The Bible:

We believe the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, to be verbally and plenary Inspired of God. The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible, and inspired; and therefore are the final authority for birth and life. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are the complete and Divine revelation from God to man. The Scriptures shall be interpreted according to their normal grammatical-historical meaning. The King James Version of the Bible shall be the official translation used by the Church for preaching and teaching. (II Tim. 3:16-17 : II Pet. 1:20-21)

The Godhead:

We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons-Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, each co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections. (Deut. 6:4 : Matt. 28:19 : John 14:10,26 : II Cor. 13:14)

The Person and Work of Christ:

A.  We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men. (Isa. 7:14,9:6 : Luke 1:35 : John 1:1-2,14 : II Cor. 5:19-21 : Gal. 4:4-5 : Phil. 2:5-8)

B.  We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through the shedding of His blood and His death on the cross as our vicarious substitutionary sacrifice; and, that our justification is made sure by His literal physical resurrection from the dead. (Acts 2:18-36 : Rom. 3:24-25 : I Pet. 2:24 : Eph. 1:7 : I Peter 1:3-5)

C.  We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry as Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate of those who are redeemed. (Acts 1:9-10 : Heb. 7:25, 9-24 : Rom. 8:34 : I John 2:1-2)

The Person and Work of the Holy Ghost:

A.  We believe the Holy Ghost is a person who convicts the world of sin, or righteousness, and of judgment to come; and, that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and empowering them to live the Christian life successfully. (John 16:9-11 : Rom. 8:9 : I Cor. 12:12-14 : II Cor. 3:6)

B.  We believe that the Holy Ghost is the Divine Teacher who assists believers to understand and appropriate the Scriptures and that it is the privilege, duty and command of all believes to be filled with the Spirit. (Eph. 1:17-18, 5:18 : I John 2:20,27)

C.  We believe that speaking in tongues was a language which was understandable to those who heard the disciples on the Day of Pentecost and such was never the common or necessary sign of the baptism or filling of the Holy Ghost. The unscriptural practice of speaking in tongues will not be tolerated in the Smithfield Free Will Baptist Church. (Acts 2:1-11 : I Cor. 13:21-22)

The Story of Creation:

We believe that God created the universe in six literal, 24-hour periods, known as days. We reject evolution, the Gap Theory, and Day-Age Theory, and Theistic Evolution, or any other unscriptural theories or origin. (Gen. 1 and 2 : Exodus 20:11)

The Personality of Satan:

We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the reason for the fall of man; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and, that he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire at the consummation of the ages. (Job 1:6-7 : Isa. 14:12-17 : Matt. 4:2-11; 25:41 : Rev. 20:10)

The Total Depravity of Man:

We believe that man was created by God in His Own image and likeness, but that in Adam’s sin the human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and, that man is totally depraved, and, of himself, utterly hopeless to remedy his lost condition. Therefore, man must be redeemed from his sin by the grace of God. (Gen. 1:26-27 : Rom. 3:22-23; 5:12; 6:23 : Eph. 2:1-3; 4:17-19)

The Salvation of Man:

We believe that salvation is the free gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. (John 1:12 : Eph. 1:7, 2:8-10 : I Pet. 1:18-19)

The Free Will of Men:

We believe the human will is free and self-controlled, having the power to yield to the influence of the Truth and the Holy Ghost or to resist them and perish. At no time, before salvation or after, does God infringe upon man’s free will to choose good or evil. We believe all believers must through grace continue in faith and obedience until death. There is the possibility of a believer committing the sin of apostasy and being lost, of which there is no remedy. (Joshua 24:15 : Ezek. 18:20-26 : Heb. 6:4-6 : II Pet. 2:20-22 : Col. 1: 21-23)

The Eternal State of Man:

A.  We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to eternal death and everlasting punishment. Man, created in the image and likeness of God, is an eternal being. We reject any erroneous teaching that man will cease to exist after the present life. (Matt. 25:46 : John 5:28-29, 11:25-26 : Rev. 20:5-6, 11-15)

B.  We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord. (Luke 23:43 : II Cor. 5:8 : Phil. 1:23, 3:21 : I Thess. 4:16-17 : Rev. 20:4-6)

C.  We believe that the souls of the lost remain, after death in conscious punishment and torment until the second resurrection, when with soul and body reunited they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment and torment. (Matt. 25:41-46 : Mark 9:43-48 : Luke 16:19-26 : II Thess. 1:7-9 : Jude 6-7 : Rev. 20)

The Church:

A.  We believe that the local church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is solely made up of born-again believers who are sharers of like faith. (I Cor. 12:12-14 : II Cor. 11:2 : Eph. 1:22-23 : Eph. 5:25-27)

B.  We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority or control. We retain the right to govern our own affairs as the Lord would lead us. (Acts 13:1-4; 15:19-31; 20:28 : Rom. 16:1-5 : I Cor. 3:9,16 ; 5:4-7,13 : I Pet. 5:1-4)

C.  We recognize water baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the washing of the saint’s feet as the Scriptural ordinances of obedience for the church in this age. (Matt. 28:19-20 : Acts 2:41-42; 18:18 : I Cor. 11:23-24 : Jn. 13:2-17)

The Second Coming of Jesus Christ:

We believe in the pre-tribulation and pre-millennial Second Coming of Christ will rapture His Church prior to the seven-year tribulation period. At the end of the tribulation period He will personally and visibly return with His saints, to establish His earthly Kingdom, which will last for a period of one thousand years, in fulfillment of the Abrahamic, Davidic, and new covenants left to the church. (Psa. 89:34 : Dan. 2:31-45 : Zech. 14:4-11 : I Thess. 1:10; 4:13-18 : Titus 2:13 : Rev. 3:10; 19:11-16; 20:1-6) (Membership is not contingent upon belief of pre-tribulation and pre-millennial Second Coming.)

Family Relationships:

A.  We believe that men and women are spiritually equal in position before God but that God has ordained distinct and separate spiritual functions for men and women in the home and the church. The husband is to be the leader of the home, and men are to be the leaders of the church. Accordingly, only men are eligible for licensure and ordination by the church. (Gal. 3:28 : Col. 3:18 : I Tim. 2:8-15; 3:4-5; 12)

B.  We believe that God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. The husband is to love his wife as Christ loves the church. The wife is to submit herself to the Scriptural leadership of her husband as the church submits to the headship of Christ. Children are an heritage from the Lord. Parents are responsible for teaching their children spiritual and moral values and leading them, through consistent lifestyle example and appropriate discipline, including Scriptural corporal correction. (Gen. 1:26 -28 : Ex. 20:12 : Deut. 6:4-9 : Ps. 127:3-5 : Prov. 19:18; 22:15; 23:13-14 : Mk. 10:6-12 : I Cor. 7:1-16 : Eph. 5:21-33; 6:1-4 : Col. 3:18-21 : Heb. 13:4 : I Pet. 3:1-7)

Missions:

We believe that God has given the Church a Great Commission to proclaim the Gospel to all nations so that there might be a great multitude from every nation, tribe, ethnic group, and language group who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As ambassadors for Christ we must use every available means to reach every person, at home and abroad, with the Gospel which is able to make them wise unto salvation. (Matt. 28:19-20 : Mark 16:15 : Lk. 24:46-48 : Jn. 20:21 : Acts 1:8 : II Cor. 5:20)