Beliefs

What is the Gospel?

The Gospel is the good news that a holy God has compassion on people who have rebelled against him and experience sin and death. God sent his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for sinful people, paying the penalty for sin that they deserve. Jesus rose on the third day in victory over sin and death. All people who repent and believe in the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross will have their sins forgiven and be brought into an eternal relationship with this holy compassionate God.

There is no other name by which people can be saved. All that takes place in our lives and our church must be connected to the Gospel.

Basic Beliefs

Our Basic Beliefs represent the most simple and foundational beliefs of the Christian faith. They capture the basic contours of Christian theology.

Anyone pursuing membership and baptism at East Cooper Baptist Church must agree with these beliefs.

We believe

The Scriptures are true, authoritative and sufficient.
There is only one true God, Creator of heaven and earth, who eternally exists in three distinct persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
All things exist for the glory of God.
All humanity—Christ excluded—is sinful by both birth and action.
The deserved penalty for sin is physical and spiritual death.
Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, was born of a virgin and is both fully God and fully human.
Jesus Christ died as the sacrificial substitute to pay the penalty for sin.
Jesus Christ physically rose from the dead, ascended into heaven and will one day physically return.
There will be a future physical resurrection of the dead. Only those who turn from sin and to Jesus in faith and repentance will be raised to eternal reward. Those who do not turn from sin and to Jesus will be raised to eternal conscious punishment.
Only through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ and repentance from sin can one be reconciled to God and experience true life and joy.

Our Statement of Faith: The Baptist Faith and Message

Theological Distinctives

Our Theological Distinctives mark our convictions on areas about which there is some difference of opinion even among Bible-believing, gospel-centered churches.

Though agreement with these distinctives isn’t necessary for membership, we will preach, teach and counsel on the basis of them.

Divine Sovereignty

God is sovereign over all things such that there is no aspect of reality outside of His ultimate control. Though God’s rule extends to all things, it is particularly His sovereignty over the work of salvation that is a theological distinctive. We believe that it is exceedingly good and glorious news that salvation is not dependent on the desires and deeds of man, but is grounded instead in God’s eternal decree of election. Though man is responsible for his sin, God is ultimately and entirely responsible for drawing those He would save unto Himself and overcoming their natural resistance to the gospel.

The Complementary Roles of Men and Women

Men and women are absolutely equal in essence, dignity and value and are different by divine design. As part of God’s good created order, men and women are to have different yet complementary roles and responsibilities in the home and church, especially as it comes to teaching and authority. These role distinctions are God’s grace to man and woman and are to be protected, preserved and practiced for His glory and our joy.

Believer’s Baptism by Immersion

Baptism is intended only for those who have professed faith in Jesus Christ and can give sufficient testimony to the basics of Christian beliefs. Also, we baptize by immersion because it is not only the original significance of the word, but also best symbolizes the reality to which baptism points—our death and resurrection in Christ.

The Priority of Reaching Unreached People Groups

We believe that local churches need to send people and resources throughout the world to reach groups of people who do not have an indigenous, self-propagating Christian church movement. Any ethnic or ethnolinguistic nation without enough Christians to evangelize the rest of the nation is an "unreached people group". Reaching these people is the primary focus of our Global Impact Ministry. We will actively seek to raise up and support people from our local body who will go and devote their lives to this task.