At Gospel Mission Baptist Church we believe . . .

• that the Bible (both Old and New Testament) is the inspired Word of God and as such is the final authority for life and faith, inerrant, infallible and God breathed, the ultimate standard by which all conduct and opinion will be tried.
• there is one true God: a triune God existing in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – co-eternal, co-equal in power and glory, yet with distinct personal attributes, without division in essence or being.
• the Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God and the second person of the Godhead.  He became man without ceasing to be God being conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.  He lived a sinless life and died on the cross of Calvary for the sins of the entire world.  His death on the cross accomplished our redemption as our substitutionary sacrifice, and our justification is made true by His literal and physical resurrection from the dead.  He is now ascended into Heaven and is sitting at the right hand of God where He fulfills His ministry as our High Priest, intercessor, and advocate.
• that man was created by the direct act of God, not by any evolutionary process.  Man was created in the image of God in a state of innocence and through the willful transgression of man, sin entered into the world and thus entered both spiritual and physical death into the world.  All descendants of Adam are born corrupt, void of holiness, and evil.  Children are born with a sinful nature and become responsible transgressors as soon as they are capable of understanding right from wrong.
• that Salvation is only through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  The Holy Scriptures teach that Christ died for the sin of the entire world, was buried, and rose again the third day.  Any person is saved when they repent of their sin and exercise faith by receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.  It is not God’s will that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.  Salvation as the free gift of God’s grace cannot be earned or worked for, but it must be received, and man has the free will to choose to accept or reject God’s free gift.
• the local Church is made up of baptized believers, brought together by faith and fellowship of the gospel to observe the ordinances of Christ and exercise the gifts, rights, and privileges given to them by the Word of God.  The ordinances of the Church are baptism and the Lord’s supper (communion).  There is no saving power in the ordinances.  The ordinances must be observed under the authority of the local Church.