Table of contents
  1. The Bible
  2. The Biblical Dispensations
  3. The Triune God
  4. His Virgin Birth
  5. His Person
  6. His Blood
  7. His Blood Atonement
  8. His Soul And Spirit’s Dissension, Bodily Resurrection, Bodily Ascension, High Priesthood, And Bodily Return
  9. God The Holy Spirit
  10. The Creation Of The Universe
  11. The Creation And Fall Of Man
  12. The Christian’s Two Natures
  13. The Christian’s Service
  14. Satan And Fallen And Unfallen Angels
  15. The Fall Of Man
  16. The Righteous And The Wicked
  17. Salvation Only Through Christ
  18. Repentance
  19. The New Birth
  20. Justification
  21. Sanctification
  22. Eternal Security Of Believers
  23. Assurance Of Believers
  24. The Church
  25. The Church’s Great Commission
  26. The Church’s Two Ordinances: Baptism And The Lord’s Supper
  27. Biblical Separation
  28. Civil Government
  29. Israel
  30. The Rapture--The Blessed Hope
  31. The Tribulation
  32. The Second Coming Of Christ
  33. The Eternal State

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Article of Faith
What We Believe

THE NEW BIRTH

A. The Definition Of The New Birth. We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be born again (John 3:3, 5; Ephesians 2:1, 5; 1 John 5:1); that the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17; Colossians 2:13; John 3:8); that it happens the instant a person believes on and receives the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Savior (Acts 16:30-31); that it is instantaneous and not a process (John 5:24); that in the new birth the one dead in trespasses and in sins is made a partaker of the divine nature and receives eternal life, the free gift of God (Romans 3:23; 6:23); that the new creation is brought about by our sovereign God when we exercise personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; that this faith comes about under the convicting power of the Holy Spirit in connection with our voluntary faith in the gospel of Christ; that its proper evidence appears in a transformed and holy life.

B. The Results Of The New Birth. We believe that when an unregenerate person exercises faith in Christ which is illustrated and described as such in the New Testament, he passes immediately out of spiritual death into spiritual life, and from the old creation into the new (John 5:24; 2 Corinthians 5:17); that, being justified from all things, accepted before the Father according as Christ His Son is accepted, loved as Christ is loved, having his place and portion as linked to Him and one with Him forever (John 17:23); that, though the saved one may have occasion to grow in the realization of His blessings and to know a fuller measure of divine power through the yielding of his life more fully to God; that he is, as soon as he is saved, in possession of every spiritual blessing and absolutely complete in Christ (Acts 13:39; Romans 5:1; 1 Corinthians 3:21-23; Ephesians 1:3; 2 Peter 1:4; Colossians 2:10; 1 John 5:11,12); and that the believer is in no way required by God to seek a so-called “second blessing" or a "second work of grace." We believe that genuine salvation produces a change in the life of the sinner as James 2:14,17,18 alludes to. The change that takes place may vary greatly from one Christian to another, depending entirely upon how much the individual yields themselves to the Spirit of God (Romans 6).

In Matthew 13, Jesus speaks about the difference in fruit being produced in a given Christian’s life, some producing “an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.” It is a scriptural fact that some Christians will get into heaven by the ‘skin of their teeth’ (I Corinthians 3:15), producing very little fruit or change in their life (Lot is an example of this).

The degree of visible immorality in a given sinner’s life will drastically effect the perceived change that takes place in his life after conversion. Just like the little visible change that took place in the life of good-living Corneleous in Act 7 after conversion would be much different than the pronounced visible change that took place in the life of Zacchaeus after his conversion in Luke 19.

The change Zacchaeus made in his life was not a condition of his salvation. He could have continued struggling with the sin of thievery and still have been saved. Scripture says that he had immediate victory over that particular sin, but it is a fact that he would have struggled with other sins during the course of his life, perhaps even with the sin of thievery again.

The point is that God gives every Christian the ability to overcome sin, but it is the convert’s responsibility to yield to the Spirit of God so that He can enable the victory. After Corneleous’ conversion, no one knew his heart, and he could very well have had intangible sins that he continued to struggle with, which no one could detect. The low degree of Grace Baptist Church’s ARTICLES OF FAITH 11 change in a given convert’s life does not warrent the accusation from other Christians that he is not truly saved. It is a fact that Christians can be very carnal and worldly (Church of Corinth, Lot).

The important implication is that a drastic change took place within the heart of BOTH Corneleous and Zacchaeus when, in repentance, they placed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, even though the degree of visible change was starkly different. Once saved, the grossly immoral sinner may have a difficult time overcoming certain sins.

The same is true for a “good living” sinner who is converted and continues to struggle with certain sins that he is susceptible to (even though those sins may be undetectable to others.) Sometimes Christians gain the victory over a particular sin(s) for months or years, only to fall again in a time of spiritual weakness.