Branch Hill Baptist Church

Worship Hours  Sunday: 11am & 6pm | Wednesday: 7pm

A Bible Baptist is one who believes in a supernatural Bible, which tells of a supernatural Christ, Who had a supernatural birth, Who spoke supernatural words, Who performed supernatural miracles, Who lived a supernatural life, Who died a supernatural death, Who rose in supernatural splendor, and Who will one day return in supernatural glory to establish a supernatural kingdom on earth.

The Scriptures

We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men supernaturally inspired. It has truth without any admixture of error for its matter. Therefore it is and shall remain, to the end of the age, the only complete and final revelation of the will of God to man. It is the true center of Christian union and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions should be tried.

  1. By “The Holy Bible” we mean the collection of sixty-six books from Genesis to Revelation which, as originally written and providentially preserved, not only contains and conveys the Word of God but IS the very Word of God.
  2. By “inspiration” we mean that the books of the Bible were written by holy men of old. They were moved by the Holy Spirit in such a definite way that those writings are as certainly the words of God as they would be if God had penned them Himself. No other writings can claim to be inspired as the Bible is inspired.
  3. As God inspired His Word, we believe that God preserved His Word in the form of the Authorized Version or King James Version. We believe the King James Version to be the infallible and inerrant Word of God.

To learn more about why we use the King James Version (KJV) Bible, please feel free to watch this helpful video entitled, KJV – What’s the Big Deal?

II Timothy 3:16-17II Peter 1:19-21Acts 1:16Acts 28:15Psalm 119:89105130160Luke 24:25-27John 17:17Luke 24:44-45Proverbs 30:5-6Romans 3:4I Peter 1:23Romans 15:4Luke 16:31Psalms 19:7-11John 5:45-47John 5:39

The Freeness of Salvation

We believe that salvation is a free gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9) offered to man by His grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It requires neither culture, character, religion, nor good works to get it or secure it. We believe every born-again child of God is eternally secure in Christ with a forever-sealed salvation (Ephesians 1:13). Salvation will be evident through the fruit of repentance, faith, and newness of life (II Corithians 5:17).

I Thessalonians 1:4I Peter 1:2Titus 1:1Romans 8:29-30Matthew 11:28Isaiah 55:1Revelation 22:17Romans 10:13John 6:37Isaiah 55:6Acts 2:38Isaiah 55:7John 3:15-16I Timothy 1:15I Corithians 15:10Ephesians 2:4John 5:40John 3:18John 3:36

The True God

We believe that there is one, and only one, living and true God, an infinite, intelligent Spirit, the maker and supreme ruler of heaven and earth. He is inexpressibly glorious in holiness and worthy of all possible honor, confidence and love. In the unity of the Godhead, there are three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. They are equal in every divine perfection and execute distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.

Exodus 20:2-3Genesis 17:1I Corinthians 8:6Ephesians 4:6John 4:24Psalms 147:5Psalms 83:18Psalms 90:2Jeremiah 10:10Exodus 15:11Revelation 4:11I Timothy 1:17Romans 11:33Mark 12:30Matthew 28:19John 15:26I Corinthians 12:4-6I John 5:7John 10:30John 17:5Acts 5:3-4I Corinthians 2:10-11Philippians 2:5-6Ephesians 2:18II Corinthians 13:14

The Holy Spirit

We believe these things of the Holy Spirit. 1) He is a divine person, equal with God the Father and God the Son, and of the same nature. 2) He was active in the creation in His relation to the unbelieving world in that He restrains the Evil One until God´s purpose is fulfilled. 3) He convicts of sin, of judgment, and of righteousness. 4) He bears witness to the truth of the gospel in preaching and testimony. 5) He is the agent in the New Birth. 6) He seals, endures, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies, and helps the Believer.

John 14:16-17Matthew 28:19Hebrews 9:14John 14:26Luke 1:35Genesis 1:1-3II Thessalonians 2:7John 16:8-11John 15:26-27Acts 5:30-32John 3:5-6John 1:33Acts 11:16Luke 24:49John 16:13John 14:26Romans 8:14Romans 8:16II Thessalonians 2:13I Peter 1:2Romans 8:26-27

Jesus Christ

We believe these things of the Holy Spirit. 1) He is a divine person, equal with God the Father and God the Son, and of the same nature. 2) He was active in the creation in His relation to the unbelieving world

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men.

Isaiah 7:149:6Luke 1:35John 1:1-214II Corinthians 5:19-21Galatians 4:4-5Philippians 2:5-8

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice. Our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead.

Acts 2:18-36Romans 3:24-25I Peter 2:24Ephesians 1:7I Peter 1:3-5

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate.

Acts 1:9-10Hebrews 9:247:25Romans 8:34I John 2:1-2

s 2:7John 16:8-11John 15:26-27Acts 5:30-32John 3:5-6John 1:33Acts 11:16Luke 24:49John 16:13John 14:26Romans 8:14Romans 8:16II Thessalonians 2:13I Peter 1:2Romans 8:26-27

The Devil, or Satan

We believe that Satan was once holy and enjoyed heavenly honors; but through pride and ambition to be as the Almighty, he fell and drew after him a host of angels. He is now the malignant prince of the power of the air and the unholy god of this world. We hold him to be man´s great tempter, the enemy of God and his Christ, the accuser of the saints, the author of all false religions, the chief power of the present apostasy, the lord of the antichrist, and the author of all the powers of darkness. He is destined, however, to final defeat at the hands of God’s own Son and to the just judgment of an eternity in hell, a place prepared for him and his angels.

Isaiah 14:12Ezekiel 28:14-17Revelation 12:9Jude 6:11I Peter 2:4Ephesians 2:2John 14:30I Thessalonians 3:5Matthew 4:1-3I Peter 5:8I John 3:8Matthew 13:25Matthew 13:37-39Luke 22:3-4Revelation 12:10II Corinthians 11:13-15Mark 13:21-33I John 4:3; II John 7; I John 2:22Revelation 13:13-14II Thessalonians 2:8-11Revelation 19:111620Revelation 12:7-9Revelation 20:10Matthew 25:41

Creation

We believe in the Genesis account of creation and that it is to be accepted literally, not allegorically or figuratively. Man was created directly in God´s own image and after His own likeness. Man´s creation was not a matter of evolution or evolutionary change over interminable periods of time from lower to higher forms. All animal and vegetable life was made directly, and God´s established law was that they should bring forth only “after their kind.”

Man

We believe that man was created in innocence under the law of his maker. By voluntary transgression he fell from his sinless and happy state. Subsequently, all mankind are now sinners, not by constraint but by choice, and are therefore under just condemnation without defense or excuse.

Genesis 3:1-6Romans 5:12Romans 5:19Romans 3:10-19Ephesians 2:1-3Romans 1:18Ezekiel 18:19-20Romans 1:32Romans 1:20Romans 1:28Galatians 3:22

The Atonement for Sin

We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly by grace through the mediatory office of the Son of God who, by appointment of the Father, freely took upon Himself our nature. Yet without sin, He honored the divine law by His personal obedience and, by His death, made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins. His atonement consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was the voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner´s place, the just dying for the unjust, Christ the Lord bearing our sins in His own body on the tree. And, having risen from the dead, He is now enthroned in heaven and uniting in His wonderful person the most tender sympathies with divine perfection. He is in every way qualified to be a suitable, compassionate, and all-sufficient Savior.

Ephesians 2:8Acts 15:11Romans 8:24John 3:16Matthew 18:11Philippians 2:7Hebrews 2:14Isaiah 53:4-7Romans 3:25I John 4:10I Corinthians 15:3II Corinthians 5:21John 10:18Philippians 2:8Galatians 1:4I Peter 2:24I Peter 3:18Isaiah 53:11Hebrews 12:2I Corinthians 15:20Isaiah 53:12Hebrews 9:12-15Hebrews 7:25I John 2:2

Grace in the New Creation

We believe that, in order to be saved, sinners must be born again. The new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus. It is instantaneous and not a process. In the new birth, the one dead in trespasses and in sins is made a partaker of the divine nature and receives eternal life, the free gift of God. The new creation is brought about in a manner above our comprehension, not by culture, not by character, nor by the will of man, but wholly and solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with the divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the gospel. Its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance and faith and newness of life.

