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CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS
I. PREAMBLE
In order to preserve and secure the principles of our faith and to make sure this body is governed in an orderly and democratic manner in accordance with the Baptist faith and for the purpose of insuring the individual liberties of all members of this church as well as guarantee the freedom of action of this body in relation to other churches, we do declare and establish this constitution.
II. NAME
This fellowship shall be known as the Cool Springs Baptist Church, Sanford, North Carolina.
III. PURPOSE
To be a loving, caring Church led by the Holy Spirit.
To share Christ with as many people as possible, both spiritually and materially in our church, community and throughout the world.
To respond obediently to God’s leadership by providing regular opportunities for public worship.
To sustain the ordinances, doctrines and ethics set forth in the New Testament.
To have a closer fellowship with God and our fellow believers.
To help those with whom we come in contact to grow in a greater knowledge of God and of one another.
To demonstrate daily that we are Christians by living lives that are Christlike, including our total commitment of life, personality and possessions.
IV. ARTICLES OF FAITH AND MESSAGE
Scriptures
We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men inspired of the Holy Spirit and is, therefore, a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction; that it has God for its author, salvation for its end and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter; that it reveals Jesus Christ as its message; that it reveals the principles by which God will judge us; that it shall remain to the end of the world the true center of Christian union and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds and opinions should be tried.
Salvation
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, sanctification and glorification.
A. Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God’s grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace. Repentance is a genuine turning from sin to God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Saviour. Justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal, upon principles of His righteousness, of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. Justification brings the believer into a relationship of peace and favor with God.
B. Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God’s purposes, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual perfection through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate person’s life.
C. Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed.
God
We believe that there is one, and only one, living and true God, and infinite, intelligent Spirit, whose name is Jehovah, the creator and supreme ruler of heaven and earth, inexpressibly glorious in holiness and worthy of all possible honor, confidence and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three personalities, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; equal in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.
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 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 as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, partaking of the nature of God and of man, and in whose Person is effected 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 judgement. He calls men to the Saviour 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 is God indwelling believers and is the assurance of God to bring believers into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers and fills believers in worship, evangelism, and service.
Man
We believe that man was created in holiness under the law of his creator, but by voluntary transgression fell from that holy and happy state; in consequence of which all mankind are now sinners, not by constraint, but choice; being by nature utterly void of that holiness required by the righteousness of God, positively inclined to evil; therefore under just condemnation to eternal punishment, without defense or excuse.
God’s Purpose of Grace
Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, sanctifies and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the free choice of man. It is a glorious display of God’s sovereign goodness and is infinitely wise, holy and unchangeable. It excludes boasting and promotes humility.
All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and 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.
Perseverance of Saints
We believe that only those who endure to the end are real believers; that their persevering attachment to Christ is the grand mark which distinguishes them from superficial professors; that a special providence watches over their welfare; that they are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. We do believe in the eternal security of believers.
The Kingdom
The Kingdom of God includes both His general sovereignty over the universe and His particular kingship over men who willfully acknowledge Him as King. Particularly the Kingdom is the realm of salvation into which men enter by trustful, childlike commitment to Jesus Christ. The full consummation of the Kingdom awaits the return of Jesus Christ and the end of this age.
The Church
A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a local body of baptized believers who are associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the two ordinances of Christ, committed to His teachings, exercising the gifts, rights and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth.
This church is an autonomous body, operating through democratic processes under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In such a congregation members are equally responsible. Its Scriptural officers are pastors and deacons.
The New Testament speaks also of the church as the body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages.
Baptism and 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 Saviour, 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 his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper.
The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.
The Lord’s Day
The first day of the week is the Lord’s Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should be employed in exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private, and by refraining from an obsession with worldly amusements and with secular employments, only work of necessity and mercy being excepted.
Evangelism and Missions
It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ, to endeavor to make disciples of all nations. The new birth of man’s spirit by God’s Holy Spirit means the birth of love for others. Missionary effort on the part of all rests thus upon a spiritual necessity of the regenerate life, and is expressly and repeatedly commanded in the teachings of Christ. It is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ, by personal effort and by all other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ.
