What We Believe

The following are the core beliefs of First Baptist Shelby based on the foundational truths taught in the bible. All of our teaching and ministry is rooted in and flows out of these biblical doctrines.

There is one eternally existing God who has three distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. He is the creator of all that exists, both visible and invisible, and is therefore worthy of all glory and praise.  God is perfect in love, power, holiness, goodness, knowledge, wisdom,  justice, and mercy. He is unchangeable and therefore is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

God has revealed himself to us through his son, Jesus Christ, who is the visible image of the invisible God, the holy scriptures, and through all of creation itself.

Humans, both male and female, were created in God's image for His glory. The first humans, Adam and Eve, were created without sin and appointed as caretakers of the rest of God's creations.

When Adam and Eve chose not to obey God, they ceased to be what they were made to be and became distorted images of God. This caused them to fall out of fellowship with God, and fractured all of creation ever since that time.

Jesus Christ came to reconcile us with God. He lived a life without sin and willingly died on the cross to pay the penalty for our transgressions. God raised him from the dead and now, by grace, offers as a free gift eternal life to all who follow Christ, by faith, as their Lord and Savior. That is why salvation can be found in Christ alone.

We believe a New Testament church is a local body of baptized believers who voluntarily band themselves together on the basis of shared commitment to Christ as Savior and Lord, to one another as fellow believers in Christ, and to continuing His saving mission in the world. The local church is a self-governing body operating under the Lordship of Christ with pastors and deacons as its scriptural leaders. We also believe that the New Testament speaks of the Church as the body of Christ which is composed of all the redeemed of all the ages.

Jesus Christ is returning one day to judge both the living and the dead and to usher in the fullness of God's kingdom on earth.

Below are brief descriptions about what we believe on some important topics. If you have questions about these topics or other spiritual matters then we invite you to check out our Questions About Faith page, or contact us at info@fbcshelbymt.com.

About The Scripture
We believe that the Bible is the Word of God, truth without any mixture of error, written by men under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and that it has supreme and final authority in all matters of faith and conduct for all who follow Christ.

About The Trinity
We believe in one God, creator and sustainer of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

About The Father
We believe God the Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of human history according to His purposes. He is perfect in character, power, knowledge, and love. God is Father in truth to those who become His children through faith in Jesus Christ.

About The Son
We believe that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He died on the cross, a sacrifice for our sins according to the Scriptures. He rose bodily from the dead, ascended to the right hand of God, and is now our High Priest.

About The Holy Spirit
We believe the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, convict people of sin, regenerate those who believe, and indwell, guide, instruct, and empower the Christian for Godly living and service.

About The Nature of Humanity
We believe all people are created in the image of God and therefore every person has worth and value. The image of God in humans also enables each person to experience a personal relationship with God. However, every person has forfeited that relationship because each one, according to his or her sinful nature and by acts of his or her will, has rejected God.

About The Salvation of Humanity
We believe salvation from sin is provided by God only through the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross for our sins, and that salvation is available as a free gift of God to all who repent of their sin and trust in Christ as Lord and Savior. The result of receiving God’s gift of salvation is restoration to the relationship with Him for which we were created.

About The Security of the Believer
We believe that all true believers by virtue of their faith in Christ are kept secure in Him forever. True believers will experience temptations, doubts, and times of unfaithfulness to Christ but will ultimately persevere in faith.

About The Conduct of the Believer
We believe that a Christian is to live for the glory of God and the well-being of his fellow humans; that his conduct should be blameless before the world; that he should faithfully use his possessions to serve and honor God; and that he should seek to realize for himself and others the goal of full maturity as a disciple of Christ.

About The Ordinances
We believe that the Lord Jesus instituted the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper to be observed by all believers until His return. Baptism is the immersion of the believer in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to symbolize their faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Lord's Supper commemorates the death of Christ through the symbols of bread for his body and the cup for his blood. We believe the ordinances are not necessary for salvation but as acts commanded by Jesus they are essential expressions of Christian commitment.

About Marriage
God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.

About The Family
The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God's image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.

About Children
Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God's pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.

About Last Things
We believe in the personal, visible, and imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ to reign as King over all. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead and the judgment of all people by Christ in righteousness following His return. Following judgment the believer will enter into everlasting joy in heaven with the Lord, and the unbeliever into everlasting punishment in hell apart from the Lord.