John 3:3II Corinthians 5:17I John 5:1John 3:6-7Acts 2:41II Peter 1:4Romans 6:23Ephesians 2:1II Corinthians 5:19Colossians 2:13John 1:12-13Galatians 5:22Ephesians 5:9

Dispensationalism

We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense reveal divinely determined dispensations or rules of life which define man´s responsibilities in successive ages. These dispensations are divinely ordered stewardships by which God directs man according to His purpose. Among these dispensations, three of them: the law, the church, and the kingdom, are the subjects of detailed revelation in Scripture.

Genesis 1:28I Corinthians 9:172 Corinthians 3:9-18Galatians 3:13-25Ephesians 1:103:2-10Colossians 1:24-2527Revelation 20:2-6

Justification

We believe that the great gospel blessing which Christ secures to those that believe in Him is justification. Justification includes the pardon of sin and the gift of eternal life on principles of righteousness. It is bestowed, not in consideration of any works of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in the Redeemer´s blood is His righteousness imputed to us.

Acts 13:39Isa; 53:11Zech. 13:1Romans 8:1Romans 5:9Romans 5:1Titus 3:5-7Romans 1:17Hab. 2:4Galatians 3:11Romans 4:1-8Hebrews 10:38

Repentance of Faith

We believe that Repentance and Faith are solemn obligations and also inseparable graces, wrought in our souls by the quickening Spirit of God. Thereby, being deeply convicted of our guilt, danger, helplessness, and of the way of salvation by Christ, we turn to God with unfeigned contrition, confession, and supplication for mercy. At the same time, we heartily receive the Lord Jesus Christ and openly confess Him as our only and all-sufficient Savior.

Acts 20:39Mark 1:15Acts 2:37-39Luke 18:13Romans 10:13Psalms 51:1-4Psalms 51:7Isaiah 55:6-7Luke 12:8Romans 10:9-11

The Church

We believe that a local Baptist church is a congregation of baptized believers associated by covenant of faith and fellowship of the gospel. That church is understood to be the stronghold and propagator of divine and eternal grace. It observes the ordinances of Christ and is governed by His laws. It exercises the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word. Its officers of ordination are pastors, or elders, and deacons whose qualifications, claims, and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures. We believe the true mission of the church is found in the Great Commission: first, to make individual disciples; second, to build up the church; and third, to reach and instruct as He has commanded. We do not believe in the reversal of this order.

We hold that the local church has the right of self-government, free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations. The one and only superintendent is Christ through the Holy Spirit. It is scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the gospel. Every church is the sole and only judge of the measure and method of its cooperation. On all matters of membership, policy, government, discipline, and benevolence, the will of the local church is final.

Acts 2:41-42I Corinthians 11:2Ephesians 4:11I Corinthians 12:4I Corinthians 12:8-11Acts 14:23Acts 6:5-6Acts 20:17-28I Timothy 3:1-13Matthew 28:19-20Colossians 1:18Ephesians 5:23-24I Peter 5:1-4Acts 15:22Jude 3:4Leviticus 27:32II Corinthians 8:23-24I Corinthians 16:1Malachi 3:10I Corinthians 16:2I Corinthians 6:1-3I Corinthians 5:11-13

Baptism and the Lord´s Supper

We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion in water of a believer in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, with the authority of the local church. This is shown forth as a solemn and beautiful emblem of our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior. This symbolizes our death to sin and resurrection to a new life. It is a prerequisite to the privileges of a church relation and to the Lord´s supper, in which the members of the church, by the sacred use of bread and the fruit of the vine are to commemorate together the dying love of Christ, preceded always by solemn self-examination.