Stewardship
God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him. Christians have a spiritual debtorship to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel, and a binding stewardship in their possessions. They are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their gifts, time, talents, and material possessions; and should recognize all these as entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for helping others through grace giving. According to the Scriptures, Christians should contribute of their means cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancement of the Redeemer’s cause on earth.
The Christian and the Social Order
Every Christian is under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in his own life and in human society. Means and methods used for the improvement of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can be truly and permanently helpful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the saving grace of God in Christ Jesus. The Christian should oppose in the spirit of Christ every form of greed, selfishness and vice. He should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth and brotherly love. In order to promote these ends Christians should be ready to work with all men of good will in any good cause, always being careful to act in the spirit of love without compromising their loyalty to Christ and His truth.
Peace and War
It is the duty of Christians to seek peace with all men on principles of righteousness. In accordance with the spirit and teachings of Christ they should do all in their power to put an end to war.
The true remedy for the war spirit is the gospel of our Lord. The supreme need of the world is the acceptance of His teachings in all the affairs of men and nations, and the practical application of His law of love.
Religious Liberty
God alone is Lord of the conscience, and He has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are contrary to His Word or not contained in it. Church and state should be separate. The state owes to every church protection and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends. In providing for such freedom no ecclesiastical group or denomination should be favored by the state more than another. Civil government being ordained of God, it is the duty of Christians to render loyal obedience thereto in all things not contrary to the revealed will of God. The church should not resort to the civil power to carry on its work. The gospel of Christ contemplates spiritual means alone for the pursuit of its ends. The state has no right to impose taxes for the support of any form of religion. A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal, and this implies the right of free and unhindered access to God on the part of all men, and the right to form and propagate opinions in the sphere of religion without interference by the civil power.
We believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the interests and good order of human society; that rulers are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed, except in things opposed to the will of God.
The Righteous and The Wicked
We believe there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that only those who are through faith justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and sanctified by the Spirit of our God, are truly righteous in His sight; while all such as continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked and under the curse this distinction holds among people both in and after death.
The End Time
We believe that Jesus Christ will come for His Church, the Bride of Christ, and rapture her to glory, where there will be the Judgment Seat of Christ for every Christian; this to be followed by the Marriage of the Lamb to His Bride.
Christ will come later as King of kings and Lord of lords in His second coming when He will defeat the anti-christ, cast Satan in the bottomless pit and establish His kingdom on the earth for a thousand years. After the thousand year reign of Christ, Satan will be loosed for a season, then cast alive into the lake of fire where he will be in torment forever.
“Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom of God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power” (I Cor. 15:24).
V. CHURCH COVENANT
Having been led as we believe by the Spirit of God to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord
and Savior 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 a 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 give it sacred prominence over all institutions of human origin; to sustain its worship, 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 religiously educate our children in the Christian faith; 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 deportment; to avoid all tattling, backbiting, and excessive anger; to abstain from the sale of and use of intoxicating drinks as a beverage; to use our influence to combat the abuse of drugs and the spread of pornography; and to be zealous in our efforts to advance the kingdom of our Savior.
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 Savior to secure it without delay.
We moreover engage that when we remove from this place we will as soon as possible unite with some other church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God’s Word.
VI. CHURCH MEMBERSHIP
Section 1 – General Statement
This is an autonomous Baptist Church composed of baptized believers in Jesus Christ as Savior. The membership retains unto itself the exclusive right of self-government, including the right to determine who will be members of this body.
Section 2 – Candidacy for Membership
Persons presenting themselves, in a worship service for membership will, by majority vote of the Church, be placed in a watch-care relationship until they have attended the New Member’s Orientation Class, after which their names will be recommended to the Church for membership.
Persons may be received into the membership of this Church in one of the following ways:
a. For baptism upon profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Savior.
b. By letter from another Baptist Church of like faith and order.
c. By statement of faith and baptism (such as, no letter obtainable).
d. By statement of faith for baptism (such as, from another denomination).
The decision of the Church is final in each case.
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