Mission, Values & Beliefs

Vision Statement

The vision of Linworth Baptist Church to make and multiply followers of Christ who are maturing in Him.

Our Values

Our Beliefs: Linworth's Declaration of Faith

1. The Scriptures - Both Old and New Testaments are divinely inspired of God, of supreme and final authority in matters of faith and practice, and, as originally given, are infallible and inerrant (2 Timothy 3:16,17; 2 Peter 1:19-21)   

2. The True God - There is one God who is self-existent, eternal and infinite in every excellence, and in the unity of the Godhead there are three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the same in essence, though distinct in personality (Isaiah 45:21, 22; Exodus 20:2, 3; 2 Corinthians 8:6; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Revelation  4:11)

3. Person of Christ - The Lord Jesus Christ is both true God and perfect man, a unique, supernatural union of two natures in one person: born of the virgin Mary after having been miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35; Matthew 1:18-20). He is the only Savior of mankind (Acts 4:10,12) and worthy of our worship.

4. The Holy Spirit - The Holy Spirit is a divine Person, equal with God the Father and God the Son, and of the same nature. He regenerates and indwells the believer (1 Corinthians 12:4-11; Hebrews 3:7).

5. Angels and Satan – Angels are supernatural beings who serve God and minister to humans as God directs (Hebrews 1:14). Satan (the devil) is also a supernatural being, not merely an evil influence (1 Peter 5:8). He and all of those angels who rebelled against God with him comprise the host of demonic spirits.

6. Eternal State - Heaven and Hell are realities, and all mankind is destined to a physical, bodily resurrection; the   believer to an eternity of conscious bliss in glory with Christ in the New Heaven and the New Earth, the unbeliever to an eternity of conscious suffering in the Lake of Fire with Satan (John 5:28, 29; 1 Corinthians 15:22; Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10, 15).

7. Creation - The account in Genesis of the creation is to be accepted literally and not allegorically nor figuratively; man was created directly in God's own image, his creation was not a matter of evolution nor evolutionary change of the species, nor development through interminable periods of time from lower to higher forms. All animal and vegetable life was made directly, and God's established law was that they should "bring forth only "after their kind".

8. Fall of Man - Man was created innocent. By disobedience of the command of God, he fell, thereby losing his innocence, becoming subject to death, spiritual and physical, and to eternal displeasure with God (Genesis 1:27­-31; 2:16,17; 3:1-6; 1 Corinthians 15:22).

9. Work of Christ - The Son of Man, by His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead, has redeemed us unto God, being "delivered up for our offenses and raised again for our justification." We believe in His substitutionary death for sinners (Romans 4:25; 5:6-10; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:21), in His intercessory work for saints (Hebrews 7:25; 1 John 2:1), and His personal, visible, and premillennial coming in fulfillment of His own promises (Matthew 24:27; 25:31; Revelation 1:7).

10. Salvation - Salvation is received "by faith, without deeds of the law" (Romans 3:28), as a "gift of God"  (Romans 6:23), freely bestowed upon all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 16:31). This new birth is instantaneous, not a process of development. Salvation is eternal and nothing can separate believers from the love of God; they are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, the sure evidence of this being their patient continuance and progress in righteousness and true holiness (Romans 8:35-39; John 10:27-29).

11. Justification and Sanctification - The result of the heart acceptance of Jesus Christ is complete justification, whereby pardon is secured and we are brought into a state of peace and favor with God (Ephesians 1:7; Romans 4:4,5; Romans 5:1). The progressive work of the Holy Spirit within us separates us unto God experientially: revealing Christ unto us through the written Word (2 Corinthians 3:18). The privilege of the believer is to be filled with the Spirit, yielding even his body to the Lord for His use and becoming empowered for service (Ephesians 5:18; Romans 12:1; Acts 1:8).

12. Ordinances of the Church - Baptism - is the immersion of a believer in water to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our identification with the crucified, buried and risen Savior, through whom we died to sin and rose to a new life (Matthew 28:19; Romans 6:3-5). The Lord's Supper is the commemoration of Christ's death "until He comes" and should be preceded by solemn self-examination (1 Corinthians 11:23-29; Matthew 26:26-28).

13. Civil Government - Civil Government is divinely appointed for the interest and good order of the human society and is to be obeyed, except only in things opposed to the will of God, who is the only Lord of the conscience (Romans  13:1­7; 1 Timothy 2:1, 2; Acts 5:29).

14. Return of Christ - Christ will come for His Church before the wrath of God is poured out in the Great Tribulation, and afterward will usher in the Millennium, when Satan will be bound and Christ's rule will be supreme. The White Throne Judgment of sinners will follow the Millennium (1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; Revelation 20:1-15).

15. Separation - As children of God, Christians should walk in separation from this world’s system, having no fellowship with its philosophy, its values, and its evil ways, showing godly discernment in all of their activities (Philippians 3:20; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Romans 12:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:22).