ARTICLE I: NAME
This assembly of baptized believers shall be called the Good Shepherd Baptist Church of Cleveland, Ohio.
ARTICLE II: PURPOSE
The purpose of this church is to evangelize the lost and to edify the saved. “Getting The Word Of God To The People.”
Section 1: The Scriptures
We believe that the Scriptures, consisting of the Old and New Testaments, are verbally and plenarily inspired by God, are inerrant in the original writings, and are the supreme and final authority in faith and life. (Isaiah 40:8, II Timothy 3:16-17, John 10:35, II Peter 1:19-21)
Section 2: God
We believe in The Holy Trinity of The Godhead: The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. This Trinity consists of three Persons who are One in substance, attributes, power, glory, and purpose. (Genesis 1:1-26, Matthew 28:19, Mark 12:29, II Corinthians 13:14)
Section 3: Jesus Christ
We believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe in His external pre-existence, His virgin birth (being conceived by the Holy Spirit), His humanity, and His sinless life. We believe that He died on the cross for the sins of all mankind. We believe in His physical resurrection from the grave, His bodily ascension into heaven, and in His high-priestly work and advocacy, at the right hand of the Father, for the believer. We believe in His bodily return in the air for His bride, the Church, and in His visible, bodily, and pre-millennial return with the Church to the earth, where He will establish His kingdom and reign on David’s throne for a thousand years. We believe that all judgment has been given unto Him by the Father. (John 1:1-2, and 14; 5:22, Matthew 1:18, I Peter 2:22-24, I Corinthians 15:3-4, Acts 1:11, I John 2:1, I Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 12:2; 7:24-27; 4:14-15, I Thessalonians 4:15-17, Jude 24, and Revelation 20:4)
Section 4: The Holy Spirit
We believe in the deity and personality of the Holy Spirit. We believe that He is the Administrator of the Godhead; convincing men of sin, revealing Christ, teaching truth, restraining evil, energizing believers, and indwelling them forever. (Acts 5:24, John 16:7-11, 13-15, John 14:16-17, and 26, and II Thessalonians 2:7)
Section 5: Man
We believe that God made man in His own image through direct creation, not by any evolutionary process. We believe the scriptural record of the fall of man through disobedience to God’s commandment. This disobedience insured for man not only physical death, but also spiritual death (separation from God). All human beings are born with a sinful nature. All human beings are sinners in thought, word, and deed, and are depraved in the sight of God. (Genesis 1:26-27, 2:7-9, 16-17, 3:1-19, Psalm 51:5, Romans 5:12, and Ephesians 2:1-3)
Section 6: Salvation
We believe that all who receive Jesus Christ as their own personal savior are born again through the Holy Spirit, and through the word of God, and, thereby, become the children of God. Through personal faith in the redeeming work of Christ on the cross, the ungodly one is justified by Christ’s shed blood, and is eternally saved by grace. This is wholly apart from human merit and work. (John 1:12, Acts19:31, Romans 4:5, and Ephesians 2:8-9)
Section 7: Satan
We believe in the reality and personality of Satan, the archenemy of God. Satan is a created being known as, “the anointed cherub that covereth”. Through pride and selfish ambition, he fell from his holy estate, becoming the originator and agent of sin. He is the god of this world, the prince of the power of the air, and the spiritual father of all who are lost in sin. He was judged by the death and resurrection of Christ, and, ultimately, will be cast into the lake of fire. (Isaiah 14:9-17, Ezekiel 28:12-19, John 8:44, Ephesians 2:2, John 16:11, Revelation 20:10, and Genesis 3:15)
Section 8: Heaven and Hell
We believe in the bodily resurrection of all who die. The saved will arise to a life of eternal glory and bliss in heaven with God. One thousand years later, the unsaved will arise to an eternal judgment of conscious suffering and separation from God in the lake of fire. (John 6:28-29, Revelation 20:6, John 14:1-4, Revelation 20:11-15, 21:1-8, and Matthew 25:41)
Section 9: Church and Its Ordinances
We believe that a local, fundamental Baptist church is a voluntary association of baptized believers who are equal in rank and privilege, subject to the word of God, and independent of any external ecclesiastical control whatsoever.
We believe that God’s word commands every believer to be baptized. We believe the only scriptural mode for baptism to be immersion in water. Though baptism has no saving merit, it does show forth, in solemn and beautiful symbol, the believer’s faith in, and union with the crucified, buried, and risen savior. (Acts 8:38, 18:8, and Romans 6:3-5)
We believe that the Lord’s Supper is a provision of bread and unfermented fruit juice, which are symbolic of Christ’s broken body and shed blood. We believe that the Lord’s Supper is consumed by saved individuals in commemoration of the suffering and death of their Lord, and in the anticipation of His coming again. The observance of the Lord’s Supper is to be preceded by faithful self-examination. (Luke 22:19-20, and I Corinthians 11:27-30)
Section 10: Separation
We believe that the word of God clearly demands that the believer walk in the path of separation from carnal, worldly pleasures and questionable practices, which are harmful to a progressive Christian life, and are stumbling blocks unto others. The believer should abide in Christ, walk in the spirit, and enjoy victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil. (Romans 12:1-2, John 2:15-17, Colossians 3:1-17, and Romans 6:1-14)
Section 11: Evangelism
We believe that it is the privilege and responsibility of every believer to be a personal soul-winner, and to do his utmost to witness for Jesus Christ at all times. (Acts 1:8, and II Corinthians 5:20)
Section 12: Rapture of the Church
We believe that at any moment, the rapture of the saved from the earth will occur. “The Lord shall descend from heaven” to catch up His own to meet Him in the air, and “so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (John 14:1-3, I Thessalonians 4:13, and I Corinthians 15:51-58)
Section 13: Christian Love
We believe in practicing Christian love among believers. (I Corinthians 13, I John 4:7, and John 13:34-35)
