Our Vision
It's our conviction that there's one vision for the New Testament church. We believe we have been commanded to do one main thing above everything else:
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Matthew 28:19–20
Anything else we do as Christians should flow through from this command to make disciples of the Lord Jesus. It’s a simple mission, but one that drives everything we do as a body of believers. From our weekend services to our ministry programs and outreach initiatives, our goal is to disciple everyone we meet to a thriving and vibrant relationship with Jesus.
Our Beliefs
The following is an overview of our core beliefs:
I. The Scriptures
The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were written by divinely inspired men and is God's unique revelation of Himself to humankind. Its assertions are factually true and no other writings are vested with such divine authority. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is wholly true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true centre of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation. The final guide to the interpretation of Scripture is Scripture itself; and therefore when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture, it must be searched by other places that speak more clearly.
II. God
There is one and only one living and true God, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe, whose subsistence is in and of Himself, and whose essence cannot be comprehended by any but Himself. He is Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, truth, and all other perfections. God is all–powerful, all–knowing, and present everywhere at all times. God's perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and these three are one God, the same in substance, and equal in power and glory, with each having the whole divine essence, yet the essence undivided.
A. God the Father
God the Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all–powerful, all–knowing, all–loving, and all–wise. God is the Father to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. However, He did not become Father when He adopts believers as children, as His fatherhood is eternal. He is eternally the Father of Jesus Christ, and through Jesus He is the believer's Father. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men.
B. God the Son
Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of the Father, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities, and identifying Himself completely with humankind, yet without sin. Jesus lived a sinless life, fulfilling the Law and completely obeying the will of God by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. On the third day following his crucifixion, Jesus rose from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples. He ascended into Heaven and now sits at the right hand of God the Father, according to the Scriptures, where He is the One Mediator, fully God and fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission.
C. God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Saviour, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He baptises every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church, and lives and works in each believer to produce fruits of righteousness. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.
III. Man
Man is the special creation of God, after His own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God’s creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original innocence whereby his posterity inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin. Therefore, as soon as they are capable of moral action, they become transgressors and are under condemnation. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfil the creative purpose of God. All human life is sacred and begins at conception (defined as the moment of fertilisation). Each unborn child is a unique, living human being, created in the image of God, and must be respected and protected both before and after birth. The abortion of an unborn child or the active, intentional taking of human life through euthanasia or assisted suicide constitutes a violation of the sanctity of human life and is a crime against God and man. Since all humans are made in the image of God, all humans have equal dignity and value regardless of age (including the unborn), intelligence, gender, physical ability, skin tone, religion, ethnicity, or any other characteristic.
IV. Salvation
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, adoption, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
A. Regeneration
Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God’s grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It refers to the instantaneous change from spiritual death to spiritual life, that is, a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace. Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Saviour.
B. Justification
Those whom God effectually calls, He also freely justifies. For all sinners who repent and believe in Christ, justification is an act of God’s grace, wherein He pardons all his sins and accepts him as righteous in His sight. Justification brings the believer into a relationship of peace and favour with God, and is received by faith alone.
C. Adoption
To all those that are justified, adoption is that privilege bestowed upon those who are united with Christ, and justified by faith, by which they are admitted into the family of God, adopted as His children, and made joint heirs with His own Son. It is essentially relational. Through adoption, we relate to God the Father as our Father–Saviour, to Jesus as our brother and co–heir and fellow sufferer, and to the Spirit as our pledge or "down payment" of our inheritance in Christ. As partakers of the grace of adoption, believers enjoy the liberties and privileges of the children of God, have access to the throne of grace with boldness, are sealed to the day of redemption, and inherit the promises as heirs of everlasting salvation.
D. Sanctification
Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God’s purposes, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate person’s life. The more sanctified the person is, the more conformed he is to the image of his Saviour.
E. Glorification
Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is God’s final removal of sin from the life of the saints in the eternal state. At Christ’s coming, the glory of God — His honour, praise, majesty, and holiness — will be realised in the believer; instead of being mortals burdened with sin nature, the saints of God will be changed into holy immortals with direct and unhindered access to God’s presence, and will enjoy holy communion with Him throughout eternity.
V. The Church
A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the offices of deacon, elder and pastor are restricted to men as qualified by Scripture. The New Testament speaks also of the church as the Body of Christ which includes all persons throughout the world, professing the faith of the gospel and obedience unto God through Christ; they are and may be called visible saints, and of such ought all particular congregations to be constituted.
