What We Believe

The following are the core beliefs of First Baptist Church Clinton, based on the foundational truths taught in the Bible.
Southern Baptists have prepared a statement of generally held convictions called "The Baptist Faith and Message". It serves as a guide to understand who they are.  Copies are available at Southern Baptist Churches.

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter.

There is one and only one living and true God. “The eternal God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being
God the Father- God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. “God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
God the Son - Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ, He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. “He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His death on the cross, He made provision for the redemption of men from sin.
God the Holy Spirit - The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. “He exalts Christ. He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. “He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.

Man was created by the special act of God, in His own image, and is the crowning work of His creation. “By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. ” The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore every man possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.

When Adam and Eve chose not to obey God, they ceased to be what they were made to be and became distorted images of God. This caused them to fall out of fellowship with God, and fractured all of creation ever since that time.

Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, sanctification, and glorification.

The Church is meant to be the visible body of Christ, sent into the world to glorify God and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a local body of baptized believers who are associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. This church is an autonomous body. The New Testament speaks also of the church as the body of Christ, which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages.

Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water. “It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus.
The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members ” memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.