Articles of Faith
Article I – Of the Scriptures

We believe that the Holy Bible, as originally
written, was verbally inspired and is the product
of the Spirit controlled men; and therefore is
truth without admixture of error for its matter.
We believe that it is the true center of Christian
union and the only infallible rule for all human
conduct, creeds, and opinions. (II Timothy
Article II – Of the True God

We believe that there is only one living and true
God, infinite in every excellence; that in the
unity of the God head there are three personal
distinctions – the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit – yet one in substance and equal in every
divine perfection. (Exodus 20:2, 3; I Corinthians
8:6, I John 5:7)

We believe in the absolute Deity of the Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ; that He was divine as no other
man can be, being very God of very God, existing
from all eternity co-equal with the Father and
the Spirit; that He never ceased to be God for
one instant and that His humiliation did not
consist of laying aside His deity; that as man He
was miraculously begotten of the Holy Ghost and
born of the virgin Mary. (John 1:1, 2; John 5:20;
Luke 1:26-38)

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a Divine
Person, equal with the Father and Son and of the
same substance and nature; that He convicts of
sin, righteousness and judgment, bears witness to
the truth, is the Agent of the New Birth and that
He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses to,
sanctifies, and helps the believer, in dwelling
every true Child of God. (II Corinthians 13:14;
John 13:16, 17; Romans 8:14-27)

Article III – Of the Devil, or Satan

We believe in the distinct personality of Satan, that
he is the unholy god of this age; author of all powers
of darkness and sin, and is destined to the judgment
of an eternal justice in the lake of fire. (Matthew 4:1-
3; II Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 20:10)

Article IV – Of the Creation

We believe that God created the heavens and the
earth, including all life, “each after its own kind,” by
direct act, and not by the process of evolution.
(Genesis 1:2; Colossions 1:16, 17; John 1:3)

Article V – Of the Fall of Man

We believe that man, in the person of the first
Adam, was created in innocence but by voluntary
transgression fell into sin, thus plunging the whole
race into condemnation and death, so that now all
mankind is born in sin and shaped in iniquity and
become willful sinners with the first expression of
personal choice, and so are without excuse before
God. (Genesis 3; Romans 5:10-19)

Article VI – Of the Redemption from Sin

We believe that the only escape from the
condemnation of sin is through the redemption
wrought by Jesus Christ, when He voluntarily took
upon Him a human body and nature, yet without
sin, and by His suffering, death and resurrection
made full satisfaction to the justice of God for the sin
of man; that the blessings of this salvation are given
on the grounds of grace to all who believe and
confess and that it is the immediate duty of all to
accept these offers of mercy. (John 1:1-3, 14; Acts
16:30-33)

Article VII – Of Salvation by Grace

We believe that faith in the finished work of the
Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation
from sin and this salvation is wholly by grace; that no
works, however good, make that salvation more
secure. (Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:8, 9; Titus 3:5-7;
Romans 10:9-13)

We believe that all who take Christ as their Savior
are born from above and are eternally secure in
Christ. (John 10:28, 29; Romans 8:35-39; Philippians
1:6)


Article VIII – Of the Church

We believe that the Church universal is a New
Testament institution; unknown to the Old
Testament prophets; established by Jesus Christ,
Who is its sole head; revealed through the holy
Apostles; empowered and perpetuated by the Holy
Spirit; His “Body” for service and His “Bride” for
glory. It began with the New Testament saints and
will be consummated at the coming of Christ in the
Rapture. (Matthew 16:18; Acts 1:8, 2:1-13, 41-47,
15:14; Romans 16:26; I Corinthians 12:12-28;
Ephesians 1:22, 23, 3:21, 5:23-33; I Thessalonians 4:
13-16)

We believe that the Church universal is manifest
through the local church which is a congregation of
immersed believers, associated by covenant through
faith and fellowship of the Gospel; observing the
ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws;
exercising the gifts, rights and privileges invested in
it by His Work; that its officers are bishops (or
pastors) and deacons; that it has the absolute right of
self-government, directed by the Holy Spirit and it is
answerable only to Christ, and that in all matters of
membership, policy, government, discipline and
benevolence the will of the local church is final.
Article IX – Of the Ordinances

We believe that there are two church ordinances:
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism is the
immersion of a believer in water and is properly called
“Believer’s Baptism”. It sets forth in a beautiful and
solemn way our faith in our lives as it produces death to
sin and resurrection to a new life. Baptism is a
prerequisite to the privileges of church membership.
The Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of our Lord’s
death until He comes and our continual fellowship with
Him, should be proceeded by baptism, always by careful
self-examination and the reading or reference to
appropriate passages of scripture. (Acts 8:36-39;
Romans 6:3-5; I Corinthians 11:23-32)


Article X – Of the Righteous and Wicked

We believe that there is a radical and essential
difference between the righteous and the wicked; that
only such as through faith are justified in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ, and sanctified by the Spirit of
God, are truly righteous in God’s esteem; while all such
who continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His
sight wicked, and under the curse; and that this
distinction holds among men both during life and after
death, in the everlasting conscious felicity of the saved
and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost.
(Malachi 3:18; Romans 6:17-23; Matthew 25:34-41;
Luke 6:25; John 8:21)

Article XI – Of the Return of Christ

We believe in the bodily, personal, imminent,
pretribulational, premillennial return of Jesus Christ;
that He will come to catch away His church, coming
only into the air, and that He will come with His
church at the close of the tribulation to judge the living
nations and the set up His kingdom on earth. (I
Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation
19:11-21)

Article XII – Of the Resurrection

We believe in the resurrection of the bodies of the
dead; that believers who sleep in Jesus will be raised at
the coming of Christ for His church and caught up with
transformed living saints to meet the Lord in the air,
and that the wicked dead will be raised at the close of
the Millennial kingdom and stand in their bodies at the
Great White Throne of judgment to receive their final
doom. (John 5:21-30; I Thessalonians 4:16; Revelation
7:9-17, 20:11-15)

Article XIII – Of Separation

We believe in personal separation from all practices
and influences which hinder a Spirit-filled life. We
believe in ecclesiastical separation form all forms of
apostasy. This we believe necessary as the only
scriptural basis for a happy and useful Christian life.
(Romans 6:1-14; Galatians 5:16-25; James 4:14; I John
2:15-17; II Corinthians 6:14, 7:1; Colossians 3:1-17;
Romans 12:1)

Article XIV – Of Mission

We believe that it is the privilege and responsibility of
every believer to be a personal soul winner and to do
his utmost to give the Gospel of Christ to the whole
world. (Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; John 17:18, 20:21; II
Corinthians 5:20)
  Rising Higher  
 Standing Sure
Calvary Baptist Church
Undeterred by changing horizons in Alexandria, VA
Pastor Michael Walters