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  Declaration
of Faith



The Following Covers The Biblical Beliefs of Beautiful Gate Baptist Church
And It's Members.

Section 1- Statement of Faith

(A) The Holy Scriptures
We believe The Holy Scriptures of The Old and New Testaments to be the Verbally and Plenarily Word of God. The Scriptures are Inerrant, Infallible God Breathed and therefore are Final Authority for Faith and Life. The Sixty-Six books of the Old and New Testaments are the complete and divine revelation of God to man. The scriptures shall be interpreted according to thier normal grammatical historical meaning. The King James Version of the Bible shall be the Official and Only translation used by this church.   (2nd Timothy 3:16-17, 2nd Peter 2:20-21)

(B) Dispensationalism
We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in thier natural 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 The Law-The age of The Church, and The Age go The Kingdom- are the subjects of detailed revelation in Scriptures
(Genesis1:28, 1st Corinthians 9:17, 2nd Conrinthians 3:9-18, Galations 3:13-25, Ephesians 1:10, 3:2-10, COl. 1:24-25, Rev. 20:2-6).

(C) The Godhead
We believe in One Truine God, Eternally existing in three persons Father, Son and Holy Spirit, each co-eternal in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfection's.
(Deut. 6:4, Matt. 28:19, 2nd Cor. 13-14, Jn. 14:10-26).

(D) 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 man. (Isa. 7:14, 9:6, Lk. 1:35, Jn. 1:1-2&14, 2nd Cor. 5:19-21, Gal.4:4-5)
    (2) We believe that The Lord Jesus Christ accomplised our Redemption through His death on The Cross as a   
        representative, vicarious, substituitionary sacrifice; and that our justication is made susre by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead.
       (Acts 2:18036, Rms. 3:24-25, 1st Pet. 2:24)
   (3) We believe that The Lord Jesus Christ ascended into Heaven and is now exalted at The Right hand of God, as
        our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of representative, intercessor and advocate.
(Acts 1:9-10, Heb. 9:24, Rms. 8:34, 1st Jn. 2:1-2)

(E) 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 judgment; and,
       that He is the supernatural agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body Christ, indwelling and sealing
       them unto The Day of Redemption. (Jn. 16;8-11, Rms. 8:9, 1st Cor. 12:12-14, 2nd Cor. 3:6, Eph. 1:13-14)
   (2) We believe that He is the Divine Teacher who assists believers to understand and to appropriate the Scriptures and
        that it is a privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with The Spirit. (Eph. 1:17-18, 5:18, 1st Jn. 2:20-27)
   (3) We believe that God is Sovereighn in the bestowal of spiritual gifts to every believer. God uniquely uses evangelists,pastors and teacher to equip believers in the assembly in order that they can do the work of the ministry.
(Rms.12:3-8, 1st Cor. 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 gifts of healing, were
temporary. We believe that speaking in tongues was never the common or necessary sign of the baptism or filling of The Holy Spirit and that ultimate deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection, though God frequently chooses to answer the prayers of believers for physical healing. (1st Cor. 1:22, 13:8, 14:21-22)

(F) Total Depravity of Man
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adams' sin the human race fell, inhereted a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and that man is totally depreaved and of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition, (Gen. 1:26-27, Rms. 3:22-23, 5:12, 6:23, Eph. 2:1-3, 4:P17-19)

(G) Salvation
We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and recieved by personal faith in The Lord Jesus Christ, whose Precious Blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins.
(Jn. 1:12, Eph. 1:7, 2:8-10, 1st Peter 1:8-19)

(H) The Eternal State
  (1) We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by Gods' power and are thus Secure in Christ 
  FOREVER. (Jn.6:37-40,10:27-30,Rms.8:1, 38-39,1st Cor.1:4-8,1st Peter 1:4;5)
    (2) We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurace of their salvation through the testimony of
Gods' Word, which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh.
(Rms. 13:13-14, Gal. 5:13, Titus 2:11-15)

(I) 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, (1st Cor. 12:12-14, 2nd Cor.11-2, Eph.1:22-23, 5:25-27)
  (2) We believe that the establishment and continuance of local Churches is clearly taught in The new testament Scriptures. (Acts 14:27, 20:17, 28:32, 1st 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, Rms. 16:1&4, 1st Cor. 3:9&16,5:4-7&13, 1st Peter 5:1-4)
  (4) We recognize Water Baptism and The Lords' Supper as the Scriptrual Ordinances of obedience for The Church in this age. (Matt. 28:19-20, Acts 2:41-42, 18:18, 1st Cor. 11:23-26)

(J) Seperation
We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to brin reproach upon thier Saviour and Lord; and, that separation from religious apostatsy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices and assocation is commanded of God.   (Rms. 12:1-2 14:13, 2nd Cor.6:14, 7:1, 2nd Tim. 3:1-5, 1st Jn. 9-11)

(K) 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, Thes. 1:10, 4:13-18, Titus 2:13, Rev. 3:10, 19:11-16, 20:1-6)

(L) The Eternal State
    (1) We believe in the bodily resurrection of men, the saved to Eternal Life, and the Unsaved to Judgment and     Everlasting Punishmen. (Matt. 25:46, Jn. 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. (Luck 23:43, 2nd Cor. 5:8, Phil. 1:23 & 3:21, 1st Thes. 4:16-17, Rev. 4-6)

  (3) We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious punishement and torment until the Second Resurrection, when soul and body reunited they shall appear at The Great White Throne Judgement, and shall be Cast into The Lake of Fire, Not to be Annihilated, But to Suffer Evarlasting Conscious Punishement.
(Matt. 25:41-46, Mark 9:43-48, Luck 16:19-26, 2nd Thes. 1:7-9, Jude 6:7, Rev. 20:11-15)

(M) The personality of Satan
We believe that satan is a person, and the author of sin and the cause of the Fall of 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)

(N) Creation
We believe that God created the universe in six literal, 24 Hour periods. We reject Evolution as Unscriptural Theories of origin. (Gen. 1:1, Ex. 20:11)

(O) Civil Government
We believe that God has ordained and created all authority consisting of three basic institutions: 1. The Home; 2. The Church; 3. The State. Every person is subject to these authorities, but all (including the authorities themselves) are answerable to God and governed by His Word. God has given each institution specific Biblical responsibilities and balanced those responsibilities with the understanding that no institution has the right to infringe upon the other. The Church, The Home and The State are equal and soverign in thier respective Biblically assigned spheres of responsibility under God. Rms. 13:1-7, Eph. 5:22-24, Heb. 13:17, 1st Peter 2:13-14)

(P) Human Sexuality
We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity should be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a women. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bi-sexuality, bestiality, fornication, adultery and pornography are sinful perversions of Gods' gift of sex. (Gen. 2:24, 19:5 & 13, 26:8-9, Lev. 18:1-30, Romans 1:26-29, 1st Cor. 5:1 & 6:9, 1st Thes. 4:18, Heb. 13:4)

(Q) Divorce and Remarriage
We believe that God hates divorce and intends marriage to last until one of the spouses dies. Divorce and remarriage is regarded as adultery except on teh grounds of fornication. Although divorced persons may hold positions of service in the church and be greatly used of God for Christian service, they may not be considered for the office of pastor or deacon. (matt. 2:14-17 & 19: 3-12, Romans 7: 1-3, 1st Cor. 7:10-15, 2nd Cor. 6:14-16, 1st Tim. 3:2 & 12, Titus 1:6)