Acts 8:36-39Matthew 3:6John 3:23Romans 6:4-5Matthew 3:16Matt 28:19Romans 6:3-5Colossians 2:12Acts 2:41-42Matthew 28:1Matthew 28:9-20I Corinthians 11:23-28

The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers

We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God´s power and are thus secure in Christ forever. We believe that it is the privilege of Believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God´s Word. This assurance clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh.

John 6:37-4010:27-30Romans 8:1Romans 8:38-39I Corinthians 1:4-8I Peter 1:4-5Romans 13:13-14Galatians 5:13Titus 2:11-15

The Righteous and the Wicked

We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked. Only through faith are we justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, sanctified by the Spirit of God, and truly righteous in His esteem. Meanwhile all that continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked and under the curse. This distinction holds among men, both in and after death, in the everlasting joy of the saved and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost.

Malachi 3:18Gen 12:23Romans 6:17-18Proverbs 11:31I Peter 1:18Romans 1:17I Corinthians 15:22Acts 10:34-35I John 2:29I John 2:7Romans 6:16I John 5:19Galatians 3:10Romans 7:6Romans 6:23Proverbs 14:32Luke 16:25Matthew 25:34,41John 8:21Luke 9:26John 12:25Matthew 7:13-14

Civil Government

We believe that God has ordained and created all authority consisting of three basic institutions: 1) the Home, 2) the Church, and 3) the State. Every person is subject to these authorities, but all (including the authorities themselves) are answerable to God and governed by His Word. God has given each institution specific biblical responsibilities and has balanced those responsibilities with the understanding that no institution has the right to infringe upon the other. The home, the church, and the state are equal and sovereign in their respective biblically assigned spheres of responsibility under God.

II Samuel 23:3Exodus 18:21Matthew 22:21Acts 4:19-21Romans 13:1-7Ephesians 5:22-24Hebrews 13:17I Peter 2:13-14Psalms 71:11

The Resurrection, Return of Christ, and Related Events

We believe in and accept the sacred Scriptures upon these subjects at their full face value. Of the Resurrection, we believe that Christ rose bodily the third day according to the Scriptures. He alone is our merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God. This same Jesus which is taken up into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven – bodily, personally, and visibly. The dead in Christ shall rise first. The living saints shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. The Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David. Christ shall reign a thousand years in righteousness until He hath put all enemies under His feet.

Matthew 28:6-7Luke 24:39John 20:27I Corinthians 15:4Mark 16:6Luke 24:2Luke 24:4-6Acts 1:9-11Luke 24:51Mark 16:19Revelation 3:21Hebrews 8:1Hebrews 12:2Hebrews 8:6I Timothy 2:5I John 2:1Hebrews 2:17Hebrews 5:9-10John 14:3I Thessalonians 4:16Matthew 24:27Matthew 24:42Hebrews 9:28I Corinthians 15:42-44I Corinthians 15:51-53I Thessalonians 4:17Philippians 4:20-21Luke 1:32I Corinthians 15:25Isaiah 11:4-5Psalms 72:8Revelation 20:1-4Revelation 20:6

Missions

We believe the command to give the gospel to the world is clear and unmistakable. This commission was given to the church, and it is clearly the church´s responsibility to carry out this commission by sending forth those whom God has called. The equipping and supplying of these “missionaries” is soley the duty of the church.

Matthew 28:18-20Mark 16:15John 20:21Romans 10:13-15Acts 13:1-3

The Grace of Giving

We believe that every Christian, as a steward of that portion of God’s wealth entrusted to him, is obligated to support his local church financially. We believe that God has established the tithe as a basis for giving. Every Christian should also give other offerings, sacrificially and cheerfully, to the support of the church, the relief of those in need, and the spread of the gospel. We believe that a Christian relinquishes all rights to direct the use of the tithe or offering once the gift has been made.

Genesis 14:20Proverbs 3:9-10I Corinthians 16:2II Corinthians 9:6-8Hebrews 7:2-4Matthew 23:23Leviticus 27:3