We Believe
Upper Cross Roads Baptist Church is an independent, Bible-believing Baptist church, holding to the inerrancy of the Scriptures and proclaiming the gospel message of salvation freely to all who have faith in the blood of Christ alone, apart from works.
In order to establish a firm doctrinal foundation, we have set forth these Articles of Faith (Ephesians 4:14). The Articles of Faith shall always be based upon the infallible Word of God.
The Holy Scriptures
We believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of Scripture, that the Bible is the Word of God, inerrant in the original manuscripts, and that it is the supreme and final authority in faith and practice. The Bible is complete in sixty-six books, nothing can be added to or taken away. Although the Bible is not primarily a science book , where reference is made to science, it is accurate; and although it is not primarily a history book, it is historically accurate.
The Trinity
We believe that God eternally exists in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and that these three are one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes, and perfections; and executing distinct but harmonious offices.
Exodus 15:11; Matthew 28:19-20; John 1:1-4; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 2:18; 1 John 4:13-14
God the Father
We believe that God the Father is the first person of the Trinity, the Supreme Being, that He is a spirit, perfect in all attributes, including: Sovereignty, Holiness, Love, Mercy, Omnipotence, Omnipresence, Omniscience, Eternality, Immutability, and Truth. He is the Author of our Salvation, having resurrected His Son, Jesus Christ, from the dead. Exodus 34:6-7; Isaiah 45:5-6; Malachi 3:6; John 4:24; Romans 11:33-34; James 1:17
God the Son
We believe that Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, being conceived by the virgin Mary through a miraculous work of the Holy Spirit; and that He was wholly God and wholly man. He lived a sinless life, performed miracles, was crucified, died, was buried, and arose bodily from the dead the third day. He ascended to heaven, was exalted, and took His place at the right hand of God the Father, where He ever lives to make intercession in behalf of all who come to God through Him.
Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:20, 23; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-3, 14; John 10:30; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:15-20; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 7:25
God the Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Holy Trinity. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures, and, through illumination, He enables believers to understand the truth. The work of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. His ministries in the present age are: restraining evil in the world; convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment; regeneration of believers; indwelling all who are saved, thereby sealing them unto the day of redemption; and filling those for power and service who are yielded to Him. We believe that some gifts of the Holy Spirit, including speaking in tongues, prophecy, and the gift of miraculous healings, were temporary, and ceased when the canon of Scripture was complete. However, during this present age, the Lord does heal the body in answer to believing prayer, but only according to His sovereign will and for His glory.
John 14:16-17, 26 16:7-11; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 6:19, 13:8-10; Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 1:13, 4:30, 5:18; James 5:14-16; 2 Peter 1:21
Creation
We believe in the Genesis account of creation, that the universe was created in six literal days, that it is to be accepted literally, not allegorically nor figuratively. Man and each kind of plant and animal were created directly by God, not through an evolutionary process over interminable periods of time, or from lower to higher forms.
Genesis 1:1-31, 2:1-22; Exodus 20:11; Jeremiah 10:12; Nehemiah 9:6 John 1:3; Colossians 1:16-17; Hebrews 11:3; Revelation 10:6
Sin
We believe that sin is disobedience to God, whether willful or unknown. Sin entered the human race by Adam’s voluntary transgression of God’s command and submission to Satan. The wages of sin is death. Therefore, by Adam sin entered the human race, and death by sin, so that death passed upon all men, for all have sinned.
Sin separates man from God and resulted in the curse of the entire creation. If persisted in, sin will result in the complete and final ruin of the person who does not forsake it and experience the new birth.
Because of God’s Holy nature, He cannot compromise on sin; however, because of the blood of Christ, He can and will love, forgive, and restore sinners who repent and confess their sins, and that includes all sins.
Genesis 2:17, 3:1-6, 3:14-19; Ezekiel 18:4; Psalm 51:1-19; 66:18; Proverbs 6:16-19; Romans 3:10, 23; 5:12-17; 6:23; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Galatians 5:19-21; Colossians 3:5-10; James 1:14-15, 4:17; 1 John 1:9
Man
We believe that man was originally created in the image of God, having body, soul, and spirit; that conscience and will make him morally responsible to God. Man sinned, thereby incurring not only physical death, but also spiritual death, which is separation from God. We believe that all men are born with a sinful nature as evidenced by sinful acts, being totally depraved (the only exception being the man, Christ Jesus), and that, if not born again, they are under just condemnation to eternal punishment, without defense or excuse.
Genesis 2:7, 6:5; Isaiah 64:6; John 5:40; Romans 1:20, 3:10-18, 23, 5:12; Hebrews 9:27
Salvation
We believe that it is impossible for man to save himself, it is the work of God. Salvation is freely available, by the grace of God, to all who, having been brought under conviction of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God, will repent and believe. It is obtained through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ – His substitutionary death for our sins, His burial, and His resurrection on the third day. Men are justified on the grounds of the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ alone, which washes away our sin. All who believe are born again, from above, by the Holy Spirit, and thereby become the children of God and joint-heirs with Christ.
