Wyznanie Wiary - Kościół Chrześcijan Baptystów

Basic Principles of Faith

God | We believe in one God in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God is infinite, eternal, almighty, all-knowing, omnipresent, holy, just, good, gracious, merciful, and faithful. God is the sovereign Lord of the entire universe. God is love. We believe that God created the entire universe, including both the spiritual (invisible) and the material realms. We believe that the original creation was perfect – there was nothing evil in it.

Humanity | We believe that humanity is the most wonderful work of God's creation and its crowning achievement. Humans consist of both a material part (the body) and an immaterial part (the soul).We believe that the first humans disobeyed God, and as a result, the entire universe came under God’s curse. Because of their disobedience, the first humans acquired a sinful nature, which has been inherited by all of humanity. It is also because of this disobedience that death entered the world—both physical death (separation of body and soul) and spiritual death (separation of a person from God). Every human being is born in a state of spiritual death.

Jesus Christ | We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who became man, conceived supernaturally by the Holy Spirit. We believe that Jesus lived a sinless life, performing miracles that clearly confirmed He was the Son of God. We believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay for the sins of people from all over the world. He was buried, and after three days He rose from the dead. For 40 days, He appeared many times to His disciples, and then, in their presence, ascended to heaven, where He was given authority over the entire universe. We believe that Jesus Christ will return in glory to judge sinners and establish the righteous Kingdom of God. We believe that Jesus Christ is the only mediator between humanity and God.

Salvation | We believe that no one can rid themselves of their sinful nature or cleanse themselves from sin by their own efforts in order to be reconciled with God. We believe that salvation is freely given by God’s grace. This gift must be received through faith—that is, by personally trusting Jesus Christ for salvation.We believe that those who accept the gift of salvation are guaranteed eternal life. They become adopted children of God, and nothing can separate them from God the Father. We believe that after death, every person will either go to heaven (eternal life in God's presence) or to hell (eternal separation from God). We believe that only those who have received the gift of salvation will be in heaven.

The Holy Spirit | We believe that the Holy Spirit was sent by the Father and the Son on the day of Pentecost and now dwells in those who believe in Jesus Christ. All who receive the gift of salvation also receive the Holy Spirit, through whom spiritual communication with God the Father is made possible.The Holy Spirit empowers believers in Jesus Christ to live victorious lives over sin and to serve God.

The Bible | We believe that the Bible, consisting of 39 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament, is the inspired, infallible Word of God, written over a span of 1500 years by people obedient to God, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We believe that Scripture is the primary way in which God reveals Himself to people today. We recognize the exclusive authority of the Bible. This means that all our beliefs and practices must clearly arise from the teaching of Scripture. We believe that regular engagement with God’s Word is essential for the spiritual growth of every believer.

The Church | We believe that the Church is not synonymous with any particular Christian denomination. We believe that the true Church consists of all people who have consciously accepted the gift of salvation in Jesus Christ and have received the Holy Spirit.We believe that Jesus Christ is the head of the Church. We believe that all members of the Church have direct access to God through the work of Christ and the action of the Holy Spirit, and therefore do not need the mediation of clergy in order to be reconciled with God.We believe that every Church member has a God-given role in building up the Church. We believe that individual churches (congregations) that profess faith in the Gospel are the local expression of the one universal Church of Jesus Christ.We believe that every believer should belong to a local church.

Ordinances | We believe that Jesus Christ instituted two ordinances: baptism and the Lord’s Supper.We believe that baptism should be administered only to those who have accepted the gift of salvation and have consciously believed in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, as a public profession of faith. We believe that baptism should be performed by full immersion in water as a symbol of new birth. We believe that the Lord’s Supper (Communion) serves as a reminder of the message of the Gospel—that Christ paid the full price for our sins on the cross, and through that, we are reconciled with God. We believe that the Lord’s Supper should be regularly observed by all believers in Jesus Christ using bread and wine as symbols of Christ’s body and blood.

The full Wyznanie wiary baptystów polskich z 1930 roku can be found on the baptysci.pl website.

Kościół Chrześcijan Baptystów

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Basic Principles of Faith