Statement of Faith & Doctrinal Statement

WISCONSIN FELLOWSHIP OF BAPTIST CHURCHES

Section 1.

The purpose of the Fellowship shall be to provide fellowship among Baptist Churches of Wisconsin who are in full agreement with the doctrinal statement as set forth in Article II, Section 2, and to inspire and stimulate fellowshiping churches in the advancement of the cause of Christ through evangelistic and missionary endeavors.

Section 2. We adopt the following Doctrinal Statement:

The Fellowship receives the Scriptures as the inspired Word of God, and as the sole authority in matters of faith and practice. Its understanding of Christian truth as therein contained is expressed by the following declaration of faith:

1. We believe that the Bible is God’s Word, that it was written by men divinely inspired, and that it is the supreme infallible authority in all matters of faith and conduct.

2. We believe in God the Father, perfect in holiness, infinite in wisdom, measureless in power. We rejoice that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He saves from sin and death all that come to Him through Jesus Christ.

3. We believe in Jesus Christ, the eternal and only begotten Son of God, conceived of the Holy Spirit, of virgin birth, sinless in His life, making atonement for the sin of the world by His death. We believe in His bodily resurrection, His ascension, pretribulational return for the saints and visible premillennial return to the world according to His promise.

4. We believe in the Holy Spirit who came forth from God to convince the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment, and to regenerate, sanctify, and comfort those who believe in Jesus Christ.

5. We believe that all men by nature and by choice are sinners, but that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life;” we believe, therefore, that those who accept Christ as Lord and Savior will rejoice forever in God’s presence and those who refuse to accept Christ as Lord and Savior will be forever separated from God.

6. We believe in the Church – a living spiritual body of which Christ is the head and of which all regenerated people are members. We believe that a local church is a company of believers in Jesus Christ, immersed on a credible confession of faith, and associated for worship, work, and fellowship. We believe that to those local churches were committed, for perpetual observance, the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s supper, and that God has laid upon these churches the task of proclaiming to a lost world the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior, and the enthroning of Him as Lord and Master. We believe that all human betterment and social improvements are the inevitable by products of such Gospel.

7. We believe that every human being is responsible to God alone in all matters of faith, that each church is independent and autonomous and must be free from interference by any ecclesiastical or political authority, and that therefore Church and State must be kept separate as having different functions, each fulfilling its duties free from the dictation or patronage of the other.