Limerick City Baptist Church

Statement Of Faith

This Church adopts as a summary of our beliefs the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, which gives a concise statement of the biblical doctrines held by the Members of this Church. In no way is the 1689 Confession or this Statement of Faith equal to or in addition to the infallible and authoritative Word of God.

A brief summary of what we believe follows.

1. The full inspiration of the Holy Scriptures; their authority and sufficiency as not only containing but as being in themselves the Word of God. They are therefore without error and absolutely reliable with regard to fact and teaching. The Holy Scripture’s witness to itself as the only, the complete and the infallible Word of God, the New Testament witnessing to the reliability and divine character of the Old Testament; The necessity also for a reverent faith in the Word, and the teaching of the Holy Spirit, for a true understanding of the whole. The Holy Scriptures are therefore the only infallible and authoritative rule of all saving knowledge, faith and obedience.
2. There is only one God, the maker, sustainer and ruler of all things according to the plan and purpose of His unchanging, most righteous will and for His own glory; The unity of the Godhead and the divine co-equality of the Persons of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit eternally. The sovereignty of God in creation, providence and redemption. From eternity He decreed all things that happen, and perpetually governs all creatures and events. However He is in no way the author or approver of sin, nor does His decree in any way diminish or violate the responsibility of all men.
3. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only begotten son of God, His deity being both true and proper in that He is both fully God and fully man; His virgin birth; His real and perfect manhood; His sinless life in obedience to the Father; The authority of His teaching and the infallibility of all His utterances; His substitutionary death on the cross as being the full and sufficient and only atonement for sins; His bodily resurrection and His ascension into Heaven; His present priestly intercession for His people; His personal return in glory.
4. The justification of the sinner by faith alone, through the atoning merits of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
5. God created our first parents Adam and Eve in perfect righteousness, without sin. By disobedience they lost that righteousness and became corrupt and sinful. The total depravity of human nature is the consequence of the fall of man from the original state of perfection in which he was created, by which fall all mankind is in a state of condemnation and separation from a holy God, and can only be delivered by the divine work of regeneration and redemption.
6. Salvation is entirely a work of God’s grace, and cannot be earned or deserved. It has been accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ and is offered to all in the gospel; The sovereign grace of God, by which we mean His free and unmerited favour; and that by His sole choice the elect have been predestinated to salvation.
7. The work of regeneration, conversion, sanctification and faith as being not an act of man’s free will and power, but of the mighty, efficacious, and irresistible grace of God through the Holy Spirit.
8. All those who are chosen by the Father, redeemed by the Son, and sanctified by the Spirit, shall certainly and finally persevere, so that not one of them shall ever perish but shall have everlasting life.
9. The return of the Lord Jesus Christ in glory, visibly, personally and bodily; the resurrection of the body; the judgement of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, with the eternal blessedness of the redeemed, and the eternal punishment of those who finally reject Christ as Saviour.
10. The observance of the divine institution of the baptism of believers by total immersion, in loving obedience as an act of witness. Baptism is an ordinance of the Lord Jesus Christ and is obligatory for every believer. Rightly administered it involves total immersion in water, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Baptism does not impart spiritual life, but is a symbol of union with Christ, in His death, burial and resurrection.
11. The Lord’s Supper, administered with unchanging elements of bread and wine, is a commemoration of Christ’s sacrifice offered once for all, and should be observed by the church until he returns.
12. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only Head of the church to which all God’s elect belong. He has the sole authority and prerogative, through the Holy Spirit, speaking in His Word, for the government of the church.

Family Covenant

We who desire to walk together in fear of the Lord, do, with the help of the Holy Spirit, profess our deep and serious humiliation for all our transgressions.

In the presence of God and each other we pledge ourselves to the Lord in a church state according to the apostolic constitution that He may be our God and we His people through the everlasting covenant of His free grace in which we hope to be accepted by Him through His blessed Son Jesus Christ whom we take to be our High Priest to justify and sanctify us and our Prophet to teach us and to be subject to Him as our Lawgiver and the King of Saints and to conform to all His holy laws and ordinances for our growth and establishment and consolation that we may be as a holy spouse to Him and serve Him in our generation and wait for His second appearance as our glorious bridegroom.

We solemnly join ourselves together in a holy union and fellowship humbly submitting to the discipline of the Gospel and all holy duties required of a people in such a spiritual relation.

We do hereby promise to:

1. Walk in all holiness, godliness, humility and brotherly love.
2. Watch over each other’s conversations and not to suffer sin upon one another in as much as God shall show it to us and to stir up one another to love and good works to warn, rebuke and admonish one another with meekness according to the rules left to us of Christ in that behalf.
3. Pray for one another in a special manner and for the glory and increase of this church and for the presence of God in it and for the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on it and for His protection over it to His glory.
4. Bear one another’s burdens to cleave to one another in all conditions both outward and inward as God in His providence shall cast any of us into.
5. Bear one another’s weaknesses, failings and infirmities with tenderness and not discovering them to any without the church or within unless according to Christ’s rule and the order of the Gospel.
6. Strive together for the truth of the Gospel and the purity of God’s ways and ordinances to avoid causes and causers of division endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
7. Meet together on Lord’s-days and at other times as the Lord shall give us opportunities to serve and glorify God in the way of His worship to edify one another and to contrive the good of His church.
8. Provide financially for any Elder(s) of our church given over to full time service for the Lord.

These and all other Gospel duties we humbly submit to promising and purposing to perform not in our own strength being conscious of our own weakness but in the power and strength of God Whose we are and Whom we desire to serve. To Whom be glory now and forever. Amen.