We believe that the Bible is God’s Word. It is accurate, authoritative, and applicable to our everyday lives. God is the author, salvation is its end, and it is without any mixture of error. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. Therefore, the Bible is both inspired and infallible. All Scripture is the testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of the Bible. Because of this, the Bible should be read and studied by all believers to mature in their faith in Christ. The Bible plays a central role in every service at Fort Baptist. We believe everything we do should be based in Scripture.

(II Timothy 3:14–16; I Peter 1:20–21)

We believe in one eternal God who is the Creator of all things. He exists in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. He is totally loving and completely holy. He is infinite, eternal, almighty and perfect in holiness, truth, and love. Only through the Trinity is salvation possible.

(Deuteronomy 6:4; Ephesians 4:4–6; II Corinthians 13:14)

Jesus Christ is at the center of everything we believe and do at Fort Baptist. We believe that Jesus is the only one who can reconcile us to God. He is the second person of the Trinity. He lived a sinless and exemplary life, died on the cross in our place, and rose again to prove His victory and empower us for life. We believe that Jesus is coming back again as He promised.

(John 1:1–2; Colossians 1:15–20; Isaiah 53:1–12; I John 2:2; Romans 5:6–11)

God made man – male and female – in His own image without sin. Tempted by Satan, man rebelled against God. This rebellion brought sin into the world; as a result, all humans are born with a sin nature. This sin nature makes us prone to sinning, and we incurred sin guilt once we sinned. Sin affects every part of a person: soul, mind, emotions, and body.

Without the drawing and conviction of the Holy Spirit, a person will remain in his or her sinfulness for all eternity, separated from God. Salvation is only possible when a person, by the conviction of the Spirit, repents of sin, believes the Gospel, and confesses Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

(Genesis 3:1–19, 6:5; Romans 3:9–18, 5:12–14)

God’s salvation, by way of Jesus Christ, is only effective for those who genuinely repent of their sins and by God’s grace, put saving faith in Christ. Repentance is turning from sinful self-government; and faith is turning to Jesus Christ, surrendering to His Lordship. While neither repentance nor faith save, they are God’s commanded conditions and responses for men to be saved. Biblical repentance is characterized by a changed life, and saving faith is evidenced by a growth in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, a love for God, and the assurance of salvation by the witness of the Holy Spirit. God is the one who calls humanity to faith and repentance. Upon conversion, the Holy Spirit unites the believer to Jesus Christ where the believer is the regenerated, redeemed, justified, and empowered. This great message of salvation, what we call the Gospel, is the central proclamation of sermons and teachings at Fort Baptist.

(Mark 1:14–15; John 3:18–21; Acts 17:30–31, 26:19–20)

The Holy Spirit empowers believers for Christian living, service, and witness. The Spirit’s power is freely available to all who believe in Jesus Christ, thereby enabling them to be used effectively for the kingdom of God in ministry and mission. The Holy Spirit desires to continually control and fill each believer with His power to be a witness for Christ, and He imparts His supernatural gifts for the edification of the Body and the work of ministry throughout the world. The Holy Spirit empowers towards holiness. Jesus cleansed Believers of sin and calls them Saints, but the Holy Spirit aids the Believer in living out their Sainthood.

(Acts 1:8; Luke 24:48; I Corinthians 2:1–5; II Timothy 1:6–7; Ephesians 5:18)

We believe in the power and significance of the Church and the necessity of believers to meet regularly together. The Church is both universal and local. Every Christian belongs to the universal Church (capital "C") but attends, grows through, and serves at, local churches (lowercase "c"). Because of this, churches should work together for the greatest Kingdom impact.

(Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 2, Ephesians 4:11-12, Hebrews 10:24-25, Hebrews 13:17, 1 Peter 2:9-10)

Christian baptism is a symbolic practice of the church in which believers in Jesus are immersed in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This initial act of obedience serves as the believer's public profession of faith in Jesus and is an outward symbol of the believers’ forgiveness of sin and new life in Jesus Christ. The act of baptism should closely follow faith and repentance.

Communion is an act of worship and obedience whereby believers, through partaking of the bread and the cup, remember the death of Jesus and anticipate His second coming. Baptism and the Communion are significant expressions of salvation, worship, and submission to God for the believer.

(Matthew 3:13–17; 26:26–30; 28:19–20; Mark 1:9–11; 14:22–26; Luke 3:21–22; 22:19–20; John 3:23; Acts 2:41–42; 8:35–39; 16:30–33; 20:7; Romans 6:3–5; 1 Corinthians 10:16, 21; 11:23–29; Colossians 2:12)

God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race. The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God's image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God's pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.

(Genesis 1:26–28; 2:15–25; 3:1–20; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 6:4–9; Joshua 24:15; 1 Samuel 1:26–28; Psalms 51:5; 78:1–8; 127; 128; 139:13–16; Proverbs1:8; 5:15–20; 6:20–22; 12:4; 13:24; 14:1; 17:6; 18:22; 22:6,15; 23:13–14; 24:3; 29:15,17; 31:10–31; Ecclesiastes 4:9–12; 9:9; Malachi 2:14–16; Matthew 5:31–32; 18:2–5; 19:3–9; Mark 10:6–12; Romans 1:18–32; 1 Corinthians 7:1–16; Ephesians 5:21–33; 6:1–4; Colossians 3:18–21; 1 Timothy 5:8,14; 2 Timothy 1:3–5; Titus 2:3–5; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 3:1–7).

God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. Jesus Christ will fulfill His promise to return personally and visibly in His glory to the earth. At His return the dead will rise, Christ will judge every person, and sin and all Satanic forces will be forever vanquished in eternal punishment, along with all who have not placed their faith in Christ. Individuals who are in Christ will await dwell for all eternity with Christ (Revelation 21). The timing of Christ’s return is unknown and the exact order of events is debated. If the Jews did not understand the first coming of Christ, we will likely not fully understand the order of events for the second, but we do await His return and we will be obedient to serve Him expecting His return any day.

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