Our Beliefs

Our Beliefs

The Church at Alden Bridge is an expository preaching church that holds to the tenets of the Protestant Reformation: Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Christ Alone, Scripture Alone, and the Glory of God Alone. We are part of the Southern Baptists of Texas as well as the Southern Baptist Convention. For a more detailed look at who we are, please see our statement of faith and recommended links below.


Statement of Faith

Section 1: The Word of God.

We believe the Bible to be the Word of God, inerrant in the original manuscripts, and our authority for faith and practice. We believe in the plenary, verbal inspiration of the scriptures.
(2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21)

Section 2: The Trinity.

God exists eternally as three distinct persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) in one divine essence. This essence remains undivided even though each person of the Godhead possesses the fullness of the divine essence. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all without beginning, being one God, who is not to be divided in nature and being but only to be distinguished by the several relative properties and personal relations peculiar to each person. There is no other God, nor has there ever been any other God, besides the triune Godhead.
(Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 John 5:7; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; John 10:30; John 14:11; 1 Corinthians 8:6; John 1:1-18; John 15:26; Genesis 1:26)

Section 3: God the Father.

We believe in God the Father, an infinite, personal spirit; perfect in holiness, wisdom, power, and love. We believe He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men, hears and answers prayer, and saves His adopted children from sin and death through Jesus Christ.
(Genesis 1:1, 50:20; Exodus 3:14, 15:11-18; Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 Kings 12:15; 2 Kings 19:25; Psalm 19:1, 70:16, 79:9, 89:14; Isaiah 43:10, 46:9-10; Jeremiah 10:10; John 4:24, 5:26; Acts 1:7; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 4:6; 1 Timothy 1: 17)

Section 4: God the Son.

We believe in Jesus Christ, one of three in the Godhead, co-equal and co-eternal with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, God’s unique Son, as the God-man born of a virgin, sinless in His life; that He died for the sins of His people, according to the scriptures, as a substitutionary sacrifice for them; that all who believe in Him are justified on the grounds of His shed blood and reconciled by His death; that He not only died on the cross for our sins, but that He was resurrected bodily for our justification; that He is now at the right hand of God the Father acting as our high priest and our advocate before the Father; that He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and His kingdom will have no end.
(Isaiah 52:13; Matthew 1:18-23, 3:17, 11:27, 16:16, 17:5, 24:29-31; Luke 1:35, 24:39, 24:46; John 1:18, 10:30, 11:25, 14:7, 20:1-23; Acts 1:9; Romans 3:24, 5:1-21, 8:1; 1 Corinthians 1:18, 8:6, 15:1-11; Galatians 1:4, 2:20-21, 3:22, 4:4; Ephesians 1:7, 3:16-19; Colossians 1:15, 1:19-20; 1 Thessalonians 4:14; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-12; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; Hebrews 1:1-3, 4:14, 9:12, 12:2; 1 Peter 2:21-25, 3:18; Revelation 19:16)

Section 5: God the Holy Spirit

We believe in the person of the Holy Spirit, one of three in the Godhead, co-equal and co-eternal with God the Father and God the Son and who exists in the world today to reveal the fullness of Christ, convicting the world of sin, of righteousness and judgment, regenerating, sanctifying and sealing forever those who have been born again through faith in Jesus Christ. We believe that no one can be saved from sin or be born again without a supernatural activity of the Holy Spirit in his life. We believe that no one can attach himself to the Body of Christ unless the Holy Spirit energizes that attachment.
(John 14:16-17; 15:26; Acts 2:32-33; 2 Corinthians 13:14; John 15:26; John 3:3-8; Titus 3:5-7; 1 Peter 1:2; Ephesians 1:13-14; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30)

Section 6: Man

We believe God created man, male and female, in the image of God and free from sin. The first man, Adam, disobeyed God and as a result all men since that day have been tainted by the destructive power of sin. We further believe that man, because of his fall in Adam, is a sinner by nature and choice and is therefore spiritually dead, in need of salvation. Man, due to his total depravity, is incapable of pursuing God’s glory or obtaining fellowship with Him unless given discernment and spiritual life by the Holy Spirit.
(Genesis 1:26-30, 2:7, 2:15-24, 3:1-24, 6:5; Psalm 8:3-6, Psalm 51:5; Isaiah 64:6; Jeremiah 13:23, 17:9; John 3:19; Romans 1:18-32, 3:10-12, 5:12, 5:19;
1 Corinthians 2:14, 15:21-22; Ephesians 2:1-3; Colossians 1:21-22)

