Our Beliefs & Values
Our Beliefs
Lone Oak is a member of the Southern Baptist Convention, and as Southern Baptists, there are certain distinct practices of the faith which we hold as believers. Our church has chosen the The Baptist Faith and Message as a summary and statement of our faith (scriptural beliefs).
Below are our basic church beliefs:
There is only one living and true God. He is all knowing, all powerful and everywhere. He reveals Himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.
As Father, God provides, loves, disciplines and freely offers grace to us through faith in Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is the perfect representation of the Father in human form, both fully human and fully divine. He was born of a virgin, and lived a sinless life. In death, He was the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people. He rose from the dead after three days and, a short time later, ascended to Heaven where He reigns. He will return one day and, in the meantime, lives in the lives of all Christians.
The Holy Spirit lives within each Christian to inspire, guide, convict of sin and give abilities and spiritual gifts for carrying out the work of the church.
The Bible is the historical revelation of God’s activity for humanity, the authority of God to teach, guide, correct, train and save. It was inspired by the Holy Spirit, is truth without error and is complete in revealing the will of God.
We are saved by God’s grace at the point of personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Man is sinful and does not have the ability to save himself and the solution to overcoming the death penalty of sin is to acknowledge the need for God, turn from sin, believe that Christ is Savior and publicly confess Jesus as Lord. There is no other way to mend your relationship with God. Once salvation occurs, it can never be taken away or lost.
Baptism is by immersion after faith in Christ and is an outward expression of an inward change and commitment that has occurred in the life of a believer. Baptism pictures Christ’s death and resurrection through immersion into water. It is not a means of salvation.
The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice. The bread and cup represent the body and blood of Christ. Those who have accepted Christ as Savior and Lord participate in the Lord’s Supper during periodic observances.
A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. We believe Christ is the Head of the church and under His direction Lone Oak First Baptist Church is Pastor-led, Deacon-served, Committee-functioned, and Congregationally-approved.