Confession of faith
Confession of Faith
of the Evangelical Baptist Churches in France
God
We adore God, he alone, unique in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Creator of all things, he is holy, almighty, loving and eternally alive. God has revealed himself in history, first in the people of Israel, then definitively in his Son Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ foretold by the prophets. It is this revelation that the Holy Scriptures present to us.
Deuteronomy 6:4 – Matthew 4:10 – 2 Corinthians 13:13 – John 4:24 ; 10:30 – Ephesians 4:4 to 6 – Genesis 1:1 – Exodus 6:3 Leviticus 19:2 – Jeremiah 10:10 – Psalms.24:8 – 1 John 4:8 – Daniel 6:26b. – Hebrews 1:1-2 – John 1:1 to 18 – Acts 3:18 to 24
The Holy Scriptures
The Bible is divinely inspired. The Holy Spirit sovereignly presided over the origin and formation of the writings that make it up. These Holy Scriptures alone are the written Word of God. As the document of the covenant between God and his people (Old Testament), and between God and the community of all those who accept the salvation offered in Christ (New Testament), this Word reveals to us the mind of God, his will and his love for the world. It contains all that is necessary to lead us to the one who is our salvation, Jesus Christ, and for us to place our lives at God’s service. It is the supreme reference for testing every religious belief, tradition and practice. It derives its authority from God alone to govern the life of the believer and of the Church.
Exodus 24:12 – 2 Samuel 23:2 – 2 Timothy 3:16 – 2 Samuel 23:2 – 2 Peter 1:21 – Galatians 1:6 to 8 – Revelation. 22:18 – Exodus 24:7-8 – 2 Samuel 7:23 – Romans 3:2 – Jeremiah 23:3 to 6 – Galatians 3:26 to 29 Galatians 3:24 – John 5:39
John 12:47-50 – John 20:31 – 2 Kings 23:2-3 – 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Acts 17:11 – Revelation 22:18 – 2 Thessalonians 2:15
People, the fall and its consequences
For this act of disobedience, sin, with its consequence of death, entered the world. The sinful nature spread to all men. The whole of humanity, in its rupture with God, now lives under the domination of evil and incurs God’s judgement.
Genesis 1:26 to 31 – Genesis 3 – Romans 5:12 – Psalms 51:7
Psalms 53:4 – Romans 3:9, 23 – 2 Thessalonians 1:8 to 10 – Revelation 20:15
Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ, the only Son of God from all eternity, is the only mediator between God and man. He came among men, fully man and fully God, his two natures remaining distinct in their perfect union in his person. He taught us everything necessary for our salvation. He showed us, by his life, pure from all sin and filled with the power and love of the Father, what the holy life is that God wants for us. He accomplished the work of our redemption by giving his life on the cross, a living and perfect sacrifice, to wash away our sins and reconcile us to God. Risen and eternally alive with the Father, in his glory, he is Lord.
Mark 1:9 to 11 – John 10:30 – John 8:58 – Colossians 1:15 to 17
1 Timothy. 2:5 – Hebrews. 4:14 to 16 – John 1:1 to 18 – Hebrews 4:15
John 14:6 – John 17:8, 14, 26 – Matthew 4:1 to 11 – Hebrews 4:15 – Matthew 5:48
Isaiah 53:4-5 – Romans 3:23-25 – John 10:17-18 – Philippians 2:6 to 8
Colossians 1:19-20 – Acts 4:12
Luke 24 – Matthew 28:20 – Philippians 2:9 to 11
The salvation
Through the action of the Holy Spirit, sinners are called to repent of their sins, to turn to God, to accept by faith the atoning work of Jesus Christ and to be united with him in his death and resurrection. In this way, by the grace of God alone, they receive forgiveness of their sins. Justified by faith in Jesus Christ, he now lives in a right relationship with God, that of a child before his Father. He is born to a new and eternal life and enters the Kingdom of God. Faith necessarily produces works pleasing to God and a life ever more in conformity with his will.
John 1:12-13 – John 3:16 – Luke 13:1 to 5 – James 4:7 to 10 – Acts 20:21 – Romans 5:1 to 11 Ephesians 2:8 – John 3:3, 5, 21 – Romans 3:24 ; 4:24-25 – James 2:14 to 26 – 1 Peter 2:11 to 17 – Matthew 7:17 to 21
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, makes the reality of salvation alive, beneficial and effective in the human heart. Inhabiting the believer, the Holy Spirit leads him to glorify the Lord in a life of prayer and persevering fidelity to the truth of Scripture. He is the guarantor of his eternal inheritance. The Holy Spirit makes believers bear fruit, enables them to discern God’s will and gives them the gifts necessary for edification, service to the church and witness in the world.
Ezekiel 37:14 – Zacharias 4:6 – Jean 3:5-6 – Romains 5:5 ; 8:9, 14, 16 – 1 Corinthians 3:16 Romains 8:26-27 – 1 Corinthians 2:12-13 – 1 Jean 2:27 – Ephesians 1:13-14
1 Corinthians 12 – Romains 12:6-8 – Galatians 5:22 – 1 Pierre 4:10
The church
The Church is the people God gives himself through Jesus Christ to celebrate the glory of his grace, to proclaim the good news of salvation and to be his witness among men through his works of justice, mercy and reconciliation. God instituted the ministries of the Word in order to make himself known, to call sinners to believe in Jesus Christ, to become part of his people, and to grow in the Christian life.
Isaiah 62:4-5 – Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14 – Titus 2:14 – Matthew 5:13-16 – 1 Peter 2:9-10 – Matthew 28:18 to 20
The local churches
A local church, established according to the Word of God, is a community of believers baptised by profession of faith. Where it is established, it is a concrete and visible representation of the universal Church, the body of Christ. The local church is independent of any authority other than that of Jesus Christ. However, it cannot live in isolation: fraternal links bind it to other churches in solidarity. All the members of the local church, associated in a voluntary commitment, put into practice, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and for the common good, the gifts they have received. In the same way, the churches recognise the service that God entrusts to some of their members in order to exercise a particular office, as taught in the New Testament.
1 Corinthians 12:27 – Acts 2:38-41 – Ephesians 1:22 – 1 Corinthians 12:7 to 11
Ephesians. 4:11 to 16 – Hebrews 10:24-25 – Acts 6:2 to 5 ; 13:1
1 Corinthians 12:28 to 30
The baptism
As Scripture teaches, believers are called to publicly confess their faith through baptism. Baptism visibly manifests the reality of God’s work of salvation and the believer’s union with Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection.
Matthew 28:19 – Acts 2:38 – Acts 8:36 to 39 – Acts 16:31 to 33
Romans 6:3 to 5 – Galatians 3:26-27 – Acts 8:38-39 – Colossians 2:12 – 1 Peter 3:21 Matthew 28:19 – Acts 2:41
The Lord's Supper
The Lord calls his disciples to share the bread and drink the cup of the Lord’s Supper in memory of him, thus proclaiming his death until his return. In so doing, they profess that, through their communion with the living Christ, they form a single body and are united to one another in the same spirit.
Luke 22:14 to 20 – 1 Corinthians 11:23 to 29 – 1 Corinthians 10:16-17
Our hope
The Lord Jesus Christ will return from heaven as he ascended, for the renewal of all things and the full manifestation of the work of salvation. All the dead will be raised and every man will have to give account of his life to God. Those who are found righteous in Jesus Christ will go to eternal life and the others to eternal punishment God has promised a new heaven and a new earth. He himself will dwell with his people: that is what we are waiting for.
Daniel. 7:13-14 – Acts 1:11 – Matthew 24:30-31 – Revelation 1:7-8
Acts 24:15 – Matthew 25:31-46 – Romans 2:5 ; 14:12 – 2 Corinthians 5:10 – Matthew 13:47 to 50 – John 3:36 – 2 Peter 3:13 – Revelation 1:7-8
