Doctrinal Statement
of the
Baptist Missionary Association of Texas
The following is a revision of the New Hampshire Confession of Faith of
1833. This revision, prepared by the Committee on Doctrine of the Baptist
Missionary Association of America, appeared for the first time in the minutes book of the
Baptist Missionary Association of Texas in 1989. It is reprinted here from the update
contained in the 1996 minutes book. Not contained in this online version are the
many Scripture references that are in the original document. Scroll through the full statement or use the following
shortcuts to go directly to a topic:
[GOD]
[SCRIPTURES] [CREATION]
[SATAN] [DEPRAVITY]
[SALVATION] [SANCTIFICATION]
[ETERNAL
SECURITY] [THE CHURCH] [CIVIL AUTHORITY] [LAST
THINGS]
I. GOD
There is one living and true God, the creator of the universe. He is
revealed in the unity of the Godhead as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit, who are equal in every divine perfection.
- A. God the Father is the supreme ruler of the universe. He
providentially directs the affairs of history according to the purposes of His grace.
B. God the Son is the Savior of the world. Born of the virgin Mary, He
declared His deity among men, died on the cross as the only sacrifice for sin, arose
bodily from the grave, and ascended back to the Father. He is at the right hand of the
Father, interceding for believers until He returns to rapture them from the world.
C. God the Holy Spirit is the manifest presence of deity. He
convicts of sin, teaches spiritual truths according to the written Word, permanently
indwells believers, and confers on every believer at conversion the ability to render
effective spiritual service.
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II. THE SCRIPTURES
- A. The Scriptures 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. Those men wrote not in words of human wisdom but in words taught by the Holy
Spirit.
B. The Scriptures provide the standard for the
believer's faith and practice, reveal the principles by which God will judge all, and
express the true basis of Christian fellowship.
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III. CREATION
- A. The World--God created all things for His own pleasure and
glory, as revealed in the biblical account of creation.
B.
The Angels--God created an innumerable host of spirit beings called angels. Holy
angels worship God and execute His will; while fallen angels serve Satan, seeking to
hinder God's purposes.
C. Man--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.
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IV. SATAN
Satan is a person rather than a personification of evil, and he with
his demons opposes all that is true and godly by blinding the world to the gospel,
tempting saints to do evil, and warring against the Son of God.
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V. DEPRAVITY
Although man was created in the image of God, he fell through sin
and that image was marred. In his unregenerate state, he is void of spiritual life, is
under the influence of the devil, and lacks any power to save himself. The sin nature has
been transmitted to every member of the human race, the man Jesus Christ alone being
excepted. Because of the sin nature, man possesses no divine life and is essentially and
unchangeably depraved apart from divine grace.
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VI. SALVATION
- A. The Meaning of Salvation--Salvation is the gracious work of
God whereby He delivers undeserving sinners from sin and its results. In justification He
declares righteous all who put faith in Christ as Savior, giving them freedom from
condemnation, peace with God, and full assurance of future glorification.
B. The Way of Salvation--Salvation is based wholly on the grace of God
apart from works. Anyone who will exercise repentance toward God and faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ will be saved.
C. The Provision of Salvation--Christ died for the sins of
the whole world. Through His blood, atonement is made without respect of persons. Any
sinner can be saved by this gracious provision.
D. Divine Sovereignty and Human Freedom--God's sovereignty
and man's freedom are two inseparable factors in the salvation experience. 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.
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VII. SANCTIFICATION
All believers are set apart unto God at the time of their
regeneration. They should grow in grace by allowing the Holy spirit to apply God's Word to
their lives, conforming them to the principles of divine righteousness and making them
partakers of the holiness of God.
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VIII. ETERNAL SECURITY
All believers are eternally secure in Jesus Christ. They are born
again, made new creatures in Christ, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, assuring their
perseverance in good works. A special providence watches over them, and they are kept by
the power of God.
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IX. THE CHURCH
- A. The Nature of the Church--A New Testament Church is a local
congregation of baptized believers in Jesus Christ who are united by covenant in belief of
what God has revealed and in obedience to what He has commanded.
B. The Autonomy of the Church--She acknowledges Jesus as her only Head
and the Holy Bible as her only rule of faith and practice, governing herself by democratic
principles under the oversight of her pastors.
C. The Perpetuity of the Church--Instituted by Jesus during
His personal ministry on earth, true churches have continued to the present and will
continue until Jesus returns.
D. The Ordinances of the Church--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 and is prerequisite to church membership and
participation in the Lord's Supper.
The Lord's Supper is the sacred sharing of the bread of communion and the cup of
blessing by the assembled church as a memorial to the crucified body and shed blood of
Jesus Christ.
Both ordinances must be administered by the authority of a New
Testament church.
E. The Officers of the Church--Pastors and deacons are the
permanent officers divinely ordained in a New Testament church. Each church may select men
of her choice to fill those offices under the leading of the Holy Spirit according to the
divinely given qualifications.
- Pastors (elders, bishops) are authorized to oversee and teach
the churches under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Each church is responsible to follow them
as they follow Christ and to provide a livelihood for them that they might fulfill their
ministries. Pastors are equal in the service of God.
Deacons (ministers, servants) are servants of the churches and assistants to the
pastors, particularly in benevolent ministries. Each church may select her own deacons
according to her needs, and no church is bound by the act of another church in that
selection.
F. The Ministry of the Church--Her mission is evangelizing
sinners by preaching the gospel, baptizing those who believe, and maturing them by
instruction and discipline.
G. The Fellowship of the Church--She is free to associate
with true churches in furthering the faith but is responsible to keep herself from those
who hold doctrines or practices contrary to Holy Scripture. In association with other
churches, each church is equal and is the sole judge of the measure and method of her
cooperation. In all matters of polity and practice, the will of each church is final.
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X. CIVIL AUTHORITY
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.
- A. 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. They should vote, hold office, and exercise
influence to direct the nation after the principles of Holy Scripture.
B. Civil authority is not to interfere in matters of conscience or
disturb the institutions of religion, 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.
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XI. LAST THINGS
- A. Return--Our risen Lord will return personally in bodily
form to receive His redeemed unto Himself. His return is imminent.
B. Resurrections--After Jesus returns, all of the dead will be raised
bodily, each in his own order: the righteous dead in "the resurrection of life"
and the wicked dead in "the resurrection of damnation".
C. Judgments--Prior to the eternal state, God will judge
everyone to confer rewards or to consign to punishment.
D. Eternal States--
- Heaven is the eternal home of the redeemed, who, in their
glorified bodies, will live in the presence of God forever in ultimate blessing.
Hell is the place of eternal punishment and suffering for the devil, his angels,
and the unredeemed.
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