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Grace Baptist Church

Austin MN
Current Page: What We Believe

What We Believe

Our mission, is to grow...

Warmer through Fellowship.
Deeper through Discipleship.
Stronger through Worship.
Broader through Ministry.
Larger through Evangelism.
Grace Baptist is affiliated with over 1400 fundamental Baptist churches in the United States. The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches (GARBC), began in 1932 and has led in the establishment of mission agencies, educational institutions, and many other ministries to the Body of Christ. In recent decades, associations of Baptist churches all around the world have copied the organizations arrangement of the GARBC and established an informal relationship with our Association. As an "Association" of churches, about the only thing we jointly own would be entities like Christian camps within various states. Each local church is self-governing, self-propagating, and self supporting. We establish relationships as each congregation decides. Any decision made or positions taken at the national level (by our association leadership) is not binding on the individual congregations (though we usually are in full agreement with them). Although we are not linked in any formal way with any other para-church organizations, we actively encourage support for missions which are fundamental and evangelical. Our "association" does not own nor endorse specific missions or educational institutions, but have developed a strong relationship with many fundamental agencies and schools through the past seventy-plus years. Grace Baptist is "fundamental" in our doctrinal position.
We Believe...

1. The BIBLE is fully inspired by God and was completely free from error in the original manuscripts
2. Each church should be AUTONOMOUS (self-governing, self-supporting),
3. Each believer enjoys a "PRIESTHOOD" relationship with God.
4. TWO OFFICES of leadership - pastors and deacons
5. INDIVIDUAL SOUL LIBERTY is the right of every Christian
6. SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
7. TWO ORDINANCES or observations of Christ's commands to celebrate and picture spiritual truths through symbolic action. These fundamentals together uniquely comprise the beliefs of those commonly known as Baptists. Since the past century has seen many of these beliefs "liberalized" we have adopted the term "fundamental" as a self-description in order to position ourselves with our historic Baptist heritage.
























 1. The BIBLE is fully inspired by God and was completely free from error in the original manuscripts. (1 Timothy 3:15; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
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2. Each church should be AUTONOMOUS (self-governing, self-supporting), completely independent, yet fully interdependent on other churches for fellowship and joint ministry. (Acts 13:1-4; 15:1-4; Philippians 4:15-17)
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3. Each believer enjoys a "PRIESTHOOD" relationship with God. No clergy stands as an intermediary between God and the "laity". Each believer has equal standing and full access to the throne of God. (Hebrews 4:14-16; 1 Peter 2:9-10)
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4. TWO OFFICES of leadership - pastors and deacons (1 Timothy 3; Titus 1; Acts 6:1-6). The pastor/pastors offices include several facets: oversight (episkopos), shepherding (poimen), "eldership" - maturity (presbuteros), and teaching (Ephesians 4:11). We expect all members to actively participate in ministry. Thus, we are ALL called to serve as members of the Body, in which all members are valued and appreciated for what they HAVE, not for what they don't have. (2 Corinthians 8:12)
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5. INDIVIDUAL SOUL LIBERTY is the right of every Christian to grow in his spiritual relationship with God through Christ, to develop preferences and convictions as led personally by the Holy Spirit. We seek to develop a respect for differences in areas on which the Scriptures are unclear. We recognize that people mature at different rates, have differences in areas on which the Scriptures are unclear. We recognize that people mature at different rates, have differing backgrounds and experiences which affect our viewpoints. We refuse to judge one another on these matters but rather focus on our responsibility to "buildup one another", "pray for one another", "seek the other's best", "avoid being a stumbling block to one another", etc.
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6. SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE is the principle of avoiding a "state church" in which a particular denomination or religious group enjoys special privileges, protection, and state endorsement. Churches have the responsibility to pray for and and submit to government (Romans 13), yet be God's voice of moral righteousness in our society. Although we understand that we cannot "legislate" morality, we believe that all laws have moral implications and that we should prayerfully and carefully address moral issues within our society.
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7. TWO ORDINANCES or observations of Christ's commands to celebrate and picture spiritual truths through symbolic action. One is personal, the Immersion of believers to symbolize the washing away of sin. It pictures the identification with that person in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The second ordinance is corporate. The believers observe the Lord's Table (Communion, Eucharist) in remembrance of Jesus Christ's suffering for us. We individually and corporately take the Bread and the Cup, which symbolize the broken body and the shed blood of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:23-25)
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