Who We Are
Albany Baptist Church was constituted in 1979. After a period of
reformation, the church formally adopted the
1689 London Baptist
Confession of Faith as our doctrinal confessional standard.
Understanding that the Bible alone is the infallible word of God, we
believe the 1689 Confession is the best currently available
summarization of the truths found in the Bible.
Through a diligent search of the Scriptures, we have discovered some
truths that were prominent during the Protestant Reformation yet have
been largely lost to our generation. These biblical truths set forth the
glory, majesty and sovereignty of God in His work of salvation. By them
He is accorded His rightful and pre-eminent place in the church. They
are, like other orthodox doctrines, vital to the right worship of God
and the faithful proclamation of His grace.
What We Believe
Because the Holy Spirit has been leading the Church to an understanding of the truth throughout her history, we must not ignore the legacy He has given to us through the creeds of the Early Church, the Reformers, and the Puritans. It is our conviction that the fruits of this heritage have been gathered together best in the London Baptist Confession of 1689, which is a time-tested summary of what we believe the Bible teaches. It is our secondary rule of faith and practice, always subservient to the first and final rule of Scripture. Some of the most vital doctrines contained in this confession of faith are listed below:
Every word in the
Bible is inspired, inerrant, and authoritative.
There is only one God, eternally existing in
three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God created all things from
nothing by the word of His power in six days and continues to maintain
absolute sovereign control over all His creatures and all events of
history.
Jesus Christ, being essentially God, lived a
sinless life, suffered a substitutionary death for the sin of His
people, was raised bodily from the dead, and ascended into heaven, where
He ever lives to make intercession for His people.
Salvation is the work of God, begun in
eternity by the Father's loving choice of a multitude of hell-deserving
sinners, based wholly upon the finished work of the Son and not upon
human merit.
All True Believers, having been delivered from
bondage to sin and having received the gift of the Holy Spirit, give
evidence of this saving change by a basic pattern of obedience to Christ
and by the fruit of the Spirit. God both commands and enables them to
grow and persevere in faith and holiness unto the end.
The Church members are to be composed solely
of believers who have been baptized upon their confession of Jesus
Christ as Lord and Saviour, and who have submitted to his rule and
authority as set forth in the Scriptures.