Section 7: Salvation

Salvation is the free gift of God whereby He calls, regenerates, justifies, adopts, sanctifies, and glorifies those He foreknew and predestined before the foundation of the world. By the power of God man is regenerated and given a new heart to seek the Lord, which leads to genuine repentance of sin and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. All those who have true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are justified by His blood, sanctified throughout their lifetime by the Holy Spirit, and glorified by the Lord in heaven upon death. All of those who come to the Lord in faith become His adopted children and heirs of the promise who are sealed for the day of redemption; thus, they may be sure of their eternal security in Christ. There is no salvation outside of personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
(Psalm 65:4. 69:29, 70:4, 71:3, 71:23, 79:9; 80:17-18; Ezekiel 11:19-20; Matthew 1:21, 4:17, 10:32-33, 16:21-26, 27:1-28:20; Luke 1:68-69, Luke 10:22; John 1:11-14, 3:16-21, 3:36, 5:24, 6:28-29, 6:37-51, 6:63-65, 10:7-11, 10:28-30, 11:25. 15:16, 17:9; Acts 2:21, 4:11-12, 13:48, 15:11, 16:30-31; Romans 3:26-31, 5:11, 5:15-19, 6:23, 8:15-17, 8:28-39, 9:10-23, 10:9-13, 11:5-7, 11:29; 2 Corinthians 4:14, 5:21; Galatians 1:15-16, 3:13; Ephesians 1:3-23, 2:4-9, 3:16-19; Colossians 1:13-14, 1:20, 2:12-13; 1 Thessalonians 5:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14; 2 Timothy 1:9-10, 2:19; Hebrews 7:25, 9:12, 9:28, 10:14; 1 Peter 1:1-2, 1:18-21, 3:18; 1 John 3:16, 5:13; Revelation 1:5-6, 3:5, 5:9-10, 13:8, 21:27)

Section 8: The Church

The Universal Church – The universal church of Jesus Christ consists of those who have personally believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who are born again, and baptized into His body by the Holy Spirit. These believers constitute the body or the bride of Christ. This universal church consists of all true believers throughout time and space. No one belongs to the church of Jesus Christ universal simply by virtue of belonging to a local bible believing and bible-preaching church. In spite of minor doctrinal differences and practices existing among local churches, members of the body of Christ are to love, appreciate and bear the burdens of other Christians.
(Ephesians 1:13-14; 1 Corinthians 12:13; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Ephesians 5:25-32; Revelation 19:7-10; 21:2; Hebrews 10:25; Revelation 5:9-10; John 15:12; 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10; Romans 15:1-7)The Local Church – In the New Testament, there were churches made up of individual believers who lived in certain areas, which constituted the church at Corinth, at Berea, at Philippi, etc. It is in this sense that The Church at Alden Bridge exists and is known as such. The local church is composed of born-again believers who have voluntarily united together for the purposes of worshiping God, ministering to the saints (fellow believers), evangelizing the world, and disciple new believers. It provides an opportunity for those who are of the same mind in Christ to meet together for the study of God’s Word, common prayer, social contact, and mutual uplifting. The Church at Alden Bridge will never seek to exclude from its more general fellowship other believers who may belong to other churches or denominations or who may differ from us in minor matters but nevertheless belong to the body of Christ. We hereby declare that the criteria of receiving individuals into the membership of this church are fallible and human. Every endeavor, however, shall be made in order that no one transferring from another church or by statement of faith, may be accepted into the membership of the church unless evidence is given that such a person honors the Lord Jesus Christ by voluntarily and circumspectly walking in the way of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, everyone indicating a desire to join this church shall be instructed accordingly that becoming a member of this church witnesses to the character of the whole body of believers known as The Church at Alden Bridge. Such a person should be thoroughly examined as to his or her profession of faith and holiness of character.

(Acts 2:42; 1 Thessalonians 1:2-10; Hebrews 10:25; Acts 9:2)

Section 9: Separation of Church and State

We believe that each local church is self-governing in function and must be free from interference by any ecclesiastical or political authority. We further believe that every human being is directly responsible to God in matters of faith and life, and that each should be free to worship God according to the dictates of his conscience.
(Matthew 22:21; Romans 13:1, 1 Timothy 2:1-6; 1 Peter 2:17

Section 10: Christian Conduct

We believe that the supreme task of every believer is to glorify God in his life. The believer should live blamelessly before the world, be a faithful steward of his possessions, and seek to realize for himself the full stature of maturity in Christ.
(Romans 8:29; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Colossians 1:28; 1 Timothy 6:6-9; 1 Peter 2:15-16)

Section 11: Last Things

We believe in the bodily resurrection of the saved and lost, the eternal conscious existence of all men either in heaven or hell, or in divine judgments, rewards, and punishments. God will bring about the end of the world according to His will and purpose at a time of His choosing. At the end of time Jesus Christ our Lord will return in glory to judge the world and separate “the sheep from the goats.” The righteous, those justified by the blood of the Lamb, will be raised in glorified physical bodies unto eternal life to dwell in the presence of the Lord forever. The unrighteous will also be resurrected, judged by Christ, and consigned to an eternity in Hell.

(Deuteronomy 26:15; Psalm 11:4, 16:11; Isaiah 66:1; Matthew 5:12. 6:20, 18:10; Mark 16:19; Luke 15:7, 20:34-36, 23:43; John 14:1-3; Acts 7:49; Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Thessalonians 4:17; Hebrews 10:34, 12:22-24; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 2:7, 7:9-17; 21:1-11, 22:1-5; Psalms 55:15; Isaiah 66:24; Daniel 12:2; Matthew 3:12, 5:22; 10:28, 18:9, 23:15, 25:41, 25:46; Luke 12:6,16:23-24; John 3:36; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; 2 Peter 2:4; Revelation 14:10-11; Isaiah 2:4; Daniel 7:9-14, 7:23-27, 12:1-4; Matthew 16:27, 19:28-29, 24:3-31, 24:36-44, 25:31-46; Luke 12:40, 17:22-37; Acts 17:30-31; 1 Corinthians 15:24-28; Philippians 3:20-21; Colossians 3:4; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 5:1-11; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12; Titus 2:13-14; Hebrews 9:27-28; 2 Peter 3:7; 1 John 3:2; Revelation 20:1-21:27)

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