VI. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
That church has only two ordinances: baptism and the Lord's Supper, as ordained by Christ. Neither have any merit towards salvation, but are a witness to believers as they obey the Lord. Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolising the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. With this in view, infant baptism is not a biblical practice. The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialise the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming. It is required of them that would partake of the Lord’s Supper, that they examine themselves; lest, coming unworthily, they eat and drink judgment to themselves.
VII. The Lord’s Day
The first day of the week is the Lord’s Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private. Activities on the Lord’s Day should be commensurate with the Christian’s conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
VIII. The Last Days
God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring this world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth, the dead will be raised, and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell until the final judgement of the Great White Throne, when soul and body re–united at the resurrection shall be cast into the lake of fire. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord. Satan, who is the personal adversary of both God and humankind, will be judged and cast into the lake of fire forever.
IX. Evangelism and Missions
It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavour to make disciples of all nations. The new birth of man’s spirit by God’s Holy Spirit means the birth of love for others. Missionary effort on the part of all rests thus upon a spiritual necessity of the regenerate life, and is expressly and repeatedly commanded in the teachings of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ has commanded the preaching of the gospel to all nations. It is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle, and by other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ.
X. Stewardship
God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him. Christians have a spiritual debtorship to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel, and a binding stewardship in their possessions. They are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions; and should recognise all these as entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for helping others. According to the Scriptures, Christians should contribute of their means cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancement of the Redeemer’s cause on earth.
XI. Separation of Church and State
God alone is Lord of the conscience, and He has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are contrary to His Word or not contained in it. Church and state should be separate. The state owes to every church protection and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends. In providing for such freedom no ecclesiastical group or denomination should be favoured by the state more than others. Civil government being ordained of God, it is the duty of Christians to render loyal obedience thereto in all things not contrary to the revealed will of God. The church should not resort to the civil power to carry on its work. The gospel of Christ contemplates spiritual means alone for the pursuit of its ends. The state has no right to impose penalties for religious opinions of any kind. The state has no right to impose taxes for the support of any form of religion. A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal, and this implies the right of free and unhindered access to God on the part of all men, and the right to form and propagate opinions in the sphere of religion without interference by the civil power.
XII. Family
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 lifelong union of one man (according to biological gender at birth) and one woman (according to biological gender at birth), as stated in the Scriptures. Marriage, based on God’s model in the beginning of creation, is to be between one man and one woman; neither is it lawful for any man to have more than one wife, nor for any woman to have more than one husband at the same time. Adam’s headship in marriage was established by God before the Fall and was not a result of sin, and both the Old and New Testaments also affirm the principle of male headship in the family. Therefore, 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. 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, and are responsible to instruct their children in Christian faith and conduct, to set before them godly and consistent examples of the same, and in every way to “bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Children are to honour and obey their parents. A denial or neglect of these principles will lead to increasingly destructive consequences in our families, our evangelical churches, and the culture at large.
Statement on Gender and Sexuality
As a church, we believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between one man and one woman. We believe that any form of sexual immorality, including, but not limited to, lust, fornication, adultery, unbiblical divorce, cohabitation prior to marriage, the use or promulgation of pornography, paedophilia, homosexual conduct, bisexual conduct, polygamy, polyamory, bestiality, or incest, is sinful and offensive to God. We believe that God’s good creation included the creation of humanity with two sexes: male and female. Gender and biological sex are equivalent and cannot be separated. A person’s gender is determined at conception (fertilisation), coded in the DNA, and cannot be changed by drugs, hormones, or surgery. Rejection of one’s biological sex (gender) or identifying oneself by the opposite sex is a sinful rejection of the way God made that person. We recognise that there are very rare but diagnosable medical conditions where one’s sex may be indeterminable genetically or biologically at birth, and that such conditions require the utmost sensitivity, care, and qualified medical assistance. Beyond that, we believe that an individual’s confusion about his or her sex or gender is one of the many consequences of living in a fallen world marred by sin and that to seek to alter one’s biological sex or gender through surgical, pharmacological, or other means is sinful and offensive to God. We believe that such situations call for pastorally sensitive care and biblically faithful counselling, as necessary in each situation. We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, truth, and dignity. Hateful and harassing behaviour or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accordance with Scripture, nor the doctrines of Limavady Baptist Church, however, calling people to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ does not constitute hateful or harassing behaviour.
