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All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God
may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
2
Timothy 3:16-17
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Our Doctrine
From where does the doctrine of Hardin Valley Free Will Baptist Church come?
The Bible!
We are a Biblical church. What we believe, practice and teach comes from the Bible. The Scriptures
of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, and are our infallible rule of faith and practice. THE CHURCH COVENANT ACTS 16:4
Having given ourselves to God, by faith in Jesus Christ, and adopted the Word of God as our rule of faith and practice,
we now give ourselves to one another by the will of God in this solemn covenant.
We promise by His grace to love and obey Him in all things,
to avoid all appearance of evil, to abstain from all sinful amusements and unholy conformity to the world, from all sanction
of the use and sale of intoxication beverages, and to provide things honest in the sight of all men.
We agree faithfully to discharge our obligations in reference
to study of the Scriptures, secret prayer, family devotions, and social worship, and by self-denial, faith, and good works
endeavor to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
We will not forsake the assembling of ourselves together for
church conferences, public worship, and the observance of the ordinances of the gospel, not fail to pay according to our ability
for the support of the church, of its poor, and all its benevolent work.
We agree to accept Christian admonition and reproof with meekness,
and to watch over one another in love, endeavoring to "keep the unity of the Spirit" in the bonds of peace, to be
careful of one another's happiness and reputation, and seek to strengthen the weak, encourage the afflicted, admonish
the erring, and as far as we are able, promote the success of the church and of the Gospel.
We will everywhere hold Christian principle sacred and Christian
obligations and enterprises supreme; counting it our chief business in life to extend the influence of Christ in society;
constantly praying and toiling that the Kingdom of God may come, and His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
To this end
we agree to labor for the promotion of educational and denominational enterprises, the support of missions, the success of
Sunday schools, and evangelistic efforts for the salvation of the world.
And may the God of peace sanctify us wholly, and preserve
us blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who are Free Will Baptists?
Free Will Baptist roots can be traced to England as early
as 1611. The first Free Will Baptist church in America was begun by Paul Palmer in 1727 in Perquimans County, North Carolina.
Some years later, in 1780, under the leadership of Benjamin Randall, Free Will Baptists were established in the northeast
at New Durham, New Hampshire. From these early beginnings, Free Will Baptists in America have had a continuing ministry. Today,
the National Association of Free Will Baptists is active in 42 states, 14 foreign countries, and a number of the islands of
the sea. The work of the National Association of Free Will Baptists is promoted from the National Offices and the Sunday School
and Church Training Department located in Nashville, Tennessee.
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WHAT WE BELIEVE - God--We believe that God is
the Creator, Sustainer, and Righteous Ruler of the universe. He has revealed Himself in nature, and in the Scriptures of the
Holy Bible as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: yet as one God.
- Jesus
Christ-He is God's unique Son; the only one of a kind. The Scripture teaches that He is God revealed in flesh. In His
Divine nature He is truly God and in His human nature truly man. He is the One once crucified for man's sin, the now risen
and glorified Savior and Lord who mediates between God and man and who gives us access to the Father through His intercession.
None can come to the Father unless they come through Him.
- Holy
Spirit--All of the attributes of God are ascribed to the Holy Spirit by the Scriptures. It is He who convicts and convinces
men of their sin. He also convinces man of that which is right, and that a final day of judgment will come. He, it is, who
comes to live in us at conversion, to open our understanding to the Scripture, and to lead us into the truth.
- The Bible--God used holy men to write the Scriptures. They are, in both the Old and
New Testaments, the very words God intended us to have. They are, as given by God, without error and are our only rule of
faith and practice. We profit from them by learning the truth about many things: they also speak to us about wrong doing;
they even correct us and get us back on course as well as instructing us in right living.
- Man--God created man in a state of innocence. Man, being tempted by Satan, yielded and willfully
disobeyed God, becoming a sinner and incurring God's judgment upon sin. All of Adam's descendants inherit his fallen
nature and thus have a natural inclination to sin. When one comes to an age of accountability, he is guilty of sinning before
God and in need of salvation.
- God's Relationship to His Creatures
and Creation-God exercises a wise and benevolent providence over all beings and things. He maintains the laws of nature and
performs special acts as the highest welfare of mankind and His created order of things require.
