What We Believe

Third Baptist West Frankfort is a church family gathered around the good news of Jesus Christ. We gladly confess the historic Christian faith and seek to live under the authority of Scripture.

The Gospel

The gospel is the good news that God saves sinners through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Though we have rebelled against God, he has acted in mercy through his Son. Jesus lived the life we could not live, died in the place of sinners, rose bodily from the grave, and now offers forgiveness and new life to all who turn from sin and trust in him.

Scripture

We believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God, true and trustworthy in all it teaches. It reveals who God is, tells the story of his redemption, and is our final authority for faith, worship, and life.

God

We believe there is one true and living God, eternally existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is holy, loving, righteous, and sovereign over all things. He created the world for his glory and made men and women in his image to know him and reflect his goodness.

Sin and Salvation

We believe every person is a sinner by nature and by choice, separated from God and unable to save themselves. Salvation is God’s gift of grace, received by faith in Jesus Christ alone. In him, sinners are forgiven, made new, adopted into God’s family, and given the sure hope of eternal life.

Jesus Christ

We believe Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, lived without sin, died for sinners, rose bodily from the grave, ascended to the Father, and will return in glory to make all things new.

The Holy Spirit

We believe the Holy Spirit gives new life to all who trust in Christ. He dwells in believers, grows us in holiness, gives gifts for the building up of the church, and helps us bear witness to Jesus in the world.

The Church

We believe the local church is a gathered family of believers who worship God, proclaim the gospel, practice baptism and the Lord’s Supper, build one another up, and bear witness to Christ in the world. We are called to love one another, grow together as disciples of Jesus, and serve our neighbors in his name.

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper

We believe baptism is the joyful public confession of faith in Jesus Christ and the picture of our union with him in his death and resurrection. We believe the Lord’s Supper is a regular meal of remembrance and hope, where the church remembers Christ’s sacrifice and looks forward to his return.

Our Hope and Mission

We believe Jesus will return personally and visibly, raise the dead, judge the world with perfect justice, and make all things new. Until that day, we want to be a faithful church in West Frankfort: worshiping God, making disciples, caring for one another, and sharing the good news of Jesus with our neighbors and the nations.

For our full confession of faith, read the Baptist Faith & Message 2000.