(R) Abortion
We believe that human life begins at Conception and that the unborn child is a Living Huamn Being. Abortion constitutes the Unjustified, Unexcused Taking of Unborn Human Life. Abortion is MURDER. We reject any teachings that abortions of pregnancies due to Rape, Incest, Birth defects, Gender selection, Birth or Population control, or the Mental well being of the mother are acceptable. (Job 3:16, Psalms 51:5, 139:14-16, Isa. 44:24, 49:1 & 5, Jer. 1:5, 20:15-18, Luke 1:44)

(S)Missions
We believe that God has given The Church a Great Commission to Proclaim The Gospel through the Church and individually to all nations so that there might be a great multitude from every nation, tribe, ethnic group, and language who believe in The Lord jesus Christ. As ambassadors of Christ we must use all available means to Evangelize the Lost no matter if it be in the United Sates of America, or other nations and not wait for them to come to us. (Matt. 28:1-9, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:46-48, John 20:21, Acts 1:8, 2nd Cor. 5:20)

(T) Lawsuits Between Believers
We believe that Christians are prohibited from bringing lawsuits against other Christians or The Church to resolve personal disputes. We believe The Church possesses all the resources necessary to resolve personal disputes between its memebers. We do believe, however, that a Christian may seek compensation for injuries from anothe Christian insurance company as long as the claim is pursued without malice or slander. (1st Cor. 6:1-8, Eph. 4:31-31)

(U) Giving
We believe that every Christian, as a steward of that portion of Gods' wealth entrusuted to him, is obligated to support his local church financially. We beleive that God has established the tithe as a basis for giving but that every Christian should also give other offereings sacrificially and cheerfully to the support of the Church, the relief of those in need, and the Spread of The Gospel. We beleive that a Christian relinquishes all rights to direct the use of the tithe or offering once the gift has been made. (Gen. 14:20, Proverbs 3:9-10, Acts 4:34-37, 1st Cor. 6:2, 2nd Cor. 9:6-7, Gl. 6:6, Eph. 4:28, 1st Tim. 5:17-18, 1st John 3:17)

Section 2-Authority of Statement of Faith

The Statement of Faith does Not Exhaust the extent of our Faith. The Bible itself is the Sole and Final Source of All that we beleive. We beleive, however, that the foregoing Statement of Faith accurately represents the teachings of the Bible, and therefore is binding on all members.

Section 3- Covenant
Having been led, as we believe, by the Spirit of God, to receive The Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, and on Profession of our Faith, and having been baptized in The name of our Father, and of The Son, and of The Holy Ghost, we do now, in the presence of God, angels, and this assembly, most solenmly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another, as one body in Christ.

We engage, therefore by the aid of The Holy Spirit, to walk together in Christian Love; to strive for the advancement for this church in knowledge, holiness and comfort; to promote its prosperity and spirituality; to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline and doctrines; to conribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of this church, the relief fo the poor and the spread of The Gospel through all nations. We also engaged to maintain family and private devotions; to religiously educate our children; to seek the salvation of our kindred, acquaintances, and all other; to walk circumspectly in the world, to be just in our dealins, faithful to our engagements, and exemplary in our deportment; to be modest in our dress (no shors, see-through cloghing, halters, tight dresses or pants, no swim suits of any kind in public, no mixed bathing or swimming, to avaid all tattling, backbiting, and excessive anger; to abstain from worldly amusements such as movie attendance, gambling, rock music and dancing; to be free from all Oath-Bound Secret Societies and Partnerships with unbelievers; to abstain from the sale or use of tobacco in any form, narcotic drugs, or intoxicating drink as a beverage; and to be zealous in our efforts to advance The Kingdom of our Savior.

We further engage to watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember each other in prayer; to aid each other in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathhy in feeling and courtesy of speech; to be slow to offense, but always ready for reconciliation, mindful of the rule of our Saviour, to secure reconciliation without delay.

We moreover engage, that we remove from this place, as soon as possible, unite with some other church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of Gods' Word.



Iglesia Bautista Puerta La Hermosa
(Beautiful Gate Baptist Church)
San Antonio, Texas