- Salvation--Man receives pardon and forgiveness for his sins when he admits to God that he is a sinner,
when in godly sorrow he turns from them and trusts in the work of Christ as redemption for his sin. This acceptance of God's
great salvation involves belief in Christ's death on the cross as man's substitute and the fact of God's raising
Him from the dead as predicted. It is a salvation by grace alone and not of works.
- Who Can be Saved?--It is God's will that all be saved, but since man has the power of choice, God saves only
those who repent of their sin and believe in the work of Christ on the cross. Those who refuse in this life to repent and
believe have no later chance to be saved and thus condemn themselves to eternal damnation by their unbelief.
- Perseverance--We believe that there are strong grounds to hope that the saved will persevere
unto the end and be saved because of the power of divine grace pledged for their support. We believe that any saved person
who has sinned (whether we call him a backslider or sinner), but has a desire to repent, may do so and be restored to God's
favor and fellowship. Since man, however, continues to have free choice, it is possible because of temptations and the weakness
of human flesh for him to fall into the practice of sin and to make shipwreck of his faith and be lost.
- Gospel Ordinances--Free Will Baptists believe the Bible teaches three ordinances for
the church to practice: Baptism in water by immersion, the Lord's Supper, to be perpetuated until His return, and the
Washing of the Saints' feet, an ordinance teaching humility.
- Resurrection--Free
Will Baptists believe the Scriptures teach the resurrection of the bodies of all men, each in its own order; they that have
done good will come forth to the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation.
- Church Government--Free Will Baptist churches enjoy local church autonomy (self-governing).
The local church is the highest authority in the denomination. Local churches voluntarily organize themselves into quarterly
meetings, district, state, and national associations for the purpose of promoting the cause of Christ on the local, state,
district, national, and world-wide level.
- Christ's Second
Coming--The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ, who ascended on high and sits at the right hand of God, will come again to close
the Gospel dispensation, glorify His saints, and judge the world.
- Missions--Free
Will Baptists believe that Jesus commanded the church to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. For
an in-depth study of Free Will Baptist beliefs and practices, ask for a copy of the Free Will Baptist Treatise.
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History of Free Will Baptists in America
The Free Will Baptist denomination is a fellowship of evangelical believers united in extending
the witness of Christ and the building of His Church throughout the world. The rise of Free Will Baptists can be traced to
the influence of Baptists of Arminian persuasion who settled in the colonies from England.
The denomination sprang
up on two fronts at almost the same time. The southern line, or Palmer movement, traces its beginnings to the year 1727 when
one Paul Palmer organized a church at Chowan, North Carolina. Palmer had previously ministered in New Jersey and Maryland,
having been baptized in a congregation which had moved from Wales to a trace on the Delaware River in northern Pennsylvania.
The northern line, or Randall movement, had its beginnings with a congregation organized by Benjamin Randall June
30, 1780, in New Durham, New Hampshire. Both lines of Free Will Baptists taught the doctrines of free grace, free salvation
and free will, although from the first there was no organizational connection between them.
The northern line expanded
more rapidly in the beginning and extended its outreach into the West and Southwest. In 1910-1911 this body of Free Will Baptists
merged with the Northern Baptist denomination, taking along more than half its 1,100 churches and all denominational property,
including several major colleges. On December 28, 1916, at Pattonsburg, Missouri, representatives of remnant churches in the
Randall movement reorganized into the Cooperative General Association of Free Will Baptists.
Free Will Baptists
in the southeastern United States, having descended from the Palmer foundation, had often manifested fraternal relationships
with Free Will Baptists of the Randall movement in the north and west; but the slavery question and the Civil War prevented
formal union between them. The churches in the southern line were organized into various associations and conferences from
the beginning and had finally organized into a General Conference by 1921. These congregations were not affected by the merger
of the northern movement with the Northern Baptists.
Now that the remnants of the Randall movement had reorganized
into the Cooperative General Association and the Palmer movement had organized into the General Conference, it was inevitable
that fusion between these two groups of Free Will Baptists would finally come. In Nashville, Tennessee, on November 5, 1935,
representatives of these two groups met and organized the National Association of Free Will Baptists.
This body
adopted a Treatise which set forth the basic doctrines and described the faith and practice that had characterized
Free Will Baptists through the years. Having been revised on several occasions, it serves as a guideline for a denominational
fellowship which comprises more than 2,400 churches in 42 states and 14 foreign countries.
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