Salvation

Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, sanctification, and glorification.

SCRIPTURE

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is the record of God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter, and is inerrant in its original text. It reveals the principles by which God judges us; and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried.

God/Trinity

There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal God reveals Himself to us as a Trinity of persons; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

God the Father: God as 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 loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men.

God the Son: Christ is the eternal, one and only 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 God, taking upon Himself the demands and necessities of human nature and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples and many others as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God the Father where He is the One Mediator, partaking of the nature of God and of man, and in whose Person He accomplishes the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever-present Lord.

God the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. He calls men to Jesus Christ as Savior, and effects regeneration. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. He dwells in all believers and His presence in the Christian is the assurance of God to 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.

MAN

Man was created by God in His image, and is the crowning work of His 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 all men inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin, and as soon as they are capable of moral action become transgressors and are under condemnation. The penalty of man’s sin is separation from God in an eternal place of torment called hell. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God. The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore every man possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.

God’s Purpose of Grace

God chose to bestow grace (unmerited favor) to believers by which He regenerates, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of man, and comprehends all the means in connection with the end. It is a glorious display of God's sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise, holy, and unchangeable. All true believers endure to the end. Those who have accepted Christ, and are sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end. Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, bring reproach on the cause of Christ, and temporal judgments on themselves, yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

Baptism & 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 symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, 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 the believer’s faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is a prerequisite to the privileges of church membership. The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby believers, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Lord Jesus Christ and anticipate His second coming.

Last Things

God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the 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, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.

Holy Matrimony

Members of EBC believe that the covenant of marriage is defined by God to be the union of one biological man and one biological woman. The institution of marriage was given to man by God and cannot be changed. This truth is reflected in both the Old and New Testaments. In light of this belief, we will not knowingly allow our facility or staff to be party to an event that is in opposition to our beliefs. The institution of marriage as the union of one man and one woman predates government and was created by God for one man and one woman. This unchangeable truth is reflected in the Creation story itself. The institution of marriage as the union of one man and one woman is also reflected by the very words of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. The New Testament further reflects the institution of marriage as the union of one man and one woman in Paul’s letter to the Church at Ephesus.

Sexual Identity

We believe that the very image of God is reflected in every one of His human creations. No other created being is made in the image of God. Our biological sex at birth is an infallible expression of His will. Sexual Identity is determined by biological sex and not by one’s self-perception - a perception which is often influenced by fallen human nature in ways contrary to God’s design.

Sanctity of Life

We believe that all human life is sacred and created by God in His image. Human life is of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including pre-born babies, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death. We are therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life.

Final Church Authority for Matters of Belief and Conduct

The statement of faith does not exhaust the extent of our beliefs. It is the 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. For purposes of Easthaven Baptist Church’s faith, doctrine, practice, policy, and discipline, our Ordained Pastors and Deacons are Easthaven’s final interpretive authority on the Bible’s application.

Easthaven Baptist Church is a member of the Montana Southern Baptist Convention, the Glacier Southern Baptist Association and the Southern Baptist Convention for the alignment of doctrine and cooperation in missions; however, Easthaven is an autonomous membership of believers.

DISCOVER MEMBERSHIP CLASS

If you’d like to become a church member, join us for our next membership class! Contact the office to see when the next class is scheduled.