (Rev. 21:1-27)
21.Civil Governments
We believe that civil governments are instituted, empowered, and governed by men for the interest and good order of human society, but those governments operate within the Permissive Will of God and not necessarily the approval of God. We should pray for Divine wisdom for our leaders as they govern. We should honor and obey our government and its leaders in all matters, except those shown in the Scriptures to be reserved for honoring the Lord Jesus Christ, Lord of the Conscience, King of Kings. (II Sam. 23:3; Psa. 72:11; Dan. 3: 17-18; Matt. 10:28, 22:21; Acts 4:19-20, 5:29, 23:5; Rom. 13:1-7; Phil. 2:10-11; Titus 3:1; I Peter 2:7,13-17)