You will find a basic outline and statement of our doctrinal statement. If you would like a full copy, then please notify the pastor and he can provide you a full doctrinal statement.

The Bible

We believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments and that they compose the entire Word of God. The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible, and God-breathed; and therefore, are the final authority for faith and life. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are the complete and divine revelation of God to man. The Scriptures shall be interpreted according to their normal grammatical-historical meaning. The King James Version of the Bible shall be the official and only English-language translation used by Rio Grande Baptist Church. (II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:20-21)

The Godhead

We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—each coeternal in being, co-identical in nature, coequal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; II Corinthians 13:14; John 14:10, 26)

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 begotten by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men. (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-2, 14; II Corinthians 5:19-21; Galatians 4:4-5; Philippians 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; and that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead. (Acts 2:18-36; Romans 3:24-25; I Peter 2:24; Ephesians 1:7; I 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 ministries of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate. (Acts 1:9-10; Hebrews 9:24; 7:25; Romans 8:34; I John 2:1-2)

The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a Person Who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration Who indwells and seals them unto the day of redemption. (John 16:8-11; Romans 8:9; I Corinthians 12:12-14; II Corinthians 3:6; Ephesians 1:13-14)

We believe that He is the Divine Teacher Who assists believers to understand and appropriate the Scriptures and that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit. (Ephesians 1:17-18; 5:18; I John 2:20, 27)

We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowal of spiritual gifts to every believer. God uniquely uses evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip believers in the assembly in order that they can do the work of the ministry. (Romans 12:3-8; I Corinthians 12:4-11, 28; Ephesians 4:7-12)

We believe that the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues and the gift of healing, were temporary. We believe that speaking in tongues was never the common or necessary sign of the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit and that ultimate deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection, though God frequently chooses to answer the prayers of believers for physical healing. (I Corinthians 1:22; 13:8; 14:21-22)

Salvation

We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ, Whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins (John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-10; I Peter 1:18-19) and that in order to be saved, sinners must be born again; that the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus; that it is instantaneous and not a process. The sinner receives God’s salvation by repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ.

The Believer’s Security

We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever. (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Romans 8:1, 38-39; I Corinthians 1:4-8; I Peter 1:4-5) We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh. (Romans 13:13-14; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11-15)

The Local Church

A church is a congregation of baptized believers associated by a covenant of faith and fellowship of the Gospel, observing the ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, and exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word; and that its officers are pastors or elders and deacons whose qualifications, claims and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures. (I Timothy 3:1-13)

We believe the Lord Jesus Christ founded His church prior to Pentecost, and He guaranteed the perpetuity of immersionist assemblies by promising to be with those who carry out the Great Commission, until the end of the age (Matthew 16:18; 28:18-20)

The true mission of the church is found in the Great Commission: first, to make individual disciples; second, baptize and build up the church; third, to teach and instruct as He commanded.

The church has the absolute 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, that it is scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the Gospel; that every church is the sole and only judge of the measure and method of its cooperation; and that on all matters of membership, of policy, of government, of discipline, of benevolence, the will of the local church is final. (Matthew 16:15-18; 18:15-18; Acts 13:1-4; 14:27; 15:19-31; 20:17, 28-32; Romans 16:1, 4; 1 Corinthians 3:9, 16; 5:4-7, 13; 1 Timothy 3:1-3; 1 Peter 5:1-4)

Local Church Order

Each church is autonomous (self-governing, self-disciplining, self-supporting, self-propagating) and stands on its own feet under its one Head Jesus Christ, which is what we see in Acts and the Epistles.

It's officers are pastors (also called elders and bishops) and deacons. Pastors and deacons must be males with holy lives according to the standards of the New Testament. Their lifestyles are held to a higher standard in order to be examples to the assembly and the world. We believe that immorality disqualifies a man from the office of pastor or deacon.

Pastors oversee the ministry and resources of the church. Pastors shall devote their time to prayer, the ministry of the Word (by teaching and encouraging sound doctrine), and shepherding God's flock. Deacons care for the temporal needs of members, handle matters of benevolence, and encourage and support the ministry of the pastors. (Matthew 18:15-18;     1 Timothy 3; Titus 1; Acts 6:1-6; 1 Peter 5:1-4)

Baptism and the Lord's Supper

We believe that Christian baptism is the single immersion of a believer in water to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our identification with the crucified, buried and risen Savior, through Whom we died to sin and rose to a new life; that baptism is to be performed under the authority of the local church; and that it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership.

We believe that the Lord's Supper is the commemoration of His death, until He returns, by members of the church. We believe that the Biblical order of the ordinances is baptism first and then the Lord's Supper. (Acts 8:36, 38, 39; John 3:23; Romans 6:3-5; Matthew 3:16; Colossians 2:12; 1 Corinthians 11:23-28; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:41, 42.)