It's our conviction that there's one vision for the New Testament church. We believe we have been commanded to do one main thing above everything else:
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Matthew 28:19–20
Anything else we do as Christians should flow through from this command to make disciples of the Lord Jesus. It’s a simple mission, but one that drives everything we do as a body of believers. From our weekend services to our ministry programs and outreach initiatives, our goal is to disciple everyone we meet to a thriving and vibrant relationship with Jesus.
Our Beliefs
The following is an overview of our core beliefs:
I. The Scriptures
The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were written by divinely inspired men and is God's unique revelation of Himself to humankind. Its assertions are factually true and no other writings are vested with such divine authority. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is wholly true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true centre of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation. The final guide to the interpretation of Scripture is Scripture itself; and therefore when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture, it must be searched by other places that speak more clearly.
II. God
There is one and only one living and true God, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe, whose subsistence is in and of Himself, and whose essence cannot be comprehended by any but Himself. He is Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, truth, and all other perfections. God is all–powerful, all–knowing, and present everywhere at all times. God's perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and these three are one God, the same in substance, and equal in power and glory, with each having the whole divine essence, yet the essence undivided.
A. God the Father
God the Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all–powerful, all–knowing, all–loving, and all–wise. God is the Father to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. However, He did not become Father when He adopts believers as children, as His fatherhood is eternal. He is eternally the Father of Jesus Christ, and through Jesus He is the believer's Father. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men.
B. God the Son
Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of the Father, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities, and identifying Himself completely with humankind, yet without sin. Jesus lived a sinless life, fulfilling the Law and completely obeying the will of God by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. On the third day following his crucifixion, Jesus rose from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples. He ascended into Heaven and now sits at the right hand of God the Father, according to the Scriptures, where He is the One Mediator, fully God and fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission.
C. God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Saviour, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He baptises every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church, and lives and works in each believer to produce fruits of righteousness. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.
III. Man
Man is the special creation of God, after His own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God’s creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original innocence whereby his posterity inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin. Therefore, as soon as they are capable of moral action, they become transgressors and are under condemnation. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfil the creative purpose of God. All human life is sacred and begins at conception (defined as the moment of fertilisation). Each unborn child is a unique, living human being, created in the image of God, and must be respected and protected both before and after birth. The abortion of an unborn child or the active, intentional taking of human life through euthanasia or assisted suicide constitutes a violation of the sanctity of human life and is a crime against God and man. Since all humans are made in the image of God, all humans have equal dignity and value regardless of age (including the unborn), intelligence, gender, physical ability, skin tone, religion, ethnicity, or any other characteristic.
IV. Salvation
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, adoption, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
A. Regeneration
Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God’s grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It refers to the instantaneous change from spiritual death to spiritual life, that is, a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace. Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Saviour.
B. Justification
Those whom God effectually calls, He also freely justifies. For all sinners who repent and believe in Christ, justification is an act of God’s grace, wherein He pardons all his sins and accepts him as righteous in His sight. Justification brings the believer into a relationship of peace and favour with God, and is received by faith alone.
C. Adoption
To all those that are justified, adoption is that privilege bestowed upon those who are united with Christ, and justified by faith, by which they are admitted into the family of God, adopted as His children, and made joint heirs with His own Son. It is essentially relational. Through adoption, we relate to God the Father as our Father–Saviour, to Jesus as our brother and co–heir and fellow sufferer, and to the Spirit as our pledge or "down payment" of our inheritance in Christ. As partakers of the grace of adoption, believers enjoy the liberties and privileges of the children of God, have access to the throne of grace with boldness, are sealed to the day of redemption, and inherit the promises as heirs of everlasting salvation.
D. Sanctification
Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God’s purposes, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate person’s life. The more sanctified the person is, the more conformed he is to the image of his Saviour.
E. Glorification
Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is God’s final removal of sin from the life of the saints in the eternal state. At Christ’s coming, the glory of God — His honour, praise, majesty, and holiness — will be realised in the believer; instead of being mortals burdened with sin nature, the saints of God will be changed into holy immortals with direct and unhindered access to God’s presence, and will enjoy holy communion with Him throughout eternity.
V. The Church
A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the offices of deacon, elder and pastor are restricted to men as qualified by Scripture. The New Testament speaks also of the church as the Body of Christ which includes all persons throughout the world, professing the faith of the gospel and obedience unto God through Christ; they are and may be called visible saints, and of such ought all particular congregations to be constituted.
VI. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
That church has only two ordinances: baptism and the Lord's Supper, as ordained by Christ. Neither have any merit towards salvation, but are a witness to believers as they obey the Lord. Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolising the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. With this in view, infant baptism is not a biblical practice. The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialise the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming. It is required of them that would partake of the Lord’s Supper, that they examine themselves; lest, coming unworthily, they eat and drink judgment to themselves.
VII. The Lord’s Day
The first day of the week is the Lord’s Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private. Activities on the Lord’s Day should be commensurate with the Christian’s conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
VIII. The Last Days
God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring this world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth, the dead will be raised, and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell until the final judgement of the Great White Throne, when soul and body re–united at the resurrection shall be cast into the lake of fire. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord. Satan, who is the personal adversary of both God and humankind, will be judged and cast into the lake of fire forever.
IX. Evangelism and Missions
It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavour to make disciples of all nations. The new birth of man’s spirit by God’s Holy Spirit means the birth of love for others. Missionary effort on the part of all rests thus upon a spiritual necessity of the regenerate life, and is expressly and repeatedly commanded in the teachings of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ has commanded the preaching of the gospel to all nations. It is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle, and by other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ.
X. Stewardship
God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him. Christians have a spiritual debtorship to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel, and a binding stewardship in their possessions. They are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions; and should recognise all these as entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for helping others. According to the Scriptures, Christians should contribute of their means cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancement of the Redeemer’s cause on earth.
XI. Separation of Church and State
God alone is Lord of the conscience, and He has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are contrary to His Word or not contained in it. Church and state should be separate. The state owes to every church protection and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends. In providing for such freedom no ecclesiastical group or denomination should be favoured by the state more than others. Civil government being ordained of God, it is the duty of Christians to render loyal obedience thereto in all things not contrary to the revealed will of God. The church should not resort to the civil power to carry on its work. The gospel of Christ contemplates spiritual means alone for the pursuit of its ends. The state has no right to impose penalties for religious opinions of any kind. The state has no right to impose taxes for the support of any form of religion. A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal, and this implies the right of free and unhindered access to God on the part of all men, and the right to form and propagate opinions in the sphere of religion without interference by the civil power.
XII. Family
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 lifelong union of one man (according to biological gender at birth) and one woman (according to biological gender at birth), as stated in the Scriptures. Marriage, based on God’s model in the beginning of creation, is to be between one man and one woman; neither is it lawful for any man to have more than one wife, nor for any woman to have more than one husband at the same time. Adam’s headship in marriage was established by God before the Fall and was not a result of sin, and both the Old and New Testaments also affirm the principle of male headship in the family. Therefore, 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. 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, and are responsible to instruct their children in Christian faith and conduct, to set before them godly and consistent examples of the same, and in every way to “bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Children are to honour and obey their parents. A denial or neglect of these principles will lead to increasingly destructive consequences in our families, our evangelical churches, and the culture at large.
Statement on Gender and Sexuality
As a church, we believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between one man and one woman. We believe that any form of sexual immorality, including, but not limited to, lust, fornication, adultery, unbiblical divorce, cohabitation prior to marriage, the use or promulgation of pornography, paedophilia, homosexual conduct, bisexual conduct, polygamy, polyamory, bestiality, or incest, is sinful and offensive to God. We believe that God’s good creation included the creation of humanity with two sexes: male and female. Gender and biological sex are equivalent and cannot be separated. A person’s gender is determined at conception (fertilisation), coded in the DNA, and cannot be changed by drugs, hormones, or surgery. Rejection of one’s biological sex (gender) or identifying oneself by the opposite sex is a sinful rejection of the way God made that person. We recognise that there are very rare but diagnosable medical conditions where one’s sex may be indeterminable genetically or biologically at birth, and that such conditions require the utmost sensitivity, care, and qualified medical assistance. Beyond that, we believe that an individual’s confusion about his or her sex or gender is one of the many consequences of living in a fallen world marred by sin and that to seek to alter one’s biological sex or gender through surgical, pharmacological, or other means is sinful and offensive to God. We believe that such situations call for pastorally sensitive care and biblically faithful counselling, as necessary in each situation. We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, truth, and dignity. Hateful and harassing behaviour or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accordance with Scripture, nor the doctrines of Limavady Baptist Church, however, calling people to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ does not constitute hateful or harassing behaviour.