Victory Baptist Institute holds to the
doctrines known as the historic doctrines of the Christian faith and
in those characterized as the Baptist distinctives.
The Holy Scriptures
We
believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally
and plenary inspired Word of God. The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible, and
God-breathed, and therefore are the final authority for faith and life. The
sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament are the complete and divine
revelation of God to Man. The Scriptures shall be interpreted according to the
grammatical-historical meaning. The King James Version of the Bible shall be
the official and only translation used by the Church.
(2Tim.
3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21).
We
believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense reveal
divinely determined dispensations or rules of life, which define man’s
responsibilities in successive ages. These dispensations are not ways of
salvation, but rather are divinely ordered stewardships by which God directs
man according to His purpose. Three of these dispensations---the age of law,
the age of grace, and the age of the kingdom—are the subjects of detailed
revelation in Scripture.
(Gen.1: 28; 1Cor. 3:9-18;
Gal. 3:13-25; Eph.1: 10; 3:2-10; Col. 1:24-25,27; Rev. 20:2-6).
The Godhead
We
believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons-Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit, each co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in
power and glory, and having the same attributes and
perfection
(Deut.
6:4; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; John 14:10, 26).
The Person and Work of Christ
(1)
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man,
without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born
of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men.
(Isa.
7:14; 9:6; Luke 1:35: John 1:1-2, 14; 2 Cor. 5:19-21; Gal.4: 4-5; Phil.2:
5-8).
(2)
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through his
death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice,
and that our justification is made sure by His literal physical resurrection
from the dead. (Acts 2:18-36; Rom. 3:24-25; 1 Peter
2:24; Eph. 1:7; 1 Peter 1:3-5).
(3)
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven, and is now exalted
at the right hand of God, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills, the ministry
of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate
(Acts
1:9-10; Heb. 9:24; 7:25; Rom. 8:34; 1 John 2:1-2).
The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
(1) We
believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of
righteousness, and of judgement; and, that He is the Supernatural Agent in
regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and
sealing them unto the day of redemption (John
16:8-11; Rom 8:9; 1Cor. 12:12-14; 2Cor 3:6; Eph. 1:13-14).
(2)
We
believe that He is the Divine Teacher who assists believers to understand and
appropriate the Scriptures and that it is the privilege and duty of all the
saved to be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 1:17-18;
5:18; 1 John 2:20, 27).
(3)
We
believe that God is sovereign in the bestowal of spiritual gifts to every
believer. God uniquely uses evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip
believers in the assembly in order that they can do the work of the ministry
(Rom.
12:3-8; I Cor. 12:4-11, 28; Eph. 4:7-12).
(4)
We believe that the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues
and the gift of healing were not intended to be an indicator
of the filling or baptism with the Holy Spirit, and that God heals individuals according to His own
sovereign will.
(1 Cor.
1:22; 13:8; 14:21-22).
The Total Depravity of Man
We
believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in
Adam’s sin the human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became
alienated from God; and, that man is totally depraved, and, of himself,
utterly unable to remedy his lost condition (Gen 1:
26-27; Rom. 3:22-23; 5:12; 6:23; Eph. 2:1-3; 4:17-19).
Salvation
We
believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received
by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Whose precious blood was shed on
Calvary for the forgiveness of sins
(John 1:12; Eph.
1:7; 2:8-10; 1 pet. 1:18-19).
The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers
(1)
We
believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are
thus secure in Christ forever
(John 6:37-40;
10:27-30; Rom. 8:1, 38-39; 1 Cor. 1:4-8; 1 Pet. 1:4-5).
(2)
We
believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of
their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, which, however, clearly
forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh
(Rom.
3:13-14; Gal. 5:13; Titus 2:11-15).
The Church
(1)
We
believe that the local church, which is the body and the espoused bride of
Christ, is solely made up of born-again persons (1
Cor. 12:12-14; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 1:22-23; 5:25-27).
(2)
We
believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly
taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures
(Acts
14:27; 20:17, 28-32; I Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11).
(3)
We
believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority or
control (Acts 13:1-4; 15:19-31; 20:28; Rom. 16:1,4; 1
Cor. 3:9,16; 5:4-7,13; 1 Peter 5:1-4).
(4)
We
recognize water baptism and the Lord’s Supper as the Scriptural ordinances
of obedience for the Church in this age
(Matt.
28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; 18:19; 1 Cor. 11:23-26).
Separation
We
believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring
reproach upon their Saviour and Lord; and, that separation from all religious
apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices and associations is
commanded of God (Rom. 12:1-2;
14:13; 2Cor. 6:14-7:1; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; 1 John 2:15-17; 2 John 9-11).
The Second Advent of Christ
We
believe in that “blessed hope,” the personal, imminent return of Christ
who will rapture His Church prior to the seven-year tribulation period. At the
end of the Tribulation Christ will personally and visibly return, with His
saints, to establish His earthly Messianic Kingdom which was promised to the
Nation of Israel (Ps. 89:3-4; Dan. 2:31-45; Zech.
14:4-11; 1 Thess. 1:10; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; Rev. 3:10;
19:11-16; 20:1-6).
The Eternal State
(1)
We
believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and
the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (Matt.
25:46; John 5:28,29; 11:25-26; Rev. 20:5-6, 12-13).
(2) We
believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and
present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first
resurrection, when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever
with the Lord
(Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1: 23;
3:21; 1 Thess. 4:16-17; Rev. 20:4-6).
(3)
We
believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious
punishment and torment until the second resurrection, when with soul and body
reunited they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be
cast into the Lake of fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting
conscious punishment and torment
(Matt.
25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; 2 Thess. 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Rev.
20:11-15).
The Personality of Satan
We
believe that Satan is a created spiritual being/fallen angel, the author of
sin and the cause of the Fall of Man; that he is the open and declared enemy
of God and man; and that he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire
(Job
1:6-7; Isa. 14:12-17; Matt. 4 :2-11; 25:41; Rev. 20:10).
Creation
We
believe that God created the universe in six literal, 24-hour periods. We
reject evolution, the Gap Theory, The Day-Age Theory, and Theistic Evolution
as unscriptural theories of origin
(Genesis 1-2; Ex. 20:11).