Highland Baptist Church exists to glorify Jesus Christ by making disciples who reflect His glory through personal holiness, love for others, and worshipful praise (Colossians 1:28, Ephesians 4:13-16). We are an Independent Baptist church that holds, without compromise, that the Bible is God’s Word and our supreme authority in all matters of faith and practice.
DOCTRINE
We believe that the Holy Scriptures, consisting of the Old and New Testaments only, are the plenary, verbally-inspired Word of God, are inerrant in the original manuscripts, are authoritative, infallible, and God-breathed, and are the supreme and final authority for faith and practice. (2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:20-21, Matthew 5:18, 1 Corinthians 2:10-13)
We believe that there is one God coexisting in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each is eternal in being, identical in essence, equal in power and glory, and have the same divine attributes and perfection, yet exercising them in varied offices. (Deuteronomy 6:4, Matthew 28:19, John 14:7-12 & 16:7, 2 Corinthians 13:14)
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man without ceasing to be God, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful man. (Matthew 1:18-20, John 1:2,14,18, Luke 1:35) The crucified body of our Lord Jesus Christ was resurrected physically from the dead, and our redemption and salvation are guaranteed to us by His resurrection. He ascended bodily into heaven and is there for us as a High Priest and Intercessor. (Matthew 28:5-6, 1 Corinthians 15:12-19, Acts 1:9, Hebrews 4:14-16 & 7:23-25 & 9:24, 1 John 2:1-2)
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person equal with the Father and the Son and of the same essence and nature. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He bears witness to the truth that He is the agent of the new birth. He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses to, sanctifies, and helps the believer. He baptizes the believer into the Church, the Body of Christ, indwells him permanently, seals him unto the day of redemption, bestows spiritual gifts upon each one, and fills for service those yielded to Him. Certain spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit to the Church (such as apostleship, prophesy, and tongues) were temporary, needed only in the infancy of the Church, and are not to be expected today. The Holy Spirit testifies concerning Jesus Christ, not of Himself, and never leads any person, at any time, contrary to the teaching of the Holy Bible. (John 3:8 & 14:16 & 15:26-27 & 16:7-15, Acts 5:1-4, 1 Corinthians 12:4-13 & 13:8-11, Ephesians 4:30 & 5:18)
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but in Adam’s sin, the race of men fell and thereby incurred not only physical death, but also spiritual death, which is separation from God. All men are born with a sinful nature and are now sinners by birth and by choice, positively inclined to evil, and therefore are under just condemnation to eternal ruin in a literal Hell without defense or excuse. (Genesis 1:26 & 3:1-24, 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, Romans 3:23 & 5:12, Ephesians 2:1-6,12, Revelation 20:1-10)
We believe that salvation is a gift of God brought to men by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose blood was shed on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. Salvation is attained solely through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and, being a free gift, is not earned by any good works whatsoever. All those who receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are regenerated and become sons of God. (Ephesians 1:7 & 2:8,9, John 1:12 & 3:5-7)
We believe that the souls of those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation do, at death, immediately pass into His presence and there remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the body at His coming, when soul and body reunited shall be associated with Him forever in glory. However, the soul of the unbeliever remains, after death, in conscious misery until the final judgment of the Great White Throne at the end of the millennium, when soul and body reunited shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, banished from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. (Luke 16:19-26 & 23:43, 2 Corinthians 5:8, Philippians 1:23, 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9, Revelation 20:11-15 & 14:9-14)
We believe that the Church is a living, spiritual body of which Christ is the head. (Matthew 16:16-18, 1 Corinthians 12:12,13, Ephesians 1:22,23 & 5:25-27) Each local church is a visible expression of the Body of Christ and is a congregation of believers in Jesus Christ, established on a credible confession of faith, and associated together by covenant for worship, evangelism, observance of the ordinances, and fellowship. The local church is the center of God’s program for this age, and every believer is bound by Scripture to give his unhindered cooperation to the program of His local church. (Acts 2:41-47 & 20:17, 1 Timothy 3:1-6, Titus 1:5-11, 1 Corinthians 3:10-17 & 5:1-5 & 11:2)
We believe that Baptism is only for the believer in Christ and is the single immersion in water, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to show, by solemn and accurate symbolism, the believer’s identification with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, and is a Scriptural prerequisite to church membership. (Matthew 28:19, Acts 8:36-39, Romans 6:3-5, 1 Peter 3:21, Acts 2:41,47)
We believe that the Lord’s Supper is the partaking of bread and of the fruit of the vine as symbols of Christ’s body and blood, commemorating His suffering and death for us. Participation should be limited to believers who are walking in obedience to the Word of God and should be preceded by careful self-examination. (1 Corinthians 11:23-32 & 9:1-5, Matthew 18:15-17)
We believe marriage to be a holy covenant made between one man and one woman. According to God’s design, sexual intimacy is reserved strictly for the husband with his wife. (Genesis 2:24, 1 Corinthians 6:9, 1 Timothy 1:8-11)
We believe that the personal, pre-tribulational coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His own, the Church, is imminent. His subsequent, personal, pre-millennial, visible return to the Earth will establish His Kingdom. He will reign for a millennium (one thousand years) over the entire Earth from the throne of David. (2 Samuel 7:12-16, Zechariah 14, Luke 1:30-33, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, Revelation 19:11-16 & 20:6)