Leviticus 17:11; John 5:24; Romans 5:6-9; Romans 10:9-10, 17; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Ephesians 1:7, 13; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7; Hebrews 9:11-12, 21-22; 1 Peter 3:18; Revelation 1:5
Eternal Security
We believe that it is the privilege of all who are born again to be assured of their salvation. All those who are regenerated from above are sealed by the Holy Spirit and are thereby eternally secure.
John 10:27-29; Romans 8:33-39; Ephesians 1:13; Philippians 1:6; 2 Timothy 1:12; 1 John 5:10-13
Sanctification
We believe that sanctification of believers, which is a setting apart unto God, occurs in three phases:
- Positional sanctification is already complete because we are in Christ.
- Progressive sanctification is the process whereby the Christian is to grow in grace and to be changed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Although saved, we retain our sin nature (the flesh) which cannot be eradicated in this life. Therefore, while the standing of the Christian is perfect in Christ, his present state is one of striving daily to be more Christ-like.
- Perfect sanctification will occur when we shall see the Lord Jesus Christ and shall be like Him.
John 17:17; Romans 8:13, 29-30; Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Ephesians 1:4; Galatians 5:16-17; Ephesians 4:24; Ephesians 5:25-27; Philippians 3:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 10:10, 14; Hebrews 12:10; 1 John 3:2-3
Separation
We believe that all who are saved should live in such a manner as not to bring a reproach upon their Savior and Lord. Separation from all religious apostasy and sinful worldly practices is commanded of God.
Romans 12:1-2; Romans 13:14; Romans 14:13; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; 1 John 2:15-17; 2 John 1:9-11
Satan
We believe that Satan is a created angelic being who fell from his first estate through pride. He is the god of this world, ruling by the permissive will of God. He exercises authority over the unsaved, tempts the believer to sin, continually accuses the brethren before the throne of God, and counterfeits the works of God by fostering religious movements and systems of false doctrine. These systems are typically characterized by a denial of the efficacy of the blood of Christ, His absolute Deity, the absolute authority of the Scriptures, and salvation by grace alone. Satan has been defeated by the finished work of Christ. During the millennium he will be confined to the abyss to be released at the end of the period to lead the armies of evil against God. He will finally be judged and doomed to the lake of fire forever.
Isaiah 14:12-17; Job 1:6-12; John 8:44; 2 Corinthians 4:4; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15; Ephesians 2:2; Ephesians 6:12; 1 Timothy 4:1; Jude 1:6; Revelation 12:10; Revelation 20:1-3, 7-10
The Church
We believe that the universal church is the body and bride of Christ. This spiritual organism was established by our Lord Jesus and is made up of all born again believers of this present age, irrespective of their affiliation.
We believe that the local church is a congregation of baptized believers who have placed themselves under the authority of the body, and have covenanted together for worship, observance of ordinances, and the work of the ministry. This work includes equipping and edifying the believers, evangelizing the lost, and discipling those who believe, both locally and in the uttermost parts of the earth.
Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:41-42; Romans 12:4-5; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Ephesians 1:22-23; Ephesians 4:12; Ephesians 5:25-27
Church Ordinances
We believe that the ordinances of the local church are two: baptism and the Lord’s supper. Both ordinances are commanded by Christ and should be observed only by believers, and administered only by the authority of the local church.
Baptism is the total immersion in water of a believer in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit to show, in a solemn and beautiful emblem, our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Saviour. It is symbolic of our death to sin and our resurrection to a new life in Him. We believe that Scriptural baptism is a prerequisite to church membership.
The Lord’s Supper, communion, is the highest act of worship. It is a memorial of Christ’s death for us and a symbol of His sustaining our spiritual life and growth. It is to be practiced, only after solemn self examination, until Christ returns.
Matthew 3:3-17; Matthew 28:19; John 3:22-23; John 4:1-2; Acts 2:38; Acts 8:12, 36-39; Acts 16:32-34; Acts 18:8; Romans 6:3-7; 1 Corinthians 11:23-30
The Christian Walk and Service
We believe that, as believers, we are called with a holy calling to walk, “not after the flesh, but after the Spirit,” and thus not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. We believe that it is the obligation of all believers to witness by their life and by their words to the truths of the Holy Scriptures, to seek to proclaim the gospel to the lost, to pray for the work of the Lord, and to support it with their means, as the Lord has prospered them.
Acts 1:8; Romans 6:11-13; 1 Corinthians 16:2; Galatians 5:16-18; Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 2:6-7; 1 Peter 1:14-16; 1 John 1:4-7
The Eternal State
We believe in a literal heaven where those who have received Christ as Saviour during their life will live forever with God. Those who die in Christ go immediately into the presence of the Lord. Our dwelling place will be mansions prepared for us by Christ in the presence of God, with no sickness, sorrow, pain, or death.
We believe in a literal hell where those who have not received Christ as their Saviour will spend eternity in the awful, conscious torments of hell-fire, prepared for Satan and his angels.
Matthew 25:46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12; Titus 2:11-14; 2 Peter 3:10-13; Jude 1:6-7; Revalation 19:11-16; Revelation 20:1-6; Revelation 20:11-15; Revelation 21:3