What We Believe
Our beliefs are founded upon the inspired and preserved Word of God. The Bible is our sole authority for faith and practice.
Our Purpose
The purpose of Cornerstone Bible Baptist Church is taken from the very words of Scripture. When speaking to His disciples, the Lord Jesus Christ said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
Our mission is His mission. It is our goal to reach all people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We do not exist merely to provide Niagara County with another church, but to show that salvation through repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ can change a life.
Many people are religious, but every person needs the new birth found only in Jesus Christ. We are concerned that every man, woman, boy, and girl know where they will spend eternity, based solely upon what God has said in His Word.
Church Covenant
As a bond of unity among us, this church accepts for its members the following covenant:
Having been led, as we believe, by the Spirit of God to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour, and on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we do now, in the presence of God and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another as one body in Christ.
We engage, therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, to walk together in Christian love; to strive for the advancement of this church in knowledge, holiness, and comfort; to promote its prosperity and spirituality; to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline, and doctrines; and to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the Gospel through all nations.
We also engage to maintain family and private devotions; to faithfully educate our children; to seek the salvation of our kindred and acquaintances; to walk circumspectly in the world; to be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements, and exemplary in our conduct; to avoid tattling, backbiting, and excessive anger; to abstain from the sale and use of intoxicating drinks as a beverage; and to be zealous in our efforts to advance the kingdom of our Saviour.
We further engage to watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember one another in prayer; to aid one another in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and Christian courtesy in speech; to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation and mindful of the rules of our Saviour to secure it without delay.
We moreover engage that when we remove from this place, we will, as soon as possible, unite with another church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God’s Word.
Our Beliefs
Select any subject below to read our doctrinal position and its supporting Scripture references.
The Scriptures
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Bible, as it is in truth, the Word of God. We believe in verbal, plenary inspiration in the original writings and in God’s preservation of His pure words to every generation.
The Masoretic Text of the Old Testament and the Received Text of the New Testament—the Textus Receptus—are the texts of the original languages we accept and use. The King James Version of the Bible is the only English version we accept and use. The Bible is our sole authority for faith and practice.
I Thessalonians 2:13; II Timothy 3:16; Psalm 12:6–8
The Godhead
We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections.
Deuteronomy 6:4; II Corinthians 13:14
The Person and Work of Christ
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men.
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His finished work on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice, and that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead.
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.
John 1:1–2, 14; Luke 1:35; Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6; Philippians 2:5–8; Galatians 4:4–5; Romans 3:24–25; I Peter 2:24; Ephesians 1:7; I Peter 1:3–5; Acts 1:9–10; Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 9:24; Romans 8:34; I John 2:1–2
The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the Person who reproves the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, and that He is the supernatural Agent in regeneration, indwelling all believers and sealing them unto the day of redemption.
We believe that the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues—languages—and the gift of healing, were temporary. Speaking in tongues was never the common or necessary sign of the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit.
Ultimate deliverance of the body from sickness and death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection, although God frequently chooses to answer the prayers of believers for physical healing.
John 16:8–11; II Corinthians 3:6; Romans 8:9; Ephesians 1:13–14; II Corinthians 12:12; I Corinthians 13:8; Hebrews 2:3–4; Mark 16:17–20; I Corinthians 1:22; I Corinthians 14:21–22
Man
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God. Man is totally depraved and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition.
The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image and is mindful of him, and in that Christ died for man. Therefore, every individual possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.
Genesis 1:26–27; Romans 3:22–23; Ephesians 2:1–3, 12; Psalm 8:4–9; Colossians 3:9–11
The Way of Salvation
We believe that the clear message of salvation is repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is by grace, plus nothing and minus nothing. Men are justified by faith alone and are accounted righteous before God only through the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are secure in Christ forever. Eternal life is the present possession of every believer.
Acts 20:21; Ephesians 2:8–10; John 1:12; I Peter 1:18–19; John 6:37–40; John 10:27–30; Romans 8:1, 38–39; I Corinthians 1:4–8; I Peter 1:4–5; Jude 1–2
The Church
We believe that the New Testament church is a local assembly of baptized believers who have voluntarily joined themselves together to carry out the Great Commission. The Lord is doing His work in this world through local churches. The establishment and continuance of local churches are clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures.
We believe in the autonomy of the local church, free from any external authority or control. Christ is the only Head of the church.
Acts 14:27; Acts 20:17, 28–32; I Timothy 3:1–13; Titus 1:5–11; Acts 13:1–4; Acts 15:19–31; Romans 16:1, 4; I Corinthians 3:9, 16; I Corinthians 5:4–7, 13; I Peter 5:1–4
The Ordinances of the Church
We recognize the ordinances of baptism by immersion in water and the Lord’s Supper as Scriptural means of testimony for local churches in this age.
Matthew 28:19–20; Acts 2:41–42; Acts 18:8; I Corinthians 11:23–26
Biblical Separation
We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Saviour and Lord, and that separation from religious apostasy and from worldly and sinful pleasures, practices, and associations is commanded of God.
II Timothy 3:1–5; Romans 12:1–2; Romans 14:13; I John 2:15–17; II John 9–11; II Corinthians 6:14–7:1
The Return of Christ
We believe that the “Blessed Hope” of our Lord’s return is literal, personal, visible, imminent, premillennial, and pretribulational.
Believers will be caught up to be with the Lord prior to the seven years of tribulation. At the end of the tribulation, Christ will return with His saints to establish His thousand-year reign upon the earth.
I Thessalonians 4:13–18; Titus 2:13; I Thessalonians 1:10; Revelation 3:10; Zechariah 14:4–11; Revelation 19:11–16; Revelation 20:1–6; Psalm 89:3–4
Our Eternal State
We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men: the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment.
We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord.
We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain after death in conscious misery until the second resurrection. Then, with soul and body reunited, they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment and be cast into the Lake of Fire—not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting, conscious punishment.
Matthew 25:46; John 5:28–29; John 11:25–26; Revelation 20:5–6, 11–15; Luke 23:43; II Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; Philippians 3:21; I Thessalonians 4:16–17; Luke 16:19–26; Matthew 25:41–46; II Thessalonians 1:7–9; Jude 6–7; Mark 9:43–48
Do You Have Questions?
We would be glad to speak with you about our beliefs, the Bible, or how you can know Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour.