Rooted in the Word.
Bluff Creek is a traditional Southern Baptist congregation. We affirm the Holy Bible as the inspired Word of God and the basis for our beliefs, and we subscribe to The Baptist Faith & Message (2000). Below is each article in a sentence or two — the full statement, with every Scripture reference, is one click away.
The Scriptures
The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man — truth without any mixture of error, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all conduct, creeds, and opinions are tried. All Scripture testifies to Christ.
God
There is one and only one living and true God — Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe — who reveals Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes but without division of nature, essence, or being.
God the Father
God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is Father in truth to those who become His children through faith in Jesus Christ.
God the Son
Christ is the eternal Son of God. Conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, He perfectly revealed and did the will of God, died a substitutionary death on the cross for our sins, rose bodily, ascended, and now reigns as the one Mediator, fully God and fully man. He will return in power and glory.
God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is fully divine. He inspired the Scriptures, convicts of sin, calls people to the Savior, effects regeneration, baptizes every believer into the body of Christ, seals them unto the day of redemption, and empowers the church for worship, evangelism, and service.
Man
Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image, male and female. Through free choice man sinned and fell, so that his posterity inherit a nature inclined toward sin. Yet every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.
Salvation
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.
God's Purpose of Grace
Election is the gracious purpose of God, consistent with the free agency of man, that excludes boasting and promotes humility. All true believers endure to the end — kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.
The Church
A New Testament church is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant, observing the two ordinances of Christ and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons; the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.
Baptism and the Lord's Supper
Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit — an act of obedience symbolizing faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior. The Lord's Supper memorializes the death of the Redeemer and anticipates His second coming.
The Lord's Day
The first day of the week is the Lord's Day, commemorating the resurrection of Christ — set apart for worship and spiritual devotion, public and private.
The Kingdom
The Kingdom of God includes His general sovereignty over the universe and His particular kingship over those who acknowledge Him as King. Christians pray and labor for the Kingdom to come; its full consummation awaits the return of Jesus Christ.
Last Things
God will bring the world to its appropriate end. Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly; the dead will be raised; Christ will judge all people in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to hell; the righteous will dwell forever in heaven with the Lord.
Evangelism and Missions
It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and every church to make disciples of all nations — to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle.
Education
Christianity is the faith of enlightenment and intelligence. All sound learning is part of our Christian heritage, and Christian education is co-ordinate with missions and benevolence in the Kingdom of Christ.
Stewardship
God is the source of all blessings. Christians are stewards of their time, talents, and possessions, and should give cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancement of the Redeemer's cause.
Cooperation
Christ's people should organize associations and conventions to cooperate for the great objects of the Kingdom — voluntary, advisory bodies with no authority over the churches.
The Christian and the Social Order
All Christians are under obligation to make the will of Christ supreme in their own lives and in society — opposing racism, greed, and every form of sexual immorality; caring for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, and the sick; and contending for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death.
Peace and War
It is the duty of Christians to seek peace with all people on principles of righteousness. The true remedy for the war spirit is the gospel of our Lord.
Religious Liberty
God alone is Lord of the conscience. Church and state should be separate. A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal.
The Family
God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord.
"Wrong ideas about God are not only the fountain from which the polluted waters of idolatry flow; they themselves are idolatrous."A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy