Our Beliefs

Hardy Street Baptist Church stands on the authority of Scripture and in the line of Historic Christianity. As a church family, we affirm and believe the following nine core, historic beliefs.

1. THERE IS ONE TRIUNE GOD
There is only one true and living God who is the Creator of the universe. He exists eternally in three Persons – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit working harmoniously in the great work of redemption.

2. THE BIBLE IS GOD’S WORD
The Bible is God’s written revelation of Himself to mankind divinely given through human authors who were inspired by the Holy Spirit. It is entirely true, totally sufficient, and completely authoritative for matters of life and faith.

3. PEOPLE ARE CREATED IN GOD'S IMAGE
Human Beings are created by God to bear His image. They are the crowning work of His creation worthy of love, dignity, and respect regardless of matters like age, race, gender, or class.

4. PEOPLE ARE IN NEED OF REDEMPTION
Because of the Fall, the image of God in people is distorted but not lost. All people have disobeyed God willfully through sin; thus inheriting both physical and spiritual death and the need for redemption. All human beings are born with a sin nature and into an environment inclined toward sin. We believe that sinners are justified and saved only by the grace of God through simple faith in Jesus Christ.

5. JESUS IS BOTH LORD AND CHRIST
Jesus is both fully God and fully human. He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on the Cross as a substitute for mankind, was raised from the dead, ascended into heaven, and will one day return.

6. JESUS IS THE ONLY WAY OF SALVATION
Salvation comes only through Jesus Christ, the only mediator between God and man. No other religion, belief, or person can reconcile God and man. He alone can provide forgiveness and eternal salvation.

7. SALVATION IS BY FAITH ALONE

Salvation comes only through a faith relationship with Jesus Christ, the Savior, as a person repents of sin and receives Christ’s forgiveness and eternal life. Salvation is instantaneous and accomplished solely by the power of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. This salvation is wholly of God by grace on the basis of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, not on the basis of human works. All the redeemed are secured in Christ forever.

8. THE CHURCH IS CHRIST'S BODY

The Holy Spirit immediately places all people who put their faith in Jesus Christ into one united spiritual body, the Church, of which Christ is the head. We believe that a visible church of Christ is a congregation of baptized believers, an autonomous body, associated by covenant in faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws, and exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word; seeking to extend the Gospel to the ends of the world; that its only Scriptural officers are pastors and deacons, whose qualifications, claims, and duties are defined in the scriptures.??

We believe that the Bible guides the practices of the church including the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Christian 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. Baptism is the picture of the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior. Baptism is a picture of the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in a new life in Christ Jesus. Baptism shows the believer’s faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Scriptural baptism is required before church membership.

The Lord's Supper is also picture of obedience.We welcome believers of like faith and practice to partake of the Lord's Supper with us. We will regularly observe this ordinance as we, together, solemnly and joyfully remember the past work of Christ on the cross, celebrate the present work of Christ at the Father’s right hand, and anticipate the future work of Christ in His return for His bride.

We believe that the first day of the week is the Lord's Day. It is a Christian custom to recognize this day regularly. On this day Christians celebrate the resurrection of Christ from the dead. This day should include worship and spiritual commitment, both public and private. Activities on the Lord's Day should agree with the Christian's sense of right and wrong under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

9. JESUS CHRIST WILL RETURN

God will bring the world to its appropriate end in His own time and in His own way. At that time, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth. Christ will judge both the saved and unsaved. Those who have trusted Christ will receive a glorified body and dwell forever with the Lord. Those who have not trusted in Christ will spend eternity in hell, the place of everlasting punishment.

SCRIPTURAL AUTHORITY AND SBC AFFILIATION
We believe that these Articles of Faith do not exhaust the extent of our beliefs. The Holy Bible itself, as the inspired and infallible Word of God that speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality, and the proper conduct of mankind, is the sole and final source of all that we believe. 

We voluntarily cooperate with the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention. We desire to guide the principles of our faith and govern this body in an orderly manner consistent with the Baptist Faith and Message of the Southern Baptist Convention, 2000 ©.