The Scriptures
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the verbally and plenary inspired Word of God. The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible, and God-breathed, and therefore are the final authority for faith and life. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament are the complete and divine revelation of God to man. We believe that the King James Bible is the preserved, infallible Word of God for the English-speaking people.
(2 Timothy 2:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Psalm 12:6-7)
The Godhead
We believe in one God, who is eternal, self-existent, infinite, and immutable. We believe He has one nature, one essence, and one substance, yet manifests Himself to man in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Deuteronomy 6:4, Genesis 1:26; Matthew 28:19)
Jesus Christ
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, came into the world so that He might manifest God to men, fulfill prophecy, and become the Redeemer of a lost world. To this end, He was born of the Virgin Mary, and received a human body and a sinless human nature without ceasing to be God.
(Luke 1:30-35; John 1:1, 14, 18; Hebrews 4:15; Philippians 2:5-11)
We believe that, in infinite love for the lost, He voluntarily accepted His Father’s will and became the divinely provided sacrificial Lamb and took away the sins of the world.
(Romans 3:25-31; 2 Corinthians 5:14; Hebrews 10:5-14)
We believe He rose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He had lived and died and that His resurrected body is the pattern of the body that ultimately will be given to all believers.
(John 20:20; Philippians 3:20-21)
We believe that on departing earth, He was accepted by His Father and that His acceptance is a final assurance to us that His redeeming work was perfectly accomplished.
(Hebrews 1:3)
We believe that He became head over all things to the church, which is His body, and in this ministry, He does not cease to intercede and to be an advocate for the saved.
(Luke 1:35; 1 Corinthians 15:1-3; Ephesians 1:23; Philippians 2:6-8; 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 John 2:1-2)
The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, dwells in every believer immediately upon placing faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and that God provides, through the Holy Spirit, power to live the Christian life.
(Romans 5:5; 8:1-9; Galatians 5:16-25)
We believe that every believer receives grace from God in the form of a spiritual gift, which enables him to function as a member of the body of Christ.
(Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians 12:7; Ephesians 4:7)
Salvation
We believe that no one can enter the kingdom of God unless born again spiritually and that the new birth of the believer comes only through faith and acceptance of the redeeming work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God at Calvary. We believe, also, that our redemption has been accomplished by the grace of God, an unmerited gift, given in love by God and not the result of any human works.
(John 3:17-18; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13; Romans 4:4-5)
We believe that the message of our Lord Jesus Christ to those whom He has saved is to make Christ known to the whole world and that this is the purpose of the church through the individuals within it.
(Matthew 28:18-19; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:11-21)
We believe that local churches, such as Valley Independent Baptist Church, gather together for practical instruction in the scriptures, for fellowship with God and with other believers, and for corporate witness to the unsaved world. Our common spiritual goal is to be like Christ and to fulfill the Great Commission.
(Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:42-47; Romans 12:5; Ephesians 4:13-16)
The Church
We believe that the Church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again persons of this present age which began with Christ and the Apostles, was empowered at Pentecost, and will be caught up to be with Christ at the Rapture (Ephesians 1:22-23, 5:25-27; I Corinthians 12:12-14; II Corinthians 11:2). 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 free of any external authority or control (Acts 13:1-4, 15:19-31, 20:28; Romans 16:1, 4; I Corinthians 3:9, 16, 5:4-7, 13; I Peter 5:1-4).
Human Sexuality
1. We believe that the only Scriptural marriage is the joining of one man and one woman. (Genesis 2:24; Romans 7:2; 1 Corinthians 7:10; Ephesians 5:22-23)
2. We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between one 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 God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one’s gender by surgery or appearance. (Genesis 2:24, 19:5, 13; 26:8-9; Leviticus 18:1-30; Romans 1:26-29; 1 Corinthians 5:1, 6:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4)
The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers.
1. We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever. (John 6:37-40, 10:27-30; Romans 8:1, 38-39; 1 Corinthians 1:4-8; 1 Peter 1:4-5)
2. We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh. (Romans 13:13-